A Reader of Pashto [Paperback]

Herbert Penzl (Author), Ismail Sloan (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0923891714 | ISBN-13: 978-0923891718 | Publication Date: November 5, 2009

After a brief introduction to the use of this reader and a summary of the Pashto language, the author presents 25 units of reading selections and correlated exercises. A typical lesson consists of-- (1) a short Pashto text in typewritten Arabic-Persian form, (2) a Romanized transcription of this text indicating pronunciation, (3) a glossary of new words in Romanized transliteration, (4) short notes on grammar and pronunciation, (5) an English translation of the text, and (6) short exercises in writing in Pashto (in units 1-10 only). The texts chosen for this beginning reader represent current usage in the three major Pashto dialectal regions and include a variety of styles and levels of difficulty. An appended "Pashto word-index" lists the Pashto forms and the unit and sentence in which they are presented. The author assumes that most users of this text have completed the equivalent of a one-semester, non-intensive course in the Pashto language. This reader and other instructional materials in Pashto were prepared at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Department of Near Eastern Studies.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Herbert Penzl, born 1910-09-02, Neufelden (Austria), died 1995, was an Austrian-born American philologist and historical linguist. He studied English Philology at the University of Vienna under Karl Luick. In 1936 he completed his Ph.D. dissertation The Development of Middle English a in New England Speech. He spent some time in the United States working on the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada at Brown University, having been recommended for the exchange by Sigmund Freud. While in the US, he published his first article, "New England Terms for Poached Eggs," which received media coverage by the Associated Press among others. After a brief return to Austria, he decided in 1936 to move to the United States permanently. He was appointed at Rockford College, Illinois (1936-1938). In 1938, he received an appointment at the University of Illinois, where he worked until 1950. In 1944 he became a naturalized US citizen and from 1943 to 1945 he served in the United States Army, working on the development of military dictionaries. After the war, he worked on the publication of A Grammar of Pashto: A Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan' (1955). From 1950 to 1963, he taught at the University of Michigan. In 1963, he received an offer from the Linguistics Department at the University of California, Berkeley, where he spent the rest of his career. Penzl's research included a wide variety of topics, but his main interests were Germanic historical phonology. He wrote over 250 research articles and published 11 books, many of which have become standard works for students of Germanic Philology. Penzl described himself as an "American-style Structuralist."

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Ishi Press (November 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0923891714
• ISBN-13: 978-0923891718
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,077,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Persian & Farsi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good resource, mostly., November 4, 2011

By 

Rahimullah Khan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Reader of Pashto (Paperback)

You can probably take the first chapter of this book and rip it out. It's basically a poorly written self-aggrandizement by Ismail Sloan, who essentially details his time spent in Afghan jails and his time spent as a contracted Pashto interpreter who failed the language test, as if it were a hilarious joke to provide bad translations to NATO troops because, quote "the Army grunts would not know". His ignorance extends to claiming to be one of, if not the only, native-born American who speaks any Pashto at all - never mind the thousands and thousands of second generation Afghans, or US military members with language training.

The introduction besmirches what is actually a very good resource. The actual text of the book was written by Herbert Penzl, as indicated on the cover, and is one of the best available. It's definitely worth it if you're already familiar with the alphabet and can do at least some basic reading in script. There is an introductory primer to reading script, though it is a bit jargon-heavy and not at all clear for someone with no linguistic grounding or previous experience with Perso-Arabic scripts.

As ever with Pashto resources, the transliteration is quite shaky, though it is helpful sometimes when trying to determine what dialect a piece may have been originally written in - for example, the sh/kh variation for Kandahari and some other Southern variations, or finding hidden vowels in unfamiliar words.

Inside is an assortment of exercises of varying difficulty, each consisting of an article or collection of short articles written in Pashto, a transliteration, and then a translation and a vocabulary list for each passage.

The translations are accompanied by very excellent notes on idiomatic language being used, dialectical variations, and other helpful pieces of information that often go beyond casual interest. There are exercises to go along with the lessons, though some of them are of limited value without a human teacher to grade them - open response questions written in Pashto, for example.

It would, I think, make a good textbook for an introductory course, if you were teaching a course. It's also a great resource for language maintenance, or in-depth self study. Not something I would recommend to an 11B trying to get some basics - there are other, better quick and dirties out there for something like that.