While it is primarily a spoken language, the written form is used in novels, plays and poems (vernacular literature), 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 theQur'an, i.e.Classical Arabic. The Egyptianvernacular is almost universally written in theArabic alphabet for local consumption, although it is commonly transcribed intoLatin letters or in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet inlinguistics text and textbooks aimed at teaching non-native learners.[14] Egyptian Arabic's phonetics, grammatical structure, and vocabulary are influenced by theCoptic language;[15][16][17] its rich vocabulary is also influenced byTurkish and byEuropean languages such asFrench,Italian,Greek,[18] andEnglish.
The termEgyptian Arabic is usually used synonymously withCairene Arabic, which is technically a dialect of Egyptian Arabic. The country's native name,مصرMaṣr, is often used locally to refer to Cairo itself. As is the case withParisianFrench, Cairene Arabic is by far the most prevalent dialect in the country.[20]
Egyptian Arabic has become widely understood in the Arabic-speaking world primarily for two reasons:[21][22] 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 theArabian Peninsula and also taught there and in other countries such asAlgeria andLibya. Also, manyLebanese artists choose to sing in Egyptian, prominent examples likeNancy Ajram[23] andSabah.[24]
Arabic was spoken in parts ofEgypt such as theEastern Desert andSinai before Islam.[25] It also seems like some Egypto-Arabic words derive from old Ancient Egyptian words.[26] However, Nile ValleyEgyptians slowly adopted Arabic as awritten language following theMuslim conquest of Egypt in the seventh century. Until then, they had spoken eitherKoine Greek orEgyptian in itsCoptic form. A period of Coptic-Arabicbilingualism inLower Egypt 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 theEastern Desert andSinai. Arabic was also a minority language of some residents of the Nile Valley such asQift in Upper Egypt through pre-Islamic trade withNabateans in theSinai Peninsula and the easternmost part of theNile Delta. Egyptian Arabic seems to have begun taking shape inFustat, the first Islamic capital of Egypt, now part ofCairo.
One of the earliest linguistic sketches of Cairene Arabic is a 16th-century document entitledDafʿ al-ʾiṣr ʿan kalām ahl Miṣr[27](دفع الإصر عن كلام أهل مصر, "The Removal of the Burden from the Language of the People of Cairo") by thetraveler andlexicographerYusuf al-Maghribi (يوسف المغربي), withMisr here meaning "Cairo". It contains key information on early Cairene Arabic and the language situation inEgypt in the Middle Ages. 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 theBanu Hilal exodus, who later left Egypt and were settled in Morocco and Tunisia, together with the ongoingIslamization andArabization 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 inUpper Egypt. Coptic is still theliturgical language of theCoptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and theCoptic Catholic Church.
Ahmed Kamal Pasha (1851–1923), the author of Egypt's first Ancient Egyptian dictionary, referred to the fact that more than 12,000 words from the Modern Egyptian Arabic dialect are rooted in the Ancient Egyptian language.[28] Kamal's efforts were groundbreaking, especially his assertion of linguistic connections between ancient Egyptian and Semitic languages, as both belong to the sameAfro-Asiatic language tree.[29][30] His methodology involved transliterating hieroglyphs into Arabic letters, making the study of ancient texts accessible toEgyptians, who still carried the roots of their ancient language into the modern dialect.[31]
Egyptian Arabic has no official status and is not officially recognized as a language inEgypt.[32][33]Standard Arabic is the official language of the state as per constitutional law with the nameاللغة العربية,al-luġa al-ʿarabiyyah,lit.'the Arabic language'.[34] Interest in the localvernacular began in the 1800s (in opposition to the language of the ruling class, Turkish),[citation needed] as the Egyptian national movement forself-determination 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 developingneologisms to replace archaic terminology in Modern Standard Arabic to the simplification of syntactical and morphological rules and the introduction ofcolloquialisms to even complete "Egyptianization" (تمصير,tamṣīr) by abandoning the so-called Modern Standard Arabic in favor of Masri or Egyptian Arabic.[35]
