Pashto-English/English-Pashto Dictionary & Phrasebook

by Asmatullah Sarwan and Nicholas Awde

Book Overview

Pashto, also known as Pakhto, Pakhtu, or Pushto, is one of the official languages of Afghanistan and is also spoken in the neighboring Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. This two-way dictionary and travel oriented phrasebook is an essential communication tool, particularly in the more remote Pashto-speaking regions. Features: romanized for English speakers; basic Pashto grammar; practical cultural information; perfect for travelers, businesspersons,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078180972X
• ISBN13: 9780781809726
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 3.9" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Good reference book for Pashto learners and people serving inside Afghanistan

This is a very helpful resource book for those learning the Pashto language, soldiers serving inside Afghanistan and civilians going to Afghanistan for work. The Pashto is romanized for easy non-native speaker's reading. Besides the dictionary, the book has helpful phrases and other miscellaneous handy materials like numbers, Afghan calender months, week days, family members, etc. I wish the author had published a separate version in which the Pashto was printed in its native script for better pronunciation and learning to those who can read the Arabic script languages.

A great little dictionary worth more than its low price

Very little information about Pashto is available for English speakers, and so it's great to see that this book doesn't have a slipshod, "better-anything-than-nothing" approach, as might be feared. Once you have learned some grammar elsewhere (e.g., in the great series of materials by the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC), this book will prove to be a useful, portable resource. With 232 pages and measuring only 3.75" x 7", there are 5000 word entries in both English-Pashto and Pashto-English directions; although the words are given only in a Romanized transcription (no Pashto script), this little book is packed with even more information, including sections on greetings, useful phrases, and travel tips.