Hi there! I've a few questions about Pasho & the Pashtun people & history.

[Valujira]

Hi there!

I would like to ask a few questions on certain subjects:

Language

I came to the existence of Pashto a long time ago, but just recently I chose to study it and to meet its people and culture. I do see many similarities to Indian languages, especially to Gujarati and Hindi, India and Gujarat especially were ruled by great Sheikhs and Islamic regimes, what caused the Arabic & Persian language to affect and enter these languages.
I also see small similarities to Hebrew, I do believe it is because of the Quranic Arabic and the fact these two are Semitic languages, for instance in Hebrew karov means qarib as in Arabic and Pashto.

However, I would like to ask that (I haven't started yet to learn Pashto, but soon I'm going to begin):
Does Pashto has a regular verb stems/suffixes/affixes etc? For example, in Hindi we've the na for each verb stem, like karna - to do, bolna - to speak etc. The same in Gujarati (vu ending - karvu, rahevu etc.) or even Polish (ć and rarely c)?

Does Pashto has cases? For those of you who're unfamiliar with that term, it means that the noun ending's is changed to express possession, need, place, time, sometimes fear (like in Aburginal languages) etc.

I found some courses of Pashto, like the courses by Tegey & Habullah, are they enough (they're good)?

How's Pashto with TV shows, movies etc.? I'm especially talking about TV programs in Pashto WITH SUBTITLES IN PASHTO, It is a shame that I've only in Chinese and Hebrew so far, it's the most accelerating technique for language learning and absorbing. I hope there's such a thing in the Pashto media, it was a nightmare in Polish, till I achieved fluency and could understand what people are saying, I'd to visit Poland twice and waste money to obtain that ability.


Politics

That's gonna be short I guess.
What's the general mood among Pashtuns about India, USA, Israel, Russia, China and inner conflicts like Taliban, Al-Qaeda (By the way what's the difference between these two) etc.



History
I would like to know what's the deal with Indians and Afghans, I try to avoid asking and talking about politics with Indians, Chinese etc. But I'm curious.


Tourism

As I like to say, you cannot learn a language without explore and like her culture.
Is it fine to visit Afghanistan & Pakistan? Expensive, safe, boring? If I've also a blue Israel Passport is that a problem (I've my Romanian one, I guess I shall use that one).
I would like to visit Kabul, the deserts of these lands and the Kashmir and Peshawar city.

Thanks & good days

[Badlun]

Hi there!

I would like to ask a few questions on certain subjects:

Language

I came to the existence of Pashto a long time ago, but just recently I chose to study it and to meet its people and culture. I do see many similarities to Indian languages, especially to Gujarati and Hindi, India and Gujarat especially were ruled by great Sheikhs and Islamic regimes, what caused the Arabic & Persian language to affect and enter these languages.
I also see small similarities to Hebrew, I do believe it is because of the Quranic Arabic and the fact these two are Semitic languages, for instance in Hebrew karov means qarib as in Arabic and Pashto.

However, I would like to ask that (I haven't started yet to learn Pashto, but soon I'm going to begin):
Does Pashto has a regular verb stems/suffixes/affixes etc? For example, in Hindi we've the na for each verb stem, like karna - to do, bolna - to speak etc. The same in Gujarati (vu ending - karvu, rahevu etc.) or even Polish (ć and rarely c)?

Does Pashto has cases? For those of you who're unfamiliar with that term, it means that the noun ending's is changed to express possession, need, place, time, sometimes fear (like in Aburginal languages) etc.

I found some courses of Pashto, like the courses by Tegey & Habullah, are they enough (they're good)?

How's Pashto with TV shows, movies etc.? I'm especially talking about TV programs in Pashto WITH SUBTITLES IN PASHTO, It is a shame that I've only in Chinese and Hebrew so far, it's the most accelerating technique for language learning and absorbing. I hope there's such a thing in the Pashto media, it was a nightmare in Polish, till I achieved fluency and could understand what people are saying, I'd to visit Poland twice and waste money to obtain that ability.


