The Five ی's

The five ی letters (پینځه یېګانې - peendzu yegaane) are a very important part of Pashto spelling. Unfortunately, because they are often misused, there can be a lot of confusion for readers and learners of the Pashto language.

Standard Afghan Pashto Spelling

Below are the five ی's as they are used in most dictionaries, written material, and in education and official language in Afghanistan. Click to hear the sound of each letter.

Pure vowels (mouth stays still)

Letter Phonetics IPA Approx.
ي ee i
ې e e

Dipthongs (pure vowel + y)

Letter Phonetics IPA Approx.
ی ay aj
ۍ uy əj
ئ ey ɛ̝j

Now let's take a look at the different letters. For each letter we'll see what it's called and where it's used:

ی - ay

Names:

  • نارینه یې - naareená ye
  • بې ټکو یې - be Túko ye
  • نرمه یې - narma ye

Used in:

  • the end of masculine singular nouns, adjectives, and participles
    • سړی - saRéy (man)
    • ستړی - stúRay (tired)
    • ما ته لیدلی - maa tu leedúlay (I've seen you (masc.))
    • هغه هلته دی - hagha halta day (He is there)
  • the middle of words
    • خیر - khayr
    • پیل - payl
  • the non-inflecting tail in modal verbs
    • زه تلی شم - zu tléy shum (I can go)
    • زه تلی شي - zu tléy shee (She can go)

Note: This letter is also used as "y" sound (second part of a dipthong) after long vowels at the end of words. For example:

  • چای - chaay (tea)
  • زوی - zooy (son)

ې - e

Names:

  • اوږده یې - ooGda ye

Used in:

  • the end of feminine nouns, adjectives, and participles
    • ملګرې - malgúre (female friend)
    • ښځې - xúdze (women)
    • ستړې - stúRe (tired)
    • ما ته لیدلې - maa tu leedúle (I've seen you (fem.))
  • the end of the second person singular verbs and equatives
    • چېرته ځې؟ - cherta dze? (Where are you going?)
    • ته چېرته یې؟ - tu cherta ye? (Where are you?)
    • ته چېرته وې؟ - tu cherta we? (Where were you?)
  • the end of third person feminine plural past-tense verbs
    • انجونې کېناستې - injóone kénaaste (The girls sat down.)
  • the end of particles, mini-pronouns, and sandwiches
    • بې - be (without-)
    • مې - me (1st Pers. Sing. Mini-Pronoun)
    • په ... کې - pu ... ke (in ...)
  • the middle of words
    • وېره - wéra (fear)
    • تېر - ter (last)

ي - ee

Names:

  • څرګنده یې - tsargúnda ye
  • لنډه یې - lúnDa ye

Used in:

  • the end of feminine words or non-inflecting adjectives
    • دوستي - dostee (friendship)
    • قانوني - qaanóonee (legal)
  • the end of third person verbs
    • هغه ځي - hagha dzee (He is going)
    • هغوي څه وکړي؟ - haghwee tsu óokRee? (What should they do?)
  • the end of inflected masculine nouns, adjectives, and participles
    • د سړي نوم - du saRee noom (the man's name)
    • مونږ تللي یو - moonG tlúlee yoo (We've gone)
  • the middle of words
    • ویده - weedú (asleep)
    • لیدل - leedúl (to see)

ۍ - uy

Names:

  • ښځینه یې - xudzeená ye
  • لکۍ لرونکې یې - lakúy laróonke ye
  • تانیڅه یې - taaneesa ye

Used in:

  • the end of feminine nouns and adjectives
    • انجلۍ - injulúy (girl)
    • افغانۍ - afghaanúy (A female Afghan)
    • لومرۍ برخه - loomRúy barkha (The first section)

Note: This is only used in nouns and adjectives when the accent is on the last syllable.

ئ - ey

Names:

  • فعلي - fi'lee ye
  • امریه یې - amriya ye

Used in:

  • the end of second person plural verbs and equatives
    • تاسو چېرته یئ؟ - taaso cherta yey? (Where are you (pl.)?)
    • تاسو چېرته وئ؟ - taaso cherta wey? (Where were you (pl.)?)
    • تاسو چېرته ځئ؟ - taaso chetra dzey? (Where are you going?)
    • جګ شئ! - jig shey! (Get up!)

Some Important Notes

The ۍ vs. ئ confusion

Because the ۍ - uy and ئ - ey sound similar people often confuse them in writing. To avoid this confustion it's important to remember this very simple rule: ⚖

  • ئ - ey is only used for 2nd person plural verb endings
  • ۍ - uy is only used at the end of feminine nouns and adjectives

The ـئـ in loan-words

You will also see the ئ letter in the middle of some loan words where it indicates a glottal stop or "y" connecting sound, for example:

  • جائز - jaa'iz (permitted)
  • رئس - ra'ees (chief)

Writing Systems in Pakistan

In Pakistan there have been a number of different systems used for writing the Pashto ی's.

