Pashto alphabet

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

The Pashto alphabet (Pashto: پښتو الفبې‎ pax̌to alifbe) 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 Nastaʿlīq script. 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.

The 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", "ğaṛwanday" or also called "skəṇay" attached underneath, which looks like a small circle: ړ, ډ, ټ, and ڼ, respectively. The letters ښ and ږ (x̌īn/ṣ̌īn and ǵe/ẓ̌e) look like sīn (س) and re (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 ی, 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 44 letters of the Pashto alphabet. The Southern (S), Central (C) and Northern (N) dialects of Pashto are included.

Name	IPA	ALA-LC Romaniz.	Transliteration	Latin	Unicode (Hex)	Contextual forms			Isolated
						Final	Medial	Initial
alif	[ɑ], [ʔ]^1	ā, ʾ	ā, ʾ	Ā ā, nothing	U+0627, U+0622	ـا	ـﺎ	آ, ا	آ, ا
be	[b]	b	b	B b	U+0628	ـﺐ	ـﺒـ	بـ	ب
pe	[p]	p	p	P p	U+067E	ـﭗ	ـﭙـ	پـ	پ
te	[t̪]	t	t	T t	U+062A	ـﺖ	ـﺘـ	تـ	ت
ṭe	[ʈ]	ṭ	ṭ (or tt)	Ṭ ṭ	U+067C	ـټ	ـټـ	ټـ	ټ
se^2	[s]	s̱	s	S s	U+062B	ـﺚ	ـﺜـ	ثـ	ث
jīm	[d͡ʒ]	j	j (or ǰ)	J j	U+062C	ـﺞ	ـﺠـ	جـ	ج
če	[t͡ʃ]	ch	č	Č č	U+0686	ـﭻ	ـﭽـ	چـ	چ
he^2	[h] / [x]^3	ḥ	h	H h	U+062D	ـﺢ	ـﺤـ	حـ	ح
xe	[x]	kh	x	X x	U+062E	ـﺦ	ـﺨـ	خـ	خ
ce	[t͡s] / [s]	ṡ	ts (or c)	C c	U+0685	ـڅ	ـڅـ	څـ	څ
źim	[d͡z] / [z]	ż	dz (or j)	Ź ź	U+0681	ـځ	ـځـ	ځـ	ځ
dāl	[d̪]	d	d	D d	U+062F	ـﺪ	ـﺪ	د	د
ḍāl	[ɖ]	ḍ	ḍ (or dd)	Ḍ ḍ	U+0689	ـډ	ـډ	ډ	ډ
zāl^2	[z]	ẕ	z	Z z	U+0630	ـﺬ	ـﺬ	ﺫ	ﺫ
re	[r]	r	r	R r	U+0631	ـﺮ	ـﺮ	ﺭ	ﺭ
ṛe^4	[ɺ̢] (, ɭ̆), [ɻ]	ṛ	ṛ (or rr)	Ṛ ṛ	U+0693	ـړ	ـړ	ړ	ړ
ze	[z]	z	z	Z z	U+0623	ـﺰ	ـﺰ	ﺯ	ﺯ
že	[ʒ] / [d͡z]	zh	ž	Ž ž	U+0698	ـﮋ	ـﮋ	ژ	ژ
ẓ̌e (S) ǵe (C, N)	[ʐ] (S) [ʝ] (C) [ɡ] (N)	ẓh (S) g'h (C) g (N)	ẓ̌ (S) γ̌/ǵ (C) g (N)	Ǵ ǵ (or Ẓ̌ ẓ̌)	U+0696	ـﺖ	ـﺖ	ږ	ږ
sīn	[s]	s	s	S s	U+0633	ـﺲ	ـﺴـ	سـ	س
šīn	[ʃ]	sh	š	Š š	U+0634	ـﺶ	ـﺸـ	شـ	ش
ṣ̌īn (S) x̌īn (C, N)	[ʂ] (S) [ç] (C) [x] (N)	ṣh (S) k'h (C) kh (N)	ṣ̌ (S) x̌ (C) x (N)	X̌ x̌ (or Ṣ̌ ṣ̌)	U+069A	ـﺚ	ـښـ	ښـ	ښ
swād^2	[s]	ṣ	s	S s	U+0635	ـﺺ	ـﺼـ	صـ	ص
dwād / zwād^2	[z], [d̪]	z̤	z, d	Z z, D d	U+0636	ـﺾ	ـﻀـ	ضـ	ض
twe^2	[t̪]	ṭ	t	T t	U+0637	ـﻂ	ـﻄـ	طـ	ط
zwe^2	[z]	ẓ	z	Z z	U+0638	ـﻆ	ـﻈـ	ظـ	ظ
ayn^2	[ʔ]	ʻ	ʻ	nothing	U+0639	ـﻊ	ـﻌـ	عـ	ع
ğayn	[ɣ]	gh	gh (or γ)	Ğ ğ	U+063A	ـﻎ	ـﻐـ	غـ	غ
fe^2	[f] / [p]^5	f	f	F f	U+0641	ـﻒ	ـﻔـ	فـ	ف
qāf	[q] / [k]	q	q	Q q	U+0642	ـﻖ	ـﻘـ	قـ	ق
kāf	[k]	k	k	K k	U+06A9	ـک	ـکـ	کـ	ک ^6
gāf	[ɡ]	g	g	G g	U+06AB	ـګ	ـګـ	ګـ	ﺫ ^7
lām	[l]	l	l	L l	U+0644	ـﻞ	ـﻠـ	لـ	ل
mīm	[m]	m	m	M m	U+0645	ـﻢ	ـﻤـ	مـ	م
nūn	[n]	n	n	N n	U+0646	ـﻦ	ـﻨـ	نـ	ن
ṇūn	[s]	ṇ	ṇ (or nn)	Ṇ ṇ	U+06BC	ـڼ	ـﺼـ	ڼـ	ڼ
wāw	[w], [u], [o]	w, ū, o	w, ū, o	W w, Ū ū, O o	U+0648	ـﻮ	ـﻮ	و	و
gərda he round hē	[h]/[ʔ], [ɡ], [ə]	h, a, ə	h, a, ə	H h, A a, Ə ə	U+0647	ـﻪ	ـﻬـ	هـ	ه
klaka ye hard yē	[j], [i]	y, ī	y, ī	Y y, Ī ī	U+064A	ـﻲ	ـﻴـ	يـ	ي
pasta ye soft yē	[e]	e	ē	E e	U+06D0	ـﯥ	ـﯧـ	ېـ	ې ^8
nārīna ye masculine yē	[ai], [j]^9	ay, y	ay, y	Ay ay, Y y	U+06CC	ـی	ـ	ـ	ی ^8
x̌əźīna ye feminine yē	[əi]	ạy	əi	Əi əi	U+06CD	ـۍ	ـ	ـ	ۍ ^8
fāiliya ye verbal yē	[əi], [j]^10	ạy, y	əi, y	Əi əi, Y y	U+0626	ـئ	ـئـ	ئـ	ئ ^8,^11

