Pashtun script
The Pashtun script is a letter font for writing Pashto , a language belonging to the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and mainly spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan . Depending on how it is counted, it comprises 40 to 44 letters and is based on the Persian alphabet , which in turn is a modified form of the Arabic alphabet . Like Arabic , Pashtun is a pure cursive script and is written from right to left. Although the Pashtun language is not a standard varietyhas, a largely uniform orthography has developed in written usage throughout the language area . The origin of the script probably coincides with the beginnings of Pashtun literature in the 16th century, but its exact origins are unclear.
The evolution of writing
Pashto has a long literary tradition compared to other smaller South Asian languages. The oldest known document in the Pashtun language is a copy of a work by the Islamic mystic Bāyazid Ansāri, dated September 6, 1651 . The Chair al-Bayān (خیرالبیان- "The best revelation" ) titled collection of religious verses is written in four languages - besides Pashto also in Arabic , Persian and Punjabi . Bāyazid wrote the Chair al-Bayān about a century earlier and used a modified Arabic script for the Pashtun sections, but this was still different from today's Pashtun spelling.
It is not known whether Bāyazid used previously undiscovered older scripts when writing Chair al-Bayān or whether he was actually the first to write the Pashtun language. Choresm language manuscripts dated to the fourteenth century show related spellings of some Eastern Iranian phonemes , suggesting a common older tradition of the two scripts. However, these indications could not be clearly confirmed on the basis of the known manuscripts in the Pashtun language.
Documents that were occasionally mentioned in the literature as earlier scripts up to the middle of the 20th century and thus could have proven an older script tradition were subsequently classified as forgeries or incorrect dates. The Pata Chazāna (پټه خزانه- “The Hidden Treasure” ), which the Afghan literary scholar Abdul Hay Habibi claimed to have discovered in Kandahar in 1944. The text contains an anthology of Pashtun poetry supposedly written in 1729 , in which works by hitherto unknown poets are compiled, which date back to the eighth century. The entire manuscript as well as the older writings rumored in it are mostly classified as forgeries in Iranian studies .
The not primarily religious Pashtun literature dates back to the beginning of the 17th century and was founded by the Chattak clan , the most important representative of which was the poet Chushhāl Chān Chattak . Although the Chattaks Bāyazids were probably familiar with older scripts, they independently adapted the Persian alphabet and adapted it to the Pashtun phonemic system . The Chattaks are often mentioned as the founders of the modern Pashtun script, but the writing system they created, like Bāyazid's alphabet, did not correspond to the orthography used today. Their clan was located in the northeast of the Pashtun language area, but they probably spoke a coloring similar to today's southwestern dialect of Kandahar and based their writing system on it. This is cited as a possible explanation for the fact that to this day the Pashtun script is better adapted to the southwestern dialects than to the northern and eastern varieties .
The largely uniform modern orthography can be traced back to the 18th century. The earliest known document that was written in this orthography is a copy from Peshawar of a Dīwān by Ahmad Shāh Abdāli from the year 1750. At what time and under what circumstances this writing system, which is now often referred to as the standard orthography, is still being developed controversial.
Further modifications that were intended to increase the consistency of the spellings were made in 1936 when Pashto became an official language of Afghanistan. One of the most important changes was the introduction of two new letters, which subsequently became widely accepted not only in Afghanistan, but also in Pakistan. Since the end of the 19th century, the Arabic Nasch script has established itself as a writing style not only in print but also in manuscripts , although in the early days of the Pashtun script, some authors such as Bayāzid also adopted the Persian Nastaliq writing style with the Persian alphabet .
The letters of the alphabet
The Pashtun alphabet is based on the Persian-Arabic alphabet, which was widespread in the Pashtun language area due to the position of Persian as the lingua franca and the predominant written language. As in many writing systems based on the Arabic alphabet , letters representing only Arabic sounds have not been rededicated out of respect for the holy script of the Koran . Instead, the Persian-Arabic alphabet was largely adopted unchanged and new modified letters were added to the writing of specifically Pashtun phonemes.
Overall, the alphabet has been expanded by 16 letters compared to the Arabic basic alphabet, four of which are already included in the Persian script. Eight of the additional letters are used exclusively in the Pashtun script to represent the phonemes that do not exist in Arabic or Persian. Four of the newly created letters represent the retroflex sounds typical of Pashtun and were derived from existing letters by adding a small circle, the so-called pandak . The retroflex nasal was not assigned its own letter until 1936 with the Afghan script reform. Previously, the sound was represented by the digraph نړ, which was composed of the letters Nun and Rre . The other retroflex letters, however, have been used since the standardization of the script in the 18th century.
The letters Dze and Tse were introduced to spell the two alveolar affricates . Originally, both voiced and unvoiced affricates were represented by the same character, which was derived from the Arabic jim by the addition of three dots. A written differentiation of the two sounds did not take place until the reform of 1936. The three dots were replaced by a Hamza symbol to represent the voiced affricates . The other two newly created Pashtun letters Ssin and Zze are written with a point above and below the Arabic basic form. They are characterized by an extremely dialect-dependent pronunciation and are therefore called Xin and Ge in some regions. This dialect dependency also affects the pronunciation of the letters Dze and Tse to a lesser extent.