Politics

That's gonna be short I guess.
What's the general mood among Pashtuns about India, USA, Israel, Russia, China and inner conflicts like Taliban, Al-Qaeda (By the way what's the difference between these two) etc.



History
I would like to know what's the deal with Indians and Afghans, I try to avoid asking and talking about politics with Indians, Chinese etc. But I'm curious.


Tourism

As I like to say, you cannot learn a language without explore and like her culture.
Is it fine to visit Afghanistan & Pakistan? Expensive, safe, boring? If I've also a blue Israel Passport is that a problem (I've my Romanian one, I guess I shall use that one).
I would like to visit Kabul, the deserts of these lands and the Kashmir and Peshawar city.

Thanks & good days

Most welcome and thanks for your interest in Pashto language.

Please do check this link and other threads in Pashto language section in this forum which will answer your queries in detail.

http://www.pashtunforums.com/showthread.php?t=1301

Pashto is a langauge of about 60 to 70 millions of people, about 15 to 20 millions live in Afghanistan, about 35 to 40 millions in Pakistan and the rest as immigrants in other countries. Millions of people of Pashtun origin also live in India. In Afghanistan Pashto enjoys official status but in Pakistan it is mainly a spoken language.

Pashto has it infinitives which ends in AL. Like kawal=to do. kxenastal=to sit, wayal= to speak, likal= to write, awredal= to hear . lwastal= to read

Pashto has two main cases, direct and oblique, though in the singular there is also a vocative. The oblique case is governed by adpositions (prepositions and postpositions). Besides suffixes, they are marked also by alterations of stem vowels and stress.




There are two types of case marking: in most masculine nouns the singular direct and oblique cases are the same; in most feminine nouns the oblique singular is identical to the direct plural. However, some masculine and feminine nouns display the opposite pattern. All oblique plurals end in -o. The declension of masculine šāgərd (‘student’), and feminine xədza (‘woman’) is shown above.

http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Pashto.html

Pashto is a S-O-V language with split ergativity. Adjectives come before nouns. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for gender (masc./fem.), number (sing./plur.), and case (direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative). The verb system is very intricate with the following tenses: present; subjunctive; simple past; past progressive; present perfect; and past perfect. In any of the past tenses (simple past, past progressive, present perfect, past perfect), Pashto is an ergative language; i.e., transitive verbs in any of the past tenses agree with the object of the sentence. The dialects show some non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms that are discarded by the literary language.

Case

Pashto inflects nouns into four grammatical cases: direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative. The oblique I case is used as prepositional case as well as in the past tense as the subject of transitive verbs, and the oblique II case is used as ablative case.
The following table shows the declension of the masculine noun غر (ɣar, meaning "mountain"):

Singular Plural Direct غر
ɣar غرونه
ɣrūna Oblique I غرۀ
ɣrə غرونو
ɣrūnō Oblique II غره
ɣara غرونو
ɣrūnō Vocative غره
ɣra غرونو
ɣrūnō The following table shows the declension of سړی (saṛai, meaning "man"), a masculine noun with ending "ai":

Singular Plural Direct سړی
saṛai سړي
saṛi Oblique I سړي
saṛi سړيو
saṛəyō Oblique II سړيه
saṛəya سړيو
saṛəyō Vocative سړيه
saṛəya سړيو
saṛəyō The following table shows the declension of ښځه (ṣ̌ədza, meaning "woman"), a feminine noun with ending "a":

Singular Plural Direct ښځه
ṣ̌ədza ښځې
ṣ̌ədzē Oblique I ښځې
ṣ̌ədzē ښځو
ṣ̌ədzō Oblique II ښځې
ṣ̌ədzē ښځو
ṣ̌ədzō Vocative ښځې
ṣ̌ədzē ښځو
ṣ̌ədzō The following table shows the declension of the feminine noun ورځ (wradz, meaning "day"):

