Talk:Afghan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WikiProject Disambiguation This page is part of WikiProject Disambiguation, an attempt to structure and organize all disambiguation pages on Wikipedia. If you wish to help, you can edit the page attached to this talk page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Afghan article.
Article policies

Contents

[edit] Does the term "Afghan language" exist for Pashto?

I have never heard or read the therm "Afghan language". Or I have never heard the term "lesan e Afghan" or "zuban e Afghan". So I don't think such a term exists and thus it should be deleted. Unless someone can prove that there is such a term? Behnam 02:58, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

"Afghānī" is the name given to the Pashtun ethnicity as well as to the Pashto language. Since "Afghan" means "Pashtun", "Afghan language" means "language of the Pashtuns", and thus "Pashto". It'S not as common as "Pashto", but is a technically correct expression. Tājik 16:56, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
But have you ever heard or read this term before? Also, I do not think that is necessary because they can learn about the Pashto language by clicking on Pashtun or Demographics of Afghanistan. And, it might be misleading into getting people to think that Pashto is the only language of Afghanistan. I think we should remove that for now until we can confirm that such a term is used. Behnam 00:17, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
Yes, I have heraed the expression "Afghan language" (or "language of the Afghans"), in and outside Afghanistan. It's synonymous with Pashto.
It's also used in the Encyclopaedia Iranica, as well as in the Encyclopaedia of Islam.
Tājik 21:56, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
Ok, I see. But, I strongly think that this is the wrong place to mention that. It is very confusing for people that don't know that, which is almost everyone that does a search for "Afghan". If we are going to mention that Pashto is the "Afghan Language" then we would need to also mention that Dari/Persian is also spoken by Afghans (peoples of Afghanistan). And that really is not necessary here. The proper place to mention that Pashto is the "Afghan language" would be in the Pashtuns article or the Demographics of Afghanistan article. Behnam 03:51, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
"Afghan language" is used in scholarly literature, and so, it should also be mentioned in here. All the rest is explained in the article Afghanistan as well as in Pashto language. Tājik 19:25, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
It isn't necessary to put that here. All it does is create alot of confusion for people who are not familiar with these terms. For example, the person reading this might think that the language of the Afghan nationality is Pashto. I think it should be removed to avoid confusion. Behnam 23:05, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
With all due respect: you are not in the position to question scholarly articles, and the opinion of leading scholars. If the term confuses you, then it's your own personal problem. The expression "Afghan language" as a synonym for Pashto is used in authoritative sources, and so it should also be mentioned in here. Tājik 19:20, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
Ok, so there is such a term as "Afghan language". But the language is not called "Afghan". It is "Afghan language". This search is for "Afghan" only. The word "Afghan" is not used to refer to the Pashto language. There is "Afghan language", but the word "Afghan" is never used to refer to Pashto. So I don't think mentioning that term belongs here in the first place. Also, I did not say I would be confused. My concern is that people reading this would be confused and think that the language of the nationality Afghan, is Pashto. So this is also misleading. Behnam 23:19, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
The Persian term for the Pashto language is "Afghānī", and this term is also used in all classical Persian books and poems. Besides that, the article says: "... Additionally, the language of the Pashtuns is known as Pashto or Afghān language. ..."
No one will be confused with that. Readers should know that "Afghan" - in its original and actual meaning - means "Pashtun", and that the "Afghan language" is not Persian (as many believe) but Pashto.
Tājik 23:48, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
But if the language of the Afghan ethnicity (Pashto) is mentioned, then wouldn't the other language of the Afghan nationality (Dari/Farsi) also have to be mentioned? I don't think we can mention one without mentioning the other. The best thing to do is not mention either one, for this page. Behnam 00:07, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
The Persian language is not the "language of the Afghan nationality". In fact, according to Afghanistan's consitution, Pashto is still the "national language of Afghanistan", while Persian (named "Dari" by Afghanistan's constitution) has an official status in the government (next to Pashto). That's also the reason why - according to the constitution - the national anthem of Afghanistan has to be in Pashto - because it is the national language of Afghanistan. Official documents in Afghanistan MAY be written in Dari, at least a secondary translation to Persian is requested. However, all official documents MUST be written in Pashto. This may be confusing for a "common Afghan", because in every-day life the Persian language is dominant. But the consitution of Afghanistan makes clear that Pashto is the ONLY national language of Afghanistan, and the FIRST official language. After all, it's the purpose of Wikipedia to educate people, not to further underline common misunderstandings. Tājik 00:19, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Should the following be removed or stay?

  • Afghan Biscuit a popular biscuit in New Zealand ----beoch 12 May 2007
  • An Afghan coat
  • Afghan Solidarity
  • Afghan Students International (ASI) ----Behnam 01:54, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
deleted! Tājik 01:27, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Which definition of Afghan are people normally looking for?

There are two definitions of the word Afghan. One being a synonym for Pashtun, and the other a more recent term describing the nationality of people from Afghanistan. So when a user searches for Afghan on Wikipedia, which one do they have in mind? I think almost everyone that searches for this term is thinking of the word as the nationality. So which definition should we have in bold font? I personally think we should have the nationals of Afghanistan in bold since that is what people are looking for and we should point it out for them. Behnam 21:38, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know we use the word Pakistani to refer to the nationals of Pakistan. Or Tajikistani to refer to nationals of Tajikistan and so on. Then what about Afghanistani and Afghan? Isn't it like Tajikistani and Tajik? I think English speakers use a word because it is simpler to pronounce. They do not care about its accuracy especially when it comes to issues about middle east. As wikipedians, we have to be careful not to be affected by the media too much. Sangak 21:49, 5 January 2007 (UTC)



Why is this page protected?

Why was the reference to Pashtun people removed, althou it is well sourced? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.82.129.60 (talk) 17:38, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I reverted it. Thanks for pointing it out. Take care. -- Behnam 17:49, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] nonesense edits by Bejnar

Bejnar added the other renditions of Pashtun. What is the point of that? This article is a disambiguation pagefor Afghan, not an article. The reader can see the other renditions of Pashtun in that article. This should only be a disambiguation page for Afghan, nothing else. Bejnar should revert his edits or someone else should revert them. Qandahari-Pashtun (talk) 23:14, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citation for Pashto=Afghan language

Here are two scholarly and authoritative sources.

afghan. (n.d.). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 03, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/afghan

"afghan." WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. 03 Jan. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/afghan>.