There are also additional modified forms of the Arabic Je (ي) to differentiate the vowel endings that are important for Pashtun grammar . In addition, the spelling of some letters has been slightly modified compared to Arabic. There is no consensus in the literature as to the extent to which the five variants of each represent independent letters, so that the number of letters in the Pashtun alphabet is given as 40 to 44, depending on the perspective.
Like all Arabic-based scripts, Pashtun is an italic font, the letters are combined with the following character both in print and in handwriting. The letters therefore appear in four forms - initial, medial, final and isolated form - depending on whether they are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word or individually. Ten letters cannot be connected to the left and therefore do not have an initial or medial form.
The alphabet
The classification of the additional letters in the Persian-Arabic alphabet is largely uniform in the literature, only in terms of the order within the basic form of the jim (ج) building group there are slight deviations. The order of the alphabet tabulated here follows the Pashto to Pashto Descriptive Dictionary of the Department of Linguistics of the Afghan Academy of Sciences , the authoritative standard reference work for the Pashtun language. The pronunciation given in the table is based on the southwestern dialect of Pashtun, the so-called Kandahari, which is usually assumed to be the standard written language.
| Surname | pronunciation |
Transliteration according to RAK |
Phonetic spelling | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alif | long open a | - | [ ɒ ] | ا / آ (a) | ـا | - | - | |
| Be | b | b | [ b ] | ب | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | |
| Pe | p | p | [ p ] | پ | ـپ | ـپـ | پـ | Persian letter |
| Te | t | t | [ t ] | ت | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | |
| Tte | retroflexes t | t́ | [ ʈ ] | ټ | ـټ | ـټـ | ټـ | Pashtun letter |
| Se | voiceless s | ṯ | [ s ] | ث | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | only in loan words |
| Jim | voiced j | ǧ | [ dʒ ] | ج | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | |
| Che | voiceless ch | č | [ tʃ ] | چ | ـچ | ـچـ | چـ | Persian letter |
| Dze | voiced dz (d) | c | [ dz ] (d) | ځ | ـځ | ـځـ | ځـ | Pashtun letter |
| Tse | voiceless ts (d) | ć | [ ts ] (d) | څ | ـڅ | ـڅـ | څـ | Pashtun letter |
| Hey | h , between h and ch (e) | H | [ h , ħ ] (e) | ح | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | only in loan words |
| Che | like in Bach | H | [ x ] | خ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | |
| Dāl | d | d | [ d ] | د | ـد | - | - | |
| Ddāl | retroflexes d | d́ | [ ɖ ] | ډ | ـډ | - | - | Pashtun letter |
| Zāl | voiced s | ḏ | [ z ] | ذ | ـذ | - | - | only in loan words |
| re | rolled r | r | [ r ] | ﺭ | ـﺭ | - | - | |
| Rre | retroflex rolled r | ŕ | [ ɽ ] | ړ | ـړ | - | - | Pashtun letter |
| Ze | voiced s | z | [ z ] | ﺯ | ـﺯ | - | - | |
| Že | j as in journal | ž | [ ʒ ] | ژ | ـژ | - | - | Persian letter |
| Zze, Ge | retroflexes j as in Journal (d) | ẓ̌ | [ ʐ ] (d) | ږ | ـږ | - | - | Pashtun letter |
| Sin | voiceless s | s | [ s ] | ﺱ | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | |
| Shin | sch | š | [ ʃ ] | ﺵ | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | |
| Ssin, Xin | retroflexes sch (d) | ś | [ ʂ ] (d) | ښ | ـښ | ـښـ | ښـ | Pashtun letter |
| Swād | voiceless s | ṣ | [ s ] | ص | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | only in loan words |
| Zwād | voiced s | ḍ | [ z ] | ﺽ | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | only in loan words |
| Twe | t | ṭ | [ t ] | ﻁ | ـﻁ | ـﻁـ | ﻁـ | only in loan words |
| Two | voiced s | ẓ | [ z ] | ﻅ | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | only in loan words |
| Ayn | Crackling before vowels | ʿ | [ ʔ ] | ﻉ | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | only in loan words |
| Ghain | similar to the German palate r | G | [ ɣ ] | غ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | |
| Fe | p , f (e) | f | [ p , f ] (e) | ف | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | only in loan words |