Singular Plural Direct ورځ
wradz ورځې
wradzē Oblique I ورځ
wradz ورځو
wradzō Oblique II ورځه
wradza ورځو
wradzō Vocative ورځې
wradzē ورځو
wradzōhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashto_grammar

Pashtuns are now a days hit by worst kind of terrorism and religious extremism. Aalmost all of the Taliban are Pashtuns. The difference between Taliban and Al qaeda is that Taliban are Pashtuns and focused on Pashtunland while AlQaeda has global designs. Taliban is Pashtun AlQaeda. This makes misfortune for Pashtuns but also a blessing is disguise as this make Pashto and Pashtun affairs more attractive for foreigners.

Pashtun areas inherit Gandhara and Buddhist civilizations and there are many archeological sites besides natural beauty sites as Swat, Kunar, Kumrat etc.

There are some Pashto TV channels like Khyber TV, Shamshad etc. Still Pashtuns are very backward in both electronic and print media. Focus of Pashtuns is religion thus hereafter not this world. Modernism and secularism will change Pashtuns with passage of time.

Pashtuns also called Afghans have a lot of historic connections with India. Pashtuns like Suris and Lodhis ruled India for centuries and also had a lot of influence in other Muslim dynasties. Many states of India were goverened by Pashtuns.

Please feel free for more questions and comments.

[Valujira]

Very informative, be blessed.

Yes my friend, I do have something to ask.

First about the dialects, if I speak one dialect, can I understand others? And can I be understood as well? The perfect thing will be a long pdf. list with all the dialectal Pashto words (since I guess most words are the same in all dialects). A list of most used or all of the dialects' words, like a word in standard Pashto & right below or in the side the other possibilities of the word in other dialect with Romanization - since the learner shouldn't guess how to read a certain word.

Another question, Can I visit Afghanistan or certain parts? Or it would be better idea to skip Afghanistan and concentrate on Pakistan?

Thanks again!

[torkham]

1 There are two major "dialects" in Pashto. Geographically north eastern areas of Afghanistan and northern pashtun areas of Pakistan speak one dialect, remainder the other.

NE dialects has characteristic kh sound of letter kheen (dot above and below a horizontal line)
SW dialect has the sh sound for same letter, this time pronounced sheen.

Eg kheen dialect pakhto, Pakhtun, khaista, pekhawar, nokhara
In sheen dialect pashto pashtun, shaista, peshawar, noshara(sp)

There are other letters too with concurrent variations, ge/zhe

Eg gire/zhire (beard), mung/munzh (mine)

2 there are regional dialects within the kheen/sheen - Pashto of wardak, paktya, khost, ningarhar, that spoken by khattack, yusufzai, the bannichi, wazirwola

Visiting Afghanistan: visa of sure, + letter from resident national sponsor(company, friend, relative). Not recommended. I haven't sponsored anyone of my foreign friends who wish to visit.
Another compatriot sponsored a foreigner but he is well connected and has private security, body guards.
You may find it easier getting into Pakistan to get exposure to pashtun language.

[Badlun]

Very informative, be blessed.

Yes my friend, I do have something to ask.

First about the dialects, if I speak one dialect, can I understand others? And can I be understood as well? The perfect thing will be a long pdf. list with all the dialectal Pashto words (since I guess most words are the same in all dialects). A list of most used or all of the dialects' words, like a word in standard Pashto & right below or in the side the other possibilities of the word in other dialect with Romanization - since the learner shouldn't guess how to read a certain word.

Another question, Can I visit Afghanistan or certain parts? Or it would be better idea to skip Afghanistan and concentrate on Pakistan?

Thanks again!

Whenever you have time, please do check the Pashto language section and many of your queries will be clarified automatically. However you can continue asking and sharing here for specific questions.

