Clearing Pukhto of Foreign words

[Happy Khan]

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[Pakwatan]

Ma yo article wela-wo che kaam da Kemal Ataturk language reform bare ke wo. Aghay lekale shaway wohi che agha sanga turki jabay na toal baharani lafsoona da farsi aw arabi na-e pak kro.

Kho mung da pukhto jaba ta us ogroo no da ra ukhkari che pukhto kama aw ziata hindustani/urdu, farsi, english aw arabi waayo. Kho dase pukhto pregdoo no bya ba dera loya zulam ukoo khpal zansara zaka mung pa de jaba zan aw khpal ulas pezhanoo.

Staso sa khyal de?

Translation:
I read an article about Kemal Ataturk language reforms. In that it was written how he cleared turkish from foreign words such as arabic and farsi.
If we look at the state of pushto now we find that rather speaking pashto we are speaking hindi/urdu, arabic, english and farsi. If we let are language deteriorate like this than we are harming our national identity.

What do you guys think?

I can understand your desire for wanting Pashto to be pure, but my friend, language and culture is never pure.

Language and culture is always evolving.


Just my two cents.

[Pakwatan]

Should we let it evolve to the point of extinction? Or at least make an effort to preserve our heritage?

Well sir, I am not a Pashtun, or Afghan.

I am a Pakistani Punjabi.


I will present you an argument.

I might be ignorant, but I am 99% sure that there is no word for computer, phone, printer in Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Punjabi.

We all use the word computer while speaking our languages.

If you want to preserve language then we can only do it in a constricted literary sense.

Our problem is that none of us are helping with the evolution of our languages. We are not adding vocabulary, but using western words for new things.

It is not a new concept to learn a different language for education.

Think about Ibn Sina. He was a famous scholar in regards to medicine and in the Islamic world. In fact, doctors today still read about his observations from his text Al-Qanun fi al Tibb.

He had to do research from Greek, Arab, and Indian texts even though he was a Persian.

Basically, he had to learn these languages to gain the knowledge.

I honestly believe that we as Muslims should learn as many languages as possible.


Again, just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

[tor_khan]

Ma yo article wela-wo che kaam da Kemal Ataturk language reform bare ke wo. Aghay lekale shaway wohi che agha sanga turki jabay na toal baharani lafsoona da farsi aw arabi na-e pak kro.

Kho mung da pukhto jaba ta us ogroo no da ra ukhkari che pukhto kama aw ziata hindustani/urdu, farsi, english aw arabi waayo. Kho dase pukhto pregdoo no bya ba dera loya zulam ukoo khpal zansara zaka mung pa de jaba zan aw khpal ulas pezhanoo.

Staso sa khyal de?

Translation:
I read an article about Kemal Ataturk language reforms. In that it was written how he cleared turkish from foreign words such as arabic and farsi.
If we look at the state of pushto now we find that rather speaking pashto we are speaking hindi/urdu, arabic, english and farsi. If we let are language deteriorate like this than we are harming our national identity.

What do you guys think?

How's about you re read what you write in your post and taking a fine-toothed comb clear out the obvious foreign words? You could also do with using Pashto lettering which make what you say even more authentic. I am on my phone so can't demonstrate that well but have left instructions on how to do that somewhere here. Take a look.

Lead by example brother. Works best.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Atta turk failed in reforming the Turkish language. So they just changed the spelling and pronounciation of Arabic and Farsi words.


Believing that a language can exist entirely out of pure words is delusional. Anyone who knows what a language is should know that that is impossible.

Ma yo article wela-wo che kaam da Kemal Ataturk language reform bare ke wo. Aghay lekale shaway wohi che agha sanga turki jabay na toal baharani lafsoona da farsi aw arabi na-e pak kro.

Kho mung da pukhto jaba ta us ogroo no da ra ukhkari che pukhto kama aw ziata hindustani/urdu, farsi, english aw arabi waayo. Kho dase pukhto pregdoo no bya ba dera loya zulam ukoo khpal zansara zaka mung pa de jaba zan aw khpal ulas pezhanoo.