Proponents of language reform in Egypt includedQasim Amin, who also wrote the first Egyptian feminist treatise; former President of theEgyptian University,Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed; and noted intellectualSalama Moussa. They adopted a modernist,secular approach and disagreed with the assumption that Arabic was an immutable language because of its association with theQuran. The first modern Egyptian novel in which the dialogue was written in the vernacular wasMuhammad Husayn Haykal'sZaynab in 1913. It was only in 1966 thatMustafa Musharafa'sKantara Who Disbelieved was released, the first novel to be written entirely in Egyptian Arabic.[36] Other notable novelists, such asIhsan Abdel Quddous andYusuf Idris, and poets, such asSalah Jahin,Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi andAhmed Fouad Negm, helped solidify vernacular literature as a distinct literary genre.[35]
Amongst certain groups within Egypt's elite, Egyptian Arabic enjoyed a brief period of rich literary output. That dwindled with the rise ofPan-Arabism, which had gained popularity in Egypt by the second half of the twentieth century, as demonstrated by Egypt's involvement in the1948 Arab–Israeli War under KingFarouk of Egypt. TheEgyptian revolution of 1952, led byMohamed Naguib andGamal Abdel Nasser, 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 ofUpper Egypt speaksSa'idi Arabic. 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.[citation needed]
Linguistic commentators[who?] have noted the multi-faceted approach of the Egyptian revolutionaries towards the Arabic language. Whereas Naguib, Egypt's firstpresident, exhibited a preference for using Modern Standard Arabic in his public speeches, his successor Gamal Abdel Nasser 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, theArab Radio and Television Union, which was established with the intent of providing content for the entireArab world, not merely Egypt, hence the need to broadcast in the standard, rather than the vernacular, language. TheVoice of the Arabs 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-Masry Al-Youm, andAl-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%.[37]
As the status of Egyptian Arabic as opposed toClassical Arabic can have such political and religious implications in Egypt,[how?] the question of whether Egyptian Arabic should be considered a"dialect" or "language" can be a source of debate. Insociolinguistics, Egyptian Arabic can be seen as one of many distinctvarieties that, despite arguably being languages onabstand grounds, are united[how?][according to whom?] by a commonDachsprache in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).
During the early 1900s many portions of the Bible were published in Egyptian Arabic. These were published by theNile Mission Press. By 1932 the whole New Testament and some books of the Old Testament had been published in Egyptian Arabic in Arabic script.[38]
Early stage plays written in Egyptian Arabic were translated from or influenced by European playwrights.Muhammad 'Uthman Jalal translated plays byMolière,Jean Racine andCarlo Goldoni to Egyptian Arabic and adapted them as well as ten fables byJean de La Fontaine.Yaqub Sanu translated to and wrote plays on himself in Egyptian Arabic.[40]Many plays were written in Standard Arabic, but performed in colloquial Arabic.Tawfiq al-Hakim took this a step further and provided for his Standard Arabic plays versions in colloquial Arabic for the performances.[41]Mahmud Taymur has published some of his plays in two versions, one in Standard, one in colloquial Arabic, among them:Kidb fi Kidb (Arabic:كذب في كذب,lit. 'All lies', 1951[42] or ca. 1952) andAl-Muzayyifun (Arabic:المزيفون,romanized: Al-Muzayyifūn,lit. 'The Forgers', ca. 1953).[43]
Novels in Egyptian Arabic after the 1940s and before the 1990s are rare. There are byMustafa Musharrafah [ar]Qantarah Alladhi Kafar (قنطرة الذي كفر,Qanṭarah Alladhī Kafar, 'Qantara Who Disbelieved', Cairo, 1965) and Uthman Sabri's (Arabic:عثمان صبري,romanized: ʻUthmān Ṣabrī; 1896–1986)Journey on the Nile (Egyptian Arabic:رحلة في النيل,romanized: Riḥlah fī il-Nīl, 1965)[45] (and hisBet Sirri (بيت سري,Bēt Sirri, 'A Brothel', 1981) that apparently uses a mix of Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic[46]).
