Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
Arabic dialect
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variatio ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. It is part of the
Afro-Asiatic language family, and originated in the
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
in
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...
. The ca. 100 million Egyptians speak a
continuum of dialects, among which Cairene is the most prominent. It is also understood across most of the
Arabic-speaking countries
Arabic and its different dialects are spoken by around 422 million speakers (native and non-native) in the Arab world as well as in the Arab diaspora making it one of the five most spoken languages in the world. Currently, 22 countries are membe ...
due to broad Egyptian influence in the region, including through
Egyptian cinema
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo, sometimes also referred to as Hollywood on the Nile. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the Intern ...
and
Egyptian music
Music has been an integral part of culture of Egypt, Egyptian culture since antiquity in Egypt. Egyptians, Egyptian music had a significant impact on the development of ancient Greek music, and via the Greeks it was important to early European m ...
. These factors help to make it the most widely spoken and by far the most widely studied
variety of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variatio ...
.
While it is primarily a spoken language, the written form is used in novels, plays and poems (
vernacular literature
Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the "common people".
In the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared ...
), as well as in comics, advertising, some newspapers and transcriptions of popular songs. In most other written media and in radio and television news reporting,
literary Arabic is used. Literary Arabic is a standardized language based on the language of the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
, i.e.
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
. The Egyptian
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
is almost universally written in the
Arabic alphabet for local consumption, although it is commonly transcribed into
Latin letters
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...
or in the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
in
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
text and textbooks aimed at teaching non-native learners. The dialect's phonetics, grammatical structure, and vocabulary are influenced by the
Coptic language
Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic ...
; its rich vocabulary is also influenced by
European languages
Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Rom ...
such as
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Naming
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
generally call their vernacular "Arabic" ( , ) when juxtaposed with non-Arabic languages; "Colloquial Egyptian" (, ) or simply "
''Aamiyya''" (, ''colloquial'') when juxtaposed with
Standard Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also refe ...
and the Egyptian dialect (, ) or simply ''Masri'' (, , ''Egyptian'') when juxtaposed with other
vernacular Arabic dialects.
[Islam online on Mahmoud Timor](_blank)
Sometimes it is also called Modern Egyptian language
[Present Culture in Egypt](_blank)
and (PDF) by Bayoumi Andil
Bayoumi Andil ( ar, بيومي قنديل) (31 July 19428 October 2009)[Rosaonline](_blank)
was an Egyptian ...
. (,
).
The term Egyptian Arabic is usually used synonymously with "''Cairene Arabic''", which is technically a dialect of Egyptian Arabic. The country's native name, , is often used locally to refer to Cairo itself. As is the case with Parisian
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Cairene Arabic is by far the most prevalent dialect in the country.
Geographic distribution
Among the spoken
varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variati ...
, Standard Egyptian Arabic (based on the dialect of the Egyptian capital) is the only one to have become a
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
in other parts of the Arabic-speaking world primarily for two reasons: The proliferation and popularity of Egyptian films and other media in the region since the early 20th century as well as the great number of Egyptian teachers and professors who were instrumental in setting up the education systems of various countries in the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
and also taught there and in other countries such as
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
and
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. Also, many
Lebanese artists choose to sing in Egyptian.
Standard Egyptian Arabic, when used in documents, broadcast media, prepared speeches and sometimes in liturgical purpose, is heavily influenced by Cairene Arabic with loanwords of Modern Standard Arabic origin or code-switching between Cairene Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic.
History
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
was spoken in parts of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
such as the
Eastern Desert
The Eastern Desert (Archaically known as Arabia or the Arabian Desert) is the part of the Sahara desert that is located east of the Nile river. It spans of North-Eastern Africa and is bordered by the Nile river to the west and the Red Sea and ...
and
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
before Islam. However, Nile Valley
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
slowly adopted Arabic as a
written language
A written language is the representation of a spoken or gestural language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will pick up spoken language or sign language by exposure even i ...
following the
Muslim conquest of Egypt
The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman Egypt, Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. ...
in the seventh century. Until then, they had spoken either
Koine Greek
Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
or
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
in its
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
form. A period of Coptic-Arabic bilingualism in
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...
lasted for more than three centuries. The period would last much longer in the south. Arabic had been already familiar to Valley Egyptians since Arabic had been spoken throughout the
Eastern Desert
The Eastern Desert (Archaically known as Arabia or the Arabian Desert) is the part of the Sahara desert that is located east of the Nile river. It spans of North-Eastern Africa and is bordered by the Nile river to the west and the Red Sea and ...
and
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
. Arabic was also a minority language of some residents of the Nile Valley such as
Qift
Qift ( arz, قفط ; cop, Ⲕⲉϥⲧ, link=no ''Keft'' or ''Kebto''; Egyptian Gebtu; grc, Κόπτος, link=no ''Coptos'' / ''Koptos''; Roman Justinianopolis) is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about north of Luxor, situated und ...
in Upper Egypt through pre-Islamic trade with
Nabateans
The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
in the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
and the easternmost part of the
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
. Egyptian Arabic seems to have begun taking shape in
Fustat
Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by ...
, the first Islamic capital of Egypt, now part of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
.
One of the earliest linguistic sketches of Cairene Arabic is a 16th-century document entitled ' (, "The Removal of the Burden from the Language of the People of Cairo") by
Yusuf al-Maghribi (Arabic: يوسف المغربي) was a 17th-century traveler and lexicographer active in Cairo. He is the first author to treat Egyptian Arabic as a dialect distinct from Classical Arabic, compiling an Egyptian Arabic word list, the ' (i.e. "apol ...
(). With Misr here meaning Cairo. It contains key information on early Cairene Arabic and the language situation in
Egypt in the Middle Ages
Following the Islamic conquest in 639, Lower Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Rashidun Caliphs and then the Umayyad Caliphs in Damascus, but in 747 the Umayyads were overthrown. Throughout Islamic rule, Askar w ...
. The main purpose of the document was to show that while the Cairenes' vernacular contained many critical "errors" vis-à-vis Classical Arabic, according to al-Maghribi, it was also related to Arabic in other respects. With few waves of immigration from the Arabian peninsula such as the
Banu Hilal
The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa in the 11th century. Masters of the vast plateaux of th ...
exodus, who later left Egypt and were settled in Morocco and Tunisia, together with the ongoing
Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
and
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...
of the country, multiple Arabic varieties, one of which is Egyptian Arabic, slowly supplanted spoken Coptic. Local chroniclers mention the continued use of Coptic as a spoken language until the 17th century by peasant women in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient ...
. Coptic is still the
liturgical language
A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives.
Concept
A sacre ...
of the
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
.
Status
Egyptian Arabic has no official status and is not officially recognized as a language (even though it has its own ISO language code).
Standard Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also refe ...
is the official language of the state as per constitutional law with the name , lit. "Arabic language". Interest in the local
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
began in the 1800s (in opposition to the language of the ruling class, Turkish), as the Egyptian national movement for
self-determination
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
was taking shape. For many decades to follow, questions about the reform and the modernization of Arabic were hotly debated in Egyptian intellectual circles. Proposals ranged from developing
neologism
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
s to replace archaic terminology in Modern Standard Arabic to the simplification of syntactical and morphological rules and the introduction of
colloquialism
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
s to even complete "Egyptianization" (, ) by abandoning the so-called Modern Standard Arabic in favor of Masri or Egyptian Arabic.
Proponents of language reform in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
included
Qasim Amin
Qasim Amin (, arz, قاسم أمين; 1 December 1863, in AlexandriaPolitical and diplomatic history of the Arab world, 1900-1967, Menahem Mansoor – April 22, 1908 in Cairo) was an Egyptian jurist, Islamic Modernist and one of the founders ...
