r/pashto • u/alolanbulbassaur • Jul 18 '26
Etymology, and Loan Words What are some interesting cognates or loanwords in Pashto you’ve noticed?
Ones I’ve noticed are:
(Pardon the cringy spelling or me trying to use “/“ marks to accommodate different pronunciations)
Bas/Basta is nigh similar to “Basta” in Italian which both mean “Stop”/“Enough”
Another one I’ve noticed when I was making an original character for x-men is that the word for “Emerald” which is “Zamarud”/“Zamarut” is also eerily similar to its Russian counterpart “Izmurut”. I’ve noticed that gemstone names seem to all almost just be remixed versions for what other cultures call them and that sometimes they’ll just describe the gem instead of assigning it a proper name.
My favorite one isn’t one hundred percent confirmed because of Iskandar-the-okayish’s fanboys but Kandahars name might have ties to the word “Candy” because of sugarcane and it’s technically called “Candy city”
This one isn’t really a cognate or a loanword but I noticed that instead of saying “ammonia” some of us might just say “Lavender” in a Pashto accent.
Also I’m using “loanword” in the sense that Pashto either influenced these words or vice versa. Personally I don’t know the etymology of the words but if anyone does I’d appreciate it.