Traditional Weather Prediction in Pashto Proverbs: An Ecolinguistic Analysis of Environmental Framing

This research article examines Pashto proverbs through an eco-linguistic perspective to identify the environmental wisdom embedded in them and understand how applicable they may be in the environmental situation of the modern day. The study follows a qualitative and descriptive approach, the work of Arran Stibbe (2015), which is titled Stories We Live By. Ten Pashto proverbs were intentionally chosen out of credible written materials and oral records. The filtering requirements gave preference to terms associated with weather conditions, seasonal variations, schedule of rainfall, temperature variations, wind patterns and agricultural activities. The results imply that Pashto proverbs hold experience-based environmental wisdom passed on to other generations by human-nature interaction. The proverbs, when combined, foster the culture of environmental moderation, flexibility and custodianship. The application of indigenous systems of knowledge in addition to the modern scientific paradigms may contribute to increasing the level of sustainable environmental education and language preservation.