~ Formal vs. Colloquial Pashto: Questions!

[Mayana]

Salamoona..

I think many of us members are fluent in Pashto but have never learned "Adabi Pashto" in a school and hence are unfamiliar with the differences between colloquial and formal Pashto, grammatically correct conjugations, grammatically correct syntax, and Ketaabi expressions.. I am one of them lol

So I decided to create this platform for myself and other rather advances Pashto students who aren't learning Pashto from scratch but rather have decent knowledge of the language.. so ask questions in hopes of our scholars teaching us inshAllah! =)

One thing that has been bothering for a long time is..
What is the correct conjugation for the third person singular of the verb 'kawal' / کول ? For example, if I want to say, my head hurts.. Do I say "Sar mi Dard kawih" or "Sar mi Dard kayih?" I hear both equally often, I amjust wondering which one is formally correct.

Also, I am confused about the difference between the three Yaa's : ي ې ی and would be grateful if anyone could explain the difference in pronunciation and usage with the help of examples..

Dera Manana,

Pa Draanasht,

Mayana =)

[Millatpal Noorzai]

Sar Me Dard Kawi is the formal form.

I could address your second question only with Pashto keyboard and font,it is very hard to be explained in English and you most likely will not get a satisfactory answer.

[Mayana]

Dera Manana!
Hila laram chi da hagha bali Poshtani Jawab ham rakeh inshAllah =)

[Mayana]

Is it ښکنځل or کنخل or ښنځل ? I've heard all.. just kinda confused which one is the proper way of writing it..

[Mayana]

Is it اړه or اړښت ? =/ I recall hearing both, is one the abbreviation of the other?

[Mayana]

LOL I know what you mean, Shlombayya.. grown people say all three versions that I posted there.. I'm just wondering what the actual formal way of spelling it is..

[Mayana]

[Nokia_Apridy]

"Sar mi Dard kawih" or "Sar mi Dard kayih?"

SAR MA KHU GEGY ..........mayna khor not dard dard PARSI da..

INSHALLAH chay sam ba wi

[Mayana]

My point was not dard kawal ya kojhedal.. my point was the verb "kawal". I wanted to know how "Kawal" is conjugated.. and that was the only example I could think of at the moment. Kojhedal doesn't answer my question lol
Khair, bia ham dera manana! =)

[Nokia_Apridy]

Mung warta wau

mung Apridi warta Wayu ZYARAY KANZALU ta ...........ao Mayna khor chay leklay da

haga KANZAL KANZALAY........proper da ...

[Yousafzai Pakhtun]

Salamoona..

One thing that has been bothering for a long time is..
What is the correct conjugation for the third person singular of the verb 'kawal' / کول ? For example, if I want to say, my head hurts.. Do I say "Sar mi Dard kawih" or "Sar mi Dard kayih?" I hear both equally often, I amjust wondering which one is formally correct.

Also, I am confused about the difference between the three Yaa's : ي ې ی and would be grateful if anyone could explain the difference in pronunciation and usage with the help of examples..

Dera Manana,

Pa Draanasht,

Mayana =)

Thanks for starting this useful thread mayana.....
There is always a difference in our spoken pashto and the written one......
so in case of "Kavee" and "Kayih" the former is the written pashto and the latter is the collquial one......

there are five "ya's" used in Pashto......as far as your question is concerned:
1. "the first ya you mentioned i.e "ې" (ya with two vertical dots) having an intermediate sound between "ee" and "ey"....often used for plural words....
Like "Khabary" (خبرې), (چرګې) , (سترګې) etc.....
2. "ي" (ya with two horizental dots) having sound like "ee" is used for plural nouns:
like "هغوي ولاړ دي" ....as Haghvee is plural so this "ya" is used....other example are "سپي" "منګي" etc
3. The third "ya" (not having any dots) is widely used in Afghanistan in Pukhtunkhwa we use "ے" instead......this type of ya is for a singular noun.....like
"هغه ولاړ دے"
"د جينۍ په سر منګے دے" in these examples "Mangey" is singular so "ے" or "ی is used i don't have this ya in my keyboard.....

[Yousafzai Pakhtun]

Is it ښکنځل or کنخل or ښنځل ? I've heard all.. just kinda confused which one is the proper way of writing it..

We use "Kanzal" (کنځل) .....in some dialects they say "shkanzal" but in written form it is "کنځل"

[Yousafzai Pakhtun]

Banosee, Marwats etc call it "Zyarey" too as Nokia said.....

[Mayana]

Thanks for starting this useful thread mayana.....
There is always a difference in our spoken pashto and the written one......
so in case of "Kavee" and "Kayih" the former is the written pashto and the latter is the collquial one......

there are five "ya's" used in Pashto......as far as your question is concerned:
1. "the first ya you mentioned i.e "ې" (ya with two vertical dots) having an intermediate sound between "ee" and "ey"....often used for plural words....
Like "Khabary" (خبرې), (چرګې) , (سترګې) etc.....
2. "ي" (ya with two horizental dots) having sound like "ee" is used for plural nouns:
like "هغوي ولاړ دي" ....as Haghvee is plural so this "ya" is used....other example are "سپي" "منګي" etc
3. The third "ya" (not having any dots) is widely used in Afghanistan in Pukhtunkhwa we use "ے" instead......this type of ya is for a singular noun.....like
"هغه ولاړ دے"
"د جينۍ په سر منګے دے" in these examples "Mangey" is singular so "ے" or "ی is used i don't have this ya in my keyboard.....

Thank you very much, Yosufzaya Wrora!

Let me get this straight, sha.. let's make sure I got this correctly:

سپی - dog
سپي - dogs
منګی - jug
منګي - jugs
قندهاری - Man from Qandahar ?
قندهاري باغونه - Qandahari Gardens ?


I'm still confused about the difference between ې and ي =(

[Mayana]

I refuuuuuuuuussseeee!!

It looks prettier to me with a Qaaf.. but oh well.. I stand corrected, Nazo. =)