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Pashto Alphabet
Pashto (Arabic-based)
Pashto uses a modified Arabic script with additional letters unique to Pashto sounds. It is written right-to-left and has 44 letters including retroflex and dental consonants not found in Arabic.
Written right to leftPashto Vowels
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | Alef | a/ā | like 'a' in 'father' |
| ي | Ye | i/y | like 'ee' in 'see' |
| و | Waw | u/w | like 'oo' in 'moon' |
| ۀ | He (Pashto) | e | like 'e' in 'bed' |
| ې | Ye (open) | e | like 'ay' in 'day' |
| ۍ | Ye (feminine) | ai | like 'ai' in 'aisle' |
| وي | Waw-Ye | ui | diphthong |
Pashto Consonants
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ب | Be | b | like 'b' in 'ball' |
| پ | Pe | p | like 'p' in 'park' |
| ت | Te | t | like 't' in 'top' |
| ټ | Te (retroflex) | ṭ | retroflex t |
| ث | Se | s | like 's' in 'sun' |
| ج | Jim | j | like 'j' in 'jam' |
| ځ | Dze | dz | like 'dz' in 'adze' |
| چ | Che | ch | like 'ch' in 'church' |
| ح | He | h | pharyngeal h |
| خ | Khe | kh | like 'ch' in Scottish 'loch' |
| د | Dal | d | like 'd' in 'day' |
| ډ | Dal (retroflex) | ḍ | retroflex d |
| ذ | Zal | z | like 'z' in 'zone' |
| ر | Re | r | rolled r |
| ړ | Re (retroflex) | ṛ | retroflex r |
| ز | Ze | z | like 'z' in 'zone' |
| ژ | Zhe | zh | like 's' in 'measure' |
| ږ | Ghe | g/zh | voiced velar fricative |
| س | Sin | s | like 's' in 'sun' |
| ش | Shin | sh | like 'sh' in 'shoe' |
| ښ | Xin | x/sh | retroflex sh |
| ص | Sad | s | emphatic s |
| ض | Zad | z | emphatic z |
| ط | To | t | emphatic t |
| ظ | Zo | z | emphatic z |
| ع | Ain | ʿ | voiced pharyngeal |
| غ | Ghain | gh | like French 'r' |
| ف | Fe | f | like 'f' in 'fun' |
| ق | Qaf | q | uvular stop |
| ک | Kaf | k | like 'k' in 'king' |
| ګ | Gaf | g | like 'g' in 'go' |
| ل | Lam | l | like 'l' in 'love' |
| م | Mim | m | like 'm' in 'moon' |
| ن | Nun | n | like 'n' in 'no' |
| ڼ | Nun (retroflex) | ṇ | retroflex n |
| ه | He | h | like 'h' in 'hat' |
| ว | Waw | w | like 'w' in 'wet' |