A Syntactic Description of Pashto in Comparison with English

Our Mother Tongue: Pashto (Eastern Iranian language, spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan)

1. Syntax

Syntax is the component of grammar that governs how words combine into phrases, clauses, and sentences. A common misconception is that syntax is merely about “word order” or prescriptive school rules (e.g., “don’t split an infinitive”). In reality, syntax is a descriptive system: it explains why native speakers accept certain strings and reject others, regardless of prescriptive judgments. Languages have syntax because without hierarchical organisation, sequences of words would be ambiguous or meaningless. For example, Pashto and English both use syntax to assign thematic roles: the dog bit the postman differs from the postman bit the dog only through syntactic arrangement.

To read linguistic examples, linguists use interlinear glossing. The first line is the original Pashto (Perso‑Arabic script), the second is a transliteration (Roman), the third a morpheme‑by‑morpheme gloss, and the fourth a free English translation. Below are four Pashto sentences illustrating basic syntactic structure:

1. زما ورور نن سره رنګین موټر واخیست Zamā wror nən srah rangīn moṭar wāxist my brother yesterday red color car bought “My brother bought a red car yesterday.”
2. سره نجلۍ په تېزۍ منډه کوي Srah njələy pə tezəy maṇḍa kawi beautiful girl with speed runs “The beautiful girl runs fast.”
3. د کلي امام ماشومانو ته خیریه وویل Da kali Imām māšumāno ta xayriya wowil of village Imam children to charity said “The village Imam told the children a charitable story.”
4. تورې وریژې په دې هاټۍ کې نه پلورل کیږي Tore wriže pə de hāṭəy ke na plorəl kiži black rice in this shop in not sell PASS.PL “Black rice is not sold in this shop.”

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2. Structure of Phrase

A phrase is a syntactic unit built around a head. Pashto displays five major phrase types, each exemplified here with four instances.

Noun Phrase (NP)

The NP head is a noun; modifiers (adjectives, possessives, relative clauses) typically precede the head.

1. د کندهار زعفران – da Kandahār zaʻfarān “the saffron of Kandahar”
2. هغه درې سپینې پسې – hağa dre spine pse “those three white sheep”
3. زموږ د ښوونځي لومړی استاد – zomuğ da ḵwānzay lumṛay ustād “our school’s first teacher”
4. یوه ځیرکه لور – yawa źirka lūr “one clever daughter”

Verb Phrase (VP)

Head = verb. In Pashto, the VP includes the object and any adjuncts before the verb (since Pashto is SOV).

1. غزل کولای شي – ğazal kolay ši “can sing a ghazal”
2. نوې جامې اغوستلې – nawe jāme ağustale “wore new clothes”
3. په زور دروازه پرانېستله – pə zor darwāza prānestala “opened the door forcefully”
4. خپل پلار ته لیک لیکلی دی – xpəl plār ta lik likəlay day “has written a letter to his father”

Adjective Phrase (AP)

Head = adjective; degree modifiers precede the adjective.

1. ډېر سړه اوبه – ḍer sṛa obe “very cold water”
2. لږ تر لږه مناسبه بیه – ləg tər ləga munsaba bya “at least reasonable price”
3. خورا خواږه انګور – xwarā xwāźa angūr “extremely sweet grapes”
4. تر هر چا ښکلی منظره – tər har čā ṣkalay manzara “more beautiful than everyone a view”

Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

Head = adverb; intensifiers may precede.

1. ډېر تېز منډه کوي – ḍer tez maṇḍa kawi “runs very fast”
2. نه خورا ډېر نه لږ – na xwarā ḍer na ləg “neither extremely much nor little”
3. یو څه ورو وګرځېد – yu ca waro wagarźed “turned somewhat slowly”
4. بالکل سم ځواب ورکړ – bākul sam źwāb warkṛ “answered completely correctly”

Prepositional Phrase (PP)

Pashto uses postpositions (i.e., the head is a postposition that follows its complement).

