Pashtu Alphabet

There are forty-four characters in the Pashtu version of the Arabic

alphabet. The standard order is as follows.
Symbol

Letter Name

Roman symbol

Alif

/a/ in the beginning

/aa/ in the middle or end

Be

/b/
/p/

Pe

/t/
Te

/t/
Te

/s/
Se

/j/
Jim

/ch/
Che

/dz/
Dze

/ts/
Tse
/h/

He

/x/
Xe

/d/
Daal

/d/
Daal

Zaal

/z/

Re

/r/


Re

/r/

Ze

/z/

Zhe

/zh/

Zhe

/zh/

Sin

/s/

shin

/sh/

x-shin

/sh/

swaad

/s/

zwaad

/z/

twe

/t/

zwe

/z/

ain

/a/

ghain

/gh/

Fe

/f/

qaaf

/q/

kaaf

/k/

gaaf

/g/

laam

/l/

mim

/m/

nun

/n/


nun

/n/

wao

/w/ as consonant
/o/ or /u/ as vowel

He

/h/

Ye

/ay/, always used at the

end

Ye

/y/, as consonant
/i/, as vowel

Ye

/e/, used in the middle

and at the end only

Ye

/ai/, used at the end

only

Symbols presented in Groups

The first characters represent the vowel sound /aa/ or /a/.
vowel 1

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/aa/
/a/ or /aa/

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/b/
/p/
/t/
/t/
/s/

Group 1.
Group 1

Points to remember:
1. , represent slightly different sounds but in the script we will
use /t/ for both.
2. All these letters join in the same way.
Exercise 1: Repeat the following words.

baa baa
paa paa
taa taa
taa taa
saa saa
bab
pap
tat
tat
sas
babaa
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papaa
tataa
tataa
sasaa

Exercise 2: Match the words from column A with column B.

A

B
baa baa
baat
pab
paabat
baat

Group 2
Group 2

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/j/
/ch/
/dz/
/ts/
/h/
/x/

Points to remember:
1. All the letters in the group join in the same way.
2. /dz/ ( )has almost the same sound as /z/.
3. /ts/ ( )has almost the same sound as /s/.

Exercise 1: Repeat the following words after your teacher.

jaa jaa
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chaa chaa
dzab
tsab
hab
xat
chaj
bach
bajaa
bajaaj
taxaz

Exercise 2: Match the words from column A with column B.

A

B
baz
chaaj
khaataj
pas
haajat

Group 3.
Group 3

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/d/
/d/
/z/
/z/
/r/
/r/
/zh/
/g/

Points to remember:
1. These letters do not join with the letters following them.
2. The letters and are two variants of /d/.
3. The letters and are pronounced in the same way. The former
is rarely used.
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4. The letters and are variants of /r/.

5. The letters and are pronounced almost in the same way.
Before we make words from this group, we must introduce another
vowel .
vowel 2

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/o/ or /u/

Points to remember:
1. This letter is a consonant at the beginning of a word /w/.
2. As a vowel it represents /o/ or /u/ sound.
3. It follows the same joining rules as group 3 consonants.

Exercise 1: Repeat the following words after your teacher.

daad
daa daa
zor
xor
xuzh
dodaa
daa ru
baazaar
babar
ajar
bachu
wadud
xachar

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks in the Roman script.

x do
b do
ao
pb
batur

Group 4.
Group 4

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/s/
/sh/
/sh/
/s/
/z/

Points to remember:
1. The letters and are pronounced the same way. The latter
is used less frequently.
2. The letters and are pronounced similarly. The latter is
rarely used in personal names.
3. The letter is very rarely used.
Before forming words with these letters, we must introduce the third
set of vowels.
vowel 3

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/ay/
/i/
/e/
/ai/

Points to remember:
1. The letter only occurs at the end.
2. The letter is a consonant at the start of a word /y/.
3. No word starts with the letter .
4. The letter only occurs at the end.
Exercise 1: Repeat the following words after your teacher.
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sarod
sher
shaado
sabur
ziaa
saxi
saray
sare
spai
shide
yaasar

Exercise 2: Match the words from column A with column B.

A

B
storay
bashpar
shaar
razaa
sabar

Group 5
Group 5

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/t/
/z/
/a/ or //
/gh/
/f/
/q/

Points to remember:
1. All of the letters belonging to this group are pure Arabic letters,
so they do not occur very often in Pashto words, except those
borrowed from Arabic. However we will come across them in
personal names which have come from Arabic.
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2. The letter most of the times represents the sound in the

colloquial pronunciation of bottle
namely: bo?l

Exercise 1: Repeat the following words after your teacher.

toti
zafar
aarif
ghabi
faaruq
qesar

Exercise 2: Match the words from column A with column B.

A

B
faqir
azghay
tota
saat
gharib

Group 6
Group 5

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/k/
/g/
/l/
/m/
/n/
/n/

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Points to remember:
1. The letter is also written like
2. The letters and are variants of the sound /n/. No word starts
with the latter i.e. .

Exercise 1: Repeat the following words.

kalim
gaam
logar
mex
num
mane

Exercise 2: Match the words from column A with column B.

A
B

kamaal

qalam

mashaal

spalmai

kun

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Dual Character Letters

Group 7

Initial

Middle

Final

Roman
/w/ as
consonant
/o/ or /u/ as
vowel
/h/ as consonant
/a/ as vowel
/y/ as consonant
/i/ as vowel

Points to remember:
1. We have already done and . They have been given again for
the sake of revision.
2. The letter is always a consonant at the start of a word, but it
can also be a consonant in the middle .
3. Similarly the letter is always a consonant at the start of a
word, but it can also be a consonant in the middle.
4. The letter is a vowel only when it occurs at the end of a word.
Exercise 1: Repeat the following words after your teacher.

wazhma
zhawar
sur
harun
fahim
maalga
kota
yaaqut
12

zyaa

Exercise 2: Match the words from column A with column B.