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/ which is following a consonant (e.g. کال - kāl, "year"; and نيا - nyā, "grandmother").
• ^2 Ten letters, ق ف ع ظ ط ض ص ح ﺫ ث, appear only in loanwords which are mostly of Arabic origin. Eight of these, ع ظ ط ض ص ح ﺫ ث, represent no additional phonemes of Pashto, and their pronunciation merges with other phonemes.
• ^3 ح /h/ tends to be omitted in pronunciation when at the end of a word, e.g. اصلاح is always pronounced as [isˡlɑ].
• ^4 The letter ړ represents /ɺ̢/ if it is not at the final position of a syllable; if it is final, it represents /ɻ/.
• ^5 The phoneme /f/ ف occurs only in loanwords. It tends to merge with /p/ پ.
• ^6 It is also common to write the letter ک as ك.
• ^7 It is also common to write the letter ګ as گ.
• ^8 In informal texts, ی as well as ې, ۍ and ئ are sometimes replaced by the letter ے, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• ^9 ی represents /ai/ when it is following a consonant (e.g. لرګی - largay, "wood"), and represents /j/ when it is following a vowel (e.g. دوی - duy, "they").
• ^10 The letter ئ represents /j/ after a vowel, e.g. جدائي - judāyī, "separation".
• ^11 It is also common to write ﺉ with the hamza over the right side of the letter - ٸ.

Historical letters now in disuse

The superscribed element of the letter ځ in earlier varieties was not hamza-shaped, but was very similar to little kāf of the letter ك.^[1] Such shape of the upper element of the letter is hard to find in modern fonts.

In the earliest known Pashto manuscript written in 1651 CE,^[2] 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: zwarakay, pēš, zēr, and zwar

The four diacritic marks are:

Diacritic	Unicode	Name	Translit.	IPA	Latin
َ	U+064E	zwar	a	[ɡ]	a
ٙ	U+0659	zwarakay	ə	[ə]	ə
ِ	U+0650	zer	i	[i]	i
ُ	U+064F	peš	u	[u]	u

Notes

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

"Ye" letters

"Ye"-letters in Pashto alphabet

Letter	Name	Transliteration	IPA	Position in a word	Example
ي	klaka ye	y, ī	[j], [i]	it can be anywhere	يم yəm ('I am')
ې	pasta ye	e	[e]	it is at middle or end	يې ye ('you (sing.) are')
ی	nārīna ye^1	ay when following a consonant	[ai]	it is always at end	ستوری storay ('star')
		y when following a vowel	[j]	it is always at end	دوى duy ('they')
ۍ	x̌əźīna ye^2	əi	[əi]	it is always at end	وړۍ waṛəi ('wool')
ئ	fāiliya ye^3	əi	[əi]	it is always at end	يئ yəi ('you (plur.) are')
		y	[j]	it is at middle	جدائي judāyī ('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 indicates the word it occurs in 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
• Perso-Arabic alphabet

Notes

1. Ivanov, Vladimir; Novgorodova, Irina. "L2/01-316. Arabic Letter Final/Isolated Kaf Sign" (PDF). www.unicode.org. Unicode, Inc.
2. D. N. MacKenzie, "A Standard Pashto", Khyber.org

References

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

External links

• Pashto phonetic keyboard