{"id":898,"date":"2013-01-28T00:22:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T00:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/pashto\/?p=898"},"modified":"2013-01-28T00:22:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T00:22:03","slug":"five-tips-for-reading-pashto-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/pashto\/five-tips-for-reading-pashto-script\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Tips for Reading Pashto Script"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pashto<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

1. The unique letters<\/strong>: Pashto adopted the Arabic alphabet and added some extra letters to accommodate for the sounds that are unique to Pashto. \u00a0In order to read the Pashto script correctly you need to be able to pronounce these letters correctly. The following are the letters that are unique to Pashto. You can listen to the correct pronunciation and example words in the accompanying video: \u0685 \u0681 \u069a \u0696 \u06bc \u0693 \u0689 \u067c<\/p>\n

\u00a02. Diacritic Marks<\/strong>: Diacritic marks are used to show the short vowel sounds. In Pashto, the short vowel symbols are not normally writing, but if you are learning Pashto as a second language it is always a good idea to have your instructor write the diacritic marks on the letters to make reading and pronouncing easier. There are three diacritic marks you can use in Pashto: \u064e<\/strong> \u00a0zabar which represents a short \u201ca\u201d sound and appears above a letter; \u0650 kasra represents a short \u201ce\u201d sound \u00a0and appears underneath a letter: \u064f Paikh represents a short \u201co\u201d sound and appears above a letter. The little circles are placeholders; when these marks are used in a word the circle does not appear. Here are the examples: \u0644\u0693\u064e\u0645 \u201clarram\u201d, \u0645\u0650\u0644\u062a \u00a0\u201cmelat\u201d \u00a0\u0645\u064f\u0628\u0627\u0631\u0632\u0647 \u00a0\u201cmobareza\u201d.<\/p>\n

3. Shape of letters<\/strong>: In Pashto, the letters have different shapes depending on where they appear in a word. Most of the letters in Pashto have three shapes: initial, medial, and final. Some of the letters may have a fourth form when they are not attached. If you know the letter, usually, you can recognize all the different shapes it takes. But it is important to know that they change and remember their identifying characteristics such as the number of dots, and the position of dots. Here is an example of how the letter \u201cain\u201d \ufec9\u00a0 looks like in different position in a word: initial \u00a0\ufecb medial\u00a0 \ufecc final\ufeca<\/p>\n

4. Letters that don\u2019t connect<\/strong>: Majority of letters in Pashto connect to each other in a word, however, there is a group of ten letters that only can be connected to the preceding letter in a word, they never can be connected to the letter following them in a word. For example, the in the word \u0644\u0631\u0645 \u00a0the letter \u201cray\u201d, highlighted in red, is connected only to the letter preceding it, but not to the letter following it. Also remember that letters in this group can never be connected to each other. \u062f \u0689 \u0630 \u0631 \u0693 \u0632 \u0698 \u0696 \u0648 \u0627<\/p>\n

5. The letters alef<\/em> and laam<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em> When the letter \u201calef\u201d \u0627, and the letter \u201c laam\u201d \u0644 \u00a0appear in a word they look very similar and can be mistaken for each other quite often. For instance, in the word\u0644\u067e\u0627\u0631\u0647 \u00a0(read left to right) the two letters highlighted in red look very similar . As mentioned, alef<\/em> is one of the letters that does not connect to the following letter, therefore, in this case we can easily recognize that the second letter is alef because it is not connected to the following letter.<\/p>\n

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