Pashto Abjad پښتوالفبې Pəx̌tó alfbâye
The 46 Pashto alphabet shown in boxes
Script type	Abjad
Time period	16th century–present
Direction	Right-to-left
Official script	Afghanistan, Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Languages	Pashto (incl. variousdialects)
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Nabataean Arabic Perso-Arabic Pashto Abjad
This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

ThePashto alphabet (Pashto:پښتو الفبې,romanized: Pəx̌tó alfbâye) is theright-to-leftabjad-basedalphabet developed from thePerso-Arabic script, used for thePashto language inPakistan andAfghanistan. It originated in the16th century through the works ofPir Roshan.

Pashto is written in the ArabicNaskh. Pashto uses all 28 letters of theArabic alphabet, and shares 3 letters (چ,پ, andژ) withPersian in the additional letters.

Pashto has several letters which do not appear in the Persian alphabet, which are shown in the table below:

All the additional characters are derived from existing Arabic letters by adding diacritics; for example, the consonantsx̌īn/ṣ̌īn andǵe/ẓ̌e look like Arabic'ssīn andre respectively with a dot above and beneath. Similarly, the letters representingretroflex consonants are written with a small circle (known as a "panḍak", "ğaṛwanday" or "skəṇay") attached underneath the correspondingdental consonants.

The consonant/ɡ/ is written as eitherګ orگ.

In addition to Persian vowels, Pashto hasئ,ې,ۀ, andۍ for additional vowels anddiphthongs.

Pashto employsstress:^[1] this can change the aspect of the verb and the meaning of the word. The Arabic alphabet does not show stress placement, but in transliteration it is indicated by the use ofacute accent diactric:´ over the vowel.

Example

Pashto has 45 letters and 4 diacritic marks. The Southeastern (SE) and Southwestern (SW), Northeastern (NE) and Northwestern (NW)dialects of Pashto are included.

• ^1 At the beginning of a word,آ (alif with madda) represents the long vowel/ɑ/ in words borrowed from other languages (e.g.آغاāğā́'agha'(a title).^[2] At the beginning of a word, the letterا (alif) represents the vowel/a/, e.g.,اَسْپَهáspa'mare'.^[3] In the middle or end of a word,ا‎ represents the long vowel/ɑ/ which is following a consonant (e.g.,کالkāl'year', andنْياnyā'grandmother').^[4][5] At the beginning of a word, the letter alif can also be used with a diactric mark [often not written] e.g.اِ (alif with a zer) as inاِسلامIslām'Islam'.^[6]
• ^2 Ten letters,ق ف ع ظ ط ض ص ح ﺫ ث, appear only in loanwords of Arabic origin borrowed through Persian. Eight of these,ع ظ ط ض ص ح ﺫ ث, represent no additional phonemes of Pashto, and their pronunciation is replaced with other phonemes.
• ^3ح/h/ tends to be omitted in pronunciation when at the end of a word, e.g.,اِصْلاحiṣlāḥ is always pronounced as[isˡlɑ].
• ^4 The letterړ represents/ɽ/^[7]
• ^5 The phoneme/f/ف occurs only in loanwords. It tends to be replaced with/p/پ.
• ^6 The phoneme/q/ق occurs only in loanwords. It tends to be replaced with/k/ک.
• ^7 It is also common to write the letterک asك.
• ^8 It is also common to write the letterګ as andگ.
• ^9 In informal texts,ی andې are sometimes replaced by the letterے, especially inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• ^10ی represents/aj/ when it is following a consonant (e.g.,لَرْګیlargay'wood'), and represents/j/ when it is following a vowel (e.g.,دُویْduy'they').
• ^11 The letterئ represents/j/ after a vowel, e.g.,جُدائِيjudāyi'separation'.
• ^12 It is also common to writeﺉ with the hamza over the right side of the letter –ٸ.
• ^13 The letterۀ is only represented at the end of a word, e.g.,تېرٙۀterə́'sharp'. The vowel/ə/, when present between consonants, is not represented by the letterۀ, but instead is omitted, e.g.,نٙنَوَتٙلnənawatə́l'to enter'.
• ^14 Some dialects also omit the letterغ in some words, e.g. consider the following words:
  • هغلته →هلته
  • دغه →دا
  • دغوے\دغوی →دوے\دوی
  • دغه سے\دغه سی →داسے\داسی
  • دغه هومره →دومره
  • دغلته →دلته
• ^15Nasalised vowels/̃/ appear in certain dialects such asBanisi/Banuchi andWaṇetsi. It is represented withں, e.g.,بُويْںbuĩ'smell' [in these dialects].^[8][9]

The superscribed element of the letterځ in earlier varieties was not hamza-shaped, but was very similar tolittle kāf of the letterك.^[10] Such shape of the upper element of the letter is hard to find in modern fonts.

