Pashto phonology

Amongst the Iranian languages, the phonology of Pashto is of middle complexity, but its morphology is very complex.^[1]

Consonants

Retroflex Sounds in Pashto

ʐ - ږ [South Western Dialect]

غوږ

[ɣwaʐ] Ear

(Noun, Masculine, Singular, Direct Case)

---

ʂ - ښ [South Western Dialect]

ښکارېدۀ

[ʂkɑ.rɵ.ˈdə] was Visible

(Verb, 3rd Person, Singular, Masculine, Past Imperfective)

---

ɳ - ڼ

اتڼ

[a.ˈtaɳ] a Type of Dance

(Noun, Masculine, Singular, Direct Case)

---

ɽ - ړ

لړه

[ˈla.ɽa] Fog

(Noun, Feminine, Singular, Direct Case)

---

ɖ - ډ

ګاډی

[ˈɡɑ.ɖaɪ] Car, Vehicle

(Noun, Masculine, Singular, Direct Case)

---

ʈ - ټ

ګټه

[ˈɡa.ʈa] a Rock; Profit, Benefit

(Noun, Feminine, Singular, Direct Case)

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Dental-Alveolar Affricates in Pashto

څ and ځ

t͡s and d͡z

---

څه [what]

/t͡sə/

---

منځ [middle]

/mand͡z/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

The phonemes /q/, /f/ are only found in loanwords, and tend to be replaced by /k/, /p/ respectively. Some educated speakers may also have /ʔ, ʕ, ħ/ in Arabic loanwords.

• Voiceless stops and affricates /p, t, ʈ, t͡s, t͡ʃ, k/ are all unaspirated; they have slightly aspirated allophones prevocalically in a stressed syllable, almost like English.
• /ʂ, ʐ/ are heard as palatal fricatives [ç, ʝ] ^[3] in the Northwestern dialect.^[4]
• /ɽ/ is a voiced retroflex flap most of the time, but tends to be a lateral flap [𝼈] at the beginning of a syllable or other prosodic unit, and a regular flap or approximant [ɻ] elsewhere.^[5][6]

Dialects

ښ in dialects

/x/ followed by /ç/ followed by /ʂ/ followed by /ʃ/

---

Example: ښار [city]

/xɑr/ followed by /çɑr/ followed by /ʂɑr/ followed by /ʃɑr/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

ږ in dialects

/g/ followed by /ʝ/ followed by /ʐ/ followed by /ʒ/

---

Example: کېږي [to do - 3:SG:PRS:CONT]

/kegi/ followed by /keʝi/ followed by /keʐi/ followed by /keʒi/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Dialectal allophones represented by ښ and ږ. The retroflex variants [ʂ, ʐ] are used in the Southwest dialects whereas the post-alveolar variants [ʃ, ʒ] are used in Southeast Dialects. The palatal variants [ç, ʝ] are used in the Wardak and Central Ghilji dialects. In the North Eastern dialects ښ and ږ merge with the velar [x, g].

The dropping of /h/ in dialects

General

/ha.ˈlək/

---

Yusupazi

/a.ˈlək/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Phonotactics

Pashto syllable structure can be summarized as follows; parentheses enclose optional components:

• (C₁ C₂ (C₃)) (S₁) V (S₂) (C₄ (C₅))

Pashto syllable structure consists of an optional syllable onset, consisting of one or two consonants; an obligatory syllable nucleus, consisting of a vowel optionally preceded by and/or followed by a semivowel; and an optional syllable coda, consisting of one or two consonants. The following restrictions apply:

• Onset
  • First consonant (C₁): Can be any consonant, including a liquid (/l, r/).
  • Second consonant (C₂): Can be any consonant.
  • Third consonant (C₃ ): Can be any consonant. (see #Consonant Clusters below)
• Nucleus
  • Semivowel (S₁)
  • Vowel (V)
  • Semivowel (S₂)
• Coda
  • First consonant (C₄): Can be any consonant
  • Second consonant (C₅): Can be any consonant

Consonant clusters

Pashto has a lot of word-initial consonant clusters in all dialects; some hundred such clusters occurs. However, there is no consonant gemination.^[7]

Consonant Clusters Examples

/ʂk/

ښکنځل

[to abuse]

/ʂkan.ˈd͡zəl/

---

/ʒb/

ژباړل

[to translate]

/ʒbɑ.ˈɽəl/

---

/zd/

زده

[learned]

/zda/

---

/ŋɡ/

ننګ

[honor]

/naŋɡ/

---

/lm/

لمونځ

[prayer]

/lmund͡z/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Examples

An edited^{[note 1]} list from the book Pashto Phonology by M.K. Khan:^[8]

Vowels

Most dialects in Pashto have seven vowels and seven diphthongs.^[9]

• Tegey & Robson (1996) also include near-close vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/.^[10]

Diphthongs

Elfenbein notes that the long diphthongs [ɑi, ɑw] are always stressed, whilst the short diphthongs may or may not be stressed.^[11]

