| Egyptian Arabic | |
| Also Known As: | Masri |
| Nativename: | مصرى |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /ˈmɑsˤɾi/ |
| States: | Egypt |
| Ethnicity: | Egyptians |
| Speakers: | L1 million |
| Date: | 2021 |
| Ref: | e27 |
| Speakers2: | L2 25 million (2022) |
| Speakers Label: | Speakers |
| Familycolor: | Afroasiatic |
| Fam2: | Semitic |
| Fam3: | West Semitic |
| Fam4: | Central Semitic |
| Fam5: | Arabic |
| Dia3: | Other regional variations |
| Script: | Arabic alphabet |
| Iso3: | arz |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Glotto: | egyp1253 |
| Glottorefname: | Egyptian Arabic |
| Map: | Árabe egipcio.PNG |
| Mapcaption: | Areas where Egyptian Arabic is spoken (in dark blue those areas where it is the most widely spoken). |
| Ietf: | ar-EG |
Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian (Arabic: العامية المصرية,[1] [2] [3] pronounced as /el.ʕæmˈmejjæ l.mɑsˤˈɾejjɑ/), or simply Masri (also Masry,) (مَصرى),[4] [5] is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic variety in Egypt.[6] [7] It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and originated in the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt. The estimated 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 due to broad Egyptian influence in the region, including through Egyptian cinema and Egyptian music. These factors help to make it the most widely spoken and by far the most widely studied variety of Arabic.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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 the Qur'an, i.e. Classical Arabic. The Egyptian vernacular is almost universally written in the Arabic alphabet for local consumption, although it is commonly transcribed into Latin letters or in the International Phonetic Alphabet in linguistics text and textbooks aimed at teaching non-native learners.[13] Egyptian Arabic's phonetics, grammatical structure, and vocabulary are influenced by the Coptic language; its rich vocabulary is also influenced by Turkish and by European languages such as French, Italian, Greek,[14] and English.
Speakers of Egyptian Arabic generally call their vernacular
The term Egyptian Arabic is usually used synonymously with Cairene Arabic, which is technically a dialect of Egyptian Arabic. The country's native name, مصر, is often used locally to refer to Cairo itself. As is the case with Parisian French, Cairene Arabic is by far the most prevalent dialect in the country.
Egyptian Arabic has become widely understood in the Arabic-speaking world primarily for two reasons:[16] 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 and also taught there and in other countries such as Algeria and Libya. Also, many Lebanese artists choose to sing in Egyptian.
Arabic was spoken in parts of Egypt such as the Eastern Desert and Sinai before Islam.[17] However, Nile Valley Egyptians slowly adopted Arabic as a written language following the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the seventh century. Until then, they had spoken either Koine Greek or Egyptian in its Coptic form. A period of Coptic-Arabic bilingualism in Lower 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 the Eastern Desert and Sinai. Arabic was also a minority language of some residents of the Nile Valley such as Qift in Upper Egypt through pre-Islamic trade with Nabateans in the Sinai Peninsula and the easternmost part of the Nile Delta. Egyptian Arabic seems to have begun taking shape in Fustat, the first Islamic capital of Egypt, now part of Cairo.
One of the earliest linguistic sketches of Cairene Arabic is a 16th-century document entitled [18] (Arabic: دفع الإصر عن كلام أهل مصر, "The Removal of the Burden from the Language of the People of Cairo") by the traveler and lexicographer Yusuf al-Maghribi (Arabic: يوسف المغربي), with Misr here meaning "Cairo". It contains key information on early Cairene Arabic and the language situation in Egypt 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 the Banu Hilal exodus, who later left Egypt and were settled in Morocco and Tunisia, together with the ongoing Islamization and Arabization 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. Coptic is still the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Coptic Catholic Church.
Egyptian Arabic has no official status and is not officially recognized as a language.[19] [20] Standard Arabic is the official language of the state as per constitutional law with the name Arabic: اللغة العربية, lit. "Arabic language".[21] Interest in the local vernacular began in the 1800s (in opposition to the language of the ruling class, Turkish), as the Egyptian national movement for self-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 developing neologisms to replace archaic terminology in Modern Standard Arabic to the simplification of syntactical and morphological rules and the introduction of colloquialisms to even complete "Egyptianization" (Arabic: تمصير, Arabic: tamṣīr) by abandoning the so-called Modern Standard Arabic in favor of Masri or Egyptian Arabic.[22]
Proponents of language reform in Egypt included Qasim Amin, who also wrote the first Egyptian feminist treatise, former President of the Egyptian University, Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, and noted intellectual Salama Moussa. They adopted a modernist, secular approach and disagreed with the assumption that Arabic was an immutable language because of its association with the Qur'an. The first modern Egyptian novel in which the dialogue was written in the vernacular was Muhammad Husayn Haykal'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.[23] Other notable novelists, such as Ihsan Abdel Quddous and Yusuf Idris, and poets, such as Salah Jahin, Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi and Ahmed Fouad Negm, 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, 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 under King Farouk of Egypt. The Egyptian revolution of 1952, led by Mohammed Naguib and Gamal 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 of Upper Egypt speaks Sa'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.
