I start this week’s post with the word افغان Afghān, not only because it stands at the core of the present topic, but also because it causes many controversies. The etymology of the word is obscure, and it is most certainly not connected with the homophonic word افغان afghān, meaning ‘cry, scream, wailing’. The renowned Iranologist Johnny Cheung has a good article on the etymology of the ethnonym Afghān (On the Origin of the Terms “Afghan” & “Pashtun” (Again), Cheung 2017, downloadable on academia.edu), and I will not delve into it here.
The first point I wish to make is that one should never use the term افغانی afghānī to call an Afghan person, despite the fact that such a designation is quite common among Iranians as well as English-speakers. Afghani is the official currency of Afghanistan; the ethnonym for the Afghan people, however, is Afghān. Many Afghans find the term ‘Afghani’ used as an ethnonym not only wrong, but offensive.
The second point is that people from Afghanistan have different understandings of the word ‘Afghan’. While many happily accept it as a valid ethnonym for themselves, many others see it as a term that refers exclusively to the Pashtuns. Indeed, there appears to be a strong link between the term Afghān and the Pashtuns (or at least the ancestors of the Pashtuns), and many non-Pashtuns in what is now Afghanistan have never identified themselves, or been identified by the Pashtuns, as Afghān. It is worth noting that the Tajiks of Afghanistan – the second biggest ethnic group of the country – have historically been referred to as فارسیوان Fārsīwān ‘Persian-speakers/Persianates’. The other ethnic groups have also been referred to by names other than Afghan. The term ‘Afghan’ as a demonym for any citizen of Afghanistan, regardless of ethnicity, then, represents a recent semantic shift. The acceptance of the self-designation ‘Afghan’ varies from individual to individual among non-Pashtuns; some may feel rather offended when they are called ‘Afghan’ and prefer the names of their own ethnic groups or the term ‘Afghanistani’. One should therefore be conscious of this fact and be sensible when using the word.
For many, گپ gap is often the first Afghanism they notice when talking in Persian with Afghans. In Afghanistan, as well as among Central Asian Tajiks, ‘to speak, to talk’ is not حرف زدن harf zadan or صحبت کردن sohbat kardan, but گپ زدن gap zadan. Unlike حرف and صحبت, which are imported from Arabic, گپ is a native Persian word that originally means ‘chit-chat’. In Afghan as well as Tajik Persian, it is used to say ‘to speak (a language)’: فارسی گپ میزنم Fārsī gap mēzanom ‘I speak Persian’. گپ زدن also simply means ‘to talk’, although more formally, صحبت کردن or even the very Iranian (from an Afghan perspective) حرف زدن can also be used, depending on the speaker’s background.
In Afghan Persian, خیلی is rarely used in speech. Instead, بسیار bisyār is preferred. خیلی in Afghan Persian belongs to a rather formal register and is pronounced as khaylē\rather thankheylī.
Afghan Persian speakers tend not to say تمام کردن tamām kardan for ‘to finish, to complete’, but خلاص کردن khalās kardan. The passive form, logically, is خلاص شدن khalās shodan.
In Afghan Persian, the word نان nān (never, ever pronounced as the Tehrani nūn, cf. last week’s post) means more than just ‘bread’. It can also designate ‘food, meal’ in general. Hence نان خوردی؟nān khōrdīmeans ‘have you eaten?’, ای رستوران نانش خوب اس ī restūrān nānesh khūb as ‘the food of this restaurant is good’, etc.
The word بلد balad ‘possessing the knowledge of, able, knowing (how to)’ is not common in Afghan speech. ‘To know (how to do something)’ is not commonly بلد بودن balad būdan, but یاد داشتن yād dāshtan – the extended meaning of یاد yād ‘memory’ is ‘knowledge’ (cf. the common Persian phrase یاد گرفتن yād giriftan ‘to learn’ and یاد دادن yād dādan ‘to teach’). The Afghan word for the know-how fits in the semantic field of ‘to take yād’ and ‘to give yād’. Thus, ‘I know Persian’ is من فارسی یاد دارم man fārsī yād dārom and not the more Iranian من فارسی بلدم man fārsī baladam.
Afghans prefer the verb فهمیدن fahmīdan for ‘to know’ over the more standard دانستن dānestan. In colloquial speech, as I mentioned last week, the h often drops and lengthens the a that precedes it, resulting in the pronunciation fāmīdan. Thus, ‘I know’ is میفهمم mēfāmom.
‘To tell someone something, to make someone know something’ is a compound verb with خبر khabar ‘news’. But rather than the more commonly Iranian خبر دادن khabar dādan (lit. ‘to give news’), Afghan Persian prefers the auxiliary verb کردن kardan. Thus, مره خبر کرده mara khabar ka(r)da is ‘he (has) told me’. The passive form خبر شدن khabar shudantherefore means ‘to be told, to be made aware’: خبر شدم که… khabar shudam ki… ‘They told me that…/I have been told that…’. A simple خبر استی? Khabar astī? asks the question ‘Do you know?/Are you aware?’
