Pashto alphabet

Excerpt from Khayr ul-Bayān, the oldest known document written in Pashto, written in Nastaliq in 1651

The Pashto alphabet (Pashto: د پښتو الفبې, də pax̌to alifbē) is a modified form of the Arabic alphabet with letters added to accommodate phonemes used in Pashto that are not found in Arabic.

History

The Pashto alphabet

The seventeenth century saw the rise of a polemic debate that was also polarized along lines of script. The heterodox Roshani movement wrote their literature mostly in the Persianate style called Nasta'liq hand. The followers of the Akhund Darweza, and the Akhund himself, who viewed themselves as defending the religion against the influence of syncretism, wrote Pashto in the Arabicized Naskh, which is the generally used script in the modern era of Pashto with some individualized exceptions because of its greater adaptability for typesetting. Even lithographically reproduced Pashto has been calligraphied in Naskh as a general rule, since it was adopted as standard.

Pashto alphabet

Two of the special Pashto letters: x̌in/ṣ̌in and γ̌ē/ẓ̌e

The Pashto alphabet has several letters which do not appear in any other Arabic script. For example, the letters representing the retroflex consonants /ʈ/, /ɖ/, // and /ɳ/ are written like the standard Arabic te, dāl, re and nun with a "panḍak", "γaṛwandai" or also called "skəṇai" attached underneath, which looks like a small circle: ړ ,ډ ,ټ, and ڼ, respectively. The letters ښ and ږ (x̌in/ṣ̌in and γ̌ē/ẓ̌e) look like sin (س‎) and rē (ﺭ‎) respectively with a dot above and beneath. The letters representing t͡s and d͡z look like a ح with three dots above and an hamza (ء) above; څ and ځ, and are also specific to Pashto, although څ was also used in the related extinct language of Khwarezmian to represent both /t͡s/ and /d͡z/. Pashto has ى ,ې ,ۀ, and ۍ for additional vowels and diphthongs as well.

Pashto uses all 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet, and shares 3 letters (چ ,پ, and ژ) with Persian and Urdu in the additional letters.

Letters

Below are the 45 letters of the Pashto alphabet. The dialects of Abdali (A), Ghiljai (G) and Yusufzai (Y) are included.