Since the time ofBayazid Pir Roshan,ڊ (dāl with subscript dot) was used for/d͡z/, which was still used in the Diwan of Mirza written in 1690 CE,^[11] but this sign was later replaced byځ.

Another rare glyph for/d͡z/ isج࣪֗, a ج with the same dot about harakat.

The fourdiacritic marks are used:

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, like the words ملا - back (body part) and مُلا -Mullah.
• In Arabic loanwords, thetanwin fatha (ً) can be used, e.g.مَثَلاً – masalan, "for example".

Notes

• ^1 In Afghan orthography, this letter hasی shape, while in Peshawari orthography, its shape isے. If the letter follows a consonant in a word, it indicates the word is masculinesingular and in thedirect case. At the end of verbs it is used to form verbalparticiple in themasculine^[1].
• ^2 Ifۍ ends a word it always indicates that the word it occurs in is feminine.
• ^3 Ifئ occurs at the end of a verb, it indicates the verb is insecond person plural form.
• ^4 Ifې appears at end of nouns and adjectives it indicates that those are feminine. At the end of verbs it is used as verbal suffix^[2] and to form verbalparticiple in the feminine.^[3] It also ends certaincircumpositions^[4].
• ^5 Ifي occurs at the end of a verb, it indicates the verb is in third personplural present form. At the end of nouns and adjectives it indicates that the word is masculine in the singular oblique case, plural direct case. It also used in the non-declining adjective class.

There are broadly two standards for Pashto orthography, the Afghan orthography, which is regulated by theAcademy of Sciences of Afghanistan, and the Peshawar orthography of thePashto Academy inPeshawar. They used to be very similar in the past, until the orthography reforms were introduced in 1970s and 80s in Afghanistan. Both of them use additional letters:ټ ډ ړ ږ ښ ڼ ې ۍ‎.^[11] The Afghan standard is currently dominant due to the lack and negative treatment of Pashto education in Pakistan. Most writers use mixed orthography combining elements of both standards. In Pakistan, Pashto speakers who are not literate in their mother tongue often use Urdu alphabets.

The main differences between the two are as follows:^[12][13]

Word-final-y sound is denoted byے‎ letter in Pakistan and dotlessی‎ letter in Afghanistan. Word-final-i sound is denoted byي‎ letter in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pre-reform Afghan orthography usedی‎ for both cases, and some writers still often confuse them.

• ^ Also pronounceddəy in some dialects, and thus writtenدۍ‎ orدئ‎, chiefly in Afghanistan.

Word-final-a sound is denoted byه‎ in Peshawar orthography, while the-ə sound is denoted byۀ‎. Afghan orthography usesه‎ for both sounds.

The lettersگـ‎ andګـ‎ forg are considered variants of the same character. Both are widely used, but the Afghan official materials prefer theگ‎ form, while the Pakistani orthography sets a specific glyph forګ‎ which looks likeك‎ with a circle below. Most Arabic script fonts, however, only implement a form ofګ that looks likeک‎ with a circle.

Both standards prescribe the usage ofك‎ fork. In practice, however, even the official sources often use theک‎ form. Historically, the two are calligraphic variants of the same character,ك‎ is more common in modern Arabic, andک‎ is more common in Persian and Urdu. In Unicode they are split into two separate glyphs.

They- sound before aی‎-letter is written asئـ‎ in the Pakistani orthography and asيـ‎ in the Afghan orthography. Pre-reform Afghan orthography also usedئـ‎.

• ^ Alsoياسْت‎yāst in Southern Pashto.

Pakistani orthography usesکْښې‎ for the postpositionkx̌e "in". Afghan standard prefersکي‎. In most dialects, this postposition is pronouncedke orki, but the historical pronunciation, also found as a variant in some Southern Pashto dialects, iskṣ̌e. The verbal prefixکْښېـ‎ (as inکْښېناسْتٙل‎kenastəl orkṣ̌enastəl "to sit down") is still pronouncedkṣ̌e- in Southern Pashto andke- in Northern Pashto, but some Afghan authors may also spell it likeکيـ‎. On the other hand, words withخښ‎ combination, likeنٙخْښَه‎‎nәxṣ̌a "mark, sign",بٙخْښٙل‎bәxṣ̌әl "forgive, pardon", are written identically according to both standards, but some authors speaking Northern Pashto may write them according to their pronunciation:نٙښَه‎‎nәxa,بٙښٙل‎bәxәl.

In some auxiliary words like pronouns and particles, as well as in plural and oblique singular forms of feminine nouns, the Pakistani orthography usesې‎, while the Afghan orthography often usesي‎. It reflects the pronunciation of unstressed word-final-e in some Afghan dialects, particularly the Kandahari accent. Note also that the pronoun "you" is usually writtenتاسو‎tāso in Pakistan, reflecting the local dialects. In Afghanistan, this pronoun is writtenتاسي‎tāsi orتاسو‎tāso. In verbal prefixes likeپْرېـ‎pre-,کْښېـ‎kṣ̌e-/ke-, both standards useې‎.

