Pashto/Pushto/Pukhto is a group of varieties used by as many as 30 million people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, yet a grammar describing these varieties collectively has not been published. The CASL Pashto grammar originates from extensive use of both primary and secondary materials. It attends to features of both spoken and written forms of Pashto and exemplifies the latter generously with naturally-occurring sentences. Detailed descriptions are provided of the phonology and orthography and of the inflectional and derivational morphology applied to all major word classes, with special attention to the complex morphology of verb formation and descriptions of the multiple pronominal systems. Notes on some of the prominent syntactic constructions are provided as a descriptive basis for learners of Pashto and for those interested in syntactic properties characteristic of South Asian languages. For the first time, the highly distinctive Middle dialects, including Waziri, receive attention next to the other major dialect groups. A formal grammar focusing on the morphology is an available companion work.

Being an ergative language the learning of Pashto has always been very difficult for teachers and students both. 'Pashto Grammar' has explored the language and made it easy and simple for every one.

"Current printing in July, 2009 by Ishi Press in New York and Tokyo."--t.p. verso.

The book provides a detailed analysis of the relationship between syllable structure and word order, a long-standing correlation in typological linguistics which has been previously described as an implicational universal. It presents data from Pashto (an Eastern-Iranian language spoken mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan), and explores consonant clusters and the basic word order of the language. It begins by introducing the Pashto language, before going on to highlight the word order typology and language universals, followed by a detailed analysis of its syllable structure and basic word order in light of the Optimality Theoretic (OT) framework. The study then takes up the case of the basic word order as a weak foundation for such a typological correlation and challenges this view of structural implications by comparing Pashto (an SOV language) with English (an SVO language). Finally, the book concludes by emphasising the global implications of the study, and offers future recommendations for further research on this language.

Dhivehi, the language of the Maldives, has received little attention in the linguistic literature, and no other comprehensive grammar of the standard language has yet been published. This work describes the phonology, unique orthography, morphology, and syntax of standard Dhivehi. Plentiful examples with native orthography, Roman transliteration, and morpheme-by-morpheme glossing illustrate the various features of the language. This grammar will be of use both to linguists and to students of Dhivehi.

Bangla is spoken as the majority language in Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, and as a minority language in several other Indian states. With almost 200 million native speakers, it ranks among the top ten languages in the world in number of speakers. Based on both primary and secondary materials, the CASL Bangla grammar provides comprehensive coverage of the phonology, orthography, morphology, and syntax of Bangla. Plentiful examples of naturally-occurring sentences provide native orthography, Romanization, and morpheme-by-morpheme glossing along with free translations. Unlike many Romanizations of Bangla, our system eschews Sanskritic influence and instead reflects actual Bangla phonology. We also offer comparative information of use to linguists, highlighting features of Bangla shared with the South Asian sprachbund, such as light verb constructions, as well as those that differentiate Bangla from its Indo-Aryan relatives; for example, its unique NP structure. Written in an accessible style from a theory-neutral perspective, this work will be of use to linguistic researchers, language scholars, and students of Bangla. A formal grammar focusing on the morphology is an available companion work.