Contextual forms				Name	Transliteration	ALA-LC Romaniz.	IPA	Unicode (Hex)
Isolated	End	Middle	Beginning
آ‎, ا‎	ـﺎ‎	ـ	ـ	alif	ā / ʾ	ā / ʾ	[ɑ] / [ʔ]	U+0627, U+0622
ب‎	ـﺐ‎	ـﺒـ‎	بـ‎	bē	b	b	[b]	U+0628
پ‎	ـﭗ‎	ـﭙـ‎	پـ‎	pē	p	p	[p]	U+067E
ت‎	ـﺖ‎	ـﺘـ‎	تـ‎	tē	t	t	[t̪]	U+062A
ټ‎	ـټ‎	ـټـ‎	ټـ‎	ṭē	ṭ (or 'tt')	ṭ	[ʈ]	U+067C
ث‎	ـﺚ‎	ـﺜـ‎	ثـ‎	sē	s	s̱	[s]	U+062B
ج‎	ـﺞ‎	ـﺠـ‎	جـ‎	ǰīm	ǰ	j	[d͡ʒ]	U+062C
ځ‎	ـځ‎	ـځـ‎	ځـ‎	dzim	j (or 'dz') / z	ż	[d͡z] (A, G) / [z] (Y)	U+0681
چ‎	ـﭻ‎	ـﭽـ‎	چـ‎	čē	č	ch	[t͡ʃ]	U+0686
څ‎	ـڅ‎	ـڅـ‎	څـ‎	tsē	c (or 'ts')	ṡ	[t͡s] (A, G) / [s] (Y)	U+0685
ح‎	ـﺢ‎	ـﺤـ‎	حـ‎	hē	h	ḥ	[h] / [x]	U+062D
خ‎	ـﺦ‎	ـﺨـ‎	خـ‎	khē	x (or 'kh')	kh	[x]	U+062E
د‎	ـﺪ‎	ـ	ـ	dāl	d	d	[d̪]	U+062F
ډ‎	ـډ‎	ـ	ـ	ḍāl	ḍ (or 'dd')	ḍ	[ɖ]	U+0689
ﺫ‎	ـﺬ‎	ـ	ـ	zāl	z	ẕ	[z]	U+0630
ﺭ‎	ـﺮ‎	ـ	ـ	rē	r	r	[r]	U+0631
ړ‎	ـړ‎	ـ	ـ	ṛē	ṛ (or 'rr')	ṛ	[], [ɻ]	U+0693
ﺯ‎	ـﺰ‎	ـ	ـ	zē	z	z	[z]	U+0623
ژ‎	ـﮋ‎	ـ	ـ	žē	ž	zh	[ʒ] (A, G) / [d͡z] (Y)	U+0698
ږ‎	ـږ‎	ـ	ـ	ẓ̌ē (A) / γ̌ē (G) / gē (Y)	ẓ̌ (A) / γ̌ (G) / g (Y)	ẓh (A) / g'h (G) / g (Y)	[ʐ] (A) / [ʝ] (G) / [ɡ] (Y)	U+0696
س‎	ـﺲ‎	ـﺴـ‎	سـ‎	sin	s	s	[s]	U+0633
ش‎	ـﺶ‎	ـﺸـ‎	شـ‎	šin	š	sh	[ʃ]	U+0634
ښ‎	ـښ‎	ـښـ‎	ښـ‎	ṣ̌in (A) / x̌in (G) / xin (Y)	ṣ̌ (A) / x̌ (G) / x (Y)	ṣh (A) / k'h (G) / kh (Y)	[ʂ] (A) / [ç] (G) / [x] (Y)	U+069A
ص‎	ـﺺ‎	ـﺼـ‎	صـ‎	swād	s	ṣ	[s]	U+0635
ض‎	ـﺾ‎	ـﻀـ‎	ضـ‎	dwād / zwād	z, d	z̤	[z], [d̪]	U+0636
ط‎	ـﻂ‎	ـﻄـ‎	طـ‎	twē	t	ṭ	[t̪]	U+0637
ظ‎	ـﻆ‎	ـﻈـ‎	ظـ‎	zwē	z	ẓ	[z]	U+0638
ع‎	ـﻊ‎	ـﻌـ‎	عـ‎	ʻayn	ʻ	ʻ	[ʔ]	U+0639
غ‎	ـﻎ‎	ـﻐـ‎	غـ‎	ghayn	γ (or 'gh')	gh	[ɣ]	U+063A
ف‎	ـﻒ‎	ـﻔـ‎	فـ‎	fe	f	f	[f] / [p]	U+0641
ق‎	ـﻖ‎	ـﻘـ‎	قـ‎	qāf	q	q	[q] / [k]	U+0642
ك/ک‎	ـك/ـک‎	ـكـ‎	كـ‎	kāf	k	k	[k]	U+0643
ګ‎	ـګ‎	ـګـ‎	ګـ‎	gāf	g	g	[ɡ]	U+06AB
ل‎	ـﻞ‎	ـﻠـ‎	لـ‎	lām	l	l	[l]	U+0644
م‎	ـﻢ‎	ـﻤـ‎	مـ‎	mim	m	m	[m]	U+0645
ن‎	ـﻦ‎	ـﻨـ‎	نـ‎	nun	n	n	[n]	U+0646
ڼ‎	ـڼ‎	ـڼـ‎	ڼـ‎	nuṇ	ṇ (or 'nn')	ṇ	[ɳ]	U+06BC
و‎	ـﻮ‎	ـ	ـ	wāw	w, u, o	w, u, o	[w], [u], [o]	U+0648
ه‎	ـﻪ‎	ـﻬـ‎	هـ‎	gərda hē round hē	h, a, ə	h, a, ə	[h]~[ʔ], [a], [ə]	U+0647
ۀ‎	ـﮥ‎	ـ	ـ	hē-hamza (or 'zwarakai')	ə	ə	[ə]	U+06C0
ي‎	ـﻲ‎	ـﻴـ‎	يـ‎	klaka yē hard yē	y, i	y, ī	[j], [i]	U+064A
ې‎	ـﯥ‎	ـﯧـ‎	ېـ‎	pasta yē soft yē	ē	e	[e]	U+06D0
ى‎	ـى‎	ـ	ـ	nārina yē masculine yē	ai, y	ay, y	[ai], [j]	U+0649
ۍ‎	ـۍ‎	ـ	ـ	x̌ədzina yē feminine yē	əi	ạy	[əi]	U+06CD
ٸ/ئ‎	ـٸ/ـئ‎	ـئـ‎	ئـ‎	fāiliya yē verbal yē	əi, y	ạy, y	[əi], [j]	U+0626

