[Pashto] Short questions

[Rémy LeBeau]

Following on from alijsh's idea over in the Persian forum, here is a thread where you can ask short questions which you don't think warrant opening a new thread. If a question in this thread gets develops into a bigger discussion then we can always split it off to a new thread afterwards.

[Meera]

Nice thread

[ILuvEire]

These might end up being large questions, but I don't want to start another thread

If I were to begin learning Pashto, what would be the general response from Pashtuns, if I tried speaking or practicing with them? From what I understand, they don't tend to respond very well to outsiders trying to "penetrate" their culture. I don't want to go around offending me, but I mean, I've encountered problems with Arabic speakers not taking kindly to a pale, Jewish-American, homosexual learning their language. I hope I didn't offend with this part of the question, I don't mean to at all.

My other question would just be, in general, how tough it is for learners to get in contact with natives? What have the other learner's experiences been? I mean, I'm learning Hawaiian now, so obviously, I don't have too much trouble learning a language that you have to work hard to find people to speak it with, but like I said, I've been told that Pashtuns in general tend to not take kindly to outsiders.

Also: CONGRATS on getting the forum!

[Meera]

Hey Tyler! What you heard about Pashtuns is not true. I for one would be esatic if an outsider tried to learn my language. I dont know who told you this, the only thing is you can not offend a Pashtun. We take things to heart. I wouldn't mention to a pashtun that you are a homosexual, as they might be scared of you, but you must relize Pashtun society is not modern, and not educated, so your best bet is not to tell them. I know it's hard to hear that, but there are some people in the United States who I wouldnt tell either. And also I never discuss anything about my "love" life with any Pashtun because this is considered taboo. also if you meet a pashtun woman do not touch her or offfer to shake her hand. Just remeber some simple rules but Pashtuns are simple and easy to get along with and in time of need a pashtun friend is always supportive and always there for u. For native speakers, they actually are asy to find. There are many ho use the internets too. Many have imagratted to gulf arabic sttes, cananda and US. I know many Pashtuns in New Jersey and Philadelphia aera as well northern virginia and california. I think you should learn Pashto as it is a very rich and poetic langauge and very rewarding. It is also not very hard. And i can help you anytime on skype or msn.

[Meera]

and another thing pashtuns have no problem with jews. They have problems with Russians. and pale? Pashtuns are aryans! We dont have problems with pale people most of us are pale, I show you some poictures of pashtuns you may think they are Italian or turkish etc.

[ILuvEire]

Hey Tyler! What you heard about Pashtuns is not true. I for one would be esatic if an outsider tried to learn my language. I dont know who told you this, the only thing is you can not offend a Pashtun. We take things to heart. I wouldn't mention to a pashtun that you are a homosexual, as they might be scared of you, but you must relize Pashtun society is not modern, and not educated, so your best bet is not to tell them. I know it's hard to hear that, but there are some people in the United States who I wouldnt tell either. And also I never discuss anything about my "love" life with any Pashtun because this is considered taboo. also if you meet a pashtun woman do not touch her or offfer to shake her hand. Just remeber some simple rules but Pashtuns are simple and easy to get along with and in time of need a pashtun friend is always supportive and always there for u. For native speakers, they actually are asy to find. There are many ho use the internets too. Many have imagratted to gulf arabic sttes, cananda and US. I know many Pashtuns in New Jersey and Philadelphia aera as well northern virginia and california. I think you should learn Pashto as it is a very rich and poetic langauge and very rewarding. It is also not very hard. And i can help you anytime on skype or msn.

This is really helpful. I had a feeling that what I heard was just hype, that's good. And it's also great that there are many Pashtuns in the Gulf Arabic states, I've got family there, so I may legitimately have a chance to visit and actually use it. Also, it makes sense about the homosexual thing, but now that I really think about it, like you said, talking about love life and all of that is taboo, so there wouldn't really be a chance for it to come up in general chatty conversation.