1. په کور کې – pə kor ke “house in” → “in the house”
2. د میز لاندې – da mez lānde “table under” → “under the table”
3. له دوستانو سره – la dustāno sara “friends with” → “with friends”
4. تر ماښام مخکې – tər māxām mxke “evening before” → “before evening”

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3. Clause

A clause is a syntactic unit containing a subject and a finite verb. A sentence may consist of one or more clauses. The distinction between main and subordinate clauses is crucial: main clauses can stand alone, while subordinate clauses depend on a main clause.

Four Pashto examples with clause identification:

1. Main clause only: پوهاند غني په پوهنتون کې درس ورکوي “Professor Ghani teaches at the university.” → one clause.
2. Main + subordinate (temporal): کله چې باران ورېد، باغوان د باغ خواته منډه کړه “When the rain fell, the gardener ran toward the garden.” → subordinate kəla če bārān wored; main bāğwān … maṇḍa kṛa.
3. Main + subordinate (complement clause): زما خور پوښتنه کوي چې سبا کوم وخت به راځې “My sister asks at what time you will come tomorrow.” → main zor poxəstana kawi; subordinate səba kum waxt ba rāze.
4. Main + two subordinates: هغه سړی چې راغلی و او د مېلمستون نوم یې اخیستی، زما ملګری دی “The man who had come and had mentioned the guesthouse name is my friend.” → main hağa sṛay … zamā mlgəray day; two relative clauses.

Clause identification method: locate every finite verb – each verb signals one clause.

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4. Grammatical Functions

Grammatical functions (subject, direct object, indirect object, complement, modifier) are roles that phrases play in a clause. In Pashto, case marking (ergative/absolutive) often signals these functions. Form (noun phrase, prepositional phrase, etc.) is different from function (subject, object).

Four Pashto sentences illustrating all five functions:

1. Subject = د کلي معلم (the village teacher); Direct object = ماشومان (children); Modifier = په نرمۍ (gently) د کلي معلم په نرمۍ ماشومان راغوښتل “The village teacher gently called the children.”
2. Indirect object = زلمي ته (to the young man); Direct object = سپینه عمامه (white turban); Complement (object complement) = نوی (new) (in Pashto, double object constructions) مور سپینه عمامه زلمي ته نوې ورکړه “The mother gave the young man a new white turban as a new one.” (Here naway functions as object complement)
3. Subject complement = ډاکټره (doctor – feminine) شبانه ډاکټره ده “Shabana is a doctor.” → ḍākṭara is subject complement (function), NP (form).
4. Modifier = په ډېر صبر سره (with great patience) – an adverb phrase functioning as manner modifier: زما ترور په ډېر صبر سره خټکي ټوپک پاک کړ “My aunt cleaned the Khattak gun with great patience.”

Form vs. function: The same form (e.g., NP) can have different functions. In ماشومان ډوډۍ خوري “children eat bread” – NP māšumān is subject; in ما ماشومان ولیدل “I saw the children” – the same NP māšumān is direct object (marked by ergative case on subject, but the NP itself unchanged).

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5. Head, Complements & Modifiers

The head is the core element that determines the phrase’s category and basic meaning. Dependents are either complements (obligatory, required by the head) or modifiers (optional, extra information).

· Difference: A complement completes the meaning of the head; without it, the phrase becomes ill‑formed or radically different. A modifier adds descriptive content and can be removed.

Basic structural rule: Head + Complements + (Modifiers) or, in Pashto, modifiers often appear before the head.

