Transliteration
- All pashto texts in UD are transliterated to capture their pronounciation.
- The transliteration used here is strictly phonemic: it aims on including all pronounced sounds, although they are not expressed in writing and on the contrary, it omits all unpronounced orthographic letters.
- The transliteration of each sentence is written on a line beginning with
# translit =. - The transliteration of word is given in the MISC column under the Translit attribute.
- The transliteration of each lemma is shown in the MISC column under the LTranslit attribute, but only if it differs from
Translit.
| Character | Corresponding phonemes |
| ا ـا | - / i / a / u (word-initially) â (word-initially, improper orthgraphy) â (elsewhere) |
| آ | (occurs only word-initailly) â |
| ب بـ ـبـ ـب | b |
| پ ـپ ـپـ ـپ | p |
| ت تـ ـتـ ـت | t |
| ټ ټـ ـټـ ـټ | ṭ |
| ث ـث ـثـ ـث | s (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| ج جـ ـجـ ـج | ǰ |
| چ چـ ـچـ ـچ | č |
| ح حـ ـحـ ـح | h (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| خ خـ ـخـ ـخ | x |
| څ څـ ـڅـ ـڅ | c |
| ځ ځـ ـځـ ـځ | ż |
| د ـد | d |
| ډ ـډ | ḍ |
| ذ ـذ | z (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| ر ـر | r |
| ړ ـړ | ṛ |
| ز ـز | z |
| ژ ـژ | ž |
| ږ ـږ | ǧ |
| س سـ ـسـ ـس | s |
| ش ـش ـشـ ـش | š |
| ښ ـښ ـښـ ـښ | x̌ |
| ص صـ ـصـ ـص | s (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| ض ضـ ـضـ ـض | z (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| ط طـ ـطـ ـط | t (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| ظ ظـ ـظـ ـظ | z (only in words of Arabic origin) |
| ع عـ ـعـ ـع | (only in words of Arabic origin) ' / 'i / 'a / 'u (word-initially and word-centrally) ' (word-finally) |
| غ غـ ـغـ ـغ | ġ |
| ف فـ ـفـ ـف | f |
| ق قـ ـقـ ـق | q |
| ک کـ ـکـ ـک | k |
| ګ ګـ ـګـ ـګ | g |
| ل لـ ـلـ ـل | n |
| م مـ ـمـ ـم | m |
| ن نـ ـنـ ـن | n |
| ڼ ڼـ ـڼـ ـڼ | ṇ |
| ه هـ ـهـ ـه | h a (only word-finally) ë (only word finally, improper orthography) |
| ۀ ـۀ | (occurs only word-finally) ë |
| و ـو | w u o |
| ې ېـ ـېـ ـې | e |
| یـ ـیـ | (does not occur word-finally) y i |
| ي ـي | (occurs only word-finally) i |
| ی ـی | (occurs only word-finally) ay (after a consonant) y (after a vowel) |
| ۍ ـۍ | (occurs only word-finally, feminine nominal ending) ëy |
| ئ ـئ | (occurs only word-finally, verb ending for the second person plural) ëy (after a consonant) y (after a vowel) |
Phonology
- For each phoneme the tables provide:
- The phonetic realization
- The usual orthographic realization depending on the position within the word: word-initial, word-central and word-final; the orthography of foreign words is not taken into account
Vowels
| Phoneme | Phonetic realization | Orthographic representation | ||
| Final | Central | Initial | ||
| i | closed front vowel [i] | ـي ي | ـیـ یـ / ـ | ایـ / ا |
| e | mid front vowel [ɛ] | ـې ې | ـېـ ېـ | اېـ |
| a | open front vowel [a] | ـه ه | ـ | ا |
| ë | mid central vowel (shwa) [ə] | ـۀ ۀ (ـه ه) | ـ | |
| u | closed back rounded vowel [u] | ـو و | ـو و / ـ | او / ا |
| o | mid back rounded vowel [o] | ـو و | ـو و | او |
| â | open back rounded vowel [ɒ] | ـا ا | ـا ا | آ (ا) |
NOTES:
- The characters in brackets are often used instead of the proper ones.
