Monday, February 21, 2011

The yays

(This is lesson 2 of the alphabet)

The last 5 letters in Pashto are vowels, and are variations of the same letter, though used in different ways:

ي  klaka ye (hard yay) is pronounced  y or  i 
ې  pasta ye (soft yay)  is pronounced  eh
ى  narrina ye (masculine yay)  is pronounced ay, ei or y 
ۍ  shadzina ye (feminine yay) is pronounced '^i'  (^ is like the 'u' in sun), so kind of like 'uh-ee'
ئ  failiya ye (verbal ye)  is pronounced same as the feminine ye

When in doubt, you can always just use the simplest, the  ى.  Most Pashtuns are barely literate, so they won't know the difference.  

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