On the rules of stress in Pashto nominal stems

Artem Trofimov (School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, RANEPA, Moscow; artemii.trofimov@gmail.com)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 21/3-4, 2023 - p.224-241

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to clarify the rules of accentuation in Pashto and its historical background. Based on etymological analysis of different morphological categories, I propose the following explanation of the development of Pashto accentuation patterns in the most common nominal stems: (a) words originating in Proto-Iranian *ā-stems and stems with the suffix *-a-ka retain the Proto-Iranian accent; (b) *a-stems usually lose oxytonesis; (c) stems resulting in Pashto ə or final long -ā generalize the final stress. The data demonstrate that the original paradigms with mobile stress underwent morphologization in Pashto. As a result, the vast majority of modern Pashto forms have stress on the final syllable.

Keywords: Pashto language, Proto-Iranian language, accentuation, Old Indian language, Proto-Indo European

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