Prose published in Egyptian Arabic since the 1990s include the following novels:Yusuf al-Qa'id'sLaban il-Asfur (لبن العصفور,Laban il-ʿAṣfūr, 'The Milk of the Bird'; 1994),[47]Baha' Awwad's (Arabic:بهاء عواد,romanized: Bahāʾ ʿAwwād)Shams il-Asil (شمس الاصيل,Shams il-ʿAṣīl, 'Late Afternoon Sun'; 1998),Safa Abdel Al Moneim'sMin Halawit il-Ruh (من حلاوة الروح,Min Ḥalāwit il-Rōḥ, 'Zest for Life', 1998),Samih Faraj's (Arabic:سامح فرج,romanized: Sāmiḥ Faraj)Banhuf Ishtirasa (بانهوف اشتراسا,Bānhūf Ishtirāsā, 'Bahnhof Strasse', 1999);autobiographies include the one byAhmed Fouad Negm,byMohammed Naser Ali [ar]Ula Awwil (اولى أول,Ūlá Awwil, 'First Class Primary School'),andFathia al-Assal'sHudn il-Umr (حضن العمر,Ḥuḍn il-ʿUmr, 'The Embrace of a Lifetime').[48][49]
21st-century journals publishing in Egyptian Arabic includeBārti (from at least 2002), the weekly magazineIdhak lil-Dunya (اضحك للدنيا,Iḍḥak lil-Dunyā, 'Smile for the World', from 2005),[50][51] and the monthly magazineIhna [ar] (احنا,Iḥna, 'We', from 2005).[52] In the 21st century the number of books published in Egyptian Arabic has increased a lot. Many of them are by female authors, for exampleI Want to Get Married! (عايزه أتجوز,ʻĀyzah atgawwiz, 2008) byGhada Abdel Aal andShe Must Have Travelled (شكلها سافرت,Shaklahā sāfarit, 2016) by Soha Elfeqy.
Sa'īdi Arabic is a different variety than Egyptian Arabic in Ethnologue.com and ISO 639-3 and in other sources,[53] and the two varieties have limitedmutual intelligibility. It carries little prestige nationally but continues to be widely spoken, with 19,000,000 speakers.[54]
The traditional division betweenUpper and Lower Egypt and their respective differences go back to ancient times. Egyptians today commonly call the people of the northبَحَارْوَه,baḥārwah ([bɑˈħɑɾwɑ]) and those of the southصَعَايْدَه,ṣaʿāydah ([sˤɑˈʕɑjdɑ]). 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 theNile Delta, and the varieties spoken fromGiza toMinya 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 includereduction 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.[55]
The dialect ofAlexandria (West Delta) is noted for certainshibboleths separating its speech from that of Cairo (South Delta). The ones that are most frequently noted in popular discourse are the use of the wordfalafel as opposed toطعميّةtaʿmiyya for the fava-bean fritters common across the country and the pronunciation of the word for theEgyptian pound (جنيهginēh[ɡeˈneː]), as[ˈɡeni], closer to the pronunciation of the origin of the term, the Britishguinea).The speech of the older Alexandrians is also noted for use of the same pre-syllable (ne-) in the singular and plural of the first person present and future tenses, which is also a common feature ofTunisian Arabic[59][60] and also ofMaghrebi Arabic in general. The dialects of the western Delta tend to use the perfect with/a/ instead of the perfect with/i/, for example forفهم this isfaham instead offihim.[61] Other examples for this areلَبَس,labas, 'to wear',نَزَل,nazal, 'to descend',شَرَب,sharab, 'to drink',نَسَى,nasá, 'to forget',[62] رَجَع, طَلَع, رَكَب.
