The article elaborates the linguistic varietiesVariety spoken by the Hazara people of AfghanistanAfghanistan with a view to their socio-linguistic domains and to the linguistic behaviour of their speakers. Some dialectsDialect(s) of the Hazaras as used in the mountainous regions of the central highlands of AfghanistanAfghanistan grouped under the name Hazaragi, are described in terms of essential features in the areas of phonology, morphology and syntaxSyntax. A short glossary gives an insight into the vocabulary. Placing characteristic features of Hazaragi in relation to the colloquial standard of DariDaricolloquial standard of Dari and to other varietiesVariety of spoken PersianSpoken Persian in central AfghanistanAfghanistan, the article raises some questions about the relationship between ethnic and regional criteria in the classification of Persian dialectsPersianPersian dialects in central AfghanistanAfghanistan. Furthermore, the paper analyses the linguistic behaviour of Hazaras who have left the Hazarajat in the course of history and reside in urban centres or in rural places around them today. Looking at the specific situation of the Hazaras who settled in QuettaQuetta in Pakistan a long time ago, the paper tries to show why QuettaQuetta is the only place today where Hazaragi dominates public communication in an urban milieu. Commented speech samples illustrate the linguistic behaviour of speakers with varying social and biographical backgrounds.