Language/Central-pashto/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Pashto Alphabet & Pronunciation

سلام Pashto Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson you will learn how to write and pronounce the Pashto alphabets.

Happy learning!

Central Pashto Alphabet

The Pashtun alphabet (پښتو الفبې) is a relatively recent adaptation of the Persian alphabet with additional letters to accommodate the phonemes of the Pashtun language, which is the largest Eastern Iranian language (of the Avestan family) and one of the two main languages of Afghanistan, along with Persian Dari, which is Eastern Iran.

IPA	Letter
	Final	Medial	Initial	Isolated
[ɑ], [ʔ]	ـا	ـﺎ	آ, ا	آ, ا
[b]	ـﺐ	ـﺒـ	بـ	ب
[p]	ـﭗ	ـﭙـ	پـ	پ
[t̪]	ـﺖ	ـﺘـ	تـ	ت
[ʈ]	ـټ	ـټـ	ټـ	ټ
[s]	ـﺚ	ـﺜـ	ثـ	ث
[d͡ʒ]	ـﺞ	ـﺞ	ـﺞ	ج
[t͡ʃ]	ـﭻ	ـﭽـ	چـ	چ
[h] / [x]	ـﺢ	ـﺤـ	حـ	ح
[x]	ـﺦ	ـﺨـ	خـ	خ
[t͡s] / [s]	ـڅ	ـڅـ	څـ	څ
[d͡z] / [z]	ـځ	ـځـ	ځـ	ځ
[d̪]	ـﺪ	ـﺪ	د	د
[ɖ]	ـډ	ـډ	ډ	ډ
[z]	ـﺬ	ـﺬ	ﺫ	ﺫ
[r]	ـﺮ	ـﺮ	ﺭ	ﺭ
[ɺ̢], [ɭ̆], [ɻ]	ـړ	ـړ	ړ	ړ
[z]	ـﺰ	ـﺰ	ﺯ	ﺯ
[d͡z]	ـﮋ	ـﮋ	ژ	ژ
[ʐ] (Southern) [ʝ] (Central) [ɡ] (Northern)	ـږ	ـږ	ږ	ږ
[s]	ـﺲ	ـﺴـ	سـ	س
[ʃ]	ـﺶ	ـﺸـ	شـ	ش
[ʂ] (Southern) [ç] (Central) [x] (Northern)	ـښ	ـښـ	ښـ	ښ
[s]	ـﺺ	ـﺼـ	صـ	ص
[z], [d̪]	ـﺾ	ـﻀـ	ضـ	ض
[t̪]	ـﻂ	ـﻄـ	طـ	ط
[z]	ـﻆ	ـﻈـ	ظـ	ظ
[ʔ]	ـﻊ	ـﻌـ	عـ	ع
[ɣ]	ـﻎ	ـﻐـ	غـ	غ
[f] / [p]	ـﻒ	ـﻔـ	فـ	ف
[q] / [k]	ـﻖ	ـﻘـ	قـ	ق
[k]	ـک	ـکـ	کـ	ک
[ɡ]	ـګ	ـګـ	ګـ	ګ
[l]	ـﻞ	ـﻠـ	لـ	ل
[m]	ـﻢ	ـﻤـ	مـ	م
[n]	ـﻦ	ـﻨـ	نـ	ن
[ɳ]	ـڼ	ـڼـ	ڼـ	ڼ
[w], [u], [o]	ـﻮ	ـﻮ	و	و
[h], [a]	ـﻪ	ـﻬـ	هـ	ه
[ə]	ﮥ			ۀ
[j], [i]	ـﻲ	ـﻴـ	يـ	ي
[e]	ـﯥ	ـﯧـ	ېـ	ې
[ai], [j]	ـی			ی
[əi]	ـۍ			ۍ
[əi], [j]	ـئ	ـئـ	ئـ	ئ

Stress in Pashto

Pashto uses stress: it can change the aspect of the verb and the meaning of the word. The Arabic alphabet does not show accent placement, but in transliteration it is indicated by the use of an acute accent diactric (´) on the vowel, as in the example below:

Pashto	Transliteraltion	Stress in Bold
اوړى	óṛay	ó-ṛay
ډله	ḍála	ḍá-la
ګڼل	gaṇә́l	ga-ṇә́l
شاباس	šā́bās	šā́-bās
ناخوښي	nāxwaṣ̌í	nā-xwa-ṣ̌í
بې ښې	be ṣ̌é	be-ṣ̌é
اوږه	úẓ̌a	ú-ẓ̌a

"Ye" letters in Pashto alpabet

Letter	IPA	Transliteration	Position in a word	Example
ې	[e]	e	middle or end	يې ye ('you (sing.) are')
ي	[j], [i]	y, i	can appear anywhere	يم yəm ('(I) am') دي di ('(they) are')
ی or ے	[aj]	ay when following a consonant	end	ستوری or ستورے stóray ('star')
	[j]	y when following a vowel	end	دوى or دوے duy ('they')
ئ	[əi]	əi	end	يئ yəi ('you (plur.) are')
	[j]	y	middle	جدائي judāyí ('separation')
ۍ	[əi]	əi	end	وړۍ waṛә́i ('wool')

Pashto Keyboard