Diphthongs

ی - aɪ

ښوونځی

[xo.wən.ˈzaɪ]

school

---

ۍ - əɪ

سيلۍ

[si.ˈləɪ]

wind

---

او - aw

او

[aw]

and

---

ای - ɑɪ

چای

[t͡ʃɑɪ]

tea

---

او- ɑw

نياو

[njɑw]

justice

---

وی - oɪ

لوی

[loɪ]

big

---

وی - uɪ

دوی

[duɪ]

they

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Orthography of diphthongs

Stress

Pashto has phonemic variable stress,^[12] unique amongst Iranian languages.^[7]

For instance, in verbs to distinguish aspect:

کښېناستم - Stress to Distinguish Aspect

First pronunciation: imperfective aspect with final stress [ә́m], Second pronunciation: perfective aspect with initial stress on prefix [ké]

---

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Basic Word Stress

Stress is indicated by the IPA stress marker [ˈ].

In general, the last syllable is stressed if the word ends in a consonant and the penultimate syllable is stressed if the last syllable ends in a vowel.^[13] !

Masculine Words ending in "ə"

These have final stress generally.^[14]

Feminine Words ending in "o"

These end in a stress /o/.^[15][16]

Wordings ending in Aleph

Words ending in IPA /ɑ/ i.e. ا are stressed in the last syllable.

Exceptions

Pronunciation: jóṛa [well], joṛá [pair]; áspa [mare], aspá [spotted fever]

Recording of a native speaker demonstrating the differences in words caused by stress

---

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Word meanings also change upon stress.

Intonation

Questions

Pashto Intonation Examples

Question formed by using Interrogative Words

Where do you work ? - hat pattern intonation

---

Question formed by use of Intonation

They reap the wheat ? - rising intonation

---

Contrastive Focus Statement

No, I am younger than him - Low-High-Low

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

WH-Questions [who, where, when etc] follow a hat pattern of intonation: a rise in pitch followed by a fall in pitch.^[17]

تاسو چېرته کار کوئ

[ tā́so ↗čérta kār kawə́ɪ↘ ]

Yes/No-Questions end in a high intonation: a rise in pitch.

غنم يې ورېبل ؟

[ ğanə́m ye wә́rebəl↗ ]

Contrastive Focus

When a word is contrasted with another word it carries a low then high pitch accent, followed by a sharp fall in pitch accent.

نه له د نه کشر يم

[ na↘ lə ↗də nə kə́shər yə́m↘ ]

Dialectal phonology

Consonants

This diagram is based on Anna Boyle's division of the dialect variations on geographic regions:^[18]

Regional Variation

This diagram however does not factor in the regional variations within the broad geographic areas. Compare the following consonant and vowel differences amongst regions categorised as Northern dialects:^[19]

ښه يمه - in Northern Dialects

North Western

/çə ˈjə.ma/

---

North Eastern

/xə ˈjə.ma/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Or the difference in vowels and diphthongs in North Eastern Pashto:

Alveolo-palatal fricative

Rozi Khan Burki claims that the Ormuri alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕ/ and /ʑ/ may also be present in Waziri.^[20] But Pashto linguists such as Josef Elfenbein, Anna Boyle or Yousaf Khan Jazab have not noted this in Waziri Phonology.^[21][22][23]

Vowels

Waziri vowels

Waziri Vowels

œ

/ˈpœr.ta/

---

ɔ

/də.ˈpɔː.ra/

---

ɒ

/bjɒː/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

The Vowel Shift

Corey Miller notes that the shift does not affect all words.^[24]

In Waziri dialect the [ɑ] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɔː] in Northern Waziri and [ɒː] in Southern Waziri.^[25]

In Waziri dialect the stressed [o] in Standard Pashto becomes [œː] and [ɛː]. The [o] in Standard Pashto may also become [jɛ] or [wɛː]. ^[25]

In Waziri dialect the stressed [u] in standard Pashto becomes [iː]. ^[26]

When [u] in begins a word in standard Pashto can become [jiː] or [w[ɛ]]

Elfenbein also notes the presence of the near-open vowel [æ].^[27]

Apridi vowels

Apridi Vowel

ɵ

/ˈpɵr.ta/

---

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Apridi has the additional close-mid central rounded vowel /ɵ/.^[28]

Diphthongs in dialects

The diphthongs varies according to dialect.^[29]

Yousaf Khan Jazab notes that the diphthong /əɪ/ becomes /oi/ in the Khattak Dialect in the verbal suffix /ئ/,^[33] but it remains as the diphthong /əɪ/ in the nominal/adjectival /ۍ/ example: مړۍ /ma.ˈɽəɪ/ "meal".^[34]

Nasalisation of vowels

Nasalisation in Marwat Dialect

Egg - Marwat [Nasalised]

/ãŋɡ.ˈəɪ/

---

Egg - Yusapzai [Not nasalised]

/ha.ˈɡəɪ/

---

Problems playing these files? See media help.

As noted by Yousaf Khan Jazab, the Marwat dialect and the Bansiwola dialect have nasalised vowels also.^[35] It is also noted in the Waṇetsi/Tarin dialect.

These are indicated by the diactric mark / ̃ /.

Notes

References

Bibliography