Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, also known asSahil Maryut Bedouin Arabic,^[4][5] is a group ofBedouin Arabic dialects spoken in Western Egypt along theMediterranean coast, west to theEgypt–Libya border.^[6][7]Ethnologue andGlottolog classify Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic as aLibyan Arabic dialect.^[8][9]

This variety is spoken by the Awlad Ali tribe,^[10][11] who settled in the edges ofLake Maryut and west ofBihera beginning in the 17th century from the region ofJebel Akhdar (Libya).^[12] It is also spoken inWadi El Natrun.^[13] Their dialect isphonologically,morphophonemically andmorphologically closer to thePeninsular Bedouin dialects than to the adjacentEgyptian dialects.^[14] Egyptian Arabic speakers from other parts of Egypt do not understand the Awlad Ali dialect.^[15]

Western Bedouin dialects influenced the dialects of southernUpper Egypt betweenAsyut andIdfu, and those of theBahariyya Oasis and Bihera.^[12]

The dialects spoken in Matruh province as well as in eastern Libya have been traditionally classified as belonging to the Sulaymi Bedouin dialects, characterized by a /g/ reflex ofQāf, thegahawa-syndrome, and feminine plural conjugations and pronouns.^[16] However, the classification of North African Bedouin dialects into Hilalian, Sulaimitian, and Ma’qilian groups is not uncontroversial, and is based primarily on socio-historical and geographical considerations.^[17][18] While the dialects ofTripolitania represent a continuation of Tunisian dialects, the dialects ofCyrenaica show affinities with Eastern Bedouin dialects, especially with regards to thegahawa-syndrome and syllable structure.^[17]

Notes:

• /ṭ/ is glottalized as in Upper Egyptian Arabic: [tˤʔ]

Contrary to MSA, Western Egyptian Bedawi uses the plural pronouns for dual pronouns:

The following direct object pronominal suffixes are attached to verbs:

The following demonstrative pronouns are used. The formhāḏ̣ayīəhi is also used with the suffix -yīəhi:

The following interrogative pronouns are used:

There are two types of strong perfect stems, CiCáC (a-type) and CCiC (i-type). Examples of a-type perfects aremisák,nizál,ṭiláʿ,fihám. Examples of i-type perfects arešrib,rkib,zʿil,smiʿ,ʿrif,gdir,kbir,kṯir,tʿib,lbis,ybis.^[12]

Some perfect conjugations are shown below:

There are three types of strong imperfect stems, CCiC (i-type), CCəC (ə-type), and CCaC (a-type). The vowel of the conjugation prefix harmonizes with the vowel of the stem:yiktib,yərgəd,yašṛab. The conjugation of the 1st person follows theniktib-níkitbu paradigm.^[12]

The pronunciation [ʒ] for ǧīm occurs in the west of the Bihera, were Awlad Ali settled. Metathesized forms such asmašzid “mosque” may be a result of the influence of their dialect.^[19]

• Al-Wer, Enam; Jong, Rudolf (2017). "Dialects of Arabic". InBoberg, Charles;Nerbonne, John; Watt, Dominic (eds.).The Handbook of Dialectology. Wiley. pp. 523–534.doi:10.1002/9781118827628.ch32.ISBN 978-1-118-82755-0.OCLC 989950951.
• Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred (1987).Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte: Texte. Delta-Dialekte (in German). Vol. 3. Reichert.ISBN 978-3-88226-415-9.OCLC 158521055.
• Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred (2005).Arabische Dialektgeographie : eine Einführung (in German). Boston: Brill.ISBN 90-04-14130-8.OCLC 182530188.
• Ennaji, Moha (1998).Arabic varieties in North Africa. Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society. Florida Hills: Vivlia.ISBN 1-919799-12-5.OCLC 42746547.
• Holes, Clive, ed. (2018).Arabic Historical Dialectology: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Approaches. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-870137-8.OCLC 1059441655.
• Hüsken, Thomas (2019). "People, Places and a Brief History".Tribal Politics in the Borderland of Egypt and Libya. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 31–59.doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92342-0_3.ISBN 978-3-319-92342-0.OCLC 1059513981.S2CID 165534196.
• Maṭar, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz (1967).لهجة البدو في اقليم ساحل مريوط: دراسة لغوية [The Bedouin Dialect in Mariut Coast: A Linguistic Study] (in Arabic). دار الكاتب العربي،.OCLC 784347217.
• Maṭar, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz (1981).لهجة البدو في الساحل الشمالي لجمهورية مصر العربية : دراسة لغوية [Bedouin dialect in the northern coast of the Arab Republic of Egypt: A linguistic study] (in Arabic). Dār al-Maʻārif, [Cairo].ISBN 9789777334730.OCLC 60506275.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Wilmsen, David; Woidich, Manfred (2011). "Egypt". In Edzard, Lutz; de Jong, Rudolf (eds.).Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Brill.doi:10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_COM_vol2_0001.

• Behnstedt, Peter (1998). "La frontière orientale des parlers maghrébins en Égypte". In Aguadé, Jorge; Cressier, Patrice; Vicente, Ángeles (eds.).Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental : Dialectologie et histoire (in French). Madrid: Casa de Velázquez. pp. 85–96.ISBN 84-86839-85-8.OCLC 40820286.
• Owens, Jonathan (2003)."Arabic Dialect History and Historical Linguistic Mythology".Journal of the American Oriental Society.123 (4):715–740.doi:10.2307/3589965.ISSN 0003-0279.JSTOR 3589965.
• Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred (2018-10-18). "Map 3.1: The Egyptian Arabic dialect area today".The formation of the Egyptian Arabic dialect area. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/oso/9780198701378.003.0003.

• Bedouin Arabic
• Libyan Arabic
• Languages of Egypt

• Language articles citing Ethnologue 28
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with unnamed Glottolog code
• ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• CS1 Arabic-language sources (ar)
• CS1 maint: location missing publisher