Greeting people is the first step to knowing them and eventually making friends with them. This is true in Afghanistan too, but it is even more important than it is in many western cultures. Greetings are so important in Afghanistan that some people say Salaam Alaikum (hello) even when returning to a room after only a few minutes’ absence.
Greetings are the first impression that you make. Yourgreetings can tell a lot about you in Afghan culture – with a proper greeting you will leave a positive impression on the other party. However, if you fail to greet people properly or do not greet them at all is considered extremely rude and they might think of you as being too proud or unsocial.
There are numerous greetings in Pashto, the shortest being Salaam Alaikum (Hello) to the longest, which can be several full sentences. You choose the type of greetings depending on the situation and the person you are greeting. To always be polite it is necessary to at least say the shortest form, SalaamAlaikum, literally meaning “peace be upon you”. If you feel that a longer greeting is necessary, (for instance if it is a friend that you have not seen for weeks or if the person is greeting you back warmly), then you can add more greetings after saying the initial “Salaam alaikum.”
The above sentences should be enough to keep you going, however depending on the situation and the relationship with the person, these are the sentences that you can add to your greetings:
Koor ke khairyat dae? (کور کې خیریت دی؟) How is everything at home?/How is your family?
Sehat de kha de?(صحت دې ښه دی؟) Is your health good?/How is your health?
Koor wadaan, manana. (کور ودان، مننه) May you be prosperous! Thank you!
Sayed Naqibullah speaks Pashto and Dari as his native languages. Since 2004 he has been teaching Dari and Pashto and working as cultrual advisor to NGO workers, foreigners who live, work, or are visiting Afghanistan. Sayed has worked as a linguist for several companies that produce language course-ware. He has worked as a guide, interpreter and translator of a number of NGOs working in Afghanistan. Sayed is also a blog writer on Afghan culture and languages. He is the author of a Dari language textbook called “Dari as a Second Language”.
Comments:
Erika:
In some languages (such as Korean) greetings are different depending if your friend, aunt, parents uncle etc.. is this the same for Pashto or will your example greetings work for anyone without disrespect?
Sam:
It is my under standing the the initial greeting is the same regarding of gender however fir someone close like a dear family member mother father ling lost make ir female friend you could add a personalization depending on your relationship but the initial greeting is not gender based
Zaheer:
Dear Erika, Assalam o alaikum is an arabic sentence which means ( May peace be upon you), thus as is vivid from the meaning of Islamic greeting on meeting any body face to face or on net, phone or through any other means, that it can be used for any one any time. Reply to this greeting is ‘Wa alaikum salaam’ which means (May peace be upon you too)
Comments:
Erika:
In some languages (such as Korean) greetings are different depending if your friend, aunt, parents uncle etc.. is this the same for Pashto or will your example greetings work for anyone without disrespect?
Sam:
It is my under standing the the initial greeting is the same regarding of gender however fir someone close like a dear family member mother father ling lost make ir female friend you could add a personalization depending on your relationship but the initial greeting is not gender based
Zaheer:
Dear Erika, Assalam o alaikum is an arabic sentence which means ( May peace be upon you), thus as is vivid from the meaning of Islamic greeting on meeting any body face to face or on net, phone or through any other means, that it can be used for any one any time. Reply to this greeting is ‘Wa alaikum salaam’ which means (May peace be upon you too)