Here's a chart of 3 different systems used in Pakistan, with the differences from Standard Afghan spelling highlighted.

Comparison Chart

AF Sound PK ي PK ی Old PK
ی ay

ے

ے

ے

ې e ې ې

ے

ي ee ي

ی

ی

ۍ uy ۍ ۍ

ئ

ئ ey ئ ئ ئ
Pakistani with ي

This is used by the Pashto Academy of Peshawer University and in many current publications. The only big difference from standard Afghan spelling is that for the "ay" sound the Urdu ے letter is used instead of ی.

Pakistani with ی

This is used in Speaking Pakistani Pukhto and in much written material in Pakistan. This system differs more from standard Afghan spelling because in addition to the Urdu ے being used, the ی is used for "ee" instead.

Old Pakistani

This system was used in older writings and only uses three ی letters (ے، ی، ئ) which are used for different sounds.

The use of ئ in Pakistan

In the middle of words

Earlier we noted that ـئـ shows up in the middle of loan words, but in Pakistan they often use it as a "y" transition before a long "ee" sound in other Pashto words as well. For example:

Afghanistan Pakistan
هغه وایي - haghá waayeeهغه وائي - haghá waayee

At the end of words/dipthongs

Instead of the ی at the end of long-vowel dipthongs, the letter ئ is used in Pakistan.

Afghanistan Pakistan
چای - chaayچائ - chaay
زوی - zooyزوئ - zooy
خدای - khUdaayخدائ - khUdaay

Spelling Difficulties in Pakistan

In Pakistan, Pashto is more of a spoken language than a written one. Because of a lack of Pashto literacy and a lack of clarity in the writing standards, Pashto written material in Pakistan is often full of errors and inconsistencies. Written material may contain a mixture of the three systems outlined above, so the learner will need to be careful when reading texts from that area.

ے vs ې

One very common mistake in Pakistan is the use of ے instead of ې. This might be because in the old writing system the letter ے was used for both ے - ay and ې - e, but it is probably also due to a habit of inflecting words with ے as they are in Urdu.

Correct PK w/ ي ✔ Incorrect ❌
د زپې او لهجې په حواله به خبرې کېږي
du jzube aw lahje pu hawaala ba khabure keGee
There will be talk about language and dialect
د زپې او لهجے په حواله به خبرے کېږي
du jzube aw lahje pu hawaala ba khabure keGee
There will be talk about language and dialect

Examples of Different Spelling Systems

Standard Afghan
دانه دانه چې یو ځای شي، غر ترې جوړ شي
daana daana che yo dzaay shee, ghur tre joR shee
په پوښتنه پوښتنه سړی کابل ته رسېدی شي
pu poxtuna poxtuna, saRay kaabul ta raseday shee
د کوچي ښځه وايي، زما خاوند کوچی دی، او زه هم کوچۍ یم
du kochee xudza waayee, zmaa khaawund kochéy day, aw zu hum kochúy yum.
تاسو کرسۍ کې کېنئ
taaso kUrsúy ke keney
Pakistani with ي
دانه دانه چې یو ځائ شي، غر ترې جوړ شي
daana daana che yo dzaay shee, ghur tre joR shee
په پوښتنه پوښتنه سړے کابل ته رسېدے شي
pu poxtuna poxtuna, saRay kaabul ta raseday shee
د کوچي ښځه وائي، زما خاوند کوچے دے، او زه هم کوچۍ یم
du kochee xudza waayee, zmaa khaawund kochéy day, aw zu hum kochúy yum.
تاسو کرسۍ کې کېنئ
taaso kUrsúy ke keney
Pakistani with ی
دانه دانه چې یو ځائ شی، غر ترې جوړ شی
daana daana che yo dzaay shee, ghur tre joR shee
په پوښتنه پوښتنه سړے کابل ته رسېدے شی
pu poxtuna poxtuna, saRay kaabul ta raseday shee
د کوچی ښځه وائی، زما خاوند کوچے دے، او زه هم کوچۍ یم
du kochee xudza waayee, zmaa khaawund kochéy day, aw zu hum kochúy yum.
تاسو کرسۍ کې کېنئ
taaso kUrsúy ke keney
Old Pakistani
دانه دانه چه یو ځائ شی، غر ترے جوړ شی
daana daana che yo dzaay shee, ghur tre joR shee
په پوښتنه پوښتنه سړے کابل ته رسېدے شی
pu poxtuna poxtuna, saRay kaabul ta raseday shee
د کوچی ښځه وائی، زما خاوند کوچے دے، او زه هم کوچئ یم
du kochee xudza waayee, zmaa khaawund kochéy day, aw zu hum kochúy yum.
تاسو کرسئ کے کېنئ
taaso kUrsúy ke keney

Was this chapter helpful?
😭
😕
🙂
🤩