Pushtu
/ˈpʊʃ.tuː/noun
A variant English spelling of Pashto, the Indo-Iranian language spoken chiefly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Did you know?The deeper origin of Pashto and the name of its speakers, Pashtun, is disputed; some scholars have cautiously compared them with ancient Iranian names such as Parthava, but no single derivation is universally accepted.
Etymological Timeline
1st millennium BCE
Old Iranian
*Parsuwa / *Parthava
“Proposed ancient Iranian ethnonyms sometimes compared with the later names Pashtun and Pashto; the connection remains uncertain.”
6th–4th Century BCE
Old Persian
Parthava
“The name of the Parthian people and region in Achaemenid royal inscriptions; its relationship to Pashtun is debated.”
1st millennium CE
Middle Iranian
Pasht / Pakht
“Forms reconstructed or attested in the historical development of the ethnonym and language name associated with the Pashtun people.”
Medieval Period
Pashto
پښتو (paṣ̌tō / paxtō)
“The native name of the Pashto language.”
18th–19th Century
English
Pushtu
“An English transliteration and variant spelling of Pashto, influenced by South Asian and older European spelling conventions.”
Modern English
English
Pushtu
“A less common variant name for the Pashto language.”