Four Pashto examples:

1. Verb head تړل (to tie) requires a direct object (complement): هغې څادر وتړه – “She tied the chador.” Removing čādar leaves هغې وتړه (she tied) – incomplete without context. Object = complement.
2. Verb head اوسېدل (to live) requires a location complement: زما نیکه په سوات کې اوسېږي – “My grandfather lives in Swat.” The PP pə Swat ke is complement, not modifier.
3. Noun head انځور (picture) – complement = د ګلانو (of flowers): د ګلانو انځور – “the picture of flowers” – without the complement, the NP is vague. Modifier ښکلی (beautiful) can be added: ښکلی د ګلانو انځور – beautiful picture of flowers.
4. Adjective head خوشحاله (happy) – complement = له خپل بری نه (with one’s success): زلمی له خپل بری نه خوشحاله دی – “The young man is happy with his success.” The PP la xpəl brī na is complement of the adjective.

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6. Constituents & Tree Diagrams

A constituent is a word or group of words that functions as a single unit within a syntactic structure. Tests for constituency:

· Substitution: replace with a pro‑form (pronoun, kawəl “do”, etc.). · Movement: shift the string to another position. · Stand‑alone: can it answer a question?

Four Pashto examples applying constituency tests:

1. سپینه ګیدړه (white fox) – Question: څه منډه کوي؟ (What runs?) Answer: سپینه ګیدړه → constituent (NP).
2. په تېزۍ سره (with speed) – can move to front: په تېزۍ سره هغه منډه کړه (With speed he ran) → constituent (PP).
3. کتاب مې ورکړ (book I gave) – Substitute هغه (it): هغه مې ورکړ → کتاب مې is not a constituent, but the object NP کتاب alone is.
4. تر ماښامه مخکې (before evening) – Stand‑alone answer to کله؟ (When?) → constituent (temporal PP).

Sentence structure in Pashto: Basic order is SOV, but with ergative alignment in past transitive clauses. A simple tree diagram (text representation) for the Pashto sentence هغه ښکلې انځورګرې نن یو کاریکاچور جوړ کړ – hağa ṣkale anźorgare nən yaw kārikāčūr jor kṛ – “That beautiful female painter made a caricature today”:

 S
 / \
 NP VP
 / \ / \
 Det AP NP AdvP V
 | | | | |
 هغه ښکلې انځورګرې نن یو کاریکاچور جوړ کړ
 (that)(beautiful)(painter)(today)(a caricature)(made)

A full tree would show NP internal structure: [Det [AP Adj] N] for subject, and [NP Det N] for object. Tree diagrams reveal hierarchical organisation, not just linear order.

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7. Phrase Structure Grammar

Phrase Structure Grammar (PSG) uses rewrite rules to generate the basic (deep) phrase structure of sentences. A small PSG for Pashto (simplified) includes:

· S → NP VP · VP → (NP) (PP) (AdvP) V (since Pashto is SOV, objects and adjuncts precede V) · NP → (Det) (AP) N (PP) · AP → (AdvP) A · PP → NP P (postpositional phrase: NP followed by postposition) · AdvP → (Adv) Adv

Example derivation for زما خور په چټکۍ ډوډۍ وخوړله “My sister quickly ate bread”:

1. S → NP VP
2. NP → Det N (زما خور)
3. VP → NP PP AdvP V (where NP=ډوډۍ, PP=په چټکۍ, AdvP=optional, V=وخوړله)
4. PP → NP P (هغه طریقې ته? – not needed here) – actually the PP consists of NP (چټکۍ) + postposition په? Care: Pashto pə čaṭakəy = “with speed” – pə is preposition? In Pashto, pə can be preposition; better to treat as PP with P head. But for consistency, PSG generates all acceptable sequences.

PSG captures local dependencies (e.g., agreement between subject and verb in number/person) but not long‑distance movements.

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8. Transformational Generative Grammar (Chomsky)

Transformational Generative Grammar distinguishes deep structure (abstract meaning representation) from surface structure (actual spoken form). Transformational rules map deep to surface.

