The Pashto Alphabet

The Pashto language is an extension of the Arabic alphabet. Pashto script always runs from right to left, the opposite of English. An important thing to remember is that most Pashto letters connect to the letters preceding and following them, just as in English cursive writing. Therefore, letters often change shape depending on their placement within a word.

Pashto is usually written using only consonants and long vowels, although there are small marks which can be used above or below letters to indicate short vowels.

Pashto Pronunciation

Although Pashto uses the Arabic alphabet and has absorbed many Arabic words, it has some sounds that do not correspond directly to Arabic. Some sounds can be denoted by several letters. In contrast to many other Iranian languages, the Pashto language allows clusters of two or three consonant sounds to appear at the beginning of a syllable.

How to learn the alphabet in manageable steps

Let’s face it, acquiring another language takes discipline and time. You have to learn in steps.

This video helped when I tried to practice writing:

Now envision these letters before you go to sleep and you’ll have them stored in your mind forever…

Next post, we’ll review our first ten letters and keep going with a few examples of how letters are strung together. Stay tuned!