Staso sa khyal de?

Translation:
I read an article about Kemal Ataturk language reforms. In that it was written how he cleared turkish from foreign words such as arabic and farsi.
If we look at the state of pushto now we find that rather speaking pashto we are speaking hindi/urdu, arabic, english and farsi. If we let are language deteriorate like this than we are harming our national identity.

What do you guys think?

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Dear Admin. I dont claim to that my Pushto is awesome. All i am saying is that day by day our language is deteriorating the credit goes to youth like me but also to the society as whole as we have no one to guide us.

The "Pashto lettering" is actually Arabic lettering :P

While Pashtuns are suffering from hunger, war and lack of effective government you worry about our alphabet being alien?

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Lol, he did not fail the world has commemorated him on that front; if you read any book on the topic this fact will become clear to you. He did not change the spellings but reintroduced Turkish words that were replaced by Farsi and Arabic over time the same way English is doing with most languages.

I think what you might be referring to is changing of to the Latin alphabet from Arabic.

I have spent years with Turks and I know some Turkish myself. I hear plenty of Arabic and Farsi words mispronounced. Usually the ignorant Turks assume that those words are Turkish. They are deluded into believing their language is pure and free from foreign words. When you tell them how the words they use are actually corruption of Arabic words, they are often shocked.

The world may commemorate him, the fact is that Atta Turk was an enemy of Islam and his entire effort was to abolish Islam from Turkish society in order to weaken the Muslims.

Amanullah Khan, the infidel king of Afghanistan who was a protege of Atta Turk similarly endeavored upon de-Islamizing Afghanistan but failed miserably.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Uff your detracting from the main point. It is not about Islam. It is to do with Language. Just take a moment and let that sink in.

Saying the Arabic word for bathroom wont make you go to heaven -- your actions will. And in any case to each his own religion/way !

Turkish does contain some loanwords. But the vast majority of them have been eradicated.
Please see this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_replaced_loanwords_in_Turkish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkis...ge_Association

No need to give me links to wikipedia.

If this thread is only about language, then why did you open it in the first place?

We already have a thread about purifying Pashto from unnecessary loanwords:

http://www.pashtunforums.com/pashto-language/41410.htm

[gadoonwal]

Good point ibrahim khana,
i am working on this.
I do this like tableegh.
Pashtuns should stop mixing urdu,farsi and english words into pakhtu.
we have three type of pashtu today
farsishtu
urdeshtu
and
englishtu

The real pashtu is disapearing.
Farsi,arabic and many other languages are still pure then pashtu.
pashtuns look down up on pashtu and feel proud to use other words.
we need to work on this keep our language pure.
we also need to translate new technology words into pakhtu.

[Smarty]

Our older generation of villages speak very pure and solid pakhto,... the pakhto of new educated generation in pakistan is getting simpler and mixed.

[یاسمینه]

Our older generation of villages speak very pure and solid pakhto,... the pakhto of new educated generation in pakistan is getting simpler and mixed.

It happens in every language. It is called "economy of language" - everything what seems to be superfluous, disappears.

[DaZahroJaam.]

"article ledale wo chi language reform bara ki wo"
Nice purification.

[Badlun]

Good effort Ibrahim Khan. At least you are conscious of the phenomenon of adulterating Pashto with other words. I call it adultery not adulteration. I try not to use a single foreign word when I speak or write Pashto. We need our own Ata Turk to enforce the purification of Pashto.

Good efforts have been done by scholars by inventing words like brexna leek for email, tughandey for rocket, roghtoon for hospital, pohantoon for university, zda kawoonkey for student, lar khod for teacher/guide, pohan for PhD doctor etc. Similar efforts can be done for all loan words.

Two things are essential. Governments to declare Pashto effectively as an official language where it is spoken. And Pashtun investors to launch more standard TV channels, magazines, newspapers and attractive digests kind of books.

For Pakistani Pashtuns one especial request to use Pashto numbers, yaw , dwa , dre in place of eik, do ,teen and to avoid words like theek, acha, mehrebani, shukrya and use simple Pashto words like sama da, xa, manana.