Linguistic commentators have noted the multi-faceted approach of the Egyptian revolutionaries towards the Arabic language. Whereas Egypt's first president, Mohammed Naguib 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, the Arab Radio and Television Union, which was established with the intent of providing content for the entire Arab world, not merely Egypt, hence the need to broadcast in the standard, rather than the vernacular, language. The Voice 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, 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%.[24]
As the status of Egyptian Arabic as opposed to Classical Arabic 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, Egyptian Arabic can be seen as one of many distinct varieties that, despite arguably being languages on German: [[Abstand and ausbau languages|abstand]] grounds, are united by a common German: [[abstand and ausbau languages#Roofing|Dachsprache]] in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).
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.[25]
The dialogs in the following novels are partly in Egyptian Arabic, partly in Standard Arabic: Mahmud Tahir Haqqi's Adhra' Dinshuway (Arabic: عذراء دنشواي; 1906), Yaqub Sarruf's Fatat Misr (Arabic: فتاة مصر |Fatāt Miṣr |translit-std=ALA; first published in Al-Muqtataf 1905–1906), and Mohammed Hussein Heikal'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, Jean Racine and Carlo Goldoni to Egyptian Arabic and adapted them as well as ten fables by Jean de La Fontaine. Yaqub Sanu 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 took this a step further and provided for his Standard Arabic plays versions in colloquial Arabic for the performances. 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 or ca. 1952) and Al-Muzayyifun (Arabic: 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, Alfred Farag,, Rashad Roushdy, and Yusuf Idris. Thereafter the use of colloquial Egyptian Arabic in theater is stable and common. Later writers of plays in colloquial Egyptian include Ali Salem, and Naguib Surur.
Novels in Egyptian Arabic after the 1940s and before the 1990s are rare. There are by Qantarah Alladhi Kafar (Arabic: قنطرة الذي كفر |Qanṭarah Alladhī Kafar |translit-std=ALA |lit=Qantara Who Disbelieved |lable=none, Cairo, 1965) and Uthman Sabri's (Arabic: عثمان صبري |ʻUthmān Ṣabrī |translit-std=ALA; 1896–1986) Journey on the Nile (رحلة في النيل |Riḥlah fī il-Nīl |translit-std=ALA, 1965) (and his Bet Sirri (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 (لبن العصفور |Laban il-ʿAṣfūr |translit-std=ALA |lit=The Milk of the Bird |label=none; 1994),Baha' Awwad's (Arabic: بهاء عواد |Bahāʾ ʿAwwād |translit-std=ALA) Shams il-Asil (شمس الاصيل |Shams il-ʿAṣīl |translit-std=ALA |lit=Late Afternoon Sun |label=none; 1998),Safa Abdel Al Moneim's Min Halawit il-Ruh (من حلاوة الروح |Min Ḥalāwit il-Rōḥ |translit-std=ALA |lit=Zest for Life |label=none, 1998),Samih Faraj's (Arabic: سامح فرج |Sāmiḥ Faraj |translit-std=ALA) Banhuf Ishtirasa (بانهوف اشتراسا |Bānhūf Ishtirāsā |translit-std=ALA |lit=Bahnhof Strasse |label=none, 1999);autobiographies include the one by Ahmed Fouad Negm,by Ula Awwil (اولى أول |Ūlá Awwil |translit-std=ALA |lit=First Class Primary School |label=none),and Fathia al-Assal's Hudn il-Umr (حضن العمر |Ḥuḍn il-ʿUmr |translit-std=ALA |lit=The Embrace of a Lifetime |label=none).
The epistolary novel Jawabat Haraji il-Gutt (جوابات حراجى القط |Jawābāt Ḥarājī il-Guṭṭ |translit-std=ALA |lit=Letters of Haraji the Cat, 2001) by Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi is exceptional in its use of Saʽidi Arabic.