| Qaf | k , hard throat sound (e) | q | [ k , q ] (e) | ق | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | only in loan words |
| Coffee | k | k | [ k ] | ک | ـک | ـكـ | كـ | Persian spelling |
| Gāf | G | G | [ g ] | ګ | ـګ | ـګـ | ګـ | Persian letter |
| Lam | l | l | [ l ] | ل | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | |
| Mim | m | m | [ m ] | م | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | |
| Now | n | n | [ n ] | ن | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | |
| Just | retroflexes n | ṇ | [ ɳ ] | ڼ | ـڼ | ـڼـ | ڼـ | Pashtun letter |
| Wāw | English w , u , o | w | [ w, u, o ] | و | ـو | - | - | |
| Hey | h , a | H | [ h , -a ] | ه | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | |
| Ever | j , -ai | y | [ y , -ay ] | ى | ـى | ـيـ | يـ | |
| Sachta Je | long i | ī | [ i ] | ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ | |
| Pasta Je | long e | ē | [ e ] | ې | ـې | ـېـ | ېـ | |
| Schadzina Je | egg | ey | [ -əy ] | ۍ | ـۍ | - | - | |
| Fe'li Je | egg | ey | [ -əy ] | ٸ | ـٸ | - | - |
Pronunciation of the letters
For some letters the pronunciation depends on the position and the connection with other letters, e.g. B. this applies to و (Wāw) or ا (Alif). Other letters, e.g. B. the ب (Be), are always pronounced the same regardless of their position. Short vowels (a, i, u, ə) are not written out within a word except for ـه (a, ə) at the end of the word (see vocalization ). Some Arabic letters , such as the ط (Ṭā) , have their own phoneme in the Arabic language , whereas in Pashtun these letters from Arabic loanwords have an identical sound to other letters (e.g. ت is pronounced like ط). The spelling (orthography) has also changed in some cases, e.g. B. both کندهار (Kandāhar) and قندهار (Qandāhar) "Kandahar" can be found or وقت and وخت (waxt) "time".
ا (Alif) is a long a in the middle and at the end of a word. If Alif is to represent a long a at the beginning of the word, a Madda is placed above Alif آ. To represent the vowels and diphthongs at the beginning of a word, Alif is used alone (a, u, i) or in conjunction with other vowel signs (ay or long i, e, long o or u or au).
| Alif ا | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| اـ or ـا (ā- or -ā-) | بابا (bābā) | father |
| باب (bāb) | chapter | |
| آ (ā) | آبتاب (ābtāb) | shine |
| اـ (a, u or i) | ارت (kind) | wide |
| اردو (urdu) | army | |
| انګلستان (inglistān) | England | |
| اوـ (u, o or au) | اوچت (učat) | high |
| اوبه (obә) | water | |
| او (au) | and | |
| ایـ (ay or i) | ایران (irān) | Iran |
| ایوان (aywān) | Stem | |
| اېـ (e) | اېلکترونیک (electronics) | electronics |
The letter ب (Be) is like the German B in the tree or leaf , پ (Pe) like the German P in platinum and ف (Fe) like the German F, e.g. B. in pen . Colloquially, ف (Fe) is sometimes pronounced like a پ (Pe).
| ب (Be), پ (Pe) and ف (Fe) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ب (Be) | بابا (bābā) | father |
| باب (bāb) | chapter | |
| پ (Pe) | پت (pat) | honor |
| ف (Fe) | فرار (firār) | Escape |
| دفاع (difā ') | defense | |
The letters ت (Te) and ط (Tā) are phonetically identical and, like the German T, z. B. in training or smooth , pronounced. The letter د (Dāl) corresponds to a voiced German D, e.g. B. in roof or duration .
| ت (Te), ط (Tā) and د (Dāl) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ت (Te) | بت (but) | idol |
| ثبت (sabt) | Registration | |
| ط (Tā) | طالب (talib) | Koran students |
| طب (tibb) | medicine | |
| خطر (xatar) | danger | |
| د (Dāl) | دد (dad) | (wild animal |
| بد (bad) | bad | |
| تجدد (tajaddud) | renovation | |
The letters ث (Se), س (Sin) and ص (Sād) are phonetically identical and are pronounced like the German unvoiced S, for example in smog .
| ث (Se) and س (Sin) ص (Sād) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ث (Se) | ثابت (sābit) | stable |
| ثلث (sols) | one-third | |
| س (Sin) | درس (dars) | lesson |
| ص (Sād) | صبر (sabr) | patience |
| شخص (šaxs) | person | |
The letter ج (Dschim) is like Dsch in jungle , چ (Tsche) like Tsch / Tch in Gärtchen , ځ (Dze) like voiced dz / ds (see d͡z ), څ (Ce) like the German Z in tongue , ح ( He) like the German H in Haus and خ (Xe) like the German Ch in laughter or krachen pronounced. For ځ (Dze) one also finds څ or a ج with a point in the middle above the vertical line in older literatures.