, who also wrote the first Egyptian feminist treatise, former President of the
Egyptian University,
Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed
Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed or Aḥmad Luṭfī Sayyid Pasha () (15 January 1872 – 5 March 1963) was a prominent Egyptian nationalist, intellectual, anti-colonial activist and the first director of Cairo University. He was an influential person in the ...
, and noted intellectual
Salama Moussa
Salama Moussa (or Musa; 1887 – 4 August 1958) ( ar, سلامه موسى , ) was an Egyptian journalist, writer and political theorist. Salama Moussa was an avowed secularist, he introduced the writings of Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud to ...
. They adopted a modernist,
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
approach and disagreed with the assumption that Arabic was an immutable language because of its association with the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
. The first modern Egyptian novel in which the dialogue was written in the vernacular was
Muhammad Husayn Haykal
Mohammed Hussein Heikal ( ar, محمد حسين هيكل ; August 20, 1888 – December 8, 1956) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician. He held several cabinet posts, including minister of education.
Life
Haekal was born in Kafr Ghann ...
's ''
Zaynab'' in 1913. It was only in 1966 that
Mustafa Musharafa's ''Kantara Who Disbelieved'' was released, the first novel to be written entirely in Egyptian Arabic. Other notable novelists, such as
Ihsan Abdel Quddous
Ihsan Abdel Quddous ( arz, إحسان عبد القدوس ', ) (1 January 1919 – 12 January 1990) was an Egyptian writer, novelist, and journalist and editor in Egypt's '' Al Akhbar'' and ''Al-Ahram'' newspapers. He wrote many novels that ...
and
Yusuf Idris
Yusuf Idris, also Yusif Idris ( ar, يوسف إدريس) (May 19, 1927 – August 1, 1991) was an Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels.
Biography
Idris was born in Faqous. He originally trained to be a doctor, studying at the U ...
, and poets, such as
Salah Jahin
Muhammad Salah Eldin Bahgat Ahmad Helmy (, ), known as "Salah Jaheen" or "Salah Jahin" ( ar, صلاح جاهين, ; December 25, 1930 – April 21, 1986) was a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonist.
Life and career
Jah ...
,
Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi
Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi ( ar , عبد الرحمن الأبنودي , translit=ʻAbd il-Raḥmān Abnūdī , translit-std=ALA, 11 April 1938 – 21 April 2015) was a popular Egyptian poet, and later a children's books writer. He was one of a gener ...
and
Ahmed Fouad Negm
Ahmed Fouad Negm ( ar, أحمد فؤاد نجم, ; 22 May 1929 – 3 December 2013), popularly known as el-Fagommi الفاجومي (), was an Egyptian vernacular poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam, as well a ...
, helped solidify vernacular literature as a distinct literary genre.
Amongst certain groups within Egypt's elite, Egyptian Arabic enjoyed a brief period of rich literary output. That dwindled with the rise of
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...
, which had gained popularity in Egypt by the second half of the twentieth century, as demonstrated by Egypt's involvement in the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
under King
Farouk of Egypt
Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 193 ...
. The
Egyptian revolution of 1952, led by
Mohammed Naguib
Mohamed Bey Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan ( ar, الرئيس اللواء محمد بك نجيب يوسف قطب القشلان, ; 19 February 1901 – 28 August 1984), also known as Mohamed Naguib, was an Egyptian revolutionary, and, along w ...
and
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
, further enhanced the significance of Pan-Arabism, making it a central element of Egyptian state policy. The importance of Modern Standard Arabic was reemphasised in the public sphere by the revolutionary government, and efforts to accord any formal language status to the Egyptian vernacular were ignored. Egyptian Arabic was identified as a mere dialect, one that was not spoken even in all of Egypt, as almost all of
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient ...
speaks
Sa'idi Arabic
A Ṣa‘īdī (, Coptic: ⲣⲉⲙⲣⲏⲥ ''Remris'') is a person from Upper Egypt (, Coptic: ⲙⲁⲣⲏⲥ ''Maris'').
Etymology
The word literally means "from Ṣa‘īd" (i.e. Upper Egypt), and can also refer to a form of music orig ...
. Though the revolutionary government heavily sponsored the use of the Egyptian vernacular in films, plays, television programmes, and music, the prerevolutionary use of Modern Standard Arabic in official publications was retained.
Linguistic commentators have noted the multi-faceted approach of the Egyptian revolutionaries towards the Arabic language. Whereas Egypt's first
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, Mohammed Naguib exhibited a preference for using Modern Standard Arabic in his public speeches, his successor,
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
was renowned for using the vernacular and for punctuating his speeches with traditional Egyptian words and expressions. Conversely, Modern Standard Arabic was the norm for state news outlets, including newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. That was especially true of Egypt's national broadcasting company, the
Arab Radio and Television Union, which was established with the intent of providing content for the entire
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
, not merely Egypt, hence the need to broadcast in the standard, rather than the vernacular, language. The
Voice of the Arabs Voice of the Arabs or Sawt al-Arab ( ar, صوت العرب) (621 kHz on Mediumwave to Egypt, 9800 kHz, and many other frequencies on Shortwave to the Middle East, the rest of Europe and North America) was one of the first and most pro ...
radio station, in particular, had an audience from across the region, and the use of anything other than Modern Standard Arabic was viewed as eminently incongruous.
In a study of three Egyptian newspapers (
Al-Ahram
''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...
,
Al-Masry Al-Youm
''Al-Masry Al-Youm'' ( ar, المصري اليوم ', , meaning ''The Egyptian Today'') is an Egyptian privately owned daily newspaper that was first published in June 2004. It is published in Arabic as is its website, ''almasryalyoum.com''. An ...
, and
Al-Dustour) Zeinab Ibrahim concluded that the total number of headlines in Egyptian Arabic in each newspaper varied. Al-Ahram did not include any. Al-Masry Al-Youm had an average of 5% of headlines in Egyptian, while Al-Dustour averaged 11%.
As the status of Egyptian Arabic as opposed to
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
can have such political and religious implications in Egypt, the question of whether Egyptian Arabic should be considered a
"dialect" or "language" can be a source of debate. In
sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural Norm (sociology), norms, expectations, and context (language use), context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on languag ...
, Egyptian Arabic can be seen as one of many distinct
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
that, despite arguably being languages on grounds, are united by a common in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).
Publications
During the early 1900s many portions of the Bible were published in Egyptian Arabic. These were published by the Nile Mission Press. By 1932 the whole New Testament and some books of the Old Testament had been published in Egyptian Arabic in Arabic script.
The dialogs in the following novels are partly in Egyptian Arabic, partly in Standard Arabic:
Mahmud Tahir Haqqi's ''Adhra' Dinshuway'' ( ar , عذراء دنشواي; 1906),
Yaqub Sarruf
Yaqub Sarruf (, 1852–1927) was a pioneering Lebanese writer, publisher, and translator. Sarruf was born in Al-Hadath, Lebanon. His father sent him to the American School in Abey, then to the Syrian Protestant College where he obtained a bache ...
's ''Fatat Misr'' ( ar , فتاة مصر , Fatāt Miṣr , translit-std=ALA; first published in
Al-Muqtataf 1905–1906), and
Mohammed Hussein Heikal
Mohammed Hussein Heikal ( ar, محمد حسين هيكل ; August 20, 1888 – December 8, 1956) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician. He held several cabinet posts, including minister of education.
Life
Haekal was born in Kafr Ghan ...
's ''
Zaynab'' (1914).
Early stage plays written in Egyptian Arabic were translated from or influenced by European playwrights.
Muhammad 'Uthman Jalal translated plays by Molière, Racine and Goldoni to Egyptian Arabic and adapted them as well as ten fables by
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...
.