21st-century journals publishing in Egyptian Arabic include Bārti (from at least 2002), the weekly magazine Idhak lil-Dunya (Arabic: اضحك للدنيا |Iḍḥak lil-Dunyā |translit-std=ALA |lit=Smile for the World |label=none, from 2005), and the monthly magazine (احنا |Iḥna |translit-std=ALA |lit=We |label=none, from 2005). In the 21st century the number of books published in Egyptian Arabic has increased a lot. Many of them are by female authors, for example I Want to Get Married! (عايزه أتجوز |ʻĀyzah atgawwiz |translit-std=ALA |label=none, 2008) by Ghada Abdel Aal and She Must Have Travelled (شكلها سافرت |Shaklahā sāfarit |translit-std=ALA |label=none, 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,[26] and the two varieties have limited mutual intelligibility. It carries little prestige nationally but continues to be widely spoken, with 19,000,000 speakers.[27]
The traditional division between Upper and Lower Egypt and their respective differences go back to ancient times. Egyptians today commonly call the people of the north بَحَارْوَة |baḥārwah |translit-std=ALA |label=none (pronounced as /[bɑˈħɑɾwɑ]/) and those of the south صَعَايْدَة |ṣaʿāydah |translit-std=ALA |label=none (pronounced as /[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 the Nile Delta, and the varieties spoken from Giza 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.[28]
The Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic variety[29] of the western desert differs from all other Arabic varieties in Egypt in that it linguistically is part of Maghrebi Arabic.[30] Northwest Arabian Arabic is also distinct from Egyptian Arabic.[31]
Egyptian Arabic varies regionally across its sprachraum, with certain characteristics being noted as typical of the speech of certain regions.
The dialect of Alexandria (West Delta) is noted for certain shibboleths 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 as opposed to طعميّة for the fava-bean fritters common across the country and the pronunciation of the word for the Egyptian pound (جنيه pronounced as /ɡeˈneː/), as pronounced as /ˈɡeni/, closer to the pronunciation of the origin of the term, the British guinea).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 of Tunisian Arabic[32] and also of Maghrebi Arabic in general. The dialects of the western Delta tend to use the perfect with pronounced as /link/ instead of the perfect with pronounced as /link/, for example for فهم this is instead of . Other examples for this are لَبَس |labas |translit-std=ALA |lit=to wear |label=none, نَزَل |nazal |translit-std=ALA |lit=to descend |label=none, شَرَب |sharab |translit-std=ALA |lit=to drink |label=none, نَسَى |nasá |translit-std=ALA |lit=to forget |label=none, رَجَع, طَلَع, رَكَب.
Port Said's dialect (East Delta) is noted for a "heavier", more guttural sound, compared to other regions of the country.
The dialect of the Fellah in Northern Egypt is noted for a distinct accent, replacing the urban pronunciations of pronounced as /link/ (spelled Arabic: [[ج]]) and pronounced as /link/ (Arabic: [[ق]]) with pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ 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.[33]
See main article: Egyptian Arabic 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.
In contrast to CA and MSA, but like all modern colloquial varieties of Arabic, Egyptian Arabic nouns are not inflected for case and lack nunation (with the exception of certain fixed phrases in the accusative case, such as Arabic: شكراً pronounced as /[ˈʃokɾɑn]/, "thank you"). As all nouns take their pausal forms, singular words and broken 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 the construct state beginning in abu, often geographic names, retain their -u in all cases.[34]
Nouns take either a sound plural or broken 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 suffix ـِين |-īn |translit-std=ALA |label=none is used for nouns referring to male persons that are participles or follow the pattern CaCCaaC. It takes the form ـيِين |-yīn |translit-std=ALA |label=none for nouns of the form CaCCa and the form ـيِّين |-yyīn |translit-std=ALA |label=none for nisba adjectives.