| ج (Dschim), چ (Tsche), ځ (Dze), څ (Ce), ح (He) and خ (Xe) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ج (Dschim) | جارو (jārú) | Brooms, vacuum cleaners |
| حج (hajj) | Pilgrimage to Mecca | |
| چ (Che) | پاچا (pāčā) | King, ruler |
| چاپ (cāp) | (Book) printing | |
| ځ (Dze) | ځبځب (dzabdzáb) | crushed |
| ځای (dzay) | Place | |
| څ (Ce) | څا (cā) | Fountain |
| ح (He) | حجت (hujjat) | document |
| خ (Xe) | تاخت (tāxt) | gallop |
| تخت (taxt) | throne | |
The letters ذ (Zāl), ز (Ze), ظ (Zā) and ض (Zād) are phonetically identical and are pronounced like the voiced German S, e.g. B. in blessing or lawn .
| ذ (Zāl), ز (Ze), ظ (Zā) and ض (Zād) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ذ (Zāl) | ذات (zāt) | Essence |
| ذبح (zabh) | Sacrifice | |
| ز (Ze) | راز (rāz) | Art |
| باز (bāz) | Falcon | |
| ظ (Zā) | حظ (hazz) | enjoyment |
| ظرف (zarf) | Containers, dishes | |
| ض (Zād) | رضا (rizā) | consent |
| حاضر (hāzir) | present | |
The letter ر (Re) is the German tongue R, as it is z. B. in Switzerland or Bavaria is common, z. B. in me or turf , on the other hand, the غ (Ghayn) is pronounced like the high German palate R, z. B. in lawn or rich .
| ر (Re) and غ (Ghayn) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ر (Re) | جار (jār) | Victim |
| چتر (čatr) | umbrella | |
| غ (Ghayn) | غرض (gharaz) | intention |
| جغ (jugh) | yoke | |
The letter ش (Schin) is like the German voiceless Sch, such as B. in writing or fish . The letter ژ (Že) like the voiced Sch, e.g. B. in genius or in the English word pleasure .
| ش (Schin) and ژ (Že) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ش (Schin) | زشت (zišt) | ugly |
| تشبث (tašabbus) | initiative | |
| ژ (Že) | ژر (žәr) | fast |
| ژوبڼ (žobáṇ) | zoo | |
The letter ع (Ayn) is a crackling sound in the throat. This letter is also used in German pronunciations, but there is no German letter for it. Words such as As the eighth-be have between loading and -Be or eight at the beginning of a glottal stop (see voiceless glottal plosive ). Words of Arabic origin often have a hamza (همزه) ء in the middle position and are pronounced as ع, e.g. B. أ or ؤ.
| ع (Ayn) and ء (Hamza) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ع (Ayn) | ربع (rub ') | quarter |
| عبارت ('ibārat) | Phrase | |
| ء (Hamza) | مؤلف (mu'allif) | author |
| تائید (ta'jid) | Affirmation | |
The letter ک or ﻙ (Kāf) corresponds to the German K in bait or hook , ق (Qāf) corresponds to the letter Q, i.e. a K that is pronounced with the throat, e.g. B. the English word cut or quran and ګ or گ (Gāf) corresponds to the German G, z. B. in bile or put .
| ک or ﻙ (Kāf), ق (Qāf) and ګ or گ (Gāf) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ک or ﻙ (Kāf) | کشر (kәšr) | younger |
| پاک (pāk) | purely | |
| ق (Qāf) | قطع (qat ') | cut off |
| قرار (qarār) | Definition | |
| ګ or گ (Gāf) | ګدا (gadā) | beggar |
| ګردش (gardiš) | walk | |
The letter ل (Lām) corresponds to the German L z. B. in Leben , م (Mim) the German M in Morgen and ن (Nun) the German N z. B. in fog .
| ل (Lām), م (Mim) and ن (Nun) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ل (Lām) | لندن (landan) | London (city) |
| بلخ (balx) | Balch (city) | |
| م (Mim) | معلم (mu'allim) | Teacher |
| ظلم (zulm) | oppression | |
| ن (Well) | مانع (māni ') | disturbing |
| نادان (nādān) | ignorant | |
The letter و (Wāw) has different pronunciations (w, o and u) depending on its positions and combinations with other letters. In the initial position it is a German W, e.g. B. as in cloud , in the middle and end position a German O or U z. B. like piston or call. If اوـ is at the beginning of a sentence, then it is an o, u or au (see above ا (Alif)). A W in the middle or at the end of a word can be formed by combining it with other vowels and also depends on the word structure, e.g. B. وا (wā), وېـ (we), ويـ (wi) and وو (wu).
| و (Wāw) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| و (Wāw) | ور (was) | door |
| لاجورد (lājward) | Glaze stone | |
| لو (lukewarm) | harvest | |
| موج (mauj) | wave | |
| روغتون (roghtún) | hospital | |
The letter ه (He), like و (Wāw), has different functions. Phonetically it corresponds to He (He) (in Arabic, ح is distinguished from ه phonetically), i.e. the German H, e.g. B. in Heinrich . At the end of the word, if ه (He) is not connected, it is also pronounced like a German H, e.g. B. شاه (šāh). The end position ـه, however, is used as a short a or ә. Feminine words and Arabic loanwords often have this ending. Occasionally, instead of the usual Naschī style , one finds the Nastaliq style for the ه (He) z. B. the end position ـہ.
