Pashto grammar

دغه dağa (this)

هغه háğa (that)

Independent forms

Enclitic forms

• In order to distinguish sentences with indefinites from questions, یو /yaw/ ‘one’ may be added, to yield یو څوک /yaw ʦok/ ‘someone’ and یو څه /yaw ʦə/ ‘something’.
• When هر /har, ar/ ‘every’ precedes the indefinite pronouns, the combination can mean everyone [هر څوک], everything [هر څه], each one [هر یو]

Pashto inflects nouns into four grammatical cases: direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative. The oblique I case is used as prepositional case as well as in the past tense as the subject of transitive verbs, and the oblique II case is used as ablative case.

The direct case form is used for noun phrases that fulfill nominative, accusative, or absolutive functions, in present-tense and past-tense sentences, respectively. In the present tense, grammatical function is indicated by word order, with subjects preceding objects.

In past-tense sentences, subject noun phrases appear in the oblique case form; in accordance with split ergativity.

The oblique case is used for objects of most adpositions.

The ablative case is used with certain adpositions.

Pashto also employs the vocative case.

There are two genders: masculine and feminine.

There are two numbers: singular and plural.

There is no definite article. But when necessary, definiteness may be indicated by other means such as demonstratives. Likewise, it may be contraindicated by use of the word for "one", يو; as in "يو روغتون" - "a hospital".

Here all plural forms are affected. Change is dependent on ending of the noun.

Example: پلار [father]

Example: درزي [tailor]

Here all plural change is not consistent.

The plural may change to ګان or يان

Example 1: باچا [king]

Example 2: ماما [mother's brother]

The plural generally change to ان. A smaller number change to ونه.

Example 1: لېوه [wolf]

Example 2: مېړه [husband]

In plural ونه is added

Example: غوږ [ear]

Sometime when the stem can also change: a → ə in the singular oblique and all plural cases

Example: سړک [street] to saṛák → saṛək

In plural ونه is added

Example: زړه [Heart]

The "ā" is changed to "a" in plural forms and ونه is added

Example: واده [wedding] wādә́ → wad → wadúna

Plural can change from ending in و [u] to وان [wān] or ګان

Example 1: ډاکو [bandit]

Example 2: الو [potato]

Most Class l feminine [animate and inanimate] nouns end in (unstressed) ه /a/

Example: اسپه [mare]

Example: خواښې [mother-in-law]

In plural both ګانې and وې can be taken

Example: برېښنا [lightning] - ending in "ā"

Example: بیزو [monkey] ending in "o"

Change to ې in plural

Example: جنډه [flag]

Add to ې in plural

Example: مياشت [month]

Add وې in plural

Example: رڼا [light]

This consists of only masculine nouns.

1. Vowel "u/o" becomes "ā" in singular oblique and direct plural case
2. Vowel "u/o" becomes "a" in plurals: oblique, ablative and vocative case

Example: پښتون [a Pashtun]

Another Example: شپون [shepherd]

The "u/o" may become ə in all plurals or may not change

Example: تنور [oven]

The ə/a at the final stem of the word is deleted

Example: غل [thief]- ğal →ğl →ğlə

The ə/a at the final stem of the word is deleted and ونه is added in plural.

Example: غر [mountaint] - ğar →ğr → ğrúna

These end in a stressed /aˈ/ sound

Example: مېلمه [Guest]

This contains only a few nouns. They end in a Consonant and there is a stem shift from "a" → "ə"/

Example: دښمن [enemy, enemies]

The direct singular "ay" ی changes to ي in the plural

Example: سپی [Dog]

The sequence ان is optionally used such as for tribal denominations e.g. اپریدی /apridáy/ ‘Afridi’.

The direct singular "ay" ی changes to ي in the plural

ګډی= car

Feminine

Here are the nouns ending with ۍ [animate and inanimate]. The various plural alternatives mentioned here are not always freely interchangeable, yet there is no clear rule for which form is preferred.

Example: سپۍ [female-dog] - all can be used

Here the is no distinction in animacy.

Example: ملګری [Friend - masculine]

Example: ملګرې [Friend - feminine]

They are uncountable. They take و /o/ in the oblique and ablative forms. These generally relate to things such as grain, food or liquid.

Examples include اوړه [oṛә́ - flour], اوبه [obә́ -water], پۍ [pə́i - milk] etc.

Example: اوبه - water

Example: پۍ - water

Examples include: ږدن [ẓ̌dәn -sorghum], دال [dāl -lentils], شراب [šarā́b - alcohol]

Example: دال - lentils

These are limited to nouns denoting kinship.

These include:

مور /mor/ ‘mother’; plural stem /máynd-/

خور /xor/ ‘sister’; plural stem /xwáynd-/

ترور /tror/ ‘paternal aunt’; plural stem /tráynd-/

نګور /ngor/ ‘daughter-in-law’; plural stem /ngáynd-/

Example:

ورور= brother takes وڼه in direct plural

لور= daughter takes وڼې in direct plural

Class I adjectives are consonant-final in their citation form and keep the stress on the final syllable of the stem.

In the Southern dialects, Class I adjectives with certain stem shapes will undergo mutation either:

1. Vowel harmony

or

1. Centralization

In other dialects these vowels do not mutate.

Class I adjectives with the stressed stem vowel /ə́/ (Southern), such as دنګ /dəng/ ‘tall’, undergo regressive harmony in the feminine direct plural and in both oblique plural forms—when the suffix vowel is /o/.

Class I adjectives for which the last syllable in the masculine direct singular form is ور /‑wár/, ګر /‑gár/, جن /‑ján/, or م ن /‑mán/, as well as ordinal numbers ending in م /‑ám/, undergo a different vowel alternation: the vowel /á/ of the final syllable centralizes to /ə́/ in feminine non-direct singulars and in all plural forms, irrespective of gender.

Example 1 = سپک (light - in weight)

The paradigm for the adjective سپک /spək/ ‘light’ in above shows the Southern dialect's Vowel harmony rule.

Example 2 = زړور (brave)

The paradigm for the adjective زړور /zṛawár/ 'brave' illustrates centralization rule for the Southern dialect.

When modifying animate nouns, some Class I adjectives may take the animate plural suffixes of Class I nouns example:

مشران وروڼه

Məʃarɑn wruɳa

'Elder brothers'

Class 2 adjectives can end in either a consonant or a stressed schwa ( ه /‑ə́/). Except for the masculine singular ablative and vocative suffixes, the suffixes of Class II are inherently stressed. These stressed suffixes are the chief difference between Class 1 and Class 2, although there are a few differences in suffix shape as well. Whether a consonant-final adjective belongs to Class 1 (stem-stressed) or Class II (suffix-stressed) is a property of the lexeme and is not predictable.

Some Class2 adjectives undergo stem allomorphy processes upon inflection, all of them stress-conditioned. The first, Syncope I, affects the final vowels of /ə́/-final Class 2 adjectives; the rest affect the stem vowels of consonant-final Class 2 adjectives (which either lower or delete when unstressed). Lowering affects only back vowels, but not all of them. It is not possible to predict which rule, Back vowel lowering or Syncope II, applies to a given consonant-final adjective. The rules are:

1. Syncope I
2. Back vowel lowering
3. Monophthongization
4. Lengthening
5. Syncope II
6. Epenthesis

• V2 → Ø/ V́1_
• V́1 → Ø/ _V́2

If suffixation results in two adjacent vowels and only one is stressed, the unstressed vowel deletes. If both are stressed, the first vowel deletes. This rule applies to vowel-final adjectives.

Examole: Vowel-final adjectives that end in stressed ۀ /‑ə́/

Vowel-final adjectives that end stressed ه /‑ə́/ in their citation form include تېره /terə/́ ‘sharp’. These can be reliably identified from this citation form as belonging to Class 2; no other class has adjectives ending in /-ə́/. The final stem-vowel of these adjectives undergoes one or other of the morphophonemic rules of Syncope I.

• V-stress] [+back, → V[-high]/ C_

Inmost Class 2 consonant-final adjectives with non-initial back vowels, و /o/, /u/ lowers to /a/ when unstressed.

In most consonant-final adjectives where the stem vowel is a back vowel, و /o/, /u/, it will undergo vowel lowering in unstressed position, followed by lengthening when the next syllable contains /ə́/ such as for the words, پو خ /pox/ ‘cooked, ripe’ and ړوند /ṛund/ ‘blind’, illustrated above.

• a[+stress]w → V-high] [+back,
• wa[+stress] → V-high] [+back,

In adjectives with /aw/ or /wa/ in the stem [usually seen in the feminine tense], those sequences simplify to /o/ when stressed.

Back vowel breaking: تود /tod/ ‘hot’; stem = /tawd/.

• a → ā /_(C)Cə́

Short /a/ lengthens to long /ā/ when the syllable following it contains /ə́/. This rule affects those adjectives that undergo back vowel lowering, such as for پاخۀ → پوخ and ړاندۀ → ړوند and those that undergo monophthongization, such as تاودۀ → تود.

• V[-stress] → Ø

In a few consonant-final adjectives the stem vowel is deleted when not stressed.

Example = سور /sur/ - red

• Ø → a/C_CC or CC_C

If syncope results in a triple consonant cluster, an /a/ might be inserted after the first or second consonant.

These adjectives end in the diphthong participial suffix, ی /‑ay/, in the masculine direct singular form/. This suffix may be stressed or unstressed.

Stressed

Unstressed

Example = زلمی (young/youth - the ی is stressed)

Example = سوی (burnt- the ی is unstressed)

This the "non-declining" class - these do not decline. These adjectives are generally borrowed from other languages. They do not have masculine-feminine or singular-plural distinction.

But but some speakers use the oblique suffixes  و /‑o/, وو /‑wo/ on these adjectives in the plural oblique, ablative and vocative cases.

Example = شمالي (Persian-Arabic borrowing)

Example = شمالي (Southern Dialect)

These are attached at the beginning of words. Here is a list of the most common ones:

A list of examples:

These are attached at the end of a word. Here is a list of the most common ones:

A list of examples:

Other than the recognised words above; new words can be coined by speakers through these affixes

Example:

These are formed by combining two infinitives
-- either by combining a simple infinitive with a prefixed infinitive.

-- or by combining two simple infinitives:

They are in the morpheme state.

Examples:

These are described below as doubly irregular.

They take the form of a derivational prefix plus a verb base.

These correspond to the oblique pronominal and directionals clitics.

Like deictic prefixed these are subject to the same rules of stress movement to show perfective aspect, as well as to separation from the rest of the verb by negative morphemes and second-position clitics. But generally their meanings are not synchronically separable from the verbal lexeme of which they are a part of.

Example: پرېکول - to cut. The prefix [پرې] is separated from the verb stem [کول] by a second position clitic [يې]

پرې يې کړه

These begin with ا /a/; but they do not include compound verbs beginning with /a/.

Examples:

Their syntactic behaviour resembles that of prefixed verbs: the initial /a/ can separate from the rest of the verb as though it were a prefix. Unlike prefixed verbs, a-initial verbs differ in that

they take the prefix و  /wə́/ for perfective forms.

وا مې خيستل

Unlike all the verbs; they are unusual, in that their stress is variable in the imperfective aspect: it can be either be initial or non-initial. Other verbs can not have initial stress. When the /a/ is separated from the rest of the verb in the imperfective aspect it has initial stress.

Example: initial stress

ا مې خيستل

Example: non-initial stress اخيستل مې

There are two categories of compound verbs. There are also some exceptions to these.

These are formed by adding ول [-wә́l] and ېدل [edә́l] verbal-suffixes to nouns, adjectives or adverbs. The attaching noun, adjective and adverb should not end in a vowel.

Example:

There are also exceptions to this category. Example: سوچ کول etc.

These are formed adding auxiliary verbs کول and کېدل to the noun and adjectives. The attaching noun and adjective end in a vowel.

Examples:

Here is an example first conjugation class transitive verb: "to tie"

Notes:

• present imperfective base = stem
• present perfective base: و /wә́/ + stem
• past imperfective base: stem+ ل /ə́l/ (suffix obligatory)
• past perfective base: و /wә́/ + stem+ ل /əl/(suffix obligatory)

Here is an example first conjugation class intransitive verb: "to reach"

Notes:

• present imperfective base: stem+ ېږ /eg/
• present perfective base: و /wә́/ + stem+ ېږ /eg/
• past imperfective base: stem + ېد /ed/ (+ ل /ə́l/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)
• past perfective base: و /wә́/ + stem + ېد /ed/( + ل /əl/— prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)

In the second conjugation, perfectives are formed by a shift of stress to the existing prefix, rather than the addition of the و /wә́/ prefix.

Here is an example first conjugation class transitive verb: "to bring (to speaker)"

Notes:

• present imperfective base = stem
• present perfective base: stressed prefix + stem
• past imperfective base: prefix + stem+ ل /ə́l/(suffix obligatory)
• past perfective base: stressed prefix + stem+ ل /ə́l/(suffix obligatory)

The stems can either share initial sounds as in example:

a) where ل is replaced by ن in the present tense:

b) where و is added in the middle in the present tense:

c) The verb ختل [to climb]:

d) where دل is dropped in the present tense:

Or they can be share no similar sounds

Example: the verb لیدل [to see]

In either case the same rules apply, as noted by Anna Boyle:[8]

Notes:

• present imperfective base = present stem

• present perfective base: و  /wә́/ + present stem

• past imperfective base: past stem (+ ل /ə́l/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)

• past perfective base: و  /wә́/ + past stem(+ ل /ə́l/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)

As above, in the second conjugation, perfectives are formed by a shift of stress to the existing prefix, rather than the addition of the و /wә́/ prefix.

Example one: the verb پرېښودل [to leave]

Notes:[8]

• present imperfective base = present stem

• present perfective base: stressed prefix + present stem

• past imperfective base: prefix + past stem (+ ل /ə́l/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc.; optional elsewhere)

• past perfective base: stressed prefix + past stem(+ ل /ə́l/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)

Here there use as main verbs are eluded to. To the verb - to do: The brackete [ṛ] in the present perfective base of کول /kawә́l/ ‘to do’ indicates that it sometimes is not pronounced in speech[10]

Important: Here there use as main verbs are eluded to - when کول and کېدل are used as verbalizers, their perfective forms are not formed with the first conjugation prefix و  /wә́/, but are irregular.[10]

To the verb - to become

Notes[11]:

• Present imperfective base = (present) imperfective stem

• Present perfective base: و  /wә́/ + present perfective stem

• Past imperfective base: (past continuous) stem+ ( ل /ə́l/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)

• Past perfective base: و  /wә́/ + past perfective stem + ( ل  /‑ə́l-/—prohibited in 3rd Person Sing. Masc; optional elsewhere)

In both aspects the stress [خج] is applied to the verb. In perfective, the stress is applied to the initial part of the verb, while in the imperfective it is generally applied to the final part of the verb.[12]

First conjugation verbs, e.g. وهل as above, can be recognised by perfective form, which begin with the prefix و /wə́/, which carries an inherent stress. In a-initial verbs, the perfecive prefix و /wə́/ coalesces with the /a/ to form a prefix وا /wā́/. [8] Example:

These are referred to as prefixed verbs aboves: all of the form prefix + stem. These behave morphosyntactically: they undergo stress shift to form the perfectived, and they can be separated from the stem by a second-position clitic or the negative morpheme.[8]

Example:

These are called compound verbs above - those with adjective complements and noun complements + forms of کول /kawə́l/ or کېدل /kedə́l/. Here the perfective is formed by:[8]

• shifting stress from the verbalizer to the noun or adjective complement, according to the lexical stress of noun or adjective
• using the irregular perfective forms of the verbalizer (rather than the forms with و /wə́/).

Many third conjugation verbs are contracted in the imperfective aspect, in perfective constructions, the complement is always separate from the verbalizer.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Verbal suffixes in Pashto denote person, gender and number.[13]

It is easy to demonstrate these in with intransitive verbs in the imperfective.

Gəḍéẓ̌ is the present imperfective stem of the verb gaḍedəl [to dance].

Gəḍēd is the past stem of the verb gaḍēdəl [to dance].

Note: In the plural the 3rd person past masculine can denote both genders when talking about a group. While in the plural the 3rd person past feminine is only used when talking about a group of individuals classed in the female gender.

Example:

• هغوی ګډېدل [They were dancing] - can imply only males dancing or both males and females dancing
• هغوی ګډېدې [They were dancing] - implies only women were dancing. It can also be used for transgenders [ايجړاګان] by itself. But you can not say ايجړاګان ګډېدې since ايجړا is a masculine noun so one would use ايجړاګان ګډېدل.

Generally ه [ə] or no-stem suffix is employed. But sometimes ئ [əi] is found also.

With وتل the plural suffix ل(əl) is not used instead:

As can be seen from the intransitive verb above [ګډېدل] - the verb agrees with the subject.

• Ergative construction is used in the past tense of transitive verbs: the predicate [verb] agrees in person, number and gender with the object. The subject changes to into the oblique case.
• In the present tense the transitive verb agrees with the subject: in person, number and gender.

Example 1: خوړل - transitive verb - to eat

Compare:

Example 2: اغوستل - transitive verb - to put on/dress

Compare:

In the present tense the nominal/adjectival part of the compound verb agrees with the object. But the auxiliary کول [to do] agrees with the subject.

Example: پاکول - compound transitive verb - to clean

In the past both nominal/adjectival and auxiliary components agree with the object.

Example: پاکول - compound transitive verb - to clean

The present participle is formed with the past imperfective stem without ل (əl) + ونک (unk) and declension follows the pattern of unstressed ی (ay).

Example ليکل [likəˈl] - writer → ليک [lik] past imperfective stem → ليکونکی [likəwúnkay] - writer

The past participle employs the following stems. It is used in perfect constructions of the verb.

This is formed in the following ways:

Category 1 [non-compound verbs]: Past imperfective stem + past participle suffix + present imperfective of "to be"

Category 2 [compound verbs]: Past perfective stem of کېدل-ېدل and کول-ول + past participle suffix + present imperfective of "to be"

Example: of Category 1 verb رسېدل

Formed by به [future marker] +present perfect

This is formed in the following ways:

Category 1 [non-compound verbs]: Past imperfective stem + past participle suffix + past imperfective of "to be"

Category 2 [compound verbs]: Past perfective stem of کېدل-ېدل and کول-ول + past participle suffix + past imperfective of "to be"

Example:

1. Transitive verbs uses ergative construction: Past participle + verb "to be" agree with object; subject is in oblique case
2. Intransitive verbs: Past participle+ verb "to be" agree with the subject

Example: Intransitive Category 2 verb پخېدل [to ripen, mature]

The imperfective optative = past imperfective base of verb+ ای-āy [Southern Dialects], ی-ay [North Western Dialects], ې [North Eastern Dialects]

The perfective optative = past perfective base of verb+ ای-āy [Southern Dialects], ی-ay [North Western Dialects], ې [North Eastern Dialects]

Formed by:

Imperfective optative + present perfective of کېدل

Example:

To indicate:

1. Event did not take place: مونږ تېر کال جوار کرلی شوه [We might have been able to plant corn last year]
2. Event carried out over extended period of time: مونږ ډرامې ليدلی شوې [We were able to watch TV-shows]

Formed by:

Imperfective optative + present perfective of کېدل

Example:

To indicate:

1. Where the event was actually carried out e.g. تۀ هلته په وخت ورسېدلی شوې؟ [You were able to get there on time]

Formed by:

Perfective optative + past perfective of کېدل

Present imperfective tense of "to be":

Present perfective tense of "to be":

Past tense of "to be":

In Pashto the future tense [ راتلونکی مهال][15] is the same as the present tense [اوسنی مهال][16] with the exception that in the future tense the marker به [bə] is added.

In the third person future tense, also, irrespective of number or gender وي is used.[17]

Future tense of "to be":

Also known as Command Form

وي [wi] is also used; this is the third person singular and plural of the present tense of the verb to be. وي is used when an assumption or a given fact is being discussed where as دی/ده/دي are used reporting an observation. شته functions as "there is" in English.

The two verbal suffixes are employed:

Example:

The singular is told to one person; the plural is told to more than one person or as form of respectful command.

Pashto positive imperative have two aspects: perfective (initial stress) an imperfective (final stress)

In general the perfective aspect is used to make commands. However, for doubly irregular verbs, the imperfective aspect is used.

The imperfective aspect in the imperative is also used to convey a sense of an urgent command example:

For compounds in the transitive, the nominal/adjective part of the verb agrees with the direct object.

Where the is no object, the nominal/adjective part of the verb agrees with the subject

For compounds in the intransitive, the nominal/adjective part of the verb agrees with the subject

Pashto Negative Imperatives only employs the Imperfective Aspect with stress on the particle مه /má/.

Compare:

North Eastern Pashto treats negative forms differently for prefixed verbs, placing the negative particle before the entire verb, whereas some other dialects place it between the prefix and the stem.

Here are the forms of Kawə́l[18] as a verbaliser [not a main verb]:

As mentioned by Anna Boyle : ړ /ṛ/ in present perfective forms is written, and pronounced in careful speech, but is unpronounced in many dialect.[19] She mentions that in past 3rd person, even the /ṛ/ can be dropped, since the

personal suffixes differ from those in the present: past  ه /ə, a/ as opposed present ي /i/; thus revealing tense without need of ړ /ṛ/.[20]

Here are the forms of Kedə́l[21] as a verbaliser [not a main verb]:

As mentioned by Anna Boyle the 1st and 2nd person forms of Kedə́l are the same to those of the present perfective forms of "to be".[22]

The clitic به /bә/ is added to the present perfective verb to convey future time event, speculation, or doubt.[24]

Example:

پلار به مې ګانده پيسې ولېږي