A

B
wazir
yaqub
hagai
anwar
shaza

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Lesson 2
Joining the alphabets using Afghan names
How letters occur in the beginning, middle and end of a word.
1. Concentrate only on the letters under discussion, and their
structure according to where they occur in the word (names
in this case)
Independe
nt

Initial

Medial

Final

/atal/
/a/

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Note: 1. Letters in same colour join in the same way.

2. Some of the letters do not have any names starting
with them or containing them, but their joining method can be
learnt from other letters of the same group.

Points to remember
1. The letter does not occur in the middle or end of names.
2. Some of the letters do not join with their following letters, these
are as follows

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3. No word starts with , i.e. /e/ but it can occur in the middle
as well as end.
4. Letters i.e. /ay/ and i.e. /ai/ only occur at the end of
words.
5. The letter is always a consonant i.e. /y/ whenever a word
starts with it. But remember that it can be a consonant in
the middle as well.
6. As no words starts with i.e. /e/ and as a vowel i.e. /i/
therefore those words which must start with an /e/ or /i/
sound, start with.
Example:
1. Ikraam
2. England

Lesson No.3 (NAMES REVISITED)

How the letters are joined
1. Now concentrate on putting different letters together in the
same names.
2. For your convenience different colours have been given to
adjacent letters.
Independent

Beginning

Middle

End

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18

Points to remember:
1. Most of the Afghan names have come from Arabic. There are a
few names which some people prefer to write using the original
Arabic script.
e.g.
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Hence we conclude that

at the end is equivalent to

Exercise 1: Read the following Afghan names.

Pashto

Roman
aasif
atal
ajmal
aimal xaan
anwar
amini
aarzu
afghan
babrak
bi bi gul
baryalay
breshnaa

Exercise 2: Match the jumbled up names.

A

B
byaltun
ayub
bahraam
barkat
aadam
bahroz
ahad
ayub
ahmad shaah
arsalaan
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Exercise 3: Read the following names.

Pashto

Exercise 4: Fill in the blanks.

Pashto

Read the following names. Exercise 5:

Roman
pari
paarsaa
taaj
temur
tanzaray
tordil
tor pekai
sarwat
jabaar
jaan mohmad
jamshed
jawed
jamil
Roman
parwz
parwn
t jwar
tar na
tor aala
tamaaa
amin
jaaa
an n
uma gl
jma aan

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Pashto

Roman
chaman gul
changez
dzalmay
dzalaand
hedar
habib
hashmat
huseni
xpalwaak
xaan
xaatira
xer mahmad
durxo
diba
zakriyaa

Exercise 6: Match the jumbled up names.

A

B
donya
xusrp
chiraagh ali
hakim
hamida
dawud
hanif
dzalaa
xaanam
husen
dzigar
xalil
zaakir
xaalid

Exercise 7: Read the following names.

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Pashto

Exercise 8 : Match the jumbled up names.

A

Roman
rahmat
rohilay
rustam
raza
zaahid
zenab
zar gul
zarghun
sado
salmaan
sajaad
sohraab
sed wali
spozhmai

B
sangar
saarbaan
storay
spin ghar
rasul
roshan
zardaad
zamarud
zarmina
simaa
sabro
sitaara
Rashid
zarina

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Exercise 9: Read the following names.

Pashto

Exercise 10: Fill in the blanks.

Pashto

Roman
shaad gul
shinkay
shahir
shaperai
sabur
samadi
zyaa
taalib
zafar
abdul-basir
aziz
ghulaam
shanaaz
Roman
shah jaan
sh rin
shin xaa ai
ayista
saa ir
sa af
sadi
sa am
ta ir
tu a
aa if
tifa
aadi
gh tai

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Exercise 11: Read the following names.

Pashto

Roman
fahim
farid
feroza
farhaad
fateh xaan
faryaal
qurbaan ali
qamar gul
qes
kabir
karzay
gul bandan

Exercise 12: Match the jumbled up names.

A

B
farishta
qaasim
gulaalai
farah
karim
qaadar
farzaana
qaasim
gul-shan
gul-yaar
fawaad
gul-jaan

Exercise 13: Read the following names.

Pashto

Roman
laalay
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latif
mahmud
marjaan
mahwish
mansur
naadar
nafisa
nur ahmad
wazir
wahaab
wazhma
haajra
hosai
yamaa

Exercise 14: Match the jumbled up names.

A

B
nek mahmad
haarun
laajward
maalik jaan
walid
wakil
haashim xaan
mubaarak
laayaq shah
nurzay
nawid
yusaf
nargas
maalyaar
wafaa

Exercise No15: Read the following Afghan provinces( )names.

Pashto
Roman

basaxshaan

baghlaan

faraah
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ghazni
balx
daaikundi
hilmand
kaapisa
kunar
kunduz
nimroz
Panjsher
sari pul
Paktyaa
Samangaan
Urazgaan
Nuristaan
Hiraat
Jozjaan
Parwaan
Laghmaan
Logar
Taxaar

Exercise 16: Match the jumbled up province names.

A

B
Nangarhaar
Wardak
Zaabal
Baamyaan
Kaabal
Kandahaar
Faaryaab
Paktikaa
Kaabal
Xost

Courtesy to: Communicaid Group Ltd.

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