| ه (He) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ه (He) | مهندس (muhandis) | engineer |
| بهشت (bihišt) | paradise | |
| هرات (herāt) | Herat (city) | |
| خوله (xula) | mouth | |
| راخاته (rāxātә́) | sunrise | |
The different ye's have different functions. The letter ي (harte Ye, sakhta Ye, سخته يې) is pronounced like the German J or Y in the initial position ي,, e.g. B. in year or yacht . In addition, it can represent an I in the end position. The ی (Nārina Ye, masculine Ye, نارينه يې) represents the diphthong -ay in the end position as ـی, pronounced similarly to the English AY, e.g. B. as in lay or way . This ending represents the masculine gender in nouns and adjectives and is therefore referred to as masculine Ye.
The letter ې (the soft Ye, pasta Ye, پسته يې) corresponds in the middle and end positions to the German long E, z. B. in rain . With Alif اېـ it can represent an E in the first syllable of a word. However, these rules are not mandatory. B. for in ... different spellings before په ... کی, به ... کې and په ... کي, but all three forms have the same meaning. On the one hand, this may be due to the lack of a clear spelling agreement, and on the other, to the individual spelling of the author and the dialect. Another example is the words ḍer much ډېر (with soft ye) and ډير (with hard ye).
The feminine Ye ۍ (-әy) (feminine Ye, schadzina Ye, ښځينه یې) is used for the feminine ending, which occurs as an ending in feminine words . Instead of the female Ye ۍ, verbs with the personal ending in the second person plural are represented by a Ye with Hamza, the ئ (-әy) (کړواله يې or فعلیه یې, the verbal Ye).
| ی (ye), ي (hard ye), ې (soft ye), ۍ (feminine ye) and ئ (verbal ye) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ی (ye) or ي (hard ye) | چای (čāy) | Brooms, vacuum cleaners |
| غزني (ghazni) | Ghazni (city) | |
| پيغام (payghām) | Embassy | |
| تغییر (taghyir) | change | |
| یا (ya) | or | |
| ې (soft ye) | دې (de) | (of this |
| بې ترتیب (be-tartib) | messy | |
| دېرش (derš) | thirty | |
| ۍ (female ye) | سپۍ (spәy) | female dog |
| نجلۍ (njәlә́y) | girl | |
| څوکۍ (cokә́y) | chair | |
| ئ (verbal ye) | دئ (dәy) | (he is |
| ئئ (yәy) | (you are | |
There are six retroflex sounds formed by pulling the tongue back towards the roof of the mouth before pronouncing. The retroflexed letters ټ (Tte), ډ (Ddāl) and ړ (Rre) correspond to the English consonants and are accordingly often used for English technical terms. Examples are B. time , dine and red . The retroflex letter ڼ (Nur or Nnun) is slightly nasalized and does not appear at the beginning of the word. In the Eastern dialect you will occasionally find the expression نړ (Nur) for the letter ڼ (Nur or Nnun). The peculiarity of the southwest group (Kandahari dialect) is that the retroflex letters ږ (Zze) and ښ (Ssin) have their origin there and are also pronounced retroflex there. This gives the south-west group a softer and gentler character, whereas the north-east group pronounces ښ as خ and ږ as ګ and thus has a harsh and rough character.
| ټ (Tte), ډ (Ddāl), ړ (Rre), ڼ (Nur), ږ (Zze) and ښ (Ssin) | ||
| Letter | Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| ټ (Tte) | ټيکټ (ṭikaṭ) | Ticket, travel ticket |
| سټشن (sṭešn) | Station, station | |
| ډ (Ddāl) | ډاکټر (ḍākṭár) | doctor |
| ډوډۍ (ḍoḍәy) | loaf | |
| ړ (Rre) | لمړی (lumṛay) | first |
| زړه (zṛә) | heart | |
| ڼ (only) | مشواڼي (mәšwāṇә́y) | Inkwell |
| مڼه (maṇá) | Apple | |
| ږ (Zze) | خوږ (xoẓ̌) | sweet |
| لږ (lәẓ̌) | a little | |
| ښ (Ssin) | څښل (cṣ̌el) | drink |
| غاښ (ghāṣ̌) | tooth | |
There are some special features to note: The combination نب (nb) is pronounced as mb , e.g. B. تنبل (tambal) lazy ; sluggish . For words of Arabic origin, the ی is pronounced as ā in the final position (see Alif maqsūra ی ).
| ی as ā in Arabic loanwords | |
| Word Example (Afghan) | translation |
|---|---|
| حتی (hattā) | even |
| شوری (also شورا) (šurā) | Council, Parliament |
| يحيی (yahyā) | Yahya (name) |
typography
The Persian Gaf for spelling the g-sound is usually used in a variant peculiar to Pashtun ګ used, but the original Persian form is occasionally used گmaintained. For the Kaf will take the Persian spellingک often also the Arabic character كused. The letters Lamلand Alifاusually become the ligature that also exists in Persian and Arabic لاconnected. A following a Lam Mimمis also represented by a special Pashtun ligature. However, the other ligatures of the Arabic or Persian script are not used. This often causes problems when using computer fonts, as these are mostly developed by non-Pashto speakers on the basis of Arabic and Persian scripts and automatically insert Persian-Arabic ligatures.
