Pashto (پښتو, also transliteratedPukhto orPushtu) is an East Iranic Indo-European language spoken natively by about 50 million people. It is one of the official languages ofAfghanistan and a regional language inWest andNorthwest Pakistan. In the days of theBritish Raj, Pashto speakers were referred to in English as Pathans.
Most of the phrases are written as they would be pronounced by people living in the area around Paktia, Logar, Kabul and Nangarhar. But if you travel south or east (towards Kandahar or Pakhtunkhwa), the regional dialects change certain speech sounds.
ə [ه ,ۀ ,زورکى]
a [ه ,زبر]
aa [ا]
i [زېر ,ي]
ē [ې]
u [پېش ,و]
o [و]
ay [ى]
əi [ئ ,ۍ]
b [ب]
ch [چ]
ts [څ]
d [د]
dd [ډ]
f [ف]
g [ګ ,ږ]
gh [غ]
h [ح ,ه]
j [ج]
dz [ځ]
k [ق ,ک]
kh [خ]
k'h [ښ]
l [ل]
m [م]
n [ن]
nn [ڼ]
p [ف ,پ]
q [ق]
r [ر]
rr [ړ]
s [ص ,ث ,س]
sh [ش]
t [ط ,ت]
tt [ټ]
w [و]
y [ي]
z [ض ,ظ ,ذ ,ز]
zh [ژ]
Below, (а) is for feminine:
Note: The first day of the week corresponds with Sunday of the planetary week.
The internationally accepted Gregorian calendar is commonly used by Pashtuns for day-to-day affairs (along with the two Islamic calendars). Below are the names of Gregorian months:
Afghans officially use the solarJalali calendar according to which all national holidays and administrative issues are fixed. The year of Prophet Muhammad's migration to Medina (622 CE) is fixed as the first year in the calendar.
The New Year always falls on the spring equinox (Gregorian March 21 or sometimes March 20). Each of the twelve months corresponds with a zodiac sign. The first six months have 31 days, the next five have 30 days, and the last (kab) has 29 days in usual years but 30 days in leap years. Pashto months are:
To date religious holidays and events, the lunarHijri calendar is used. Each of the 12 months can have either 29 or 30 days, and a year is 354 or 355 days long (i.e. shorter than a solar year). The lunar months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by about 11 days. Lunar months in Pashto are:
Dates are written asday.month.year (whereday,month andyear are numbers) or asmonth day year (wheremonth is written in the prepositional andday andyear are numbers). For example, Dec 8th, 2011 is written as ۸-۱۲-۲۰۱۱ (8-12-2011), or as د ديسمبر اتمه، ۲۰۱۱ (da disamber atema, 2011).
In informal speech, time uses the 12-hour format, commonly with descriptive phrases such asin the morning,in the afternoon,in the evening andat night. But in formal written communication, time uses the 24-hour format, e.g. 9:44PM is written as ۲۱:۴۴ (21:44).
The possession, sale and service of alcoholic beverages is illegal in Afghanistan.
| ThisPashto phrasebookhasguide status. It covers all the major topics for traveling without resorting to English.Please contribute and help us make it astar! |