Notes

• ^1 In the beginning of a word, آ (alif with madda) represents the long vowel /ɑ/ (e.g. آس - ās, "horse"), and ا (alif) represents the consonant /ʔ/ (e.g. اسلام - ʾislām or islām, "Islam"). In the middle or end of a word, ا represents the long vowel /ɑ/ preceded by a consonant (e.g. كال - kāl, "year"; and نيا - nyā, "grandmother").
• ^2 The letter ړ represents // if it is not at the final position of a syllable; if it is final, it represents /ɻ/.
• ^3 ف tends to be pronounced as پ.
• ^4 ى represents /ai/ if preceded by a consonant (e.g. لرګى - largai, "wood"), and represents /j/ if preceded by a vowel (e.g. دوى - duy, "they").
• ^5 Ten of the letters, ق ف ع ظ ط ض ص ح ﺫ ث, appear only in loanwords which are mostly of Arabic origin. Eight of them, ع ظ ط ض ص ح ﺫ ث, represent no additional phonemes of Pashto, and their pronunciation merges with other phonemes.
• ^6 The letter representing /k/ can be written both as Arabic ك or Persian ک.
• ^7 It is also a traditional way to write the letter ﺉ with the hamza above turned to right - ٸ. The letter ئ is also used to represent the sound /j/, e.g. جدائي - ǰudāyi, "separation".

Earlier forms

The superscribed element of the letter ځ in earlier varieties was not hamza-shaped, but was very similar to little kāf of the ك letter. Such character is hardly to find in modern fonts.

In the earliest known Pashto manuscript written in 1651 CE, ڊ (dāl with subscript dot) was used for /t͡s/ and /d͡z/, which was still used in the Diwan of Mirza written in 1690 CE, but this sign was soon replaced by څ which was first attested in 1696-7 CE. څ is now used for only /t͡s/.

Diacritic marks

The Pashto diacritic marks: zwarakai, pēš, zēr, and zwar

The four diacritic marks are:

Diacritic	Name	Translit.	IPA	Unicode
َ	zwar	a	[a]	U+064E
ِ	zēr	i	[i]	U+0650
ُ	pēš	u	[u]	U+064F
ٓ	zwarakai	ə	[ə]	U+0653

Notes

• The diacritic marks are not considered separate letters. Their use is optional and are usually not written; they are primarily used to distinguish between two words which appear similar.
• In Arabic words, the tanwin fatha (ً) can be used, e.g. مَثَلاً - masalan, "for example".

"Yē" letters

Letter	Name	Transliteration	IPA	Position in a word	Example
ي	klaka yē	y, i	[j], [i]	it can be anywhere	يم yəm ('I am')
ې	pasta yē	ē	[e]	it is at middle or end	يې yē ('you (sing.) are')
ى	nārina yē	ai when following a consonant	[ai]	it is always at end	ستورى storai ('star')
		y when following a vowel	[j]	it is always at end	دوى duy ('they')
ۍ	x̌ədzina yē	əi	[əi]	it is always at end	وړۍ waṛəi ('wool')
ٸ/ئ‎	fāiliya yē	əi	[əi]	it is always at end	يئ yəi ('you (plur.) are')
		y	[j]	it is at middle	جدائي ǰudāyi ('separation')

Indications

• ^1 If ى follows a consonant in a word, it indicates the word is masculine singular and in direct case.
• ^2 ۍ always occurs in a noun, and always indicates the noun is feminine.
• ^3 If ئ occurs at the end of a verb, it indicates the verb is in second person plural form.

See also

Pre-Islamic scripts in Afghanistan

References

• Awde & Sarwan (2002). "Pashto dictionary & phrasebook", page 24.