Vocalization
To display short vowels , the diacritical system that is used in Arabic in the Koran and occasionally in other contexts such as textbooks and for writing loan words has been adopted and a fourth vowel mark has been added. The so-called Zwarakay is a horizontal line above the letter and features a short e, called the schwa [ ə ] . The vocalization marks are used even less often in Pashtun than in Arabic.
In addition, the letters Alif, Wāw and Je , which originally represented consonants, as well as the bare He are also used to write vowel sounds. Afghan linguists therefore refer to them as auxiliary letters (امدادي حروف, imdādi huruf ). Based on the Arabic orthography, Alif, Waw and Je represent long vowels and diphthongs , while the He is used to write short vowel endings that cannot be identified by diacritical marks. This different spelling of short and long vowels is not always used consistently, unlike in Arabic. Shortly pronounced vowels are increasingly written using the letters Wāw and Je.
In contrast to the Wāw and Je, the consonant function of the Alif is only recognizable in the typeface: A simple Alif at the beginning of the word serves as a carrier symbol without its own phonetic value for three of the vocalization symbols, which are practically never written out; the Zwarakay does not appear at the beginning of the word. In addition, it precedes the Waw and Je at the beginning of the word as a dummy letter if they represent long vowels. This mute alif is merely an orthographic convention adopted from Arabic, since the consonant sound value of the glottal beat assigned to the alif in Arabic and Persian does not exist in Pashtun. If the alif at the beginning of the word is not mute, but represents the long vowel ā, it is indicated by an attached Madda . As in Arabic, the Alif Madda is explained as a ligature made up of two consecutive Alifs.
The variants of the Je
The Pashtun alphabet contains a total of five letters that are based on the form of the Arabic Je and, with the exception of the j sound, generally represent vowels. The vowel intonation in Pashtun is, however, very dialect-dependent, so that the sound values given are only approximations to the actual pronunciation.
With the Persian alphabet, the Persian variant of Je was also adopted without the two diacritical points in the final position. The original Arabic form is also used and is often called Sachta Je (سخته يې- “Hard Je” ). The simple Persian Je usually takes on a consonant function with the sound value [j] , while the Arabic Je represents the long vowel [i] . However, this delimitation is by no means uniform, the two forms are often used interchangeably. In the initial and medial form, they are indistinguishable anyway.
Three own Pashtun variants were created to enable the writing of the endings - [e] and - [əy], which are important for Pashtun grammar. The long [e] is represented by a je with two diacritical points placed one above the other instead of next to one another. This letter is mostly majhula je (مجهوله يې- "Unknown Je" ) because it does not appear in other Arabic-based scripts. In addition, the term Pasta Je (پسته يې- “soft Je” ) used to distinguish it from the Sachta Je representing the long i. The other two forms have very special functions: each with an additional downward stroke is used to write the ending [- əy ] of certain feminine nouns . This letter is therefore called Ṣchadzina Je (ښځينه يې- called "feminine je" ). For the similarly pronounced ending of verbs in the 2nd person plural, however, a Je with the Hamza symbol attached is used for both genera , the so-called Fe'li Je (فعلي يې- "verbal je" ).
By adding the different Je variants, there are significantly more options for writing vowels in Pashtun than in Arabic or Persian. This is reinforced by the tendency to use the Wāw and the Sachta Je, contrary to traditional orthography, to also write short vowels.
Different spellings of the vowel endings
In Pakistan, especially in the Peshawar region, there are occasional discrepancies in the spelling of some final vowels. These spellings are therefore sometimes called Peshawar orthography . For the case of the long e while the pasta is depending the the instead Urdu alphabet borrowed Bari The (ے) is used. In addition, in cases in which it represents a short vowel end instead of the consonant h, the bare He is replaced by a Hamza sign (ۀ) marked. Ṣchadzina Je and Fe'li Je are also less common with a Bari Je with a Hamza (ۓ) replaced.
Borrowed and Elegant Phonemes
Ten of the 44 letters represent sounds foreign to Pashtun and appear exclusively in Arabic or Persian loan words. They will therefore become Arabic letters (عربی حروف, arabi huruf ) or borrowed sounds , the remaining 34 characters as base sounds (اصلي آوازونه, asli āwāzuna ) or true letters (صحیح حروف, sahih huruf ). Many educated Pashtuns try three of the borrowed letters - Ḥeح, Feفand Qafق- to pronounce according to their original sound value in Arabic. Most speakers simply substitute their sound value with familiar Pashtun phonemes. These three sounds are therefore also known as elegant phonemes . The remaining seven borrowed characters are only allographs and do not represent any additional phonemes in Pashtun. They are pronounced with the closest Pashtun equivalent of the original Arabic sound value. This leads to an over-representativity of the Pashtun script. Depending on the dialect, there are four to six letters with the sound value [s] and three or four letters with the sound value [z].