As Torkham explained above, there are two main dialects in Pashto. Hard dialect spoken in northern parts of Pashtunland like Jalalabad, Kunar, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Swat, Panrha Chinar etc which have Khin and Ge sounds in pure Pashto words like kha(ok), gira(beard) while soft dialect spoken in southern parts like Kandahar and Quetta with Shin and Je sounds for pure Pashto words. In areas like Bannu, Khost, Waziristan soft dialect is spoken with a particular accent and some Linguists call it Central dialect. Words for OK here are Sha and for beard Jira.

Instead of a list you just try to know that pure Pashto words differ in pronunciation of these two sounds. Letters are the same, only sounds(morphemes and phonemes) differ. for example Kha is written with same letter in both the dialects but pronounced KHA in hard dialect and sha in soft dialect but written the same way. Pure Pashto word means not derived from other languages like Arabic or Persian. For example the word Khar(donkey) is written with Arabic Khe letter not with khin and pronounced in both the dialects the same way, Khar, not shar in soft dialect.

If you learn any of the dialect, you can fully understand the other one. I will recommend you may focus on learning Pashto language not its dialects and once you master the language, dialects will be easier to master. You start learning English and at advanced stage you know the differences of British and American English.

Visiting Afghanistan for some academic purpose is not difficult. You apply for visa in Afghanistan embassy in your country and they may issue the visa after consular interview and fulfillment of requirements. You can directly contact a Pashto academic or literary organization in Afghanistan to sponsor you or tell the visa counselor in embassy to guide you.

You can also contact Pashto Academy in Peshawar university and they may also extend some assistance for Pakistan. You have to maintain your keen interest and make a strong case and I hope you will get over such difficulties. Pashto is not like Arabic or Persian or French that have a lot of market but it is a beautiful language and your efforts are worthy of it.

[Valujira]

Whenever you have time, please do check the Pashto language section and many of your queries will be clarified automatically. However you can continue asking and sharing here for specific questions.

As Torkham explained above, there are two main dialects in Pashto. Hard dialect spoken in northern parts of Pashtunland like Jalalabad, Kunar, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Swat, Panrha Chinar etc which have Khin and Ge sounds in pure Pashto words like kha(ok), gira(beard) while soft dialect spoken in southern parts like Kandahar and Quetta with Shin and Je sounds for pure Pashto words. In areas like Bannu, Khost, Waziristan soft dialect is spoken with a particular accent and some Linguists call it Central dialect. Words for OK here are Sha and for beard Jira.

Instead of a list you just try to know that pure Pashto words differ in pronunciation of these two sounds. Letters are the same, only sounds(morphemes and phonemes) differ. for example Kha is written with same letter in both the dialects but pronounced KHA in hard dialect and sha in soft dialect but written the same way. Pure Pashto word means not derived from other languages like Arabic or Persian. For example the word Khar(donkey) is written with Arabic Khe letter not with khin and pronounced in both the dialects the same way, Khar, not shar in soft dialect.

If you learn any of the dialect, you can fully understand the other one. I will recommend you may focus on learning Pashto language not its dialects and once you master the language, dialects will be easier to master. You start learning English and at advanced stage you know the differences of British and American English.

Visiting Afghanistan for some academic purpose is not difficult. You apply for visa in Afghanistan embassy in your country and they may issue the visa after consular interview and fulfillment of requirements. You can directly contact a Pashto academic or literary organization in Afghanistan to sponsor you or tell the visa counselor in embassy to guide you.

You can also contact Pashto Academy in Peshawar university and they may also extend some assistance for Pakistan. You have to maintain your keen interest and make a strong case and I hope you will get over such difficulties. Pashto is not like Arabic or Persian or French that have a lot of market but it is a beautiful language and your efforts are worthy of it.

Thanks a lot my friend.

So in general (switching to Pashto keyboard ahm ahm):
خ - kh in hard Pashto & sh in soft Pashto.
ښ - sh in soft Pashto and kh in hard Pashto.
Correct?

