Egyptian Arabic - Definition and Overview

Egyptian Arabic is a dialect of Arabic spoken in Egypt. It is the variety of Arabic with the largest amount of speakers. This is due to the fact that many Egyptian films have been widely distributed in Arab countries. In addition, Egypt is the most populous Arab nation, with more than 70 million inhabitants (2004). There are few educational publications for Egyptian Arabic, compared to say, French, but Egyptian Arabic remains one of the most widely taught and known colloquial Arabic dialects. Many American and other Western students of modern Arabic learn Egyptian Arabic because it is so well understood all over the Arab world. More information can be found in [1] (http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profiles/profe01.htm).

Pronunciation

• The letter jiim ج [dʒ] is pronounced as /g/ in most Egyptian local dialects, apart from those of Upper Egypt (the Sa'id), e.g. gabl for jabl (mountain), gamiil for jamiil (beautiful), and so forth. However, Egyptian Arabic is not unique in this as the tribes of Arabia had among them those who had this pronunciation, as did Yemeni Arabic since before the introduction of Arabic in Egypt, and it is possible that it was those speakers who introduced this feature of the Egyptian dialect. Another probable cause is that the phoneme /dʒ/ did not exist in the Ancient Egyptian language whereas the phoneme /g/ did, and it was carried over into Arabic as a substitute especially since Arabic itself does not include both phonemes in a single accent, therefore there was no concern for confusion. Although this does not explain why the pronunciation of Upper Egypt retained the /dʒ/.
• The letter qaaf ق is pronounced as a glottal stop in the Cairo and the delta, but /g/ in Upper Egypt (the Sa'id), where it is again influenced by the pronounciation of certain Arabian tribes.
• Thaa ث /θ/ can become either /t/ or /s/.
• dhaal ذ /ð/ becomes /d/ in much of Egypt, although sometimes it is /z/

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