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Pashto phonology

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Amongst the Iranian languages, the phonology of Pashto is of middle complexity, but its morphology is very complex.[1]

Consonants

Labial Denti-
alveolar 		Alveolar Retroflex Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ ŋ
Plosive p b t̪ d̪ ʈ ɖ k ɡ q[a]
Affricate t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f[a] s z ʂ ʐ ʃ ʒ ç ʝ x ɣ h
Approximant l j w
Rhotic r ɺ̢ 
  1. ^ a b The phonemes /q/, /f/ are only found in loanwords, and tend to be replaced by /k/, /p/.[2]

Notes on consonants

  1. /m/ voiced bilabial nasal
  2. /n/ voiced post-dental nasal; non-phonemic allophones are [ŋ] before [k] and [g], and [ɳ] before [ʈ] and [ɖ], and [ɲ] before [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ], and [m] before [b] and [p]
  3. /ɳ/ voiced retroflex nasal flap
  4. /p/ voiceless bilabial stop, somewhat aspirated prevocalically, especially in a stressed syllable
  5. /b/ voiced bilabial stop, unaspirated
  6. /t/ voiceless post-dental stop, somewhat aspirated prevocalically in a stressed syllable
  7. /d/ voiced post-dental stop, unaspirated
  8. /ʈ/ voiceless retroflex stop, somewhat aspirated prevocalically in a stressed syllable
  9. /ɖ/ voiced retroflex stop, unaspirated
  10. /k/ voiceless velar stop, somewhat aspirated when prevocalic in a stressed syllable
  11. /g/ voiced velar stop, unaspirated
  12. /t͡s/ voiceless post-dental affricate, slightly aspirated in a stressed syllable
  13. /d͡z/ voiced post-dental affricate, not aspirated
  14. /t͡ʃ/ voiceless palato-alveolar affricate, slightly aspirated in a stressed syllable
  15. /d͡z/ voiced palato-alveolar affricate, unaspirated
  16. /s/ voiceless post-dental spirant
  17. /z/ voiced post-dental spirant
  18. /ʂ/ voiceless retroflex spirant; used in the Southwest dialects (represented by ښ])
  19. /ʐ/ voiceled retroflex spirant; used in the Southwest dialects (represented by ږ])
  20. /ʃ/ voiceless palato-alveolar spirant
  21. /ʒ/ voiced palato-alveolar spirant
  22. /ç/ voiceless palatal fricative; used in the Wardak and Central Ghilji dialects (represented by ښ])
  23. /ʝ/ voiced palatal fricative; used in the Wardak and Central Ghilji dialects (represented by ږ])
  24. /x/ voiceless velar fricative
  25. /ɣ/ voiced velar fricative
  26. /h/ voiceless glottal fricative; dropped in most Southwest dialects and Waṇētsī
  27. /l/ voiced post-dental lateral, non-fricative, medium clear
  28. /j/ voiced palatal continuant
  29. /w/ voiced labio-dental continuant
  30. /r/ voiced post-dental flap, single in most dialects
  31. /ɽ/ voiced back-alveolar retroflex flap

Voiceless stops [p, t, t͡ʃ, k] are all unaspirated, like Spanish, other Romance languages, and Austronesian languages; they have slightly aspirated allophones prevocalically in a stressed syllable, almost like English.

Phonotactics

Pashto syllable structure can be summarized as follows; parentheses enclose optional components:

  • (C1 (C2)) (S1) V (S2) (C3 (C4))

Pashto syllable structure consists of an optional syllable onset, consisting of one or two consonants; an obligatory syllable nucleus, consisting of a vowel optionally preceded by and/or followed by a semivowel; and an optional syllable coda, consisting of one or two consonants. The following restrictions apply:

  • Onset
    • First consonant (C1): Can be any consonant, including a liquid (/l, r/).
    • Second consonant (C2): Can be any consonant. (see #Consonant Clusters below)
  • Nucleus
    • Semivowel (S1)
    • Vowel (V)
    • Semivowel (S2)
  • Coda
    • First consonant (C3): Can be any consonant
    • Second consonant (C4): Can be any consonant

Consonant clusters

Pashto also has a liking for word-initial consonant clusters in all dialects; some hundred such clusters occurs. However consonant gemination is unknown to Pashto.[3]

Examples
Two Consonant Clusters /t̪l/, /kl/, /bl/, /ɣl/, /lm/, /nm/, /lw/, /sw/, /br/, /t̪r/, /ɣr/, /pr/, /d̪r/, /wr/, /kɽ/, mɽ, /wɽ/ /xp/, /pʃ/, /pʂ/, /xr/, /zb/, /zɽ/, /ʒb/, /d͡zm/, /md͡z/, /t͡sk/, /sk/, /sp/, /ʃp/, /ʂk/, /xk/, /ʃk/, /kʃ/, /kx/, /kʂ/, /ml/, /gr/, /gm/ and /ʐm/ etc.
Three Consonant Clusters /sxw/, /xwɽ/, /xwl/, /nɣw/ etc.

