i find myself very illiterate when it comes to the mid-east. does anyone know if the spoken/written languages are the same throughout every country in that region (save for maybe dialects)?

 

In the Arab countries, Arabic is spoken (basically from Libya to Iraq, Lebanon to Sudan). In Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan dialects of Pharsi (Turkic-Persian language) are spoken, but the dominant language in Pakistan is Urdu. However, Pashto (Pak/Afghanistan tribal dialect), Kashmiri, Seraiki, Baluchi are local dialects spoken by people who resist the dominance of Pharsi in Pakistan.

 

thank you very much!

so Arabic, Pharsi, and Urdu are all completely different with no relations at all?

 

In Iran and Afghanistan, Pharsi is written in Arabic script. Pharsi is not from the same language branch as is Arabic, but common religion and culture has resulted in many Arabic words adapted to Pharsi, less so in reverse.

 

Here are some websites with information about Afganistan's northern neighbors Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Also has info on other Central-Asia affairs.



http://www.ca-c.org/dataeng/bd_eng.shtml

and

http://www.uznews.com/index.shtml