Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Btw, the spread and development of arabic to what it is today is because of the revelation of quran and the spread of islam (the khilafats) that also exploded arabic scholarship all over middle east and in areas that it had never been before too.
And pakjangjoo, kash007 might be right as back during the time of moses, the people of area (except jews who spoke hebrew) were speaking aramic.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
Nice song cuzz…
Good beat.
Yeah Pushto is a really nice sounding language
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
To me, it sounds crude (maybe there is difference due to the "kh" and the farsi influenced "sh" dialects of pashto that might be it??).
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
The first thing is, the dialect of Pashtu with “sh” as the sound is the original one while the one with the “kh” dialect is the later development when Pashtuns migrated north and east-word and came into contact with speakers of Indo-Aryan languages. So they borrowed “kh” from Indian languages.
The second thing is, we don’t have the long vowels, extremely rounded, and extremely front or back vowels like “geeth” (song), “saboot” (evidence), etc. Pashto vowels are short and musical (only 7 in number). Moreover, we don’t have the Q sound as in “Qamees”, the “h” as the initial sound in “Harkat” (movement), etc. Now these are very unmusical sounds. The “d” and “t” sounds are also hard and non-musical that Pashto borrowed from Indo-Aryan languages. And Indo-Aryan languages borrowed them from Dravidian languages.
Anyhow, if you would go by sound inventary, most of the languages have most of their sounds common with each other. As for stress, intonation, or other linguistic features, ther are variation insignicant to the softness or hardness of a language. For example in Pashto we say “tha-la” (lock) with the second syllable stressed and in Urdu you say “Tha-la” with the first syllable stressed. In Pashto, we usually stress the second or last syllables of words and in Urdu you usually the first. I don’t thing these pecularities have any relation with musicology or softness of Urdu or Pashto.
There may be one difference however. That is, unlike Urdu and Persian, Pashto has not been a language of courts. So it doesn’t have the complex and ornate vocabulary and phrases of formal discourse and mannerism (alqaab wa adaab).
Anyhow as for sounds and speech-structure, I cannot find any difference. This talk of softness, sweetness or crudeness is very superficial.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
Is this meant to promote superiority of pushtuns / afghanistan typical of pathan boasting?
Pushto in greece and egypt! 
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Blitzcreig, Aryan doesn't have proper knowledge. Linguists assign three phases to the development of Pashto; Early Pashto was spoken north of Hindukush by Saka tribes and was very similar to Avesta; Middle Pashto evolved when Saka tribes crossed Hindu-Kush and moved south-westward and settled in Siestan and Ghor after 1st Century B.C; Modern Pashto evolved in Kandahar and Suleiman mountains between 7th Century A.D. and 13th Century A.D.
The history of literary Pashto doesn't extend beyond 800 A.D. (Poet Amir Crore Suri of Ghor who said an epic poem). So Pashto is not a very ancient language.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
Accordint to George Morgenstierne, the linguist:
"Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language that was brought from Bakhthar (Balkh) to southern Afghanistan. Its speakers were Sakas who migrated to Siestan (Sakistan) in 2nd Century B.C. Before this, Pashto and other Saka dialects like Pamiri, in particular Munji and Yadgha, were spoken in the same style. Moreover, it had a close affinity with Ephtalite and Kushanian languages. Proto Pashto had a very close affinity with Avesta but was more intimately linked to Saka. It seems that after its early phase in Pamir and Balakh, Pashto completed its middle phase (Middle Pashto) in Siestan, Helmand, Ghor, and Arachoazia (Kandahar) and modern phase (Modern Pashto) in Kasi Ghar (Suleiman Mountains) and the rest of the Pashtunkhwa.
According to a Wikipedia article:
“The two surviving modern languages closest to Scythian are Ossetian in the Caucausus mountains and Pashto in Afganistan and Pakistan.”
Other Eastern Iranian languages are: Yadgha (spoken in Chitral, Pakistan), Yazdghulami (Uzbakistan), Wakhi (spoken by Glacha people of Wakhan Corridor Afghanistan, NA of Pakistan, Gornoe-Badkhshan region of Tajakistan, and Zingiang), Munji (Badkhshan), and Ossetian (spoken by Alan people in Russia, Goergia).
Of these, Ossetic and Pashto are the only literary East Iranian languages; the rest are endangered languages.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Isn't wakhi basically tajik that is spoken by tajiki ismaelis in NA of Pakistan?
I wonder if in the tajik and/or pushto speakers they include the many illegal afghans and others that have been staying in Pakistan for 2 decades?
Or do they not count as they are not "officially" Pakistani citizens (but do avail all the benefits of one by hook or crook????).
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Wakhi is spoken by Galchas (Mountain Tajiks Isamili by religion) scattered across three countries; Afghanistan (Pamir), Pakistan (Northern Areas), and China (area of Xingiang bordering Tajakistan).
I hope you don't turn it into a political duscussion.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
I was just asking… 
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
thxxx for the information
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Dalta kho sok pa Pakhto na payegeh..dalta tol urdu wayeh. Grano Pukhtaneh wroono pa kaar da che monga da khpal Pakhto waku. Yawaazeh jaba na, khpal Pakhtunwali aw Riwaaj. Pakhto kho pa dunya mashawura da ow pa kaar da che nor khalak pakhto izda ki...da de haqiqat khabara da.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Here's what I learnt
Pewanay shwa
sta dera manana che ta zama maddad ko
zama izzat kawa kanai ko dozakh ta ba ze
zo yo nangyalay pukhana yam
X' da pagal khana na uss uss raghalay da
X' lewai spee cheechalay da
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
can you provide the translation please:)
as it is thread for beginners…translation are most welcome:)
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
dir alaa! sai we ta
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
sorry to change the topic guys....just wondering for those of you who can write pashto, what is the secret to it. Every time i get into it, for some bizarre reason my arabic kicks in and start writing arabic rather than pashto. Any recomemnded books for starters or softwarez etc........... Mehrabani in advance.
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
This might help:
http://www.interlitfoundation.org/publications.html#dictionary_spoken_pukhto
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners...
Jazaks
Re: Pashto/pakhtu for beginners…
You Pathanzai?
Re: Pashto/Pakhtun culture for beginners..
i have to slightly disagree with you here.......you have to remember that Peshawar was the winter capital of Afghanistan and Kabul was the summer capital of Afghanistan. peshawar at this stage would have been dominated by Pashtuns and Farsi/Dari speakers. when the Sikhs took over Peshawar - out of the muslims they disliked Pashtuns/Afghans the most and under Sikh rule the population of Peshawar halved. It would be safe to assume that Pashtuns migrated out of Peshawar city because of Sikh persecution which was very brutal. This would have enabled Hindko/Punjabi speakers to dominate Peshawar lingually but over the last 50 years not only have more and more Pashtuns settled back into Peshawar, you have had Afghans too.
I would agree that Quetta is the most Pashtun city yo would ever see. Quetta is Quetta kana.