Southern Uzbek language

Southern Uzbek
Southern Uzbek
اۉزبېکچه, اۉزبېکی, اۉزبېک تورکچه سی
Native to	Afghanistan
Ethnicity	Uzbeks
Native speakers	L1: 3.5 million (2017); L2: 1.1 million (2022)
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Karluk Uzbek Southern Uzbek; ; ; ;
Early forms	Middle Turkic Khorezmian Chagatai ; ;
Writing system	Perso-Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Afghanistan (3rd most spoken language)
Recognised minority; language in	China;
Regulated by	Afghan Ministry of Education
Language codes
ISO 639-3	uzs
Glottolog	sout2699
Linguasphere	44-AAB-da, db
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Southern Uzbek, also known as Afghan Uzbek, is the southern variant of the Uzbek language, spoken chiefly in Afghanistan with up to 4.6 million speakers including first and second language speakers.^[1] It uses the Perso-Arabic writing system in contrast to the language variant of Uzbekistan.

Southern Uzbek is intelligible with the Northern Uzbek spoken in Uzbekistan to a certain degree. However, it has differences in grammar and also many more loan words from Dari, the local New Persian variety, in which many Southern Uzbek speakers are proficient.^[3]

^ ^a ^b ^c Southern Uzbek at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ Scott Newton (20 November 2014). Law and the Making of the Soviet World: The Red Demiurge. Routledge. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-317-92978-9.
^ "Uzbek, Southern".

[e27-1] Southern Uzbek at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)

[Newton2014-2] Scott Newton (20 November 2014). Law and the Making of the Soviet World: The Red Demiurge. Routledge. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-317-92978-9.

[3] "Uzbek, Southern".

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