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Ergative construction in Pashto Posted by muhammad on Jan 9, 2019
In general, in ergative languages, the verb agrees with the object of a sentence. We are familiar with the subject-verb agreement in the English language, but many Russo-Germanic languages have the ergative construction in them. Pashto is a semi-ergative language because it has ergative construction in the past and other perfect tenses only when the…
Perfective and Imperfective Moods in Pashto Posted by muhammad on Dec 15, 2018
In addition to tenses, Pashto also uses two moods: the imperfective and the perfective. Both of these moods can be used in the past and present tenses. Imperfective Mood The imperfective mood is used to express a regularity or continuity of the verb action. It also points to the progressive nature of the action of…
The importance of spoken words in Afghan culture Posted by muhammad on Dec 7, 2018
خپله ژبه هم قلا ده هم بلا Khpala czba hum qala da hum bala da “It’s your own tongue which either lands you in trouble or protects you from it” In the above proverb, “tongue” refers not to the body part, but one’s language or speech—indicative of the role and importance of spoken words in…
Understanding the Pashtun Way of Life: Gham Khadi, Revaaj, and Pashtunwali Posted by muhammad on Nov 27, 2018
د کلي ووځه خو له نرخه مه وځه Da kaley wawoza kho la narkha ma woza “Let leave the village but not its conventions” In the above proverb, the love of traditions and conventions is described to be more essential for a Pashtun than the love of the village they are born in. In some…