Also I think we have to switch over to Latin alphabet as in this world of internet and technology,Pashto alphabet with perso-arabic script is a burden and hindrance. Look people easily write mobile sms in Latin script than in Pashto letters.

[tor_khan]

The last part is problematic because what few literate people we have in Pashto become 'illiterate' at a stroke. I know this because I have a very good friend in Afghanistan who cannot make sense of Latin characters.

Further the push for Latinising Pashto script is often motivated by lazy individuals not willing to invest in the script we already have. Despite all the foreign appeal for instance, at the government level in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf office clerks sit at their computers and type everything in Arabic. Microsoft and other developers have no choice but to make regional versions of their operating systems. It's a case of demand. Can this not be repeated elsewhere?

Technology can also be great for Pashto - there are now dozens and dozens of Pashto language websites and lots of material is finding its way through. We should harness this opportunity, to generate and duplicate more content. Remember standardisation in English came after the invention of the printing press. Of course you need academics and government support too but perhaps, in part the Internet can serve that purpose for Pashto also.

At least in Afghanistan signs, the press and books can be expected to be in Pashto. In Pakhtunkhwa, until people value an education in Pashto, the language is set to 'dilute'.

On a note of observation [MENTION=1034]Badlun[/MENTION] I respect the efforts you put into keeping Pashto pure. Just don't be so hasty in thinking that the solutions for strengthening our language lay only in the Turkish model. As Khorasani said, despite a script reform and a supposed purification drive, their language retains considerable Farsi and Arabic.

[Yousafzai Pakhtun]

Ma yo article wela-wo che kaam da Kemal Ataturk language reform bare ke wo. Aghay lekale shaway wohi che agha sanga turki jabay na toal baharani lafsoona da farsi aw arabi na-e pak kro.

Kho mung da pukhto jaba ta us ogroo no da ra ukhkari che pukhto kama aw ziata hindustani/urdu, farsi, english aw arabi waayo. Kho dase pukhto pregdoo no bya ba dera loya zulam ukoo khpal zansara zaka mung pa de jaba zan aw khpal ulas pezhanoo.

Staso sa khyal de?

Translation:
I read an article about Kemal Ataturk language reforms. In that it was written how he cleared turkish from foreign words such as arabic and farsi.
If we look at the state of pushto now we find that rather speaking pashto we are speaking hindi/urdu, arabic, english and farsi. If we let are language deteriorate like this than we are harming our national identity.

What do you guys think?

All the languages are inter-related and have tons of words in common. you can't just remove those words which are part of your language since ages. It is said that the Hindu Pandits once tried to purify Hindi from foreign words by making new words. the result was that later common man was unable to learn or understand Hindu as they had given it a complete new shape with tons of new words n vocabulary. Even today only Pandits know the pure hindi and common people learn from them. Today the Pashtuns of Afghanistan are heading in the same direction. Every person who some how has an attachment to literature and writings introduce bundle of new words on the pretext of purifying the language which isn't a good sign bcoz no body care about the grammatical rules. For example there is a word "Khkula" and another "Leekwal" invented in Afghanistan which are not created according to grammatical rules.
in grammar when there is "laam" in the end of a "Masdar" we make a noun of it by replacing "laam" with "oonkey" like from "Katal" we have "Katoonkey" , Auredal we have "Auredoonkey" similarly from "Leekal" the noun should be "Leekoonkey" not "Leekwal" but leekwal has been invented out of it and has now become a common word.
So in short if any body want to purify the language by making a new words he/she should keep in view the grammatical rules and there should be certain procedure or rules according to which new words should be created. It shouldn't be anyone 's own choice.

As far as naming different things in pashto is concerned i totally discourage it coz name remain the same in every language so naming Rocket, TV or Fridge which are invented by Angrez should be translated into Pashto. They have promoted their language by making development in science and Technology and now in every part of the world how backward it may be every person use the words like Sim, Battery, TV, Mobile etc. So if Pashtuns wants to promote their language they should focus on development and progress in every field.