| CVCCVC(a) | CaCaaCiC | any four-consonant noun with short second vowel | maktab, makaatib "desk, office"; markib, maraakib "boat"; maṭbax, maṭaabix "kitchen"; masʔala, masaaʔil "matter"; maṭṛaḥ, maṭaaṛiḥ "place"; masṛaḥ, masaaṛiḥ "theater"; tazkaṛa, tazaakir "ticket"; ʔiswira, ʔasaawir "bracelet"; muʃkila, maʃaakil "problem"; muulid, mawaalid "(holy) birthday"; maktaba, makaatib "stationary"; |
| CVCCVVC(a) | CaCaCiiC | any four-consonant noun with long second vowel | fustaan, fasatiin "dress"; muftaaḥ, mafatiiḥ "key"; fingaan, fanagiin "cup"; sikkiina, sakakiin "knife"; tamriin, tamariin "exercise"; siggaada, sagagiid "carpet"; magmuuʕ, magamiiʕ "total"; maṣruuf, maṣaṛiif "expense"; maskiin, masakiin "poor, pitiable" |
| CaC(i)C, CiCC, CeeC (< *CayC) | CuCuuC | very common for three-consonant nouns | dars, duruus "lesson"; daxl, duxuul "income"; daʔn, duʔuun "chin"; ḍeef, ḍuyuuf "guest"; ḍirṣ, ḍuruuṣ "molar tooth"; fann, funuun "art"; farʔ, furuuʔ "difference"; faṣl, fuṣuul "class, chapter"; geeb, guyuub "pocket"; geeʃ, guyuuʃ "army"; gild, guluud "leather"; ḥall, ḥuluul "solution"; ḥarb, ḥuruub "war"; ḥaʔʔ, ḥuʔuuʔ "right"; malik, muluuk "king" |
| CaC(a)C, CiCC, CuCC, CooC (< *CawC) | ʔaCCaaC | very common for three-consonant words | durg, ʔadraag "drawer"; duʃʃ, ʔadʃaaʃ "shower"; film, ʔaflaam "film"; miʃṭ, ʔamʃaaṭ "comb"; mitr, ʔamtaar "meter"; gism, ʔagsaam "body " ; guzʔ, ʔagzaaʔ "part"; muxx, ʔamxaax "brain"; nahṛ, ʔanhaaṛ "river"; door, ʔadwaaṛ "(one's) turn, floor (of building)"; nooʕ, ʔanwaaʕ "kind, sort"; yoom, ʔayyaam "day"; nuṣṣ, ʔanṣaaṣ "half"; qism, ʔaqṣaam "division"; waʔt, ʔawʔaat "time"; faṛaḥ, ʔafṛaaḥ "joy, wedding"; gaṛas, ʔagṛaas "bell"; maṭaṛ, ʔamṭaaṛ "rain"; taman, ʔatmaan "price"; walad, ʔawlaad "boy" |
| CaaC, CuuC | ʔaCwaaC | variant of previous | ḥaal, ʔaḥwaal "state, condition"; nuur, ʔanwaaṛ "light" |
| CaCCa, CooCa (< *CawCa) | CiCaC, CuCaC | CaCCa < Classical CaCCa (not CaaCiCa) | gazma, gizam "shoe"; dawla, duwal "state, country"; ḥalla, ḥilal "pot"; ʃooka, ʃuwak "fork"; taxta, tuxat "blackboard" |
| CiCCa | CiCaC | ḥiṣṣa, ḥiṣaṣ "allotment"; ḥiṭṭa, ḥiṭaṭ "piece"; minḥa, minaḥ "scholarship"; nimra, nimar "number"; qiṣṣa, qiṣaṣ "story" | |
| CuCCa | CuCaC | fuṛma, fuṛam "shape, form"; fuṛṣa, fuṛaṣ "chance"; fusḥa, fusaḥ "excursion"; fuuṭa, fuwaṭ "towel"; nukta, nukat "joke"; ʔuṭṭa, ʔuṭaṭ "cat"; mudda, mudad "period (of time)" | |
| CVCVVC(a) | CaCaayiC | three-consonant roots with long second vowel | sigaaṛa, sagaayir "cigarette"; gariida, gaṛaayid "newspaper"; gimiil, gamaayil "favor"; ḥabiib, ḥabaayib "lover"; ḥariiʔa, ḥaraayiʔ "destructive fire"; ḥaʔiiʔa, ḥaʔaayiʔ "fact, truth"; natiiga, nataayig "result"; xaṛiiṭa, xaṛaayiṭ "map"; zibuun, zabaayin "customer" |
| CaaCiC, CaCCa | CawaaCiC | CaCCa < Classical CaaCiCa (not CaCCa) | ḥaamil, ḥawaamil "pregnant"; haanim, hawaanim "lady"; gaamiʕ, gawaamiʕ "mosque"; maaniʕ, mawaaniʕ "obstacle"; fakha, fawaakih "fruit"; ḥadsa, ḥawaadis "accident"; fayda, fawaayid "benefit"; ʃaariʕ, ʃawaariʕ "street"; xaatim, xawaatim "ring" |
