Written Pashto is essentially Arabic, with a few extra letters thrown in, mostly variations of existing ones. Like Arabic, it is written from right to left. Here are the letters and how you say the name of the letter, with the sound of the letter below it.
ا ب پ ت ټ ث
seh tteh teh peh beh alef
s t* t p b a, i, e, o, u
generally, it's pronounced like a long 'a'
or like the 'o' in 'dog'
ج ځ چ څ ح خ
kheh heh tseh cheh dzeh jeem
kh* h ts ch dz j
د ډ ذ ر ړ ز ژ ږ
geh/zheh* zheh zeh rreh* ray zal ddal dal
g/zh zh z r/l r z d* d
س ش ښ ص ض ط ظ
zoy toy zwad swat shin/khin shin sin
z t z s sh/kh* sh s
ع غ ف ق ک ګ
gof koff qoff* fay ghain 'ain
g k q* f gh glottal stop
ل م ن ڼ و ه
hay wow nnoon noon meem lam
h/a u/o nn n m l
ي ې ى ۍ ئ
yay (Read about them here)
i/e
*Notes:
- The little circle under the ټ ړ ڼ ډ is called a pandak, and it's basically the same letter, except your tongue curls back to the roof of your mouth instead of the base of your teeth. It's hard to explain in writing.
- The 'kh' sound is like a hard spanish 'J' or like the 'ch' in German or Scottish
- The 'gh' is like the French 'r' (formed in the back of the throat)
- The glottal stop mentioned under ع is also hard to explain. The best equivalent would be an a'a. For example, the word فعال (active) would be written fa'al. It's as if the word were broken into 2 words, fa and al.
- The ک (k) and ق (q) are hard for beginners to differentiate, and many uneducated Pashtuns also pronounce them both like a 'k'. However, the 'q' sound is formed in the throat, kind of like the sound someone makes when they're choking
In case you wanted a more in depth introduction, visit the Wikipedia page on the topic
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