The words این جوری īn jūrī ‘like this, this kind of’, آن جوری ān jūrī ‘like that, that kind of’ and چه جوری che jūrī ‘how, like what, what kind of’ are not used in Afghan Persian. In short, the word جور jūr meaning ‘kind, sort’ does not appear in common Afghan usage. Instead, Afghan Persian uses the word قسم qisim to mean ‘kind’.
Another word for kind/sort is the Arabic loanword نوع naw’, which also exists in Iranian Persian. But as جوری does not exist in Afghan Persian, نوع is used by Afghans more than Iranians.
I will talk more about individual words in the miscellaneous section, but the names of two establishments in particular deserve special mention. ‘Toilet’ (‘bathroom’ in the US and Australia) is not دستشو dastshū (lit. ‘hand-wash’) in Afghan Persian, but تشناب tashnāb (of which the only etymology I can think of is تشنه tashna ‘thirsty’ + آب āb ‘water’). In Tajik Persian, the word is حاجتخانه hājatkhāna (lit. ‘necessity-house’).
‘Hospital’ in Afghan Persian is شفاخانه shefākhāna (lit. ‘cure-house’). I personally prefer it to the Iranian بیمارستان bīmārestān (lit. ‘sick-house’) – after all, a hospital is where you go to get cured instead of a place where the sick gather… and then what?
Afghans mostly use the word پیسه paysa instead of پول pūl for ‘money’.
The most commonly used word for ‘name’ is the native Persian نام nām instead of the Arabic اسم ism. ‘What’s your name’ is therefore نام شما چیست nām-e shomā chist instead of the more Iranian-sounding اسم شما چیه esm-e shomā chiye.
Watermelon: Afg. تربوز tarbōz vs. Ir. هندوانه hendvāne. The word تربوز is also used in Tajik Persian, Uzbek, Uyghur (in the form of تاۋۇز tawuz), and Urdu, which suggests that it is more historical than the Iranian word.
Afghan Persian has a few kinship terms which do not occur in standard Iranian Persian. Paternal uncle is کاکا kākā rather than the Iranian عمو amū (which is from Arabic), and maternal uncle is ماماmāmārather than the Iranian دایی dāyī (from the native Iranian word dā ‘mother’). کاکا and ماما seem to be shared by Kurdish in the forms of kāk and mām. The word for ‘elder brother’ is لالا lālā. The words عمه ama ‘paternal aunt’ (from Arabic) and خاله ‘maternal aunt’ (also from Arabic) are the same as in Iranian Persian.
The colloquial Afghan word for ‘family’, interestingly, is فامیل fāmīl, evidently from English. خانواده khānawāda, more commonly used in Iranian Persian, sounds rather formal in Afghan Persian.
The Persian-speaking world is a world of تعارف (commonly transliterated as tarof) and ادب adab ‘good manners’. Although not over-the-top flowery as Iranian tarof-y expressions can sometimes be, Afghan Persian still has many such expressions, some of which are said slightly differently from their Iranian counterparts. Here are some of the basic formulae:
Name + جان jān is commonplace in many Persianate cultures, but whereas Iranians tend mostly to call out someone’s name with جان if they know that person well, Afghans also call someone they do not know well جان after their name as a sign of respect. It is not uncommon to hear guests at interviews and formal gatherings addressed with their names plus جان, for example.
The word آقا āqā, ubiquitous in Iranian Persian when addressing a male person formally, although also used in Afghan Persian, is not as common as the formula name + صاحب sāheb (some people pronounce it as sāhab), which is also the Hindi/Urdu expression of formality. The use of آقا, however, seems to be gaining more ground in Afghanistan at the moment.
If you want to call a stranger ‘sir’ or ‘mister’, Iranians use آقا, but Afghans tend to use جناب janāb, which can sound a little too formal and outdated in Iranian Persian.
The words خانم khānom and بانو bānū, used to address a female person politely, are used in the same way in Afghan Persian as in Iranian Persian. In more traditional settings, however, a lady may also be referred to as بیبی bībī+ name.
Bear in mind that Afghans do not use the French word mersi, unlike Iranians. The expression ممنون mamnūn (lit. ‘obliged’) can be used, although not common and may be an Iranian import. The most common Afghan word for ‘thank you’ is تشکر tashakkor, which may sound formal to the Iranian ear. تشکر زیاد tashakkor-e ziyād is the Afghan Persian equivalent of the Iranian خیلی ممنون kheylī mamnūn ‘thank you very much’. The formal expression سپاسگزارم sepāsgozāramis not commonly heard in speech in either Iranian or Afghan Persian.