The dialect of theFellah in Northern Egypt is noted for a distinct accent, replacing the urban pronunciations of/ɡ/ (spelledجgīm) and/q/ (قqāf) with[ʒ] and[ɡ] respectively, but that is not true of all rural dialects, a lot of them[vague] do not have such replacement. The dialect also has many grammatical differences when contrasted to urban dialects.[63]
In contrast to CA and MSA, but like all modern colloquialvarieties of Arabic, Egyptian Arabic nouns are not inflected for case and lacknunation (with the exception of certain fixed phrases in the accusative case, such asشكراً[ˈʃokɾɑn], "thank you"). As all nouns take theirpausal forms, singular words andbroken plurals 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 theconstruct state beginning inabu, often geographic names, retain their-u in all cases.[64]
Nouns take either asound plural orbroken plural. The sound plural is formed by adding endings, and can be considered part of the declension. For the broken plural, however, a different pattern for the stem is used.The sound plural with the suffixـِين,-īn is used for nouns referring to male persons that are participles or follow the pattern CaCCaaC. It takes the formـيِين,-yīn for nouns of the form CaCCa and the formـيِّين,-yyīn fornisba adjectives.[65]
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. 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-callednisba 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 Turkishpembe.[66]
Egyptian Arabic object pronouns areclitics, 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". 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 prepositionli- 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 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 ascausative,intensive,passive orreflexive.
Each particularlexical verb is specified by two stems, one used for the past tense and one used for non-past tenses along withsubjunctive andimperative 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 aninfinitive, 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 askátab, which actually means "he wrote". In the paradigms below, a verb will be specified askátab/yíktib (wherekátab means "he wrote" andyíktib means "he writes"), indicating the past stem (katab-) and non-past stem (-ktib-, obtained by removing the prefixyi-).
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 ascausative,intensive,passive, orreflexive, and involves varying the stem form. For example, from the root K-T-B "write" is derived form Ikátab/yíktib "write", form IIkáttib/yikáttib "cause to write", form IIIká: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 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.
Note that, in general, the present indicative is formed from the subjunctive by the addition ofbi- (bi-a- is elided toba-). Similarly, the future is formed from the subjunctive by the addition ofḥa- (ḥa-a- is elided toḥa-). Thei inbi- or in the following prefix will be deleted according to the regular rules of vowel syncope:
Boldfaced formsfíhm-it andfíhm-u differ from the corresponding forms ofkatab (kátab-it andkátab-u due to vowel syncope). Note also the syncope inána fhím-t "I understood".
This verb type is quite similar to the defective verb typeráma/yírmi. The primary differences are:
The occurrence ofi anda in the stems are reversed:i in the past,a in the non-past.
In the past, instead of the stemsramé:- andrám-, the verb hasnisí:- (with a consonant-initial suffix) andnísy- (with a vowel initial suffix). Note in particular the |y| innísyit andnísyu as opposed torámit andrámu.
Elision ofi innisí:- can occur, e.g.ána nsí:t "I forgot".
In the non-past, because the stem hasa instead ofi, there is no homonymy between masculinetí-nsa, í-nsa and femininetí-ns-i, í-ns-i.
Some other verbs have different stem variations, e.g.míʃi/yímʃi "walk" (withi in both stems) andbáʔa/yíbʔa "become, remain" (witha in both stems). The verbláʔa/yilá:ʔi "find" is unusual in having a mixture of a form I past and form III present (note also the variationslíʔi/yílʔa andláʔa/yílʔa).
Verbs other than form I have consistent stem vowels. All such verbs havea in the past (hence form stems with-é:-, not-í:-). Forms V, VI, X and IIq havea in the present (indicated by boldface below); others havei; forms VII, VIIt, and VIII havei 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"
Hollow have a W or Y as the middle root consonant. For some forms (e.g. form II and form III), hollow verbs are conjugated as strong verbs (e.g. form IIʕáyyin/yiʕáyyin "appoint" from ʕ-Y-N, form IIIgá:wib/yigá:wib "answer" from G-W-B).
This verb works much likedárris/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 prefixesti-,yi-,ni- have elision ofi followingbi- orḥa-.
The imperative prefixi- is missing.
In addition, the past tense has two stems:gíb- before consonant-initial suffixes (first and second person) andgá:b- elsewhere (third person).
This verb works much likegá:b/yigí:b "bring". Like that class, it has two stems in the past, which areḥabbé:- before consonant-initial suffixes (first and second person) andḥább- elsewhere (third person).é:- was borrowed from the defective verbs; the Classical Arabic equivalent form would be *ḥabáb-, e.g. *ḥabáb-t.
