Dari Persian: پوھنتون

[Ali Smith]

Hi,

What does پوھنتون mean and how is it pronounced?

حملہ بر پوھنتون حملہ بر دانائی است

An attack on...is an attack on wisdom.

Thanks!

 

[Qureshpor]

Checking the net, the word is Pashto for "university".

 

[Ali Smith]

Thank you! I can't believe Persian-speakers would use a Pashto word when they already have Perso-Arabic words available: دانشگاہ and جامعہ, respectively.

 

[mannoushka]

I believe pashtu is spoken if not widely across the country, then in certain parts, while دانشگاه and جامعه would both constitute borrowings. Maybe that is why پوهنتون seems to work better in Afghanistan: it is already the language. But a native would know best what is going on. I wonder about the pronunciation. Is it more like ‘pontoon’ or does the word have a vowel to go with the ‘h’: ‘pohentoon’, perhaps?

 

[fdb]

پوهنتون - Wiktionary

 

[Alfaaz]

I can't believe Persian-speakers would use a Pashto word ...

Relevant thread (brief discussion on پوھنتون and the use of Pashto words/terms in Dari - posts #14 and #17): Persian and Urdu Specialised/technical terminology