Frustration on letters!

[Omid]

Hi all. Thanks again all for welcoming me onto this site. Having spent hours trawling through the site I have been working on trying to get the gist of reading Pashto.
I'm starting to get the basic hang of the letters and translating it to english letters though at a first glance of a word or sentence some letters can vary meaning Im translating a word very different from what it actually is and it is a little frustrating. I was wondering if anyone had any pointers.... For example a pashtun sentence I've lifted from a thread.....


په افغانستان کې چاپیریال ساتنه

I literally transcribe as

Pa Afganstan ky chape(or eh, y,e or ee)r (e,ee,eh or y but probably y)al satna

Is that correct? I can transcribe but I have literally no idea what the sentence means above as I'm just working on literal transcription at the moment my vocabulary will come with time.

The main problem being the yeh ی when in different forms as well as waaw not knowing if the letter is v,w,oo or o.

Is this something I will naturally pick up once my vocabulary will get better or is something to physically work on or what.

Any help much appreciated

Omid

[یاسمینه]

There is one rule in Pashto reading - you can read correctly only if you know words and their meanings. You have to learn pronunciation of every word separately.
Like the word مینه - it can be pronounces as mina, mayna, mayena, depending on meaning.
The same words can be pronounced in different ways in different dialects, like زما - some will say zma, others zama, zema etc...

The best way is to check pronunciation in dictionary.

[Omid]

I see its basically just a case of learning words and building my vocabulary which will make me understand what each word is and how it should be pronounced. thanks

[tor_khan]

Omid Jan - Pa Afghanistan ki chaperyal saatana - All round protection in Afghanistan.

Yasmeenah is right - you almost need to know the words (and their context) ahead of being able to read them. That happens in English too.

In English you will choose the correct pronunciation based on your knowledge of how the language works. Consider:

I read a book every day. (I reed a book ... )
I read a book every day. (I red a book ... )

[Friend]

In this respect Pashto language is a very difficult language though we the native speakers never think about it. But its grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and difference of dialects make it very difficult as compared to other languages, if I am not wrong.

Do we have some comprehensive dictionary and grammar book of Pashto language ?

[tor_khan]

Omid Jan - Pa Afghanistan ki chaperyal saatana - All round protection in Afghanistan.

... you almost need to know the words (and their context) ahead of being able to read them ...

Omid ... Earlier I just translated your words more or less literally. How does 'Environment(al) safety in Afghanistan' sound? Does that fit the context of your reading better?

[Haris]

Tor_khan is absolutely right and that's the same advice he gave me when I had the same problem when I first started reading Pakhto.

Having read the Qu'ran before, I could read Pakhto fine when it had the pesh, zer, zabur and stuff but, without that, I would find it hard to know which way the word would be pronounced and hence, what the word actually was.

Knowing the context is vital.

The easiest way is to just practice reading. Eventually you'll get the hang of it. The more exposure you get, the easier it becomes.
Articles, proems, childrens' books etc all help in that regard.

My pakhto reading skills from that point till now have improved dramatically and I didn't even notice it.

We have plenty of learning materials in the 'Kitaboon' & 'Pashto Language' sections.

[Omid]

Thanks for all of your suggestions!
I'm struggling as I have basically just started trying to understand pashto and began to learn the alphabet and their sounds. So I've looked at words and translated the "sounds" into words which I then don't understand because obviously Ive not got any vocabulary in the language but I am sure that will come with time as I keep studying.
I have been on the books section and have downloaded several. The site is a massive help!

Has anyone got any more suggestions to what direction to go as a complete beginner in trying to learn the language?

Manana

Omid

[یاسمینه]

To make you more confused I can tell you that the short word دې has 7 meanings - from different pronouns to vocative particle