- The sign “ـ” denotes that the phoneme does/may not have the orthographic representation in that position.
Consonants
Nasals
| Phoneme | Phonetic realization | Orthographic representation |
| m | bilabial nasal [m] | م مـ ـمـ ـم |
| n | alveolar nasal [n] | ن نـ ـنـ ـن |
| ṇ | retroflex nasal [ɳ] | ڼ ڼـ ـڼـ ـڼ |
Plosives
| Phoneme | Phonetic realization | Orthographic representation |
| b | voiced bilabial plosive [b] | ب بـ ـبـ ـب |
| p | unvoiced bilabial plosive [p] | پ پـ ـپـ ـپ |
| d | voiced alveolar plosive [d] | د ـد |
| t | unvoiced alveolar plosive [t] | ت تـ ـتـ ـت |
| ḍ | voiced retroflex plosive [ɖ] | ډ ـډ |
| ṭ | unvoiced retroflex plosive [ʈ] | ټ ټـ ـټـ ـټ |
| g | voiced velar plosive [g] | ګ ګـ ـګـ ـګ |
| k | unvoiced velar plosive [k] | ک کـ ـکـ ـک |
| q | unvoiced uvular plosive [q] | ق قـ ـقـ ـق |
| ' | glottal stop [ʔ] | عـ ـعـ |
Fricatives
| Phoneme | Phonetic realization | Orthographic representation |
| f | unvoiced labiodental fricative [f] | ف فـ ـفـ ـف |
| z | voiced alveolar fricative [z] | ز ـز |
| s | unvoiced alveolar fricative [s] | س سـ ـسـ ـس |
| ž | voiced post-alveolar fricative [ʒ] | ژ ـژ |
| š | unvoiced post-alveolar fricative [ʃ] | ش شـ ـشـ ـش |
| ǧ | the local realization of this voiced fricative spans from post-alveolar [ʒ] through retroflex [ʐ] and palatal [ʑ] to velar [ɣ] depending on dialect |
ږ ـږ |
| x̌ | the local realization of this unvoiced fricative spans from post-alveolar [ʃ] through retroflex [ʂ] and palatal [ɕ] to velar [x] depending on dialect |
ښ ښـ ـښـ ـښ |
| ġ | voiced velar or uvular fricative [ɣ ~ ʁ] | غ غـ ـغـ ـغ |
| x | unvoiced velar or uvular fricative [x ~ χ] | خ خـ ـخـ ـخ |
| h | glottal fricative [h] | ه هـ ـهـ ـه |
Affricates
| Phoneme | Phonetic realization | Orthographic representation |
| ż | voiced alveolar affricate [d͡z] | ځ ځـ ـځـ ـځ |
| c | unvoiced alveolar affricate [t͡s] | څ څـ ـڅـ ـڅ |
| ǰ | voiced post-alveolar affricate [d͡ʒ] | ج جـ ـجـ ـج |
| č | voiced alveolar affricate [t͡ʃ] | چ چـ ـچـ ـچ |
Taps and Approximants
| Phoneme | Phonetic realization | Orthographic representation |
| r | alveolar tap [ɾ] | ر ـر |
| ṛ | retroflex tap [ɽ] | ړ ـړ |
| l | alveolar lateral approximant [l] | ل لـ ـلـ ـل |
| w | bilabial approximant [w] | و ـو |
| y | palatal approximant [j] | یـ ـیـ ـی ی ـئ ئ |
Stress
- Pashto has a phonemic stress that can fall on any syllable (but mostly falls on the last one).
- The stress should be marked with an accent mark (´) above the vowel of the stressed syllable in every word that includes two or more syllables.
- If such a word does not bear a stress, it indicates that it forms a stress group with another word, which is stressed (نه کوم në́ kawëm “I do not do”)