A Historical-Comparative Analysis of the Phonological and Morphological Similarities between Pashto and Bactrian Languages

Abstract

Historical-comparative linguistics primarily aims to investigate the relationships among languages, their common roots, and their historical development. Pashto and Bactrian are among the important representatives of the Eastern Iranian languages and provide valuable linguistic evidence for examining their historical relationships based on phonological, morphological, and lexical features. This study aims to provide a scientific analysis of the phonological and morphological relationships between Pashto and Bactrian and to identify the historical foundations of the similarities in their phonological, morphological, and lexical features. The study employs the historical-comparative method, with data collected from reliable scholarly works on the Bactrian language and compared with historical and contemporary forms of Pashto. The findings indicate that the two languages show significant similarities in their phonological systems, morphemes, pronouns, verbal structures, numerals, and basic vocabulary. The results demonstrate that Bactrian is an important source for investigating the historical development and linguistic evolution of Pashto.