After receiving a Visa from Afghanistan/Pakistan Academy etc. Can I choose an hotel or they've rooms for their visitors who would like to learn the culture? Another issue, is Afghanistan safe? I cannot say I am fearful, but I guess when going in the street it would be a better idea to wear the traditional Afghan simple clothes and sandals, right? I guess Pakistan is a bit more safer than Afghanistan.

Thanks!

[Valujira]

By the way, can you tell me hows Pashto goes with all the last hard/soft consonants?

For instance, tell me what is correct in these cases (or if it is fine both).

غ - I pronounce it as r in Hebrew, not rolling like in most languages.
ي - e
ی - ey
ې - ey
ږ - zh like French J, same as ړ, although I heard that some read it as if it were g, like maybe اورېږ - I read it as worezh, is it fine?

And final consonants are softened in the end or stays hard? For instance this is the case in Polish. 'sad' is being read as 'sat', the tongue of d is the same as t, just without vibrating the vocal cords.
Another example - jeźć - it is read as 'yeshch', ź is hard French J, but because ć is soft and in the end, the consonant which proceeds the last one is too being softened.
Pashto is the same? Like سوړ sozh is being read as sozh or sosh?

Thank again! And sorry for the double-post (in case it's not permitted)

[Badlun]

Thanks a lot my friend.

So in general (switching to Pashto keyboard ahm ahm):
خ - kh in hard Pashto & sh in soft Pashto.
ښ - sh in soft Pashto and kh in hard Pashto.
Correct?

After receiving a Visa from Afghanistan/Pakistan Academy etc. Can I choose an hotel or they've rooms for their visitors who would like to learn the culture? Another issue, is Afghanistan safe? I cannot say I am fearful, but I guess when going in the street it would be a better idea to wear the traditional Afghan simple clothes and sandals, right? I guess Pakistan is a bit more safer than Afghanistan.

Thanks!

No. The following statement is not correct

خ - kh in hard Pashto & sh in soft Pashto.


خ is always Kh in both the dialects as it is used for words taken from other languages like khar or for words which do not have difference in pronunciation in both the dialects. For example Khatak tribe is written with خ because it is pronounced with KH everywhere.

The following statement is correct

ښ - sh in soft Pashto and kh in hard Pashto
because this letter is sued for words which differ in both the dialects and are mainly pure Pashto words not derived from other languages.

If you are a student of some department of Foreign languages, then explore possibility of interaction of your organization with embassy and sponsor or invitees. This you have to do in real world not in this virtual world.

Pashtunland in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is unfortunately not safe because of terrorism and religious extremism. However cities like Peshawar, Quetta in Pakistan are safer than Kabul or Kandahar. But if you have proper sponsor or invitee, then they can further guide you. Millions of people live in Pashtunland and thousands visit them but its all up to the situation. Risk is there but adventure or cause has its own taste.

[Zarakattack94]

Wait..... Where're you from?? Can anyone tell me where the guy who asked the question is from?

[salman47]

Hello Bro/Sis!

Wish you Best of Luck, and have a safe journey!
For Safety Reasons I recommend;
Pakistan:
Just go From Islamabad to Peshawar to Swat Valley, and Dir to Chitral plus end up in Gilgit-Baltistan. Well the only Pashtun Places I listed are Peshawar, Swat and Dir(and a few places in-between), but you must not miss going further up North(These places have been entitled as 'Heaven' by many foriegn Tourists, Irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds.). Just don't go too far from the route I mentioned.
Also consult other Foriegn tourists who has ventured into Northern Pakistan.

P.S. YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR İSRAELİ PASSPORT AT HOME, BECAUSE NOTHERNERS STİLL THİNK THAT THE WHOLE NATİON ARE JUDGED/DEFİNED BY THE ACTİON OF THE FEW!
+ You will have trouble with Government/İntelligence Agencies for simply possessing an İsraeli passport.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.
Salman.