The auxiliary verbشول‎ in passive constructions is often written without a space with the copula in the Afghan orthography. E.g.,لِیکٙلې شْوې دَه‎likәle šәwe da "is (fem.) written" may be spelledلِیکٙلې شْوېدَه‎ by some authors.

The potential/optative participles are written withـای‎-āy in Afghanistan (e.g.لِیکٙلای‎likəlāy "able to write"), and withـے‎-ay in Pakistan (لِیکٙلے‎likəlay). These participles are pronounced with-āy in Southern Pashto of Kandahar, but even the Kabuli writers who pronounce them with-ay useـای‎-āy to distinguish them from the past participles (لِیکٙلی‎\لِیکٙلے‎likəlay "written").

In both modern orthographies,matres lectionis (و‎ foro andu,ي‎ fori) should always be written in native Pashto words. Words likeتٙرُوږْمۍ‎tәruǵmәy "darkness, dark night",وْرُوسْتَه‎wrusta "after, behind" etc used to be and still sometimes are written asتٙرُږْمۍ‎‎ andوْرُسْتَه‎. The borrowed words should be written the way they were in the original languages:بُلْبُل‎bulbul "nightingale",گُل‎‎ orګُل‎gul "flower".

The phrasepә xayr "welcome", lit. "well, successfully" is written in two words in Afghanistan (پٙه خَیْر‎), but often as a single word in Pakistan (پٙخَیْر‎).

The Afghan orthography does not use a space in compound and suffixed words, while in Peshawar standard the letters should be disconnected without a space. Thezero-width non-joiner is used in such cases.

The archaic orthography may also be used in certain texts, before standardisation.

• ^ In different dialects, "we" and its derivatives are pronouncedمُونْږ‎mung orمُوږ‎mug/muẓ̌. Both types are found in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the Afghan tradition prefersمُوږ‎ after the Kandahari pronunciation.

Peshawar and Afghan standards also differ in the way they spell Western loanwords. Afghan spellings are influenced by Persian/Dari orthography, and through it often borrows French and German forms of the words, while Pakistani orthography is influenced by Urdu spellings of English words.

In the 16th century,Bayazid Pir Roshan fromWaziristanPakhtunkhwa invented the Roshani script to write Pashto. It had 41 letters:

28 of his letters came from theArabic alphabet. He introduced 13 new letters into the Pashto alphabet. Most of the new letters he introduced i.e.ګ ,ښ ,ړ ,ډ ,څ ,ټ andڼ are still written in the same form and are pronounced almost in the same way in modern Pashto. The sound system of thesouthern dialect of modern Pashto preserves the distinction between all the consonant phonemes of his orthography.

Pir Roshan also introduced the letterږ (rē with dot below and dot above) to represent/ʒ/, like the ⟨s⟩ inpleasure, for which modern Pashto usesژ instead. Modern Pashto uses the letterږ to represent the sound/ʐ/ (northern dialect:/g/), but for that sound, Pir Roshan used a letter looking like·د (dāl with central dot). His letterڊ (dāl with dot below) to represent/d͡z/ has been replaced byځ in modern Pashto. He also usedڛ (sīn with three dots below), an obsolete letter from the medievalNastaʿlīq script, to denote the letterس (representing/s/) only in the isolated form. The Arabic ligatureﻻ (lām-alif) was also used. Two of his letters,پ andچ, were borrowed from thePersian alphabet.

The following table (read from left to right) gives the letters' isolated forms, along with possible Latin equivalents and typical IPA values:

Waziristani has the following vowels:

These can potentially be romanised as:^[14]

In theMarwat dialect and in theKarlāṇi dialects presence ofnasalised vowels has been noted.^[15] As such the nasalised vowels be transcribed in the following ways:

It can also be transcribed as:

• Pre-Islamic scripts in Afghanistan

1.^ As 2nd Person Singular - example: ته کور ته ځې [you are going home]. And as Past Feminine 3rd Person Plural - example: هغوی ګډېدې [They (women) were dancing)

2.^ Example: پرې, پې, تر...پورې etc

3.^ Example: سړی تللی و [the man had gone]

4.^ Example: خځه تللې وه [the woman had gone]

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

• khyber.org^[usurped]
• pcgn.org.uk (PDF)
• loc.gov (PDF)
• abnea.com (PDF)
• eki.ee (PDF)
• Pashto English-English Pashto Dictionary Phrasebook Romanized (Nicholas Awde)

• Arabic alphabets
• Pashto
• Arabic alphabets for South Asian languages

• CS1 Pashto-language sources (ps)
• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles containing Pashto-language text
• Articles containing Arabic-language text