| CaaCiC | CuCCaaC | mostly occupational nouns | kaatib, kuttaab "writer"; saakin, sukkaan "inhabitant"; saayiḥ, suwwaaḥ "tourist"; |
| CaCiiC | CuCaCa | adjectives and occupational nouns | faʔiir, fuʔaṛa "poor"; nabiih, nubaha "intelligent"; naʃiiṭ, nuʃaṭa "active"; raʔiis, ruʔasa "president"; safiir, sufaṛa "ambassador"; waziir, wuzaṛa "minister"; xabiir, xubaṛa "expert"; ṭaalib, ṭalaba "student" |
| CaCiiC/CiCiiC | CuCaaC | adjectives | gamiil, gumaal "beautiful"; naʃiiṭ, nuʃaaṭ "active"; niḍiif, nuḍaaf "clean"; tixiin, tuxaan "fat" |
| CVCCVVC | CaCaCCa | occupational nouns | tilmiiz, talamza "student"; ʔustaaz, ʔasatza "teacher"; simsaaṛ, samasṛa "broker"; duktoor, dakatra "doctor" |
| CaCVVC | CawaaCiiC | qamuus, qawamiis "dictionary"; maʕaad, mawaʕiid "appointment"; ṭabuuṛ, ṭawabiiṛ "line, queue"; meʃwar, maʃaweer "walk, appointment" | |
| CaCaC | CiCaaC | gamal, gimaal "camel"; gabal, gibaal "mountain, hill" | |
| CaCC | ʔaCCuC | ʃahṛ, ʔaʃhur "month" | |
| CiCaaC, CaCiiC(a) | CuCuC | kitaab, kutub "book"; madiina, mudun "city" | |
| CaCC(a) | CaCaaCi | maʕna, maʕaani "meaning"; makwa, makaawi "iron"; ʔahwa, ʔahaawi "coffee"; ʔaṛḍ, ʔaṛaaḍi "ground, land" | |
| CaaCa, CaaCi, CaCya | CawaaCi | ḥaaṛa, ḥawaaṛi "alley"; naadi, nawaadi "club"; naḥya, nawaaḥi "side" | |
| CaCaC, CiCaaC | ʔaCCiCa/ʔiCCiCa | ḥizaam, ʔaḥzima "belt"; masal, ʔamsila "example"; sabat, ʔisbita "basket" | |
| CiCiyya | CaCaaya | hidiyya, hadaaya "gift" | |
| CaaC | CiCaaC | faaṛ, firaan "mouse"; gaaṛ, giraan "neighbor"; xaal, xilaan "maternal uncle" | |
| Masculine | ʔaCCaC | ʔaxḍaṛ | ʔazraʔ | ʔiswid | ʔabyaḍ | ʔaṭṛaʃ | ʔaʕma | ʔaʕwaṛ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feminine | CaCCa | xaḍṛa | zarʔa | sooda | beeḍa | ṭaṛʃa | ʕamya | ʕooṛa |
| Plural | CuCC | xuḍr | zurʔ | suud | biiḍ | ṭurʃ | ʕumy | ʕuur |
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-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.
Verbal nouns of form I are not regular. The following table lists common patterns.
| فَعْل | CVCC | ضرب|lit=striking|label=none|ḍarb|rtl=no|translit-std=ALA | |
| فَعْلَة | CVCCa | ||
| فِعْل | CVCC | ||
| فِعْلَة | CVCCa | ||
| فُعْل | CVCC | ||
| فُعْلَة | CVCCa | ||
| فَعَل | CVCVC | عمل|lit=work|label=none|ʿamal|rtl=no|translit-std=ALA | |
| فَعَلَة | CVCVCa | ||
| فَعَال | CVCVVC | ||
| فَعَالَة | CVCVVCa | ||
| فِعَال | CVCVVC | ||
| فِعَالَة | CVCVVCa | كتابة|lit=writing|label=none|kitāba|rtl=no|translit-std=ALA | |
| فُعَال | CVCVVC | ||
| فَعُول | CVCVVC | ||
| فُعُول | CVCVVC | ||
| فُعُولَة | CVCVVCa | ||
| فَعِيل | CVCVVC | ||
| فِعْلَان | CVCCaan | ||
| فُعْلَان | CVCCaan | ||
| فَعَلَان | CVCVCaan | ||
| مَفْعَل | maCCVC | ||
| مَفْعِلَة | maCCVCa | ||
| مَفَعَّة | maCVCCa | ||
| مَفَال | maCVVC | ||
| مَفِيل | maCVVC | ||
| فَوْل | CVVC | ||
| فَعَالِيَّة | CVCVCiyya | ||
| فِعَى | CVCa |
| Subject ! | Direct object/Possessive | Indirect object | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| After vowel | After 1 cons. | After 2 cons. | After vowel | After 1 cons. | After 2 cons. | ||||||||||||
| Normal | + ʃ | + l- | Normal | + ʃ | + l- | Normal | + ʃ | + l- | Normal | + ʃ | Normal | + ʃ | Normal | + ʃ | |||
