Phonological Variations in Waziri Dialect in District Bannu

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze and investigate the phonological variation in the Waziri dialect in district Bannu. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews with 35 sample sizes and a mixed research design is selected for this study. After collecting the data, the data is processed under the descriptive and analytical theoretical framework of Pashto dialectology. The study found that the vowel sound /əɪ/ is replaced with the vowel sound /eː/, while the vowel sound /o̞/ is replaced with the vowel sound /ɛ/ in the selected words. Moreover, variations in consonant sounds were also found, but less in number as compared to the vowel sounds of the Waziri dialect. Thus, the variations of vowel sound in the Waziri dialect are the most significant change in the selected areas of district Bannu. It is recommended to conduct a comprehensive study on various dialects of the Pashto language such as lexical and syntactical variations in the Waziri dialect, phonological variation in the Banochi dialect, and other various dialects.