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APPENDIX VI
A Brief Introduction to Colloquial Kabul Farsi*
The following is a brief introduction to Farsi as it is spoken in the capital city of Kabul. This differs from the literary language, which though highly respected, is used only rarely in speaking. A studied attempt has been made to capture the living colloquial which is best understood and used in common conversation.
These few pages are simply to help you to speak and understand modern Kabul Farsi. Reading and writing the actual script can be learned through the primers used in the Afghan schools or with Dr. Frank Laubach's readers for illiterates published by the Royal Afghan Ministry of Education.
Since sounds differ in various languages, the best way to illustrate these accurately is by using a simple phonetic alphabet. For this reason, seven new symbols besides those which we have in the regular English alphabet have been used. With very little practice these become familiar.
The eight vowel sounds in Kabul Farsi will be written thus:
/i/ as in "peel"
/a/ as in "pal"
/au/ as in "pole"
/i/ as in "pill"
/u/ as in "pool"
/au/ as in "Paul"
/e/ as in "pail"
/u/ as in "pull"
The twenty-three consonant sounds will be written thus:
/p/ as in "pill"
/f/ as in "fill"
/l/ as in "Lil"
/b/ as in "bill"
/t/ as in "till"
/s/ as in "sill"
/m/ as in "mill"
/d/ as in "dill"
/z/ as in "zeal"
/w/ as in "will"
/n/ as in "nil"
/ch/ as in "chill"
*Compiled by Dr. Rev. J. Christy Wilson, formerly Professor of English Habibia College, Kabul.
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.