| "my" (nominal) | — | - ́ya | -i | — | |||||||||||||
| "I/me" (verbal) | ána | - ́ni | -íni | - ́li | -íli | ||||||||||||
| "you(r) (masc.)" | ínta | - ́k | -ak | - ́lak | -ílak | ||||||||||||
| "you(r) (fem.)" | ínti | - ́ki | -ik | -ki | -ik | -iki | - ́lik | -lkí | -lik | -likí | -ílik | -ilkí | |||||
| "he/him/his" | huwwa | - ́ | -hu | -u | -hu | -u | -uhu | - ́lu | -ílu | ||||||||
| "she/her" | hiyya | - ́ha | -áha | - ́lha | -láha | -ílha | |||||||||||
| "we/us/our" | íḥna | - ́na | -ína | - ́lna | -lína | -ílna | |||||||||||
| "you(r) (pl.)" | íntu | - ́ku(m) | -úku(m) | - ́lku(m) | -lúku(m) | -ílku(m) | |||||||||||
| "they/them/their" | humma | - ́hum | -úhum | - ́lhum | -lúhum | -ílhum | |||||||||||
| Construct Base | béet- | biyúut- | bánk- | sikkíin(i)t- | miṛáat- | ʔabúu- | ʔidée- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "my ..." | béet-i | biyúut-i | bánk-i | sikkínt-i | miṛáat-i | ʔabúu-ya | ʔidáy-ya | |
| "your (masc.) ..." | béet-ak | biyúut-ak | bánk-ak | sikkínt-ak | miṛáat-ak | ʔabúu-k | ʔidée-k | |
| "your (fem.) ..." | béet-ik | biyúut-ik | bánk-ik | sikkínt-ik | miṛáat-ik | ʔabúu-ki | ʔidée-ki | |
| "his ..." | béet-u | biyúut-u | bánk-u | sikkínt-u | miṛáat-u | ʔabúu-(h) | ʔidée-(h) | |
| "her ..." | bét-ha | biyút-ha | bank-áha | sikkinít-ha | miṛát-ha | ʔabúu-ha | ʔidée-ha | |
| "our ..." | bét-na | biyút-na | bank-ína | sikkinít-na | miṛát-na | ʔabúu-na | ʔidée-na | |
| "your (pl.) ..." | bét-ku(m) | biyút-ku(m) | bank-úku(m) | sikkinít-ku(m) | miṛát-ku(m) | ʔabúu-ku(m) | ʔidée-ku(m) | |
| "their ..." | bét-hum | biyút-hum | bank-úhum | sikkinít-hum | miṛát-hum | ʔabúu-hum | ʔidée-hum |
| "... me" | fíy-ya | bíy-ya | líy-ya | wayyáa-ya | ʕaláy-ya | ʕánd-i | mínn-i | |
| "... you (masc.)" | fíi-k | bíi-k | líi-k, l-ak | wayyáa-k | ʕalée-k | ʕánd-ak | mínn-ak | |
| "... you (fem.)" | fíi-ki | bíi-ki | líi-ki, li-ki | wayyáa-ki | ʕalée-ki | ʕánd-ik | mínn-ik | |
| "... him" | fíi-(h) | bíi-(h) | líi-(h), l-u(h) | wayyáa-(h) | ʕalée-(h) | ʕánd-u | mínn-u | |
| "... her" | fíi-ha | bíi-ha | líi-ha, la-ha | wayyáa-ha | ʕalée-ha | ʕand-áha | minn-áha, mín-ha | |
| "... us" | fíi-na | bíi-na | líi-na, li-na | wayyáa-na | ʕalée-na | ʕand-ína | minn-ína | |
| "... you (pl.)" | fíi-ku(m) | bíi-ku(m) | líi-ku(m), li-ku(m) | wayyáa-ku(m) | ʕalée-ku(m) | ʕand-úku(m) | minn-úku(m), mín-ku(m) | |
| "... them" | fíi-hum | bíi-hum | líi-hum, li-hum | wayyáa-hum | ʕalée-hum | ʕand-úhum | minn-úhum, mín-hum |
Egyptian Arabic object pronouns are clitics, 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:
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 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, intensive, passive or reflexive.
Each particular lexical verb is specified by two stems, one used for the past tense and one used for non-past tenses along with subjunctive 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, 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, intensive, passive, 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 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.