In reply to ‘thank you’, Afghans also point out that whatever their interlocutor is thanking them for is not worthy (قابل qābel) of it, but the Afghan expression is قابلش نیست qābelesh nēst whereas the Iranian one is قابلش ندارد qābelesh nadārad. خواهش میکنم khāhesh mīkonam lit. ‘I plead’) is not a common phrase in Afghan Persian.
Like Iranians, Afghans also have expressions about sacrificing themselves for you, as a sign of polite humility. The most common one is قربانت\قربانتان شوم qorbānet/qorbānetān shawom ‘may I be sacrificed for your’. The Iranian on the other hand equivalent uses the auxiliary verb رفتن raftan ‘to go’ – قربانت\قربانتان برم qorbānet/qorbānetān beram. The Tehrani pronunciation of قربان as qorbūn does not occur in Afghan Persian.
I have heard other less common expressions, which may belong to the older generation, such as خاکستر دیگدانت شوم khākistar-e dēgdānet shawom ‘may I be the ash under your stove’ or even کورت شوم kōret shawom ‘may I be blind for you’. The truth is that Persian speakers from all parts of the Persian-speaking world are extremely creative when it comes to tarof expressions and you may not hear the same expressions used by two different individuals.
Afghans use the Arabic expression بخیر bakhayr quite frequently. Aside the meaning of ‘well (in terms of health and condition)’ and ‘good’ in greetings such as صبح بخیر sob(h) bakhayr ‘good morning’ and شب بخیر shab (actually pronounced as شو shaw) bakhayr ‘good night’, it is also specifically used to describe a journey politely – for example, in the frequently used phrase کجا بخیر kujā bakhayr? ‘Where are you going/off to?’ – probably packing in the sense of ‘safe/blessed journey’.
My all-time favourite Afghan expression. نام خدا nām-e khodā, literally, ‘God’s name’, is used frequently in situations where ماشالله māshallāh could also be used.
To wish the evil eye away from someone, Afghans use most frequently use the expression نظر نشه nazar nasha (<نشود nashawad), whereas Iranians have a preference for چشم بد دور chashm-e bad dūr.
A few common modern terms in Afghanistan are borrowed from English, whereas their Iranian equivalents would be from French. The word for ‘car’ in Afghanistan is موتر mōtar, from the English ‘motor’ (vs. the Iranian ماشین māshīn, from the French machine), ‘lift’ (‘elevator’ in US English) is لیفت (vs. Iranian آسانسور āsānsōr, from the French ascenseur) ‘fashion’ is فشن (vs. the Iranian مد mod, from the French mode), etc. Sometimes, the Iranian word would be a neologism from Persian lexical sources, whereas the Afghan one comes from the English, such as the word for ‘bicycle’ – دوچرخه dōcharkhe in Iran, and بایسکل bāyskal in Afghanistan. The truth is, apart from a few fixed lexical items such as the ones listed above, Anglicisms tend to be spontaneous in colloquial Afghan speech, i.e. speakers, depending on their backgrounds, may use an English word in conversation where a Persian equivalent exists in a more formal context; many of these ‘pure Persian’ equivalents of modern concepts have been imported from Iran. The influence of the Indian subcontinent is also significant here: English words and even phrases and sentences are freely used in informal and formal Urdu and Hindi, and many Afghans who have extensive exposure to the subcontinental English-speaking culture may share the same linguistic behaviour.
اشتک ushtuk: is the Afghan word for ‘(small) child’. As far as I am aware, it is not used in Iranian or Tajik Persian, nor is it of Pashto origin. I have heard that one of the Pamiri languages has a word similar to it that also means ‘child’, though. Another word that Afghans use for a small/young child is the Arabic طفل, pronounced as tu(i)fi(e)l. اولاد awlād can also be used to mean ‘child’ in Afghan Persian. And of course, the universal Persian word بچه bacha is also wildly used.
پس آمدن pas āmadan: is used more in colloquial speech to mean ‘to return’, instead of the more formal-sounding برگشتن bargashtan.
تیار tayyār: Afghans and Tajiks both use تیار to mean ‘ready’, whereas Iranians use حاضر hāzer.
جور jōr: ‘in order, in good state’, used in many situations: جور استی? Jōr astī? ‘Are you well?’, جور باشی Jōr bāshī ‘Stay well’, جور کردن ‘to make ready, to repair’, etc.
چکر chakar: is a wonderful word with the general meaning of ‘going out and about, having a walk/stroll, have fun outside’.
چتل chatal: ‘dirty’. This word only exists in Afghan Persian (as far as I am aware) and enjoys more common usage than کثیف kasīf which is used by Iranians.
چرسی charsī: is the Afghan colloquial equivalent of the Iranian معتاد mo‘tād ‘addict(ed)’, where چرس chars refers to what Iranians would generally call علف alaf or مواد mavād.
