Let’s review the first five letters by going into detail with each of them. This will give you context as to how to use these letters for writing and reading.

alef / alif : ا

Transliteration: a, aa

The letter “alef” is the first letter in the Pashto alphabet. It is also one of the most complicated. When “alef” appears in the middle or at the end of a word, it is a long vowel.  When it appears at the beginning of a word, it is a short vowel. Long vowels are pronounced with the same sound as a normal short vowel, for instance the “a” as in “bat”, but are drawn out for twice the length of time. The short vowel [a] can be also represented by the letter “he” in the final or isolated positions, and by the diacritical mark “zabar” that is a short, slanted stroke placed above a consonant.

Most Pashto letters join to the letters preceding and following them, like in English cursive. However, there are ten letters, called disjoined letters or non-connecting letters, that never connect to the letter following them. “alef” is such a non-connecting letter and therefore has only two forms: isolated and final.

Isolated: (when the letter stands alone)

ا

Final: (when the letter is at the end)

ﺎ

---

be: ب

Transliteration: b

The letter “be” is the second letter in the Pashto alphabet. As with most Pashto letters, “be” is normally joined to the letters that precede and follow it. Therefore, “be” has four forms: isolated, initial, medial, and final.

Isolated: (when the letter stands alone)

ب

Initial: (when the letter is at the beginning)

ﺑ

Medial: (when the letter is connected on both sides)

ﺒ

Final (when the letter is at the end)

ﺐ

---

pe: پ

Transliteration: p

The letter “pe” is the third letter in the Pashto alphabet. Like “be”, “pe” is normally joined to the letters that precede and follow it. “Pe” has four forms: isolated, initial, medial, and final.

Isolated (when the letter stands alone)

پ

Initial (when the letter is at the beginning)

ﭘ

Medial (when the letter is connected on both sides)

ﭙ

Final (when the letter is at the end)

ﭗ

---

te: ت

Transliteration: t

The letter “te” is the fourth letter in the Pashto alphabet. “Te” also has four forms: isolated, initial, medial, and final.

Isolated (when the letter stands alone)

ت

Initial (when the letter is at the beginning)

ﺗ

Medial (when the letter is connected on both sides)

ﺘ

Final (when the letter is at the end)

ﺖ

---

Te: ټ

Transliteration: T

As the fifth letter, Te (or alternatively, ‘tte’) has four forms as well.

Use the flashcards to help you recognize each letter in an isolated state, but certainly practice the initial, medial, and final forms as these have more practical use. We’ll get to the next five letters in more detail in our upcoming post, so stay tuned.