The linguist Herbert Penzl described the upscale pronunciation of the elegant phonemes as hyperurbanism , as literal pronunciation, which, against the background of the low literacy of the Pashtun-speaking areas, is only intended to emphasize one's own command of the written language.
Frequency of letters
In 2007 a frequency analysis of the letters of the Pashtun alphabet was carried out for the first time under the auspices of the Afghan Ministry of Communications . The accuracy of the results was limited by the inconsistent spelling of individual letters as well as the limited and unbalanced text corpus available . The most commonly used letter of the Pashtun alphabet is therefore the Waw with a relative frequency of about 12%, followed by the Alif with about 10%, the bare He with 8.5% and the Arabic form of Je with just under 8% relative frequency. However, if all five variants of the Je are combined, this is the most frequently used character with 16.5%. With a relative frequency of a good 1%, the most widely used purely Pashtun letter is the retroflex Rre.
The controversy surrounding the origin of modern orthography
The pronunciation of Pashto is regionally and tribal-dependent very differentiated, a standard variety does not exist. But despite the variety of very different dialects that have not yet been fully researched, there is a largely uniform orthography that reproduces the phoneme inventory in the Kandahar region:
“The standard Pashto orthography follows the phonemic distinctions as found in the Kandahar dialect. Even the speakers of dialects where the number [of] phonemes differs from the Kandahar dialect use this standard orthography when they write. Even in their dialect, eg, as in Peshawar, zz has coalesced with g, ss with kh, dz with z, ts with s, they accept the Kandahar orthography as standard and try to make its phonemic distinctions in writing. "
“The standard Pashtun orthography follows the phonemic differentiations as they occur in the Kandahar dialect. Even speakers of dialects whose phoneme number differs from the Kandahar dialect use this standard orthography when writing. Even if zz and g, ss and kh, dz and z as well as ts and s coincide in their dialect, for example in the Peshawars, they recognize the Kandahar orthography as the standard and try to understand its phonetic delineations when writing. "
Such a standard orthography is made possible by the fact that the Pashtun dialects hardly differ morphologically, but only phonetically. Therefore, the different varieties are mostly classified based on the pronunciation of the individual letters. Conversely, an attempt was made to infer the genesis of the Pashtun script by comparing the orthography with the various dialects. The four consonants Tse play a prominent roleڅ, Dze ځ, Ssin ښ and Zze ږwhose regional sound shift is particularly pronounced. The illustrated division of the pronunciations into four basic dialects follows the Iranian David Neil MacKenzie and was also represented by Michael MT Henderson and Oktor Skjærvøund .
| Letter | pronunciation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest ( Kandahar ) |
Southeast ( Quetta ) |
Northwest ( Ghazni ) |
Northeast ( Peshawar ) |
|
څ |
[ ts ] | [ ts ] | [ s ] | [ s ] |
ځ |
[ dz ] | [ dz ] | [ z ] | [ z ] |
ښ |
[ ʂ ] | [ ʃ ] | [ ç ] | [ x ] |
ږ |
[ ʐ ] | [ ʒ ] | [ j ] | [ g ] |
The different pronunciations of the Ssin ښare, in addition to the lack of a standardized transliteration system, the reason for the variety of Latin transcriptions for the word Pashto (پښتو): The Kandaharis speak [ pəʂto ], the people of Quetta talk to [ pəʃto ], living in the northwest of the language area Pashtuns to [ pəçto ], while in Peshawar [ paxto spoken]. In non-academic transcription, these pronunciations correspond to such different spellings as Pashto , Pachto , Paxto or - based on English - Pukhto .
The correspondence between the script and the southwestern dialect can be traced on the basis of the pronunciation shifts of the four letters: While in the Kandahari dialect all four letters represent sounds that are foreign to both Arabic and Persian, the phonemes assigned to the characters in the northeastern varieties are already used fully covered by the Persian-Arabic alphabet. This correspondence is considered to be the most important reference to an origin of the Pashtun script in the Kandahar region.
However, the Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne objected that in the 16th century the differentiation of sounds was probably still present in the north-eastern dialects. Neil MacKenzie also referred to the different orthography of the oldest Pashto document by Bāyazid Ansāri, which can also be found in other Pashtun scripts up to the end of the 17th century, as well as a spelling of the vowels in modern orthography, especially the final diphthongs, which are earlier correspond to the north-east as the south-west phonetics.