· Deep structure vs. surface structure: In Pashto, active and passive sentences share the same deep structure but different surface forms. Active deep: ملا صاحب د قرآن تلاوت کوي “The religious scholar recites the Quran.” Passive surface: د قرآن تلاوت د ملا صاحب لخوا کیږي “The Quran is recited by the religious scholar.” A passive transformation moves the object to subject position and inserts the agent phrase. · Transformational rules (four Pashto examples):

1. Wh‑movement in questions: Deep: تاسو چا ته بلنه ورکړه؟ (You gave invitation to whom?) Surface: چا ته مو بلنه ورکړه؟ (To whom did you give invitation?) – wh‑word moves to front.
2. Yes‑no question transformation (rising intonation / particle آیا): Deep: هغې ډوډۍ وخوړله (She ate bread) → Surface: آیا هغې ډوډۍ وخوړله؟ (Did she eat bread?)
3. Topicalisation (movement to clause‑initial position): Deep: زه دا کتاب لرم (I have this book) → Surface: دا کتاب، زه لرم (This book, I have.)
4. Relative clause formation (wh‑word deletion and movement): Deep: سړی + سړی راغلی و + هغه سړی زما ملګری دی → Surface: سړی چې راغلی و، زما ملګری دی (The man who came is my friend.)

· Generative grammar basics: A generative grammar is a finite set of rules that can produce (generate) an infinite number of well‑formed sentences. Both Pashto and English are generative. For example, from the rule S → NP VP, and VP → V NP, we can generate پيشو موږک نیسي (cat catches mouse), then recursively add modifiers to get infinitely long sentences.

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9. Systemic Functional Linguistics (Basic Idea Only)

Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday) views language as a system of choices driven by three metafunctions:

· Ideational: construes experience (who does what to whom, when, where). · Interpersonal: enacts social roles (statement, question, command). · Textual: organises discourse as a message (theme‑rheme, given‑new).

Four Pashto examples illustrating each metafunction:

1. Ideational (transitivity): پټان مېرمنې د کرکېټ لوبغالي ته سفر وکړ “Pashtun women travelled to the cricket stadium.” → Process (material: travelled), Participants (women, stadium), Circumstance (none).
2. Interpersonal (mood): Declarative: پښتانه مېلمه پال دي “Pashtuns are hospitable.” Interrogative: آیا پښتانه مېلمه پال دي؟ “Are Pashtuns hospitable?” Imperative: مېلمه پال اوسه! “Be hospitable!”
3. Interpersonal (modality): توراب خان به حتماً سیالۍ وګټي “Torab Khan will definitely win the competition.” (high probability)
4. Textual (theme – rheme): Thematic structure in Pashto: unmarked theme = subject. Marked theme = fronted adjunct. په پېښور کې تېر کال سېلاب راغلی و “In Peshawar last year a flood came.” – Theme = په پېښور کې (locative), Rheme = تېر کال سېلاب راغلی و.

SFL does not posit deep/surface structure; instead it analyses actual texts in context. For a Pashto folktale, the ideational metafunction would describe actions, interpersonal would analyse the storyteller‑audience relationship, and textual would track how the narrative flows.

Conclusion: Pashto and English are two important languages that belong to different language families, cultures, and historical backgrounds. Pashto reflects the traditions, values, poetry, and identity of the Pashtun people, while English serves as an international language used for communication, education, science, business, and technology around the world. Despite their differences in grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure, both languages play a significant role in expressing human thoughts, emotions, and cultural heritage. The comparison between Pashto and English shows that every language has its own uniqueness and beauty. Pashto is rich in oral traditions, proverbs, and poetic expressions, whereas English is known for its global influence and flexible vocabulary. Studying both languages helps learners understand linguistic diversity and improves communication skills across cultures. It also develops awareness of how languages shape identity, society, and human interaction. In conclusion, Pashto and English are valuable languages that contribute greatly to literature, education, and communication. Learning and comparing these languages not only strengthens linguistic knowledge but also promotes cultural understanding, respect, and unity among people from different backgrounds.