Form I verbs have a given vowel pattern for past (a or i) and present (a, i or u). Combinations of each exist:
| Vowel patterns | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Past | Present | ||
| a | a | ḍárab – yíḍrab to beat | |
| a | i | kátab – yíktib to write | |
| a | u | ṭálab – yíṭlub~yúṭlub to order, to demand | |
| i | a | fíhim – yífham to understand | |
| i | i | misik – yímsik to hold, to touch | |
| i | u | sikit – yískut~yúskut to be silent, to shut up | |
Example: kátab/yíktib "write"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | katáb-t | katáb-na | á-ktib | ní-ktib | bá-ktib | bi-ní-ktib | ḥá-ktib | ḥá-ní-ktib | |||
| 2nd | masculine | katáb-t | katáb-tu | tí-ktib | ti-ktíb-u | bi-tí-ktib | bi-ti-ktíb-u | ḥa-tí-ktib | ḥa-ti-ktíb-u | í-ktib | i-ktíb-u |
| feminine | katáb-ti | ti-ktíb-i | bi-ti-ktíb-i | ḥa-ti-ktíb-i | i-ktíb-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | kátab | kátab-u | yí-ktib | yi-ktíb-u | bi-yí-ktib | bi-yi-ktíb-u | ḥa-yí-ktib | ḥa-yi-ktíb-u | ||
| feminine | kátab-it | tí-ktib | bi-tí-ktib | ḥa-tí-ktib | |||||||
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:
Example: kátab/yíktib "write": non-finite forms
| Number/Gender | Active Participle | Passive Participle | Verbal Noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masc. Sg. | ká:tib | maktú:b | kitá:ba |
| Fem. Sg. | kátb-a | maktú:b-a | |
| Pl. | katb-í:n | maktub-í:n | |
Example: fíhim/yífham "understand"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | fihím-t | fihím-na | á-fham | ní-fham | bá-fham | bi-ní-fham | ḥá-fham | ḥá-ní-fham | |||
| 2nd | masculine | fihím-t | fihím-tu | tí-fham | ti-fhám-u | bi-tí-fham | bi-ti-fhám-u | ḥa-tí-fham | ḥa-ti-fhám-u | í-fham | i-fhám-u |
| feminine | fihím-ti | ti-fhám-i | bi-ti-fhám-i | ḥa-ti-fhám-i | i-fhám-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | fíhim | fíhm-u | yí-fham | yi-fhám-u | bi-yí-fham | bi-yi-fhám-u | ḥa-yí-fham | ḥa-yi-fhám-u | ||
| feminine | fíhm-it | tí-fham | bi-tí-fham | ḥa-tí-fham | |||||||
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".
Example: dárris/yidárris "teach"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | darrís-t | darrís-na | a-dárris | ni-dárris | ba-dárris | bi-n-dárris | ḥa-dárris | ḥa-n-dárris | |||
| 2nd | masculine | darrís-t | darrís-tu | ti-dárris | ti-darrís-u | bi-t-dárris | bi-t-darrís-u | ḥa-t-dárris | ḥa-t-darrís-u | dárris | darrís-u |
| feminine | darrís-ti | ti-darrís-i | bi-t-darrís-i | ḥa-t-darrís-i | darrís-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | dárris | darrís-u | yi-dárris | yi-darrís-u | bi-y-dárris | bi-y-darrís-u | ḥa-y-dárris | ḥa-y-darrís-u | ||
| feminine | darrís-it | ti-dárris | bi-t-dárris | ḥa-t-dárris | |||||||
Boldfaced forms indicate the primary differences from the corresponding forms of katab:
Example: sá:fir/yisá:fir "travel"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | safír-t | safír-na | a-sá:fir | ni-sá:fir | ba-sá:fir | bi-n-sá:fir | ḥa-sá:fir | ḥa-n-sá:fir | |||
| 2nd | masculine | safír-t | safír-tu | ti-sá:fir | ti-sáfr-u | bi-t-sá:fir | bi-t-sáfr-u | ḥa-t-sá:fir | ḥa-t-sáfr-u | sá:fir | sáfr-u |
| feminine | safír-ti | ti-sáfr-i | bi-t-sáfr-i | ḥa-t-sáfr-i | sáfr-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | sá:fir | sáfr-u | yi-sá:fir | yi-sáfr-u | bi-y-sá:fir | bi-y-sáfr-u | ḥa-y-sá:fir | ḥa-y-sáfr-u | ||
| feminine | sáfr-it | ti-sá:fir | bi-t-sá:fir | ḥa-t-sá:fir | |||||||
The primary differences from the corresponding forms of darris (shown in boldface) are:
Defective verbs have a W or Y as the last root consonant.
Example: ráma/yírmi "throw away" (i.e. trash, etc.)