MacKenzie therefore postulated a standard variety of Pashtun spoken up to the 18th century, which connected the southwest consonant system with the vowel phonetics of the northeast dialects. He suspects this variety, which he calls the standard Pashto and from which today's dialects are said to have developed, as the basis of the Pashtun script in the 17th century. Ultimately, however, the origin and development of the Pashtun orthography could not be clarified, since historical sources in the Pashtun language are neither old enough nor are sufficient numbers available.
further reading
- Herbert Penzl: Orthography and Phonemes in Pashto (Afghan). In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 74, no. 2, 1954, ISSN 0003-0279 , pp. 74-81.
- David Neil MacKenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner, Nicholas Sims-Williams (Eds.): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1997, ISBN 0-7286-0272-5 , pp. 137-143.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annemarie Schimmel : Islam in the Indian Subcontinent (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Dept. 2: India. Vol. 4: Religions. Section 3). Brill, Leiden et al. 1980, ISBN 90-04-06117-7 , p. 146 f.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner, Nicholas Sims-Williams (Eds.): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1997, p. 138 ff.
- ^ Annemarie Schimmel: The Empire of the Great Mughals. History, Art and Culture. Translated by Corinne Atwood. Reaction Books, London 2004, ISBN 1-86189-185-7 , pp. 250 f.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner, Nicholas Sims-Williams (Eds.): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1997, pp. 140 f.
- ↑ Habibullah Tegey, Barbara Robson: A Reference Grammar of Pashto. Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC 1996, p. 39.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner, Nicholas Sims-Williams (Eds.): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1997, p. 140.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner, Nicholas Sims-Williams (Eds.): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1997, p. 138.
- ↑ George Cardona, Dhanesh Jain (Ed.): The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge, London et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5 , p. 52.
- ^ Alan S. Kaye, Peter T. Daniels (Eds.): Phonologies of Asia and Africa. (Including the Caucasus). Volume 2. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake IN 1997, ISBN 1-575-06018-3 , p. 739.
- ↑ KHPALA PASHTO ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Pashto Alphabet - د پښتو الفبې - Review ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Pashto Alphabet ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Manfred Lorenz: Textbook of Pashto (Afghan). Leipzig 1982.
- ↑ Habibullah Tegey, Barbara Robson: A Reference Grammar of Pashto. Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC 1996, p. 37.
-
↑ Sadiqullah Rishtin: De Passtoo Keli . Volume 6, Kabul 1326 (1947) p. 1. f (In Pashto)
Sadiqullah Rishtin: De Passtoo Ishtiqaaquna aw Terkibuna . Kabul 1327 (1948), p. 3 (In Pashto)
Abdul Hay Habibi: De Passtoo Adabiaatu Taarikh . Volume 1, Kabul 1325 (1946), p. 112 f (In Pashto) - ↑ Herbert Penzl: Orthography and phoneme in Pashto (Afghan). In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 74, no. 2, 1954, p. 77.
- ^ Abdul Hay Habibi: De Passtoo Adabiaatu Taarikh . Volume 1, Kabul 1325 (1946), p. 113 (In Pashto)
-
↑ Muhammad 'Azam Ayaazi: De Passtoo Qawaa'id . Kabul 1324 (1945), p. 1 f (In Pashto)
Sadiqullah Rishtin: Passtoo Graamar dzhuz i awal . Kabul, Qaws 1327 (December 1948), pp. 4–10 (In Persian)
Abdul Hay Habibi: De Passtoo Adabiaatu Taarikh . Volume 1, Kabul 1325 (1946), p. 116 (In Pashto) - ↑ Herbert Penzl: Orthography and phoneme in Pashto (Afghan). In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 74, no. 2, 1954, p. 81.
- ↑ Habiburahman Najiullah, Hameedullah Sherani: Research Report on Pashto Keyboard Layouts . Pan Asia Localization / Afghan Ministry of Communication, Kabul 2008.
- ↑ Herbert Penzl: Standard Pashto and the Dialects of Pashto. In: Afghanistan. Vol. 14, No. 3, 1959, ZDB -ID 426664-x , pp. 8-14, here p. 12.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: A Standard Pashto. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol. 22, No. 1/3, 1959, ISSN 0041-977X , pp. 231-235.
- ^ Daniel G. Hallberg: Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri (= Clare F. O'Leary (Ed.): Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern. Vol. 4). National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Islamabad 1992, p. 10 f.
- ↑ Michael MT Henderson: Four Varieties of Pashto. In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 103, no. 3, 1983, pp. 595-597.
- ↑ Herbert Penzl: Orthography and phoneme in Pashto (Afghan). In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 74, no. 2, 1954, p. 10.
- ↑ Georg Morgenstierne : Report on a linguistic mission to north-western India (= Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning. Ser. C, Vol. 3, 1, ZDB -ID 582327-4 ). Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Oslo 1932, p. 17.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: A Standard Pashto. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol. 22, No. 1/3, 1959, p. 235.
- ↑ Herbert Penzl: Orthography and phoneme in Pashto (Afghan). In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 74, no. 2, 1954, p. 74.
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner, Nicholas Sims-Williams (Eds.): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London 1997, p. 143.