Vowels

Most dialects in Pashto have seven vowels and seven diphthongs.[4]

Front Near-
front 		Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Mid ə
Open a ɑ

Diphthongs

Front Central Back
High [uɪ]
Mid [əi] [oɪ]
Low [aɪ], [aw] [ɑi], [ɑw]

Orthography of diphthongs

Initial Medial Final
aɪ ای َيـ َی
əɪ ۍ
oɪ اوی ويـ وي
uɪ اوی ويـ وي
aw او َو َو
ɑi آي اي اي
ɑw آو او او

Dialectal Vowels

Waziri vowels

In Waziri dialect the [ɑ] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɔː] in Northern Waziri and [ɒː] in Southern Waziri.[5]

In Waziri dialect the stressed [o] in Standard Pashto becomes [œː] as in the word [lor] meaning 'sickle' becomes [lœːr] and [ɛː] as in the word [oˈɽə] meaning 'flour' becomes [ɛːˈɽə].[6] The [o] in Standard Pashto may also become [(j)e] as in the word [jeˈʒa] meaning 'shoulder' from [oˈɡa] or [oˈʐa].[7]


Front Near-
front 		Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Close i
Close-mid e
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ œ ɔ
Open a ɒ

Apridi vowels

In the Apridi dialect the [a] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɑ] as in [las] becomes [lɑs]. The [ɑ] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɒː] or [oː] as in [plɑr] becomes [plɔːr] or [ploːr].

Borrowed vowels

Few short vowels occur in speech in borrowed words and in the Peshawar dialect.

Vowels
[ɪ]
[ʊ]

Diphthongs in dialects

The diphthongs varies according to dialect. The stressed diphthong [aɪ] changes to [æɪ] in the Mohmand dialect and [a] in Wanetsi.

The diphthong [əɪ] used to indicate feminine noun gender changes to [i] in Wanetsi and [ʌi] in Kâkaṛi.

The long diphthongs [ɑi] and [ɑw] becomes [ɑe] and [ɑo], respectively, in most Northeastern dialects.[8]

Standard Apridi Yusupzai Waziri Mohmand Bannu
aɪ ʌɪ
ʌː		 aɪ aɪ
aˈɪ aˈɪ æɪ
əˈɪ ijeˈ aˈɪ iˈjɛ
oɪ waɪ oːi
œːi
uɪ uiː joˈjə
aw aw
ɑi ae
ɑw ao

Stress

Pashto has phonemic variable stress, unique amongst Iranian languages.[9]

For instance the pronouns are differently inflected:

Pronoun Meaning Pronoun Meaning
haɤá that, he háɤa that one, he (emphatic)
daɤá this, he dáɤa this one, he (emphatic)

In verbs to distinguish aspect:

Verb Meaning Verb Meaning
kẍenɑstǝ́ləm I was sitting kẍénɑstələm I sat down
ba kẍenǝ́m I shall be sitting ba kẍénəm I shall sit

In verbs to distinguish mood:

Verb Meaning Verb Meaning
pregdǝ́m I leave prégdəm that I leave

References

  1. ^ Josef Elfenbein (1997). Alan S. Kaye (ed.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. p. 736. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
  2. ^ Tegey, Habibullah; Robson, Barbara (1996). A Reference Grammar of Pashto (PDF). Washington: Center for Applied Linguistics. p. 15.
  3. ^ Josef Elfenbein (1997). Alan S. Kaye (ed.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. p. 737. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
  4. ^ Anne Boyle David (2013). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. Walter de Gruyter. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
  5. ^ Alan S. Kaye (1997). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. p. 748. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
  6. ^ Alan S. Kaye (1997). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. p. 748. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
  7. ^ Alan S. Kaye (1997). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. p. 749. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
  8. ^ Josef Elfenbein (1997). Alan S. Kaye (ed.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. pp. 751 to 753. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
  9. ^ Josef Elfenbein (1997). Alan S. Kaye (ed.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus. Eisenbrauns. p. 737. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
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