Other verbs haveu ora 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 vowela in both stems):inbáll/yinbáll "be wetted",itʕádd/yitʕádd
Form VIII doubled verbs (same stem vowela in both stems):ihtámm/yihtámm "be interested (in)"
Form IX verbs (automatically behave as "doubled" verbs, same stem vowela in both stems):iḥmárr/yiḥmárr "be red, blush",iḥláww/yiḥláww "be sweet"
Form X verbs(stem vowel eithera ori in non-past):istaḥáʔʔ/yistaḥáʔʔ "deserve" vs.istaʕádd/yistaʕídd "be ready",istamárr/yistamírr "continue".
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" orwíṣíl/yíwṣal "to arrive". Only a couple of irregular verbs remain, e.g.wíʔif/yúʔaf "stop" andwíʔiʕ/yúʔaʕ "fall" (see below).
"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).
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 involvingʕ.)
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 stemPAv orNPv, are highlighted in silver. The forms involving a consonant-initial suffix, and corresponding stemPAc, are highlighted in gold. The forms involving a no suffix, and corresponding stemPA0 orNP0, are unhighlighted.
Tense/Mood
Past
Non-Past
Person
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
PAc-t
PAc-na
a-NP0
ni-NP0
2nd
masculine
PAc-t
PAc-tu
ti-NP0
ti-NPv-u
feminine
PAc-ti
ti-NPv-i
3rd
masculine
PA0
PAv-u
yi-NP0
yi-NPv-u
feminine
PAv-it
ti-NP0
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 withinn.)
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 inClassical Arabic, 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 verbḍáyyaʕ/yiḍáyyaʕ "waste, lose" related to Form I hollow verbḍá:ʕ/yiḍí:ʕ "be lost", both from root Ḍ-Y-ʕ.
One characteristic feature of Egyptian syntax is the two-part negative verbal circumfix/ma-...-ʃ(i)/, which it shares with other North African dialect areas as well as somesouthern Levantine dialect areas, probably as a result of the influence of Egyptian Arabic on these areas:
/ma-/ probably comes from the Arabic negator/maː/. This negatingcircumfix is similar in function to theFrench circumfixne ... pas. It should also be noted that Coptic and Ancient Egyptian both had negative circumfix.
The structure can end in a consonant/ʃ/ or in a vowel/i/, varying according to the individual or region. Nowadays speakers use/ʃ/. However,/ʃi/ was sometimes used stylistically, specially in the past, as attested inold films.
The negative circumfix often surrounds the entire verbal composite including direct and indirect object pronouns:
/ma-katab-hum-ˈliː-ʃ/ "he didn't write them to me"
However, verbs in the future tense can instead use the prefix /miʃ/:
Interrogative sentences can be formed by adding the negationclitic "(miʃ)" before the verb:
Past:/ˈkatab/ "he wrote";/miʃ-ˈkatab/ "didn't he write?"
Present:/ˈjiktib/ "he writes";/miʃ-bi-ˈjiktib/ "doesn't he write?"
Future:/ħa-ˈjiktib/ "he will write";/miʃ-ħa-ˈjiktib/ "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" → (maxtárʃ).
A short vowel /i/ or /u/ in the first syllable may be deleted by syncope: (kíbir) "he grew" → (makbírʃ).
The addition of/-ʃ/ 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/-ʃ/ triggers a stress shift, which may in turn result in vowel shortening or lengthening:
The stress shifts to the syllable preceding/ʃ/: (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/ʃ/ 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").
Also in common with other Arabic varieties is the loss of uniqueagreement 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 "هذان الأستاذان السوريان يمشيان إلى الجامعة"Haḏān al-ʾustāḏān as-Sūriyyān yamšiyān ʾilā l-ǧāmiʿahIPA:[hæːˈzæːnælʔostæːˈzæːnassuːrejˈjæːnjæmʃeˈjæːnˈʔelælɡæːˈmeʕæ], which becomes in EA "الأستاذين السوريين دول بيمشو للجامعة"il-ʔustazēn il-Suriyyīn dōl biyimʃu lil-gamʕa,IPA:[elʔostæˈzeːnelsoɾejˈjiːnˈdoːlbeˈjemʃolelˈɡæmʕæ].
Some authors have argued for the influence of asubstratum of theCoptic language which was the native language of the vast majority ofNile Valley Egyptians prior to the Muslim invasion on Egyptian Arabic,[68][15][69] specifically on itsphonology,syntax, andlexicon. Coptic is the latest stage of the indigenousEgyptian language spoken until the mid-17th century when it was finally completely supplanted among Egyptian Muslims and a majority of Copts by the Egyptian Arabic.
Since Coptic lackedinterdental consonants it could possibly have influenced the manifestation of their occurrences inClassical Arabic/θ//ð//ðˤ/ as their dental counterparts/t//d/ and the emphatic dental/dˤ/ respectively. (seeconsonants)
Behnstedt argues that the phenomenon of merging of interdentals with plosives has also occurred in areas without a substratum lacking interdentals, e.g. inMecca,Aden andBahrain, and can be caused by drift rather than the influence of a substratum concluding that "[o]n the phonological level, there is no evidence for Coptic substratal influence."[70]
A syntactic feature of to Egyptian Arabic arguably inherited from Coptic[68] is theremaining ofinterrogative words (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:
راح مصر امتى؟/rˤaːħmasˤrʔimta/ "When (/ʔimta/) did he go to Egypt?" (lit. "He went to Egypt when?")
راح مصر ليه؟/rˤaːħmasˤrleːh/ "Why (/leːh/) did he go to Egypt? (lit. "He went to Egypt why?")
مين [اللى] راح مصر؟/miːnrˤaːħmasˤr/ or/miːnillirˤaːħmasˤr/ "Who (/miːn/) went to Egypt/Cairo? (literally – same order)
The same sentences inLiterary Arabic (with all the question words (wh-words) in the beginning of the sentence) would be:
متى ذهب إلى مصر؟/mataːðahabaʔilaːmisˤr/
لِمَ ذهب إلى مصر؟/limaðahabaʔilaːmisˤr/
من ذهب إلى مصر؟/manðahabaʔilaːmisˤr/
Diem argues that in Cairene Arabic also the preposition of interrogative words occurs and in Classical Arabic and other Arabic dialects also their postposition and thus the effect of a Coptic substratum might be – if any – the preference for one of the two possibilities.[71]
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.[73]Both options are used in parallel, often even in by one author or in one work.[74][75]The two options appears for example for these cases:
treatment of originally long vowels that become short or deleted as a result ofvowel shortening orvowel deletion, e.g. the feminine active participle ofعرف,ʿirif, 'to know', that is pronounced[ˈʕæɾfæ], can be written in two ways:
etymological spelling with the shortly pronounced originally long vowel "ا":عارفة,
phonetic spelling without the "ا":عرفة;
words written with the letters "ث", "ذ", and "ظ" in Standard Arabic that are pronounced/t/,/z/, and/dˁ/ in Egyptian Arabic can keep their etymological Standard Arabic spelling or be phonetically respelled with "ت", "د" and "ض".
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 doubtHinds & Badawi 1986 is used below) can not be exactly aligned because different authors use different analyses of the studied language. Here also the table below tries to give a good approximation.
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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 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 orFormal Spoken Arabic),ʿĀmmiyyat al-Mutanawwirīn (Enlightened or Literate Colloquial), andʿĀmmiyyat al-'Ummiyīn (Illiterate Colloquial).[99] 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 (particularlyqāf). It is relatively standardized and, being closer to the standard, it is understood fairly well across theArab world.[99] 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.جمبرىgambari,[ɡæmˈbæɾi] "shrimp", fromItaliangamberi, "shrimp" (pl.)) or refer to technological items that find no or poor equivalents in Arabic (e.g.تلفزيونtel(e)vezyōn/tel(e)fezyōn[tel(e)vezˈjoːn,tel(e)fezˈjoːn],television).[99] 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 thelingua franca ofEgyptian cinema and television.[99]
In contrast to MSA and most other varieties of Arabic, Egyptian Arabic has a form of theT-V distinction. In the singular,انتenta/enti is acceptable in most situations, but to address clear social superiors (e.g. older persons, superiors at work, certain government officials), the formحضرتكḥaḍretak/ḥaḍretek, meaning "YourGrace" is preferred (compareSpanishusted).
This use ofḥaḍretak/ḥaḍretek is linked to the system ofhonorifics in daily Egyptian speech. The honorific taken by a given person is determined by their relationship to the speaker and their occupation.
Persons with a far higher social standing than the speaker, particularly at work. Also applied to high government officials, including thePresident. Equivalent in practical terms to "YourExcellency" or "TheMost Honourable".
سَعَادْتَك saʿādtak
[sæˈʕættæk]
Standard Arabicsaʿādatuka, "Your Happiness"
Government officials and others with significantly higher social standing. Equivalent in governmental contexts "YourExcellency", or "Your Honor" when addressing a judge.
Traditionally, any Muslim who has made theHajj, or any Christian who has made apilgrimage toJerusalem. Currently also used as a general term of respect for all elderly people.
Archaic address to a well-born male of a less social standard thanbēh andbāsha; more commonly used jocularly to social equals or to younger male members of the same family.
Address to a woman of high social standing, or esteemed as such by the speaker. Somewhat archaic, only used now for referring to an elder woman, or humorously for a little girl.
سِتّ sitt
[ˈset(t)]
Standard Arabicsayyida(t) "mistress"
The usual word for "woman". When used as a term of address, it conveys a modicum of respect.
Respectful term of address for an older or married woman.
آنِسَة ānisa
[ʔæˈnesæ]
Standard Arabicānisah, "young lady"
Semi-formal address to an unmarried young woman.
أُسْتَاذ ustāz
[ʔosˈtæːz]
Standard Arabicustādh, "professor", "gentleman"
Besides actual universityprofessors andschoolteachers, used for experts in certain fields. May also be used as a generic informal respectul reference, asbēh orbāsha.
أُوسْطَى/أُسْطَى usṭa
[ˈostˤɑ]/[ˈɑstˤɑ]
Turkishusta, "master"
Drivers and also skilled laborers. Largely archaic.
يِسْطَا
ysta
ˈ[jastɑ]
From Turkishusta, via Arabicusṭā
Very colloquial and extremely informal lower-class term used to address mechanics, drivers, or any random male on the street. Commonly used by younger Egyptians, even high-class.
رَئِيس raʾīs
[ˈɾɑjjes]
Standard Arabicraʿīs, "chief"
Skilled laborers, and lower-class bosses. The term also means "president", although this meaning predates its use, having been traditionally used to refer to the chief of a village.
Originally meant for engineers and certain types of highly skilled laborers (e.g.electricians andplumbers), now used to refer to most middle-class men, regardless of profession.
Older male servants or social subordinates with whom the speaker has a close relationship. It can also be used as a familiar term of address, much likebasha. The use of the word in its original meaning is also current, for third-person reference. The second-person term of address to a paternal uncle isʿammo[ˈʕæmmo];onkel[ˈʔonkel], from Frenchoncle, may also be used, particularly for uncles unrelated by blood (including spouses of aunts, uncles-in-law, and "honorary" uncles).
دَادَة dāda
[ˈdæːdæ]
Turkishdadı, "nanny"
Older female servants or social subordinates with whom the speaker has a close relationship.
أَبِيه abēh
[ʔæˈbeː]
Ottoman Turkishabi/ağabey, "elder brother"
Male relatives older than the speaker by about 10–15 years. Upper-class, and mostly archaic.
أَبْلَة abla
[ˈʔɑblɑ]
Ottoman Turkishabla, "elder sister"
Mostly archaic, female relatives older than the speaker by about 10–15 years. Sometimes used for female bosses as well (though in lower class settings, e.g. a nightclub)
Other honorifics also exist.
In usage, honorifics are used in the second and third person.
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, 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.
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.
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.
"It is over!", "finally, eventually"مامتى كانت عيانه و ماتت, خلاص Ex.:[ˈmɑmtikæːnetʕajˈjæːnæwˈmæːtetxɑˈlɑːsˤ]| ("My mother was ill and diedfinally." [or "...and it is over now"])
"Ok, then!" Ex.:خلاص, أشوفك بكرا[xɑˈlɑːsˤʔæˈʃuːfækˈbokɾɑ] ("I'll see you tomorrowthen")
خالص[ˈxɑːlesˤ] ("at all")
ماعندناش حاجه نقولها خالص[mæʕændeˈnæːʃˈħæːɡænˈʔolhæˈxɑːlesˤ] ("We have nothingat all to say")
كفاية[keˈfæːjæ] ("It is enough!" or "That is enough")
يعنى[ˈjæʕni] ("that is to say" or "meaning" or "y'know")
^لاف الكلمات القبطية في أحاديث المصريين اليومية, 18 February 2017,archived from the original on 30 October 2022, retrieved30 October 2022,ليس أثر القبطية في العامية في مصر مجرد تبادل مصطلحات، أو كلمات دخلت القاموس العربي كما دخلت كلمة "تلفزيون"، إنما تأثرت بها من حيث نطق الحروف وبنية الجملة وتركيبها – الدكتور لؤي محمود سعيد
^13 لغة أجنبية تشكل العامية المصرية [13 foreign languages within the Egyptian Arabic dialect].رصيف 22رصيف 22. May 31, 2017.Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2019.
^David Dalby, 1999/2000,The Linguasphere Register, The Linguasphere Observatory William Bright, 1992,The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford.
^Abu Elhija 2014, p. 208;Bjørnsson 2010, pp. 41–42, 58, 61. Only the most common variants are listed, others are used as well.
^abcdefThe sounds/p/,/ʒ/, and/v/ can appear in loanwords, but have a marginal status, often they aren't used by less educated speakers, cf.[citation needed];Mitchell 1978, p. 8, B. The system of writing and hints on pronunciation. Examples are:
^abcThe sounds of the letters ث, ذ, and ظ in Standard Arabic are not present in Egyptian Arabic. That is why the romanizations that are nottransliterations of the representation of Egyptian Arabic in Arabic script do not give a specific transcription for those letters but rather transcriptions that are the same like for other Arabic letters with the same pronunciation.
^As examples see "tálat" (p. 215) and "sánya" (p. 213).
^⟨ɑ̊⟩ is used to indicate phonology, but not generally for romanization, cf.Spitta 1880, p. 36, § 13b: "ṭɑlɑb (gespr.ṭɑ̊lɑb)".
^⟨e⟩ and⟨ɑ̊⟩ are used additionally to indicate phonology, but not generally for romanization.
^⟨e⟩ and⟨ü⟩ are used additionally to indicate phonology, but not generally for romanization, cf.Spitta 1880, p. 40, § 14: "siḥr "Zauber" (sprichseḥr mit im Gaumen klingendeme)" and "ṣibjân "Jünglinge" sprichṣübjân mit dumpfemü, welches dann zuṣubjân wird".
^At least some authors transcribe stressed anaptyctic vowels like the other short vowels, cf.Spitta 1880, p. 55, § 21g. Betonter Zwischenvocal andHinds & Badawi 1986, p. XVIII: "Unstressed anaptyctic vowels are represented in small elevated form, while stressed anaptyctic vowels are given in the normal fount."
^Spitta 1880, pp. 52–55, § 21. Die Zwischenvocale.
^⟨ᵃ⟩ is used for example in "ʕil-ʕɑgrᵃ ʕal-ɑllɑ"Hinds & Badawi 1986, p. 7, but maybe not all the possible glyphs⟨ⁱ⟩,⟨ᵃ⟩,⟨ᵅ⟩,⟨ᵉ⟩,⟨ᵒ⟩ and⟨ᵘ⟩ are actually used in transcription.
^Insandhi, i.e. at word boundary positions, the epenthetic vowel is transcribed⟨i̊⟩/⟨ů⟩, otherwise⟨i⟩/⟨u⟩, seeWoidich 2006, p. 32, 1.3.2.3 Epenthese von-i- (Aufsprengung).
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