| Languages of Egypt | |
|---|---|
 Multilingual sign at an Egyptian hotel;Egypt attracts tourists from all over the world. | |
| Official | Modern Standard Arabic |
| Vernacular | Egyptian Arabic (66.7%) (de facto lingua franca) |
| Minority | Sa'idi Arabic (24%) Sudanese Arabic (3.5%) Levantine Arabic (1.8%) Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic (1.1%) Western Egyptian Bedawi (0.8%) Nobiin (0.4%) Domari (0.3%) Beja (0.07%) Kenzi (0.03%) Siwi (0.02%) Coptic[1][2] (mostly liturgical) |
| Immigrant | Greek Armenian Italian[3] Russian |
| Foreign | English (39.98%)[4] French[5] (3.02%)[6][7] |
| Signed | Egyptian Sign Language |
| Keyboard layout | |
| Historical language(s) | Ancient Egyptian Meroitic[9][10][11][12] |
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Egyptians speak a continuum of dialects. The predominant dialect inEgypt isEgyptian Colloquial Arabic orMasri/Masry (مصرىEgyptian), which is thevernacular language.[13]Literary Arabic is theofficial language[14] and the most widelywritten. TheCoptic language is used liturgically byCopts as it is the liturgical language ofCoptic Christianity.
Literary Arabic is the official language of Egypt.[14]
Egyptian Arabic is the commonly spoken language, based on the dialect ofCairo, and is occasionally written inArabic script, or inArabic chat alphabet mostly on new communication services.
Of the manyvarieties of Arabic, Egyptian Arabic is the most widely understood first dialect in the Middle East–North Africa, probably due to the influence ofEgyptian cinema and music industry throughout the Arabic-speaking world.
In southern Egypt,Saidi Arabic is the main spoken language for most people.
In the far-Southern Upper Nile Valley, aroundKom Ombo andAswan, there are about 300,000 speakers ofNubian languages, mainlyNobiin, but alsoKenuzi.
About 30,000 Egyptian Berbers living in theSiwa oasis and its surroundings speakSiwi language,[15] which is a variety of theBerber language ofNorth Africa. Siwi Berber is well mutually intelligible with neighbouring Libyan Berber dialects.[16]Beja is spoken in the Eastern desert and along the southern Red Sea coast, including the disputedHalaib Triangle.
The only sign language known to be used in Egypt isEgyptian Sign Language.[17] It is known to be used in Alexandria and Cairo, and possibly other regions. Regional variation is reported anecdotally but not documented.
Most educated people in Egypt studyEnglish at school. There are also many English language universities in Egypt including the BUE (British University in Egypt), the FUE (Future University in Egypt),Nile University and the AUC (American University in Cairo). English is the most widely used language in tourism. The majority of the road signs in Egypt are written both in Arabic and English. In addition, many English words have started being used by Egyptians in their daily life. English has a crucial position in Egypt: banknotes and coins, as well as stamps, are bilingual in English and Arabic. There is also an important press in the English language in the country, comprising several weeklies and a daily newspaper, theDaily News Egypt.[18]
There is generally no preference towards British or American English; however, the younger generations increasingly prefer the American variant, mostly because of their exposure to American media.[19]
In 2009–2010, about six million people studiedFrench in Egypt, and this number increased to eight million in 2013. As of 2014, most people in Egypt using French have studied it as a foreign language in school.[20]
The first French-medium schools in Egypt were established in 1836. By the end of the nineteenth century, it had become the dominant foreign language in Egypt and thelingua franca of foreigners; this was especially the case in Cairo.[21]
French became the primary foreign language in media during the rule ofIbrahim Pasha.[22] During the period ofthe British influence, French was actually the medium of communication among foreigners and between foreigners and Egyptians;[23] the mixed French-Egyptian civil courts operated in French, and government notices from theEgyptian sultan, taxi stand information, timetables of trains, and other legal documents were issued in French.[24] In addition, the usage of French in the media was at the greatest extent in this period.[22] This was partly because some Egyptians had French education and partly because of cultural influence from France.[23] Despite efforts from British legal personnel, English was never adopted as a language of the Egyptian civil courts during the period of British influence.[25]
Owing to social and political reasons, the role of French in Egypt began to decline in the 1920s.[21] Two French-language newspapers are still published in Egypt:Al-Ahram Hebdo andLe Progrès Egyptien.
The primary foreign language during the reign ofMuhammad Ali (reigned 1805-1848) wasItalian. There was an Italian newspaper established in the city of Alexandria in 1858 and 1859, known asIl progresso.[22]
German andRussian are also used in tourism.
OtherEgyptian languages (also known as Copto-Egyptian) consist of ancientEgyptian andCoptic, and form a separate branch among the family ofAfro-Asiatic languages. The Egyptian language is among the first written languages, and is known fromhieroglyphic inscriptions preserved on monuments and sheets ofpapyrus. TheCoptic language, the only extant descendant of Egyptian, is today the liturgical language of theCoptic Orthodox Church.
The "Koiné" dialect of theGreek language was important in Hellenistic Alexandria, and was used in thephilosophy andscience of that culture, and was also studied by later Arabic scholars.
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