Yaqub Sanu
Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (Arabic: يَعْقُوب ابْنُ إِسْحَٰق ابْنُ إِبْرَاهِيم, literally: "''Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham''" ar, يَعْقُوب , translit=Yaqub; also later ''Israil'', Arabic: إ ...
translated to and wrote plays on himself in Egyptian Arabic.
Many plays were written in Standard Arabic, but performed in colloquial Arabic.
Tawfiq al-Hakim
Tawfiq al-Hakim or Tawfik el-Hakim ( arz, توفيق الحكيم, ; October 9, 1898 – July 26, 1987) was a prominent Egyptian writer and visionary. He is one of the pioneers of the Arabic novel and drama. The triumphs and failures that are ...
took this a step further and provided for his Standard Arabic plays versions in colloquial Arabic for the performances.
Mahmud Taymur
Mahmud Taymur (16 June 1894–25 August 1973) was a Fiction, fiction writer. He contributed to several publications.
Biography
He was born in Cairo on 16 June 1894. into a family famous for literature. His father, Ahmed Taymour (1871-1930) was a ...
has published some of his plays in two versions, one in Standard, one in colloquial Arabic, among them: ''Kidb fi Kidb'' ( ar , كذب في كذب , lit=All lies, 1951 or ca. 1952) and ''Al-Muzayyifun'' ( ar , المزيفون , Al-Muzayyifūn , translit-std=ALA , lit=The Forgers, ca. 1953).
The writers of stage plays in Egyptian Arabic after the
Egyptian Revolution of 1952 include
No'man Ashour
No'man Ashour (January 1918 – 5 April 1987) was an Egyptian poet and playwright, born in Mit Ghamr, Dakahlia Governorate. He is most known for the foundation of realism in the Egyptian drama. Moreover he considered comedy
Comedy is a genre ...
,
Alfred Farag
Alfred Farag (14 June 1929 – 4 December 2005 ) was an Egyptian playwright. He was one of the eminent
Egyptian playwrights of the post-1952 Revolution period. He obtained his BA in English Literature from the Faculty of Arts, Alexandria Un ...
, ,
Rashad Roushdy Rashad is a given name which may refer to:
Surname:
*Ahmad Rashad (born 1949), American football player and sportcaster
*Ali Akbar Rashad (born 1955), Iranian philosopher and Islamic scholar
*Isaiah Rashad (born 1991), American rapper
*Phylicia Ras ...
, and
Yusuf Idris
Yusuf Idris, also Yusif Idris ( ar, يوسف إدريس) (May 19, 1927 – August 1, 1991) was an Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels.
Biography
Idris was born in Faqous. He originally trained to be a doctor, studying at the U ...
. Thereafter the use of colloquial Egyptian Arabic in theater is stable and common. Later writers of plays in colloquial Egyptian include
Ali Salem
Ali Salem, also transliterated Ali Salim, ( ar, على سالم, ; 24 February 1936 – 22 September 2015) was an Egyptian playwright, author, and political commentator known for controversially endorsing cooperation with Israel. The ''Los ...
, and
Naguib Surur
Naguib Surur ( ar, نجيب سرور; born 1 June 1932 - 24 October 1978) was an Egyptian poet, playwright, actor and critic.[< ...]
.
Novels in Egyptian Arabic after the 1940s and before the 1990s are rare. There are by ''Qantarah Alladhi Kafar'' ( ar , قنطرة الذي كفر , Qanṭarah Alladhī Kafar , translit-std=ALA , lit=Qantara Who Disbelieved , lable=none, Cairo, 1965) and Uthman Sabri's ( ar , عثمان صبري , ʻUthmān Ṣabrī , translit-std=ALA; 1896–1986) ''Journey on the Nile'' ( arz , رحلة في النيل , Riḥlah fī il-Nīl , translit-std=ALA, 1965) (and his ''Bet Sirri'' ( arz , بيت سري , Bēt Sirri , translit-std=ALA , lit=A Brothel , label=none, 1981) that apparently uses a mix of Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic).
Prose published in Egyptian Arabic since the 1990s include the following novels:
Yusuf al-Qa'id's ''Laban il-Asfur'' ( arz , لبن العصفور , Laban il-ʿAṣfūr , translit-std=ALA , lit=The Milk of the Bird , label=none; 1994),
Baha' Awwad's ( ar , بهاء عواد , Bahāʾ ʿAwwād , translit-std=ALA) ''Shams il-Asil'' ( arz , شمس الاصيل , Shams il-ʿAṣīl , translit-std=ALA , lit=Late Afternoon Sun , label=none; 1998),
Safa Abdel Al Moneim's ''Min Halawit il-Ruh'' ( arz , من حلاوة الروح , Min Ḥalāwit il-Rōḥ , translit-std=ALA , lit=Zest for Life , label=none, 1998),
Samih Faraj's ( ar , سامح فرج , Sāmiḥ Faraj , translit-std=ALA) ''Banhuf Ishtirasa'' ( arz , بانهوف اشتراسا , Bānhūf Ishtirāsā , translit-std=ALA , lit=Bahnhof Strasse , label=none, 1999);
autobiographies include the one by
Ahmed Fouad Negm
Ahmed Fouad Negm ( ar, أحمد فؤاد نجم, ; 22 May 1929 – 3 December 2013), popularly known as el-Fagommi الفاجومي (), was an Egyptian vernacular poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam, as well a ...
,
by ''Ula Awwil'' ( arz , اولى أول , Ūlá Awwil , translit-std=ALA , lit=First Class Primary School , label=none),
and
Fathia al-Assal
Fathia al-Assal ( ar , فتحية العسال , Fatḥīyah al-ʻAssāl , translit-std=ALA; February 20, 1933June 15, 2014) was an Egyptian playwright and activist.
She was born in Cairo. Her father did not allow her to receive any formal schooli ...
's ''Hudn il-Umr'' ( arz , حضن العمر , Ḥuḍn il-ʿUmr , translit-std=ALA , lit=The Embrace of a Lifetime , label=none).
The
epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...
''Jawabat Haraji il-Gutt'' ( aec , جوابات حراجى القط , Jawābāt Ḥarājī il-Guṭṭ , translit-std=ALA , lit=Letters of Haraji the Cat, 2001) by
Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi
Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi ( ar , عبد الرحمن الأبنودي , translit=ʻAbd il-Raḥmān Abnūdī , translit-std=ALA, 11 April 1938 – 21 April 2015) was a popular Egyptian poet, and later a children's books writer. He was one of a gener ...
is exceptional in its use of
Saʽidi Arabic
Ṣaʽīdi Arabic (autonym: , ), or Upper Egyptian Arabic, is a variety of Arabic spoken by the Upper Egyptians in the area that is South/Upper Egypt, a strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends from Aswan and downriver (northwards) ...
.
21th-century journals publishing in Egyptian Arabic include ''Bārti'' (from at least 2002), the weekly magazine ''Idhak lil-Dunya'' ( ar , اضحك للدنيا , Iḍḥak lil-Dunyā , translit-std=ALA , lit=Smile for the World , label=none, from 2005), and the monthly magazine ( arz , احنا , Iḥna , translit-std=ALA , lit=We , label=none, from 2005).
Spoken varieties
Sa'īdi Arabic is a different variety than Egyptian Arabic in Ethnologue.com and ISO 639-3 and in other sources, and the two varieties have limited
mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
. It carries little prestige nationally but continues to be widely spoken, with 19,000,000 speakers.
The traditional division between
Upper and Lower Egypt
In Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the unification of the realm. The conception of Egypt as the Two Lands was an example of the duali ...
and their respective differences go back to ancient times. Egyptians today commonly call the people of the north () and those of the south (). The differences throughout Egypt, however, are more wide-ranging and do not neatly correspond to the simple division. The language shifts from the eastern to the western parts of the
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
, and the varieties spoken from
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
to
Minya are further grouped into a Middle Egypt cluster. Despite the differences, there are features distinguishing all the Egyptian Arabic varieties of the Nile Valley from any other varieties of Arabic. Such features include
reduction of long vowels in open and unstressed syllables, the postposition of demonstratives and interrogatives, the modal meaning of the imperfect and the integration of the participle.
The
Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic variety of the western desert differs from all other Arabic varieties in Egypt in that it linguistically is part of
Maghrebi Arabic
Maghrebi Arabic (, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb region, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. It includes Moroccan, Alger ...
.
Northwest Arabian Arabic
Northwest Arabian Arabic (also called Levantine Bedawi Arabic or Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic) is a proposed subfamily of Arabic encompassing the traditional Bedouin dialects of the Sinai Peninsula, the Negev, southern Jordan, and the northwes ...
is also distinct from Egyptian Arabic.
Regional variation
Egyptian Arabic varies regionally across its ''sprachraum'', with certain characteristics being noted as typical of the speech of certain regions.
Alexandria
The dialect of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
(West Delta) is noted for certain
shibboleth
A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passwor ...
s separating its speech from that of Cairo (South Delta). The ones that are most frequently noted in popular discourse are the use of the word ''
falafel
Falafel (; ar, فلافل, ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter in Middle Eastern cuisine (especially in Levantine and Egyptian cuisines) made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both. Nowadays, falafel is often served in a p ...
'' as opposed to ''ṭa`meyya'' for the fava-bean fritters common across the country and the pronunciation of the word for the
Egyptian pound
The pound ( arz, جنيه مصرى '; abbreviation: LE in Latin, in Arabic, historically also £E; ISO code: EGP) is the official currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 piastres, or ersh ( ; ''plural'' ; abbreviation: PT), or 1,000 mill ...
( ), as , closer to the pronunciation of the origin of the term, the British
guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
).
The speech of the older Alexandrian families is also noted for use of the first-person plural even when they speak in the singular, a feature of
Maghrebi Arabic
Maghrebi Arabic (, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb region, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. It includes Moroccan, Alger ...
.
The dialects of the western Delta tend to use the perfect with instead of the perfect with , for example for this is instead of .
Port Said
Port Said
Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
's dialect (East Delta) is noted for a "heavier", more guttural sound, compared to other regions of the country.
Rural Nile Delta
The dialect of the
Fellah
A fellah ( ar, فَلَّاح ; feminine ; plural ''fellaheen'' or ''fellahin'', , ) is a peasant, usually a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic word for "ploughman" or "tiller". ...
in Northern Egypt is noted for a distinct accent, replacing the urban pronunciations of (spelled ) and ( ) with and respectively, but that is not true of all rural dialects, a lot of them do not have such replacement. The dialect also has many grammatical differences when contrasted to urban dialects.
Phonology
Egyptian Arabic has a phonology that differs significantly from that of other varieties of Arabic, and has its own inventory of consonants and vowels.
Morphology
Nouns
In contrast to CA and MSA, Egyptian Arabic nouns are not inflected for case and lack
nunation
Nunation ( ar, تَنوِين, ' ), in some Semitic languages such as Literary Arabic, is the addition of one of three vowel diacritics (''ḥarakāt'') to a noun or adjective.
This is used to indicate the word ends in an alveolar nasal without ...
(with the exception of certain fixed phrases in the accusative case, such as , "thank you"). As all nouns take their
pausal forms, singular words and
broken plural
In linguistics, a broken plural (or internal plural) is an irregular plural form of a noun or adjective found in the Semitic languages and other Afroasiatic languages such as Berber. Broken plurals are formed by changing the pattern of consonants ...
s simply lose their case endings. In sound plurals and dual forms, where, in MSA, difference in case is present even in pausal forms, the genitive/accusative form is the one preserved. Fixed expressions in the
construct state
In Afro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in a genitive phrase of a possessed noun followed by a possessor noun often takes on a special morphological form, which is termed the construct state (Latin ''status constructus''). For example, in Arabi ...
beginning in ''abu'', often geographic names, retain their ''-u'' in all cases.
Plurals
Color/defect nouns
A common set of nouns referring to colors, as well as a number of nouns referring to physical defects of various sorts (''ʔaṣlaʕ'' "bald"; ''ʔaṭṛaʃ'' "deaf"; ''ʔaxṛas'' "dumb"), take a special inflectional pattern, as shown in the table. Note that only a small number of common colors inflect this way: ''ʔaḥmaṛ'' "red"; ''ʔazraʔ'' "blue"; ''ʔaxḍaṛ'' "green"; ''ʔaṣfaṛ'' "yellow"; ''ʔabyaḍ'' "white"; ''ʔiswid'' "black"; ''ʔasmaṛ'' "brown-skinned, brunette"; ''ʔaʃʔaṛ'' "blond(e)". The remaining colors are invariable, and mostly so-called ''nisba'' adjectives derived from colored objects: ''bunni'' "brown" (< ''bunn'' "coffee powder"); ''ṛamaadi'' "gray" (< ''ṛamaad'' "ashes"); ''banafsigi'' "purple" (< ''banafsig'' "violet"); ''burtuʔaani'' "orange" (< ''burtuʔaan'' "oranges"); ''zibiibi'' "maroon" (< ''zibiib'' "raisins"); etc., or of foreign origin: ''beeع'' "beige" from the French; ''bamba'' "pink" from Turkish
pembe'.
Pronouns
Egyptian Arabic object pronouns are
clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a w ...
s, in that they attach to the end of a noun, verb, or preposition, with the result forming a single phonological word rather than separate words. Clitics can be attached to the following types of words:
*A clitic pronoun attached to a noun indicates possession: ''béet'' "house", ''béet-i'' "my house"; ''sikkíina'' "knife", ''sikkínt-i'' "my knife"; ''ʔább'' "father", ''ʔabúu-ya'' "my father". Note that the form of a pronoun may vary depending on the phonological form of the word being attached to (ending with a vowel or with one or two consonants), and the noun being attached to may also have a separate "construct" form before possessive clitic suffixes.
*A clitic pronoun attached to a preposition indicates the object of the preposition: ''minno'' "from it (masculine object)", ''ʕaleyha'' "on it (feminine object)"
*A clitic pronoun attached to a verb indicates the object of the verb: ''ʃúft'' "I saw", ''ʃúft-u'' "I saw him", ''ʃuft-áha'' "I saw her".
With verbs, indirect object clitic pronouns can be formed using the preposition ''li-'' plus a clitic. Both direct and indirect object clitic pronouns can be attached to a single verb: ''agíib'' "I bring", ''agíb-hu'' "I bring it", ''agib-húu-lik'' "I bring it to you", ''m-agib-hu-lkíi-ʃ'' "I do not bring it to you".
Verbs
Verbs in Arabic are based on a stem made up of three or four consonants. The set of consonants communicates the basic meaning of a verb. Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes and/or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as tense, person, and number, in addition to changes in the meaning of the verb that embody grammatical concepts such as
causative
In linguistics, a causative (abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...
,
intensive
In grammar, an intensive word form is one which denotes stronger, more forceful, or more concentrated action relative to the root on which the intensive is built. Intensives are usually lexical formations, but there may be a regular process for for ...
,
passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of on ...
or
reflexive.
Each particular
lexical verb In linguistics a lexical verb or main verb is a member of an open class of verbs that includes all verbs except auxiliary verbs. Lexical verbs typically express action, state, or other predicate meaning. In contrast, auxiliary verbs express grammat ...
is specified by two stems, one used for the past tense and one used for non-past tenses along with
subjunctive
The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
and
imperative moods. To the former stem, suffixes are added to mark the verb for person, number, and gender, while to the latter stem, a combination of prefixes and suffixes are added. (Very approximately, the prefixes specify the person and the suffixes indicate number and gender.) Since Arabic lacks an
infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
, the third person masculine singular past tense form serves as the "dictionary form" used to identify a verb. For example, the verb meaning "write" is often specified as ''kátab'', which actually means "he wrote". In the paradigms below, a verb will be specified as ''kátab/yíktib'' (where ''kátab'' means "he wrote" and ''yíktib'' means "he writes"), indicating the past stem (''katab-'') and non-past stem (''-ktib-'', obtained by removing the prefix ''yi-'').
The verb classes in Arabic are formed along two axes. One axis (described as "form I", "form II", etc.) is used to specify grammatical concepts such as
causative
In linguistics, a causative (abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...
,
intensive
In grammar, an intensive word form is one which denotes stronger, more forceful, or more concentrated action relative to the root on which the intensive is built. Intensives are usually lexical formations, but there may be a regular process for for ...
,
passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of on ...
, or
reflexive, and involves varying the stem form. For example, from the root K-T-B "write" is derived form I kátab/yíktib "write", form II káttib/yikáttib "cause to write", form III ká:tib/yiká:tib "correspond", etc. The other axis is determined by the particular consonants making up the root. For example, defective verbs have a W or Y as the last root consonant, which is often reflected in paradigms with an extra final vowel in the stem (e.g. ráma/yírmi "throw" from R-M-Y); meanwhile, hollow verbs have a W or Y as the middle root consonant, and the stems of such verbs appear to have only two consonants (e.g. gá:b/yigí:b "bring" from G-Y-B).
Strong verbs
Strong verbs are those that have no "weakness" (e.g. W or Y) in the root consonants.
Each verb has a given vowel pattern for Past (a or i) and Present (a or i or u). Combinations of each exist.
= Regular verbs, form I
=
Form I verbs have a given vowel pattern for past (a or i) and present (a, i or u). Combinations of each exist:
= Regular verb, form I, fáʕal/yífʕil
=
Example: kátab/yíktib "write"
Note that, in general, the present indicative is formed from the subjunctive by the addition of ''bi-'' (''bi-a-'' is elided to ''ba-''). Similarly, the future is formed from the subjunctive by the addition of ''ḥa-'' (''ḥa-a-'' is elided to ''ḥa-''). The ''i'' in ''bi-'' or in the following prefix will be deleted according to the regular rules of vowel syncope:
*híyya b-tíktib "she writes" (híyya + bi- + tíktib)
*híyya bi-t-ʃú:f "she sees" (híyya + bi- + tiʃú:f)
*an-áktib "I write (subjunctive)" (ána + áktib)
Example: kátab/yíktib "write": non-finite forms
= Regular verb, form I, fíʕil/yífʕal
=
Example: fíhim/yífham "understand"
Boldfaced forms ''fíhm-it'' and ''fíhm-u'' differ from the corresponding forms of katab (''kátab-it'' and ''kátab-u'' due to vowel syncope). Note also the syncope in ána fhím-t "I understood".
= Regular verb, form II, fáʕʕil/yifáʕʕil
=
Example: dárris/yidárris "teach"
Boldfaced forms indicate the primary differences from the corresponding forms of katab:
*The prefixes ''ti-'', ''yi-'', ''ni-'' have elision of ''i'' following ''bi-'' or ''ḥa-'' (all verbs whose stem begins with a single consonant behave this way).
*The imperative prefix ''i-'' is missing (again, all verbs whose stem begins with a single consonant behave this way).
*Due to the regular operation of the stress rules, the stress in the past tense forms ''darrís-it'' and ''darrís-u'' differs from ''kátab-it'' and ''kátab-u''.
= Regular verb, form III, fá:ʕil/yifá:ʕil
=
Example: sá:fir/yisá:fir "travel"
The primary differences from the corresponding forms of darris (shown in boldface) are:
*The long vowel ''a:'' becomes ''a'' when unstressed.
*The ''i'' in the stem ''sa:fir'' is elided when a suffix beginning with a vowel follows.
Defective verbs
Defective verbs have a W or Y as the last root consonant.
= Defective verb, form I, fáʕa/yífʕi
=
Example: ráma/yírmi "throw away" (i.e. trash, etc.)
The primary differences from the corresponding forms of katab (shown in boldface) are:
*In the past, there are three stems: ráma with no suffix, ramé:- with a consonant-initial suffix, rám- with a vowel initial suffix.
*In the non-past, the stem rmi becomes rm- before a (vowel initial) suffix, and the stress remains on the prefix, since the stem vowel has been elided.
*Note also the accidental homonymy between masculine tí-rmi, í-rmi and feminine tí-rm-i, í-rm-i.
= Defective verb, form I, fíʕi/yífʕa
=
Example: nísi/yínsa "forget"
This verb type is quite similar to the defective verb type ráma/yírmi. The primary differences are:
*The occurrence of ''i'' and ''a'' in the stems are reversed: ''i'' in the past, ''a'' in the non-past.
*In the past, instead of the stems ramé:- and rám-, the verb has nisí:- (with a consonant-initial suffix) and nísy- (with a vowel initial suffix). Note in particular the , y, in nísyit and nísyu as opposed to rámit and rámu.
*Elision of ''i'' in nisí:- can occur, e.g. ána nsí:t "I forgot".
*In the non-past, because the stem has ''a'' instead of ''i'', there is no homonymy between masculine tí-nsa, í-nsa and feminine tí-ns-i, í-ns-i.
Note that some other verbs have different stem variations, e.g. míʃi/yímʃi "walk" (with ''i'' in both stems) and báʔa/yíbʔa "become, remain" (with ''a'' in both stems). The verb láʔa/yilá:ʔi "find" is unusual in having a mixture of a form I past and form III present (note also the variations líʔi/yílʔa and láʔa/yílʔa).
Verbs other than form I have consistent stem vowels. All such verbs have ''a'' in the past (hence form stems with ''-é:-'', not ''-í:-''). Forms V, VI, X and IIq have ''a'' in the present (indicated by boldface below); others have ''i''; forms VII, VIIt, and VIII have ''i'' in both vowels of the stem (indicated by italics below); form IX verbs, including "defective" verbs, behave as regular doubled verbs:
* Form II: wádda/yiwáddi "take away"; ʔáwwa/yiʔáwwi "strengthen"
* Form III: ná:da/yiná:di "call"; dá:wa/yidá:wi "treat, cure"
* Form IV (rare, classicized): ʔárḍa/yírḍi "please, satisfy"
* Form V: itʔáwwa/yitʔáwwa "become strong"
* Form VI: itdá:wa/yitdá:wa "be treated, be cured"
* ''Form VII'' (rare in the Cairene dialect): inḥáka/yinḥíki "be told"
* ''Form VIIt'': itnása/yitnísi "be forgotten"
* ''Form VIII'': iʃtára/yiʃtíri "buy"
* Form IX (very rare): iḥláww/yiḥláww "be/become sweet"
* Form X: istákfa/yistákfa "have enough"
* Form Iq: ''need example''
* Form IIq: ''need example''
Hollow verbs
Hollow have a W or Y as the middle root consonant. Note that for some forms (e.g. form II and form III), hollow verbs are conjugated as strong verbs (e.g. form II ''ʕáyyin/yiʕáyyin'' "appoint" from ʕ-Y-N, form III ''gá:wib/yigá:wib'' "answer" from G-W-B).
= Hollow verb, form I, fá:l/yifí:l
=
Example: gá:b/yigí:b "bring"
This verb works much like dárris/yidárris "teach". Like all verbs whose stem begins with a single consonant, the prefixes differ in the following way from those of regular and defective form I verbs:
*The prefixes ''ti-'', ''yi-'', ''ni-'' have elision of ''i'' following ''bi-'' or ''ḥa-''.
*The imperative prefix ''i-'' is missing.
In addition, the past tense has two stems: gíb- before consonant-initial suffixes (first and second person) and gá:b- elsewhere (third person).
= Hollow verb, form I, fá:l/yifú:l
=
Example: ʃá:f/yiʃú:f "see"
This verb class is identical to verbs such as gá:b/yigí:b except in having stem vowel ''u'' in place of ''i''.
Doubled verbs
Doubled verbs have the same consonant as middle and last root consonant, e.g. ḥább/yiḥíbb "love" from Ḥ-B-B.
= Doubled verb, form I, fáʕʕ/yifíʕʕ
=
Example: ḥább/yiḥíbb "love"
This verb works much like gá:b/yigí:b "bring". Like that class, it has two stems in the past, which are ḥabbé:- before consonant-initial suffixes (first and second person) and ḥább- elsewhere (third person). Note that ''é:-'' was borrowed from the defective verbs; the Classical Arabic equivalent form would be *ḥabáb-, e.g. *ḥabáb-t.
Other verbs have ''u'' or ''a'' in the present stem: baṣṣ/yibúṣṣ "to look", ṣaḥḥ/yiṣáḥḥ "be right, be proper".
As for the other forms:
*Form II, V doubled verbs are strong: ḥáddid/yiḥáddid "limit, fix (appointment)"
*Form III, IV, VI, VIII doubled verbs seem non-existent
*Form VII and VIIt doubled verbs (same stem vowel ''a'' in both stems): inbáll/yinbáll "be wetted", itʕádd/yitʕádd
*Form VIII doubled verbs (same stem vowel ''a'' in both stems): ihtámm/yihtámm "be interested (in)"
*Form IX verbs (automatically behave as "doubled" verbs, same stem vowel ''a'' in both stems): iḥmárr/yiḥmárr "be red, blush", iḥláww/yiḥláww "be sweet"
*Form X verbs ''(stem vowel either ''a'' or ''i'' in non-past)'': istaḥáʔʔ/yistaḥáʔʔ "deserve" vs. istaʕádd/yistaʕídd "be ready", istamárr/yistamírr "continue".
Assimilated verbs
Assimilated verbs have W or Y as the first root consonant. Most of these verbs have been regularized in Egyptian Arabic, e.g. wázan/yíwzin "to weigh" or wíṣíl/yíwṣal "to arrive". Only a couple of irregular verbs remain, e.g. wíʔif/yúʔaf "stop" and wíʔiʕ/yúʔaʕ "fall" (see below).
Doubly weak verbs
"Doubly weak" verbs have more than one "weakness", typically a W or Y as both the second and third consonants. This term is in fact a misnomer, as such verbs actually behave as normal defective verbs (e.g. káwa/yíkwi "iron (clothes)" from K-W-Y, ʔáwwa/yiʔáwwi "strengthen" from ʔ-W-Y, dá:wa/yidá:wi "treat, cure" from D-W-Y).
Irregular verbs
The irregular verbs are as follows:
*ídda/yíddi "give" (endings like a normal defective verb)
*wíʔif/yúʔaf "stop" and wíʔiʕ/yúʔaʕ "fall" (''áʔaf, báʔaf, ḥáʔaf'' "I (will) stop"; úʔaf "stop!")
*kal/yá:kul "eat" and xad/yá:xud "take" (''kalt, kal, kálit, kálu'' "I/he/she/they ate", also regular ''ákal, etc.'' "he/etc. ate"; ''á:kul, bá:kul, ḥá:kul'' "I (will) eat", ''yáklu'' "they eat"; ''kúl, kúli, kúlu'' "eat!"; ''wá:kil'' "eating"; ''mittá:kil'' "eaten")
*gé/yí:gi "come". This verb is extremely irregular (with particularly unusual forms in boldface):
Example: gé/yí:gi "come": non-finite forms
Table of verb forms
In this section all verb classes and their corresponding stems are listed, excluding the small number of irregular verbs described above. Verb roots are indicated schematically using capital letters to stand for consonants in the root:
*F = first consonant of root
*M = middle consonant of three-consonant root
*S = second consonant of four-consonant root
*T = third consonant of four-consonant root
*L = last consonant of root
Hence, the root F-M-L stands for all three-consonant roots, and F-S-T-L stands for all four-consonant roots. (Traditional Arabic grammar uses F-ʕ-L and F-ʕ-L-L, respectively, but the system used here appears in a number of grammars of spoken Arabic dialects and is probably less confusing for English speakers, since the forms are easier to pronounce than those involving ''ʕ''.)
The following table lists the prefixes and suffixes to be added to mark tense, person, number and gender, and the stem form to which they are added. The forms involving a vowel-initial suffix, and corresponding stem
PAv or
NPv, are highlighted in silver. The forms involving a consonant-initial suffix, and corresponding stem
PAc, are highlighted in gold. The forms involving a no suffix, and corresponding stem
PA0 or
NP0, are unhighlighted.
The following table lists the verb classes along with the form of the past and non-past stems, active and passive participles, and verbal noun, in addition to an example verb for each class.
Notes:
*Italicized forms are those that follow automatically from the regular rules of vowel shortening and deletion.
*Multisyllabic forms without a stress mark have variable stress, depending on the nature of the suffix added, following the regular rules of stress assignment.
*Many participles and verbal nouns have acquired an extended sense. In fact, participles and verbal nouns are the major sources for lexical items based on verbs, especially derived (i.e. non-Form-I) verbs.
*Some verb classes do not have a regular verbal noun form; rather, the verbal noun varies from verb to verb. Even in verb classes that do have a regular verbal noun form, there are exceptions. In addition, some verbs share a verbal noun with a related verb from another class (in particular, many passive verbs use the corresponding active verb's verbal noun, which can be interpreted in either an active or passive sense). Some verbs appear to lack a verbal noun entirely. (In such a case, a paraphrase would be used involving a clause beginning with ''inn''.)
*Outside of Form I, passive participles as such are usually non-existent; instead, the active participle of the corresponding passive verb class (e.g. Forms V, VI, VIIt/VIIn for Forms II, III, I respectively) is used. The exception is certain verbs in Forms VIII and X that contain a "classicized" passive participle that is formed in imitation of the corresponding participle in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
, e.g. ''mistáʕmil'' "using", ''mustáʕmal'' "used".
*Not all forms have a separate verb class for hollow or doubled roots. When no such class is listed below, roots of that shape appear as strong verbs in the corresponding form, e.g. Form II strong verb ''ḍáyyaʕ/yiḍáyyaʕ'' "waste, lose" related to Form I hollow verb ''ḍá:ʕ/yiḍí:ʕ'' "be lost", both from root Ḍ-Y-ʕ.
Negation
One characteristic feature of Egyptian syntax is the two-part negative verbal circumfix , which it shares with other North African dialect areas as well as some southern Levantine dialect areas, probably as a result of the influence of Egyptian Arabic on these areas:
* Past: "he wrote" "he didn't write"
* Present: "he writes" "he doesn't write"
probably comes from the Arabic negator . This negating
circumfix
A circumfix (abbreviated ) (also confix or ambifix) is an affix which has two parts, one placed at the start of a word, and the other at the end. Circumfixes contrast with prefixes, attached to the beginnings of words; suffixes, attached at t ...
is similar in function to the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
circumfix . It should also be noted that Coptic and Ancient Egyptian both had negative circumfix.
The structure can end in a consonant or in a vowel , varying according to the individual or region. Nowadays speakers use . However, was sometimes used stylistically, specially in the past, as attested in
old films.
The negative circumfix often surrounds the entire verbal composite including direct and indirect object pronouns:
* "he didn't write them to me"
However, verbs in the future tense can instead use the prefix /miʃ/:
* (or "he won't write"
Interrogative sentences can be formed by adding the negation
clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a w ...
"(miʃ)" before the verb:
* Past: "he wrote"; "didn't he write?"
* Present: "he writes"; "doesn't he write?"
* Future: "he will write"; "won't he write?"
Addition of the circumfix can cause complex changes to the verbal cluster, due to the application of the rules of vowel syncope, shortening, lengthening, insertion and elision described above:
* The addition of /ma-/ may trigger elision or syncope:
**A vowel following /ma-/ is elided: (ixtáːr) "he chose" → ().
**A short vowel /i/ or /u/ in the first syllable may be deleted by syncope: (kíbir) "he grew" → (makbírʃ).
* The addition of may result in vowel shortening or epenthesis:
** A final long vowel preceding a single consonant shortens: (ixtáːr) "he chose" → (maxtárʃ).
** An unstressed epenthetic /i/ is inserted when the verbal complex ends in two consonants: /kunt/ "I was" → (makúntiʃ).
* In addition, the addition of triggers a stress shift, which may in turn result in vowel shortening or lengthening:
** The stress shifts to the syllable preceding : (kátab) "he wrote" → (makatábʃ).
** A long vowel in the previously stressed syllable shortens: (ʃáːfit) "she saw" → (maʃafítʃ); (ʃá:fu) "they saw" ''or'' "he saw it" → (maʃafú:ʃ).
** A final short vowel directly preceding lengthens: (ʃáːfu) "they saw" ''or'' "he saw it" → (maʃafú:ʃ).
In addition, certain other morphological changes occur:
* (ʃafúː) "they saw him" → (maʃafuhúːʃ) (to avoid a clash with (maʃafúːʃ) "they didn't see/he didn't see him").
* (ʃáːfik) "He saw you (fem. sg.)" → (maʃafkíːʃ).
* (ʃúftik) "I saw you (fem. sg.)" → (maʃuftikíːʃ).
Syntax
In contrast with Classical Arabic, but much like the other
varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variati ...
, Egyptian Arabic prefers
subject–verb–object (SVO)
word order
In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how different languages employ different orders. C ...
; CA and to a lesser extent MSA prefer
verb–subject–object
A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
(VSO). For example, in MSA "Adel read the book" would be ' whereas EA would say ' .
Also in common with other Arabic varieties is the loss of unique
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
in the dual form: while the dual remains productive to some degree in nouns, dual nouns are analyzed as plural for the purpose of agreement with verbs, demonstratives, and adjectives. Thus "These two Syrian professors are walking to the university" in MSA (in an SVO sentence for ease of comparison) would be "" ' , which becomes in EA "" '','' .
Unlike most other forms of Arabic, however, Egyptian prefers final placement of
question word
An interrogative word or question word is a function word used to ask a question, such as ''what, which'', ''when'', ''where'', ''who, whom, whose'', ''why'', ''whether'' and ''how''. They are sometimes called wh-words, because in English most of ...
s in interrogative sentences. This is a feature characteristic of the
Coptic substratum of Egyptian Arabic.
Coptic substratum
Some authors have argued for the influence of a
substratum
In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
of the
Coptic language
Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic ...
which was the native language of the vast majority of
Nile Valley
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
Egyptians prior to the Muslim conquest on Egyptian Arabic, specifically on its
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
,
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
, and
lexicon
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...
. Coptic is the latest stage of the indigenous
Egyptian language
The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead language, dead Afroasiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large Text corpus, corpus of surviving texts which were made acces ...
spoken until the mid-17th century when it was finally completely supplanted among Egyptian Muslims and a majority of Copts by the Egyptian Arabic.
Phonology
Since Coptic lacked
interdental consonant
Interdental consonants are produced by placing the tip of the tongue between the upper and lower front teeth. That differs from dental consonants, which are articulated with the tongue against the ''back'' of the upper incisors. No language is kn ...
s it could possibly have influenced the manifestation of their occurrences in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
as their dental counterparts and the emphatic dental respectively. (see
consonants
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
)
Behnstedt argues that the phenomenon of merging of interdentals with plosives has also occurred in areas without a substratum lacking interdentals, e.g. in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
,
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
and
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, and can be caused by drift rather than the influence of a substratum concluding that "
the phonological level, there is no evidence for Coptic substratal influence."
Syntax
A syntactic feature of to Egyptian Arabic arguably inherited from Coptic is the
remaining of
wh-words
An interrogative word or question word is a function word used to ask a question, such as ''what, which'', ''when'', ''where'', ''who, whom, whose'', ''why'', ''whether'' and ''how''. They are sometimes called wh-words, because in English most of ...
(i.e. "who", "when", "why") in their "logical" positions in a sentence rather than being preposed, or moved to the front of the sentence, as in (mostly) in Classical Arabic or English.
Examples:
* () "When () did he go to Egypt?" (lit. "He went to Egypt when?")
* () "Why () did he go to Egypt? (lit. "He went to Egypt why?")
* or () "Who () went to Egypt/Cairo? (literally – same order)
The same sentences in
Literary Arabic (with all the question words (''wh''-words) in the beginning of the sentence) would be:
*
*
*
Diem argues that in Cairene Arabic also the preposition of wh-words occurs and in Classical Arabic and other Arabic dialects also their postposition and thus the effect of a Coptic substratum might be – if at all – the preference for one of the two possibilities.
Lexicon
Behnstedt estimates the existence of ca. 250 to 300 Coptic loanwords in Egyptian Arabic.
Orthography and romanization
Orthography
There is no fixed orthography for Egyptian Arabic.
Where it is written in Arabic script the orthography varies between spellings closer to those of Standard Arabic and spellings closer to the phonology of Egyptian Arabic.
This variability arises from the deficiency of the Arabic script for writing the colloquial Egyptian Arabic, for which it is not designed. Part of this is the unavailability of signs for some sounds of Egyptian Arabic that are not part of Standard Arabic.
Both options are used in parallel, often even in by one author or in one work.
The two options appears for example for these cases:
* treatment of originally long vowels that become short or deleted as a result of
vowel shortening or
vowel deletion
In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run toget ...
, e.g. the feminine active participle of arz , عرف , ʿirif , translit-std=ALA , lit=to know , label=none, that is pronounced , can be written in two ways:
** etymological spelling with the shortly pronounced originally long vowel "ا": ,
** phonetic spelling without the "ا": ;
* words written with the letters "ث", "ذ", and "ظ" in Standard Arabic that are pronounced , , and in Egyptian Arabic can keep their etymological Standard Arabic spelling or be phonetically respelled with "ت", "د" and "ض".
Romanization
In the table below romanizations by different authors starting with Spitta's from 1880 are given as examples of the variety of those used.
Where authors use custom glyphs the ones given try the best available approximation.
The use of transcribing glyphs among different authors and between those and a representation of Egyptian Arabic in Arabic script (in doubt is used above) can't be exactly aligned because different authors use different analyses of the studied language. Here also the table above tries to give a good approximation.
Sociolinguistic features
Egyptian Arabic is used in most social situations, with Modern Standard and Classical Arabic generally being used only in writing and in highly religious and/or formal situations. However, within Egyptian Arabic, there is a wide range of variation.
El-Said Badawi
El-Said Badawi (El-Saʿīd Muḥammad Badawī) () was a scholar and linguist and author of many works, both in English and in Arabic, dealing with various aspects of the Arabic language.
Having learned the Qur'an by the age of ten in his village, ...
identifies three distinct levels of Egyptian Arabic based chiefly on the quantity of non-Arabic lexical items in the vocabulary: ''ʿĀmmiyyat al-Musaqqafīn'' (Cultured Colloquial or
Formal Spoken Arabic), ''ʿĀmmiyyat al-Mutanawwirīn'' (Enlightened or Literate Colloquial), and ''ʿĀmmiyyat al-'Ummiyīn'' (Illiterate Colloquial). Cultured Colloquial/Formal Spoken Arabic is characteristic of the educated classes and is the language of discussion of high-level subjects, but it is still Egyptian Arabic; it is characterized by use of technical terms imported from foreign languages and MSA and closer attention to the pronunciation of certain letters (particularly ''
qāf
Qoph ( Phoenician Qōp ) is the nineteenth letter of the Semitic scripts. Aramaic Qop is derived from the Phoenician letter, and derivations from Aramaic include Hebrew Qof , Syriac Qōp̄ ܩ and Arabic .
Its original sound value was a We ...
''). It is relatively standardized and, being closer to the standard, it is understood fairly well across the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Illiterate Colloquial, common to rural areas and to working-class neighborhoods in the cities, has an almost-exclusively Arabic vocabulary; the few loanwords generally are very old borrowings (e.g. ', "
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
", from
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
''gamberi'', "shrimp" (pl.)) or refer to technological items that find no or poor equivalents in Arabic (e.g. ' ,
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
). Enlightened Colloquial (''ʿĀmmiyyat al-Mutanawwirīn'') is the language of those who have had some schooling and are relatively affluent; loanwords tend to refer to items of popular culture, consumer products, and fashions. It is also understood widely in the Arab world, as it is the ''
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
'' of
Egyptian cinema
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo, sometimes also referred to as Hollywood on the Nile. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the Intern ...
and television.
In contrast to MSA and most other varieties of Arabic, Egyptian Arabic has a form of the
T-V distinction. In the singular, ''enta''/''enti'' is acceptable in most situations, but to address clear social superiors (e.g. older persons, superiors at work, certain government officials), the form ', meaning "Your
Grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
" is preferred (compare
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
''
usted
Spanish personal pronouns have distinct forms according to whether they stand for the subject (nominative) or object, and third-person pronouns make an additional distinction for direct object (accusative) or indirect object (dative), and for r ...
'').
This use of ' is linked to the system of
honorifics
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), ho ...
in daily Egyptian speech. The honorific taken by a given person is determined by their relationship to the speaker and their occupation.
Other honorifics also exist.
In usage, honorifics are used in the second and third person.
Study
Egyptian Arabic has been a subject of study by scholars and laypersons in the past and the present for many reasons, including personal interest,
egyptomania
Egyptomania refers to a period of renewed interest in the culture of ancient Egypt sparked by Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign in the 19th century. Napoleon was accompanied by many scientists and scholars during this Campaign, which led to a large ...
, business, news reporting, and diplomatic and political interactions. Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) is now a field of study in both graduate and undergraduate levels in many higher education institutions and universities in the world. When added to academic instruction, Arabic-language schools and university programs provide Egyptian Arabic courses in a classroom fashion, and others facilitate classes for online study.
Sample text
Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
Egyptian/Masri (Arabic script; spelling not standardised):
Franco/
Arabic Chat Alphabet
The Arabic chat alphabet, ''Arabizi'', Franco-Arabic (), refer to the Romanized alphabets for informal Arabic dialects in which Arabic script is transcribed or encoded into a combination of Latin script and Arabic numerals. These informal chat ...
(has no strict standard):
el e3lan el 3alami le 72u2 el ensan, el band el awalani
el bani2admin kollohom mawlodin 7orrin we metsawyin fel karama wel 7o2u2. Etwahablohom el 3a2l wel damir, wel mafrud ye3amlo ba3dihom be ro7 el akhaweya.
IPA Phonemic transcription (for comparison with
Literary Arabic):
IPA phonemic transcription (for a general demonstration of Egyptian phonology):
IPA phonetic transcription morphologically (in fast speech,
long vowels
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
are half-long or without distinctive length):
A suggested alphabet:
[http://www.facebook.com/egyptianalphabet ]
El-Eɛlan el-Ɛalami le Ḥoquq el-Ensan, el-band el-awwalani:
El-baniʔadmin kollohom mawludin ḥorrin we metsawjin fek-karama wel-ḥoquq. Etwahablohom el-ɛaql weḍ-ḍamir, wel-mafruḍ jeɛamlo baɛḍihom be roḥ el-acawejja.
English:
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in the spirit of brotherhood.
Sample words and sentences
* ("How are you
.)
* ("How are you
.)
* ("How are you
l.)
* ("What's all this?", "What's the point", "What's this?" – expression of annoyance)
** Ex.: ("Why are you telling them such things about me, ''what's all this''?")
* : several meanings, though its main meaning is "enough", often adverbial
** "Stop it!" Ex.: ("I'm annoyed, ''stop it!''")
** "It's over!", "finally, eventually" Ex.: , ("My mother was ill and died ''finally''."
r "...and'' it's over now''"
** "Ok, then!" Ex.: ("I'll see you tomorrow ''then''")
* ("at all")
** ("We have nothing ''at all'' to say")
* ("It's enough!" or "That's enough")
* ("that's to say" or "meaning" or "y'know")
** As answer to ("How do you do
.") (as an answer: "I am so so" or "half half" = "not perfect")
** ("What does that ''mean?''")
** ("When are you finishing ''exactly, then''?)
* (particle of enforcement → "just" in imperative clauses and "well,...then?" in questions)
** ("''Just'' give it to me!)" ''or'' ("''Well'', what did he do ''then''?")
See also
*
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
*
Bayoumi Andil
Bayoumi Andil ( ar, بيومي قنديل) (31 July 19428 October 2009)[Rosaonline](_blank)
was an Egyptian ...
*
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
*
Coptic language
Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic ...
*
Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia
The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia ( arz, ويكيبيديا مصرى , ') is the Egyptian Arabic version of Wikipedia, a free, open-content encyclopedia. This Wikipedia primarily acts as an alternative to the Arabic Wikipedia in favor of spe ...
*
Egyptian language
The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead language, dead Afroasiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large Text corpus, corpus of surviving texts which were made acces ...
*
Futuh or early Muslim military expansions
*
Modern Standard Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of Standard language, standardized, Literary language, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th ...
*
UCLA Language Materials Project The UCLA Language Materials Project (LMP) maintained a web resource about teaching materials for some 150 languages that are less commonly taught in the United States. The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, was created in 1992. I ...
*
Varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variati ...
Explanatory notes
*
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
pronunciation: ;
Literary Arabic: .
*
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
pronunciation: ;
Literary Arabic: .
*
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
pronunciation: ;
Literary Arabic: .
Citations
General sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Gary, Judith Olmsted, & Saad Gamal-Eldin. 1982. ''Cairene Egyptian Colloquial Arabic''. Lingua Descriptive Studies 6. Amsterdam: North Holland.
*
*
*
* Mitchell, T. F. 1956. ''An Introduction to Egyptian Colloquial Arabic''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Mitchell, T. F. 1962. ''Colloquial Arabic: the Living Language of Egypt''. London: The
English universities
, there were 106 universities in England and 5 university colleges out of a total of around 130 in the United Kingdom. This includes private universities but does not include other Higher Education Institutions that have not been given the right ...
Press.
*
*
*
*
* Tomiche, Nada. 1964. ''Le parler arabe du Caire''. Paris: Mouton.
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
An Arabist's Guide to Egyptian Colloquial by
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and commentator. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focuses on American foreign policy and the ...
Archive
Description of Egyptian Arabic from UCLA's Language Materials Project
A review on the book ''Present Culture in Egypt''
{{Authority control
Arabic languages
Egyptian culture
Languages of Africa
Languages of Egypt
Middle East
North Africa