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ramé:-t | ramé:-na | á-rmi | ní-rmi | bá-rmi | bi-ní-rmi | ḥá-rmi | ḥa-ní-rmi | |||
| 2nd | masculine | ramé:-t | ramé:-tu | tí-rmi | tí-rm-u | bi-tí-rmi | bi-tí-rm-u | ḥa-tí-rmi | ḥa-tí-rm-u | í-rmi | í-rm-u |
| feminine | ramé:-ti | tí-rm-i | bi-tí-rm-i | ḥa-tí-rm-i | í-rm-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | ráma | rám-u | yí-rmi | yí-rm-u | bi-yí-rmi | bi-yí-rm-u | ḥa-yí-rmi | ḥa-yí-rm-u | ||
| feminine | rám-it | tí-rmi | bi-tí-rmi | ḥa-tí-rmi | |||||||
The primary differences from the corresponding forms of katab (shown in boldface) are:
Example: nísi/yínsa "forget"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | nisí:-t | nisí:-na | á-nsa | ní-nsa | bá-nsa | bi-ní-nsa | ḥá-nsa | ḥa-ní-nsa | |||
| 2nd | masculine | nisí:-t | nisí:-tu | tí-nsa | tí-ns-u | bi-tí-nsa | bi-tí-ns-u | ḥa-tí-nsa | ḥa-tí-ns-u | í-nsa | í-ns-u |
| feminine | nisí:-ti | tí-ns-i | bi-tí-ns-i | ḥa-tí-ns-i | í-ns-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | nísi | nísy-u | yí-nsa | yí-ns-u | bi-yí-nsa | bi-yí-ns-u | ḥa-yí-nsa | ḥa-yí-ns-u | ||
| feminine | nísy-it | tí-nsa | bi-tí-nsa | ḥa-tí-nsa | |||||||
This verb type is quite similar to the defective verb type ráma/yírmi. The primary differences are:
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:
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 II ʕáyyin/yiʕáyyin "appoint" from ʕ-Y-N, form III gá:wib/yigá:wib "answer" from G-W-B).
Example: gá:b/yigí:b "bring"
| Tense/mood | Past | Present subjunctive | Present indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | gíb-t | gíb-na | a-gí:b | ni-gí:b | ba-gí:b | bi-n-gí:b | ḥa-gí:b | ḥa-n-gí:b | |||
| 2nd | masculine | gíb-t | gíb-tu | ti-gí:b | ti-gí:b-u | bi-t-gí:b | bi-t-gí:b-u | ḥa-t-gí:b | ḥa-t-gí:b-u | gí:b | gí:b-u |
| feminine | gíb-ti | ti-gí:b-i | bi-t-gí:b-i | ḥa-t-gí:b-i | gí:b-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | gá:b | gá:b-u | yi-gí:b | yi-gí:b-u | bi-y-gí:b | bi-y-gí:b-u | ḥa-y-gí:b | ḥa-y-gí:b-u | ||
| feminine | gá:b-it | ti-gí:b | bi-t-gí:b | ḥa-t-gí:b | |||||||
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:
In addition, the past tense has two stems: gíb- before consonant-initial suffixes (first and second person) and gá:b- elsewhere (third person).
Example: ʃá:f/yiʃú:f "see"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ʃúf-t | ʃúf-na | a-ʃú:f | ni-ʃú:f | ba-ʃú:f | bi-n-ʃú:f | ḥa-ʃú:f | ḥa-n-ʃú:f | |||
| 2nd | masculine | ʃúf-t | ʃúf-tu | ti-ʃú:f | ti-ʃú:f-u | bi-t-ʃú:f | bi-t-ʃú:f-u | ḥa-t-ʃú:f | ḥa-t-ʃú:f-u | ʃú:f | ʃú:f-u |
| feminine | ʃúf-ti | ti-ʃú:f-i | bi-t-ʃú:f-i | ḥa-t-ʃú:f-i | ʃú:f-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | ʃá:f | ʃá:f-u | yi-ʃú:f | yi-ʃú:f-u | bi-y-ʃú:f | bi-y-ʃú:f-u | ḥa-y-ʃú:f | ḥa-y-ʃú:f-u | ||
| feminine | ʃá:f-it | ti-ʃú:f | bi-t-ʃú:f | ḥa-t-ʃú:f | |||||||
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 have the same consonant as middle and last root consonant, e.g. ḥább/yiḥíbb "love" from Ḥ-B-B.
Example: ḥább/yiḥíbb "love"
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative | Future | Imperative | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ḥabbé:-t | ḥabbé:-na | a-ḥíbb | ni-ḥíbb | ba-ḥíbb | bi-n-ḥíbb | ḥa-ḥíbb | ḥa-n-ḥíbb | |||
| 2nd | masculine | ḥabbé:-t | ḥabbé:-tu | ti-ḥíbb | