Pashto phonology

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

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Pashto[2]
	Labial		Dental/ alveolar		Retroflex		Post- alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ɳ						ŋ
Plosive	p	b	t	d	ʈ	ɖ					k	ɡ	(q)
Affricate			t͡s	d͡z			t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ
Fricative	(f)		s	z	ʂ	ʐ	ʃ	ʒ	ç	ʝ	x	ɣ		h
Approximant				l						j		w
Rhotic				r		ɽ

The phonemes /q/, /f/ are only found in loanwords, and tend to be replaced by /k/, /p/ respecrively.

/n/ has non-phonemic allophones: [ŋ] before /k/ and /ɡ/, [ɳ] before /ʈ/ and /ɖ/, [ɲ] before /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, and [m] before /b/ and /p/.
/ɳ/ is a voiced retroflex nasal flap and Voiced retroflex nasal at the end of a syllable.
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.
/ç/ is a voiceless palatal fricative;[3] used in the Northwestern dialect.[4] According to Professor Zyar, this consonant is produced when "the back part of the tongue attaches/touches to the back part of the palate and as such the breath's air flow obtains friction".[5]
/ʝ/ is a voiced palatal fricative;[3] used in the Northwestern dialect.[4] It produced at the same place as /ç/ except that it is voiced.[6]
/h/ is dropped in some non-standard dialects [including Waṇetsí ].
/r/ is a voiced alveolar flap, single in most dialects.
/ɽ/ is voiced back-alveolar retroflex flap [7] and voiced alveolar aproximant at the end of a syllable.

Dialects

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

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 also has a liking for word-initial consonant clusters in all dialects; some hundred such clusters occurs. However consonant gemination is unknown to Pashto.[8]

	Examples
Two Consonant Clusters	/tl/, /kl/, /bl/, /ɣl/, /lm/, /nm/, /lw/, /sw/, /br/, /tr/, /ɣr/, /pr/, /dr/, /wr/, /kɽ/, mɽ, /wɽ/ /xp/, /pʃ/, /pʂ/, /xr/, /zb/, /zɽ/, /ʒb/, /d͡zm/, /md͡z/, /t͡sk/, /sk/, /sp/, /ʃp/, /ʂk/, /xk/, /ʃk/, /kʃ/, /kx/, /kʂ/, /ml/, /gr/, /gm/ and /ʐm/ etc.
Three Consonant Clusters	/sxw/, /xwɽ/, /xwl/, /nɣw/ etc.

Examples

An edited[note 1] list from the book Pashto Phonology by M.K. Khan:[9]

	IPA	Meaning
V	/o/	was [dialect]	و
VC	/as/	horse	اس
VCC	/art/	loose	ارت
CV	/tə/	you	ته
CVC	/ɖer/	many, very	ډېر
CVCC	/luŋd/	wet	لوند
CCV	/mlɑ/	back	ملا
CCVC	/klak/	hard	کلک
CCVCC	/ʒwəŋd/	life	ژوند
CCCV	/xwlə/	mouth	خوله
CCCVC	/ŋdror/	sister-in-law	ندرور
CCCVCC	/ʃxwaŋd/	chewing of food	شخوند

Vowels

Most dialects in Pashto have seven vowels and seven diphthongs.[10]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open	a		ɑ

Tegey & Robeson (1996) also include near-close vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/.[11]

Diphthongs

	Front	Central	Back
High			uɪ
Mid		əɪ	oɪ
Low	aɪ, aw		ɑi, ɑw

Elfenbein notes that the long diphthongs [ɑi, ɑw] are always stressed, whilst the short diphthongs may or may not be stressed.[12]

Orthography of diphthongs

	Initial	Medial	Final
aɪ	ای	َيـ	َی
əɪ			ۍ and ئ
oɪ	اوی	ويـ	وی
uɪ	اوی	ويـ	وی
aw	او	َو	َو
ɑi	آي	اي	ای
ɑw	آو	او	او

Stress

Pashto has phonemic variable stress,[13] unique amongst Iranian languages.[8]

For instance, in verbs to distinguish aspect:

Verb - Imperfective (mostly Final Stress)	Meaning	Verb - Perfective (Initial Stress)	Meaning
kenɑstə́ləm	I was sitting	kénɑstələm	I sat down
kenɑstə́m	I was sitting	kénɑstəm	I sat down
ba kenə́m	I shall be sitting	ba kénəm	I shall sit

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.[14]

Example	IPA	Meaning
رنځور	/ran.ˈd͡zur/	sick [adj. masc.]
رنځوره	/ran.ˈd͡zur.a/	sick [adj. fem.]
کورونه	/ko.ˈru.na/	houses [noun. masc. plural]
ښځو	/ˈʂə.d͡zo/	women [noun. fem. plural. oblique.]
لاندې	/ˈlɑn.de/	below [adverb, circumposition]

Masculine Words ending in "ə"

These have final stress generally.[15]

Example	IPA	Meaning
تېره	/te.ˈrə/	sharp [adjective]
لېوه	/le.ˈwə/	wolf [noun]

Feminine Words ending in "o"

These end in a stress /o/.[16][17]

Example	IPA	Meaning
بيزو	/bi.ˈzo/	monkey
پيشو	/pi.ˈʃo/	cat
ورشو	/war.ˈʃo/	meadow, pasture

Wordings ending in Aleph

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

Example	IPA	Meaning
اشنا	/aʃ.ˈnɑ/	familiar [masc. noun]
رڼا	/ra.ˈɳɑ/	light [fem. noun]

Exceptions

Word meanings also change upon stress.

Word	IPA: following general stress pattern [penultimate syllable]	Meaning 1	IPA: following exception stress pattern	Meaning 2
جوړه	/ˈd͡ʒo.ɽa/	well	/d͡ʒo.ˈɽa/	pair
اسپه	/ˈas.pa/	horse [mare]	/as.ˈpa/	spotted fever

Intonation

Questions

WH-Questions [who, where, when etc] follow a hat pattern of intonation: a rise in pitch followed by a fall in pitch.[18]

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[19] is based on Descriptive Grammar of Pashto by Anna Boyle whom divides the dialect variations based on geographic regions:

Dialect	ښ	ږ	څ	ځ	ژ
South Western Dialects e.g. Kanadahar, Herat etc.	ʂ	ʐ	t͡s	d͡z	ʒ
South Eastern Dialects e.g. Kasai Tribe, Quetta Region etc.	ʃ	ʒ	t͡s	d͡z	ʒ
Middle Dialects - Waziri and Dzadrani	ɕ in Waziri ç in Dzadrani	ʑ in Waziri ʝ in Dzadrani	t͡s	d͡z	ʒ
North Western Dialects e.g. Wardak, Central Ghilzai [20]	ç	ʝ	s	z	ʒ and z
North Eastern Dialects e.g. Yusapzai, Peshawar dialect etc.	x	ɡ	s	z	d͡ʒ

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 North Western:[21]

		North Western Dialects
	Meaning	Wardak	Jalalabad	Bati Kot
دوی	they	deɪ	ˈduwi	ˈduwi
راکړه	give [imperative of راکول]	ˈrɑ.ka	ˈrɑ.ka	ˈrɑ.kɽa
پوهېدل	to know [infinitive]	pi.je.ˈdəl	po.je.ˈdəl	po.ji.ˈdəl
شپږ	six	ʃpaʝ	ʃpag	ʃpiʒ
وريځ	cloud	wər.ˈjed͡z	wrez	wə.ˈred͡z
ښځه	woman	ˈçə.d͡za	ˈxə.za
اوبه	water	o.ˈbə	u.ˈbə	o.ˈbə

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

	Meaning	Swat	Peshawar
ودرېږه	stop [imperative of درېدل]	'wə.dre.ga	ˈo.dre.ga
جنۍ	girl	d͡ʒi.ˈnəɪ	d͡ʒi.ˈnɛ

Waziri vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded	Central	Back
Close	i			u
Close-mid			ə
Open-mid	ɛ	œ	ə	ɔ
Open	a			ɒ

The Vowel Shift

Corey Miller notes that the shift does not affect all words.[22]

In Waziri dialect the [ɑ] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɔː] in Northern Waziri and [ɒː] in Southern Waziri.[23]

	Meaning	Standard Pashto	N.Wazirwola	S. Wazirwola
ماسته	yougurt	/mɑs.ˈtə/	/mɔːs.ˈtə/	/mɒːs.ˈtə/
پاڼه	leaf	/pɑ.ˈɳa/	/ˈpɔː.ɳjɛː/	/ˈpɒː.ɳjɛː/

In Waziri dialect the stressed [o] in Standard Pashto becomes [œː] and [ɛː]. The [o] in Standard Pashto may also become [jɛ] or [wɛː]. [23]

	Meaning	Standard Pashto	Wazirwola
لور	sickle	/lor/	/lœːr/
وړه	flour	/o.ˈɽə/	/ɛː.ˈɽə/
اوږه	shoulder	/o.ˈɡa/	/jɛ.ˈɡa/
اوس	now	/os/	/wɛːs/

In Waziri dialect the stressed [u] in standard Pashto becomes [iː]. [24]

	Meaning	Standard Pashto	Wazirwola
موږ	we	/muɡ/	/miːʒ/
نوم	name	/num/	/niːm/

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

	Meaning	Standard Pashto	Wazirwola
اوم	raw	/um/	/jiːm/
اوږه	garlic	/ˈu.ɡa/	/ˈwiː.ʒa/
اوده	asleep	/u.ˈdə/	/wɜ.ˈdə/

Afridi vowels

In the Afridi dialect the [a] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɑ] as in [las] becomes [lɑs]. The [ɑ] in Standard Pashto becomes [ɒː] or [oː] as in [plɑr] becomes [plɒːr] or [ploːr].

Borrowed vowels

Few short vowels occur in speech in borrowed words and in the Peshawar dialect.

Vowels
[ɪ]
[ʊ]

Diphthongs in dialects

The diphthongs varies according to dialect.[25]

Standard Pronunciation	Apridi	Yusupzai[26]	Waziri	Mohmand	Baniswola/Bannuchi[27]	Wanetsi
aɪ	ʌɪ ʌː	e	aɪ		ɑ	a
ˈaɪ	ˈaɪ	ˈe		æɪ	ˈɑːi	ˈa
ˈəɪ	ˈije	ˈəɪ	ˈaɪ		ˈijɛ	ˈi
oɪ	waɪ	we	oːi œːi		eːi
uɪ		ui, wi	ˈojə		i
aw		ao			ow, aːw
ɑi		ɑe			ˈɑːi
ɑw		ɑo			oːw

Nasalisation of vowels

As noted by Yousaf Khan Jazab, the Marwat dialect and the Bansiwola dialect have nasalised vowels also.[28]

These are indicated by the diactric mark / ̃ /.

Standard Pronunciation	Marwat	Meaning
بوی buɪ	بوی buĩ	Smell

Notes

With some corrected IPA for words mentioned therein . Sources of correction: Kaye (1997), Zeeya Pashtoon (2009) and Qamosona.com

References

Kaye (1997), p. 736.
Tegey & Robson (1996), p. 15.
David, Anne Boyle (2014). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
David, Anne Boyle (2014). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
زيار, پوهاند مجاور (2003). پښتو پښويه (PDF). دانش خپرندويه ټولنه. p. 30. د وينګ پر وخت يې د ژبې وروستۍ برخه د تالو له وروستۍ برخې سره نښلي او په دې توګه د سا هوابهنګ د اواز په زېږځي کې مښنه او سولېدنه مومي
Zyar, Professor Mujawar (2003). Pashto Grammar (PDF). Danish Publishing. p. 31.
Kaye (1997), p. 742.
Kaye (1997), p. 737.
Khan, Muhammad Kamal (2020-04-08). Pashto Phonology: An Evaluation of the Relationship between Syllable Structure and Word Order. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-1-5275-4925-8.
David (2013), p. 11.
Tegey & Robeson (1996), p. 17.
Kaye, Alan S. (1997-06-30). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: (including the Caucasus). Eisenbrauns. p. 751. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.
Bečka, Jiří (1969). A Study in Pashto Stress. Academia.
Tegey, Habibullah (1996). A Reference Grammar of Pashto. Center for Applied Linguistics. p. 25.
David, Anne Boyle (2015-06-16). Descriptive Grammar of Bangla (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 56 and 109. ISBN 978-1-5015-0083-1.
Tegey, Habibullah (1996). A Reference Grammar of Pashto. Center for Applied Linguistics. p. 56.
David, Anne Boyle (2014). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
"Pashto Intonation Patterns". Interspeech 2017.
Anna B. David (2014). A Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 31–34. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
Coyle, Dennis Walter (August 2014). "Placing Wardak among Pashto varieties" (PDF). University of North Dakota:UND. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
Coyle, Dennis (2014-01-01). "Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties". Theses and Dissertations.
Miller, Corey (2014-05-12). "The Waziri Chain Shift". Journal of Persianate Studies. 7 (1): 125. doi:10.1163/18747167-12341267. ISSN 1874-7167.
Kaye (1997), p. 748.
Kaye (1997), p. 749.
Kaye (1997), pp. 751–753.
Rensch, Calvin Ross (1992). Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University. pp. 79–146.
Khan Jazab, Yousaf (2017). An Ethno-linguisitic Study of the Karlani Varieities of Pashto. Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar. pp. 64–65.
Khan Jazab, Yousaf (2017). An Ethno-linguisitic Study of the Karlani Varieities of Pashto. Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar. pp. 60–61.

Bibliography

David, Anne Boyle (2013), Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2
Elfenbein, Josef (1997), Kaye, Alan S. (ed.), Phonologies of Asia and Africa: Including the Caucasus, Eisenbrauns, pp. 733–760, ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4
Tegey, Habibullah; Robson, Barbara (1996), A Reference Grammar of Pashto (PDF), Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics

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[9] With some corrected IPA for words mentioned therein . Sources of correction: Kaye (1997), Zeeya Pashtoon (2009) and Qamosona.com

[FOOTNOTEKaye1997736-1] Kaye (1997), p. 736.

[FOOTNOTETegeyRobson199615-2] Tegey & Robson (1996), p. 15.

[:0-3] David, Anne Boyle (2014). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.

[:1-4] David, Anne Boyle (2014). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.

[5] زيار, پوهاند مجاور (2003). پښتو پښويه (PDF). دانش خپرندويه ټولنه. p. 30. د وينګ پر وخت يې د ژبې وروستۍ برخه د تالو له وروستۍ برخې سره نښلي او په دې توګه د سا هوابهنګ د اواز په زېږځي کې مښنه او سولېدنه مومي

[6] Zyar, Professor Mujawar (2003). Pashto Grammar (PDF). Danish Publishing. p. 31.

[FOOTNOTEKaye1997742-7] Kaye (1997), p. 742.

[FOOTNOTEKaye1997737-8] Kaye (1997), p. 737.

[10] Khan, Muhammad Kamal (2020-04-08). Pashto Phonology: An Evaluation of the Relationship between Syllable Structure and Word Order. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-1-5275-4925-8.

[FOOTNOTEDavid201311-11] David (2013), p. 11.

[FOOTNOTETegeyRobeson199617-12] Tegey & Robeson (1996), p. 17.

[13] Kaye, Alan S. (1997-06-30). Phonologies of Asia and Africa: (including the Caucasus). Eisenbrauns. p. 751. ISBN 978-1-57506-019-4.

[14] Bečka, Jiří (1969). A Study in Pashto Stress. Academia.

[15] Tegey, Habibullah (1996). A Reference Grammar of Pashto. Center for Applied Linguistics. p. 25.

[16] David, Anne Boyle (2015-06-16). Descriptive Grammar of Bangla (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 56 and 109. ISBN 978-1-5015-0083-1.

[17] Tegey, Habibullah (1996). A Reference Grammar of Pashto. Center for Applied Linguistics. p. 56.

[18] David, Anne Boyle (2014). Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.

[19] "Pashto Intonation Patterns". Interspeech 2017.

[20] Anna B. David (2014). A Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 31–34. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.

[UND-21] Coyle, Dennis Walter (August 2014). "Placing Wardak among Pashto varieties" (PDF). University of North Dakota:UND. Retrieved 26 December 2014.

[22] Coyle, Dennis (2014-01-01). "Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties". Theses and Dissertations.

[23] Miller, Corey (2014-05-12). "The Waziri Chain Shift". Journal of Persianate Studies. 7 (1): 125. doi:10.1163/18747167-12341267. ISSN 1874-7167.

[FOOTNOTEKaye1997748-24] Kaye (1997), p. 748.

[FOOTNOTEKaye1997749-25] Kaye (1997), p. 749.

[FOOTNOTEKaye1997751–753-26] Kaye (1997), pp. 751–753.

[27] Rensch, Calvin Ross (1992). Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University. pp. 79–146.

[:022-28] Khan Jazab, Yousaf (2017). An Ethno-linguisitic Study of the Karlani Varieities of Pashto. Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar. pp. 64–65.

[:02-29] Khan Jazab, Yousaf (2017). An Ethno-linguisitic Study of the Karlani Varieities of Pashto. Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar. pp. 60–61.