My slight infatuation with Pashto started from my debate team, we've been working a lot on informing ourselves about Afghanistan and Pakistan for the political reasons, but Afghani culture, especially that of the Pashtun is just beautiful, and the language is absolutely gorgeous.

[Meera]

dera mana (it means thank you) for saying pashto is beautiful. I really think you should learn it. also it may help you in career paths because it really is critical language, not just for afghanistan but also pakistan.

[kalemiye]

I think the media affects the way we perceive other cultures, thus we create a preconceived idea in our minds. IMHO, we should try to deattach ourselves from this preconceived ideas and try to meet the people just by who they are.

[Meera]

I think the media affects the way we perceive other cultures, thus we create a preconceived idea in our minds. IMHO, we should try to deattach ourselves from this preconceived ideas and try to meet the people just by who they are.

exactly

[Bubulus]

If the name of the language is supposedly pronounced [paʂˈto], why does it have so many transliterations? Pashto, Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto, Pashtu, Pushtu.

[Meera]

If the name of the language is supposedly pronounced [paʂˈto], why does it have so many transliterations? Pashto, Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto, Pashtu, Pushtu.

It can be pronounced different ways. Alot of people i know prounce it like pa -KH- to or u can say paashtu

[Rémy LeBeau]

If the name of the language is supposedly pronounced [paʂˈto], why does it have so many transliterations? Pashto, Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto, Pashtu, Pushtu.

It varies depending on how people pronounce the consonant ښ, how people choose to transcribe the 'schwa' vowel, and whether people pronounce the final و as an ū or an ō.

[eskandar]

Is there any difference between the letters ګ and گ (ie, used in different regions, or for different words, or belong to different standards, etc.)?

Another question: does anyone know of any websites that sell Pashto-language books? I am not looking for books for learning Pashto, but books in Pashto; specifically, I'd like to buy some books of Pashto poetry (Rahman Baba, Ghani Khan, etc.). I know they can be downloaded online, but I prefer to have a physical copy.

[Rémy LeBeau]

گ isn't a letter in the Pashto alphabet, but gets used sometimes due to technology restrictions, in the same way that ي is sometimes used instead of ی in Farsi. Same with ے and ې. Short of going to Jalalabad, Peshawar or Kandahar, you'll have a hard time finding printed diwans for sale.

You can find publishing information for a few editions from various poets here, which might make them a bit easier to track down.

[eskandar]

Der manana Remy. I figured that might be the case with گ. That link is helpful, looks like some of them have been reprinted on US presses which should make them available somewhere here, hopefully.

[Meera]

Is there any difference between the letters ګ and گ (ie, used in different regions, or for different words, or belong to different standards, etc.)?

Another question: does anyone know of any websites that sell Pashto-language books? I am not looking for books for learning Pashto, but books in Pashto; specifically, I'd like to buy some books of Pashto poetry (Rahman Baba, Ghani Khan, etc.). I know they can be downloaded online, but I prefer to have a physical copy.

In pashto you don't use گ. This is a Persian letter, not a Pashtun letter.

And Im not sure where you can get books in Pashto. Theres an Afghan market around here that sells Afghan books in both Pashto and Farsi. But I dont if there are any around you. Have you tried amazon?

[Serge]

In pashto you don't use گ. This is a Persian letter, not a Pashtun letter.

In Russian manuals and dictionaries only letter گ , not ګ

[Set]

I have a quick question for a hopefully not too dead thread. A translation of "I want to go" was just posted in the translation forum and at first I thought it was wrong due to what I've been studying, but I was able to find the source of this translation here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Pashto_phrasebook

It says "tlel ghwaarem", but I would have said "ghwaarem wlaarshem". Is that also possible? Is there a difference? Or am I just using a Persian construction which isn't common in Pashto?

[Set]

Ok, it seems both are possible. So a new question, how would you say "I want to learn" Pashto with 'ghwarem' at the end of the sentence? Do you need a 'de' before pashto?, as in: de pashto zheba zde kawel gharrem