خیر است khayr ast: is another pet favourite of mine among Afghan expressions. It an informal expression that can be used to cut a long dialogue or monologue short (when it is ending but drags on), or as the equivalent to the English ‘it’s alright/that’s ok/don’t worry’ when someone apologises for doing something that slightly wrong to you.
صباح sabā(h): rather than فردا fardā, is the common word for ‘tomorrow’ in Afghan Persian.
طیاره tay(y)āra: rather than هواپیما havāpeymā, is the common Afghan Persian word for ‘airplane’. It is the same word in Arabic. ‘Airport’ is میدان هوایی maydān-e hawāyī (lit. ‘air square’) instead of فرودگاه forūdgāh (lit. ‘descent-place’), which is used in Iranian and Tajik Persian.
غلط ghalat: is the common word for ‘mistake(nly), wrong’, rather than the more Iranian اشتباه eshtebāh.
محفل mahfel: is the word for ‘party’ in Afghan Persian. The Iranian مهمانی mehmānī is not used. محفل in Iranian Persian, however, means ‘(social, academic, political, etc) circle’. The Afghan meaning is closer to the Arabic root, cf. Arabic حفلةhafla ‘fest’.
مذاق mazāq: is the Afghan word for ‘joke’, instead of شوخی shūkhī.
مست mast/نشه nasha: in colloquial Afghan Persian, مست denotes an exciting ambiance, or a flamboyant, energetic person (بسیار مست نفر است! Bisyār mast nafar ast!), or very ‘dance-y’, fast music. This meaning of مست is also in Urdu and Hindi. It is not the preferred word for ‘drunk’. Most Afghans in Afghanistan, in fact, do not consume alcohol. The word for ‘drunk’ or better, ‘intoxicated’ (from alcohol or from other substances), is نشه nasha, which is also the name for weed (drug).
مانده mānda: means tired in Afghan Persian, as it does in Classical Persian, where خسته khasta means ‘wounded’. The Afghan مانده نباشی mānda nabāshī is therefore the equivalent of the Iranian خسته نباشی khaste nabāshī.
واز wāz/بند band: ‘open/close’. The verbs are واز کردن wāz kardan ‘to open’ and بند کردن band kardan ‘to close’. واز and باز are two variants of the same word and they are interchangeable already in the classical period, but Afghans prefer واز. In colloquial Afghan Persian, بستن bastan is not the common word for ‘to close’, and the compound verb بند کردن is preferred. Similarly, when Afghans say something is closed, the adjective is بند rather than بسته.
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The influence of urdu on Afghan persian is little to none. Urdu is heavily influenced by Dari and has some pashto words. Chawki is not an urdu word but a pashto one, in urdu they call it kursi. Similarly, words like magar, samandar and mela are from pashto.
Panja, tayyar, jor, chakar, chatal, nasha, charsi, ghalat, mahfel, mast/nasha are all pashto words. Chakar can means a trip and mahfel and sometimes pronounced mehfil is what we call a gathering or a party. Mast/nasha are also pashto words. Sabah is the word for tomorrow in pashto. Khayr ast is similarly used in pashto but in other variations khayr de or khayr kho de
Dear Fatima,
Thanks for this information. I agree that there is definitely a give-and-take with Persian and Pashto words entering Urdu and vice-versa. What’s important to bear in mind is that a lot of the words borrowed from Pashto and/or Dari were borrowed originally from Arabic, but oftentimes with different shades of meaning and different frequencies of usage, so it’s hard to trace the exact borrowing history for each and every word.
The prevalent route of borrowing, as you clearly point out, is most certainly (Arabic –>) Persian/Pashto –> Urdu. I believe however that Iskandar in his post regarding this topic is referring to more recent borrowings from Urdu into Dari and Pashto due to the recent rise in popularity of Urdu-language media in Afghanistan. This is something that is equally difficult to pin down, as many of these more recent borrowings from Urdu were Persian words to begin with, or Arabic words which made their way into the Urdu language centuries ago through Persian, which have now been “doubly” borrowed back.
تشکر از پیام شما
Sam
Nice article.
Interesting article.
Afghans do have a culture like Taarof, but we just do not call it that. For example, when someone visits you unexpectedly, you offer them to come into your house, even though you may not mean it. I think this is the same for Iranians too, but also when someone apologizes for something like hitting your foot by accident we respond by saying “Khaish mikonom” or “I am wanting that” as a sign of respect and let he or she know it is ok.
Also, Afghans we do not use “Injoori” for “Like this” we actually use “Intoor” quite frequently. To be honest, I have never heard of ‘”naw”.
Yes, “mafel” is used for party but we use “mehmani” more frequently.
We also pronounce words ending in “aw” when in Iranian Persian it ends in “ab” such as Ab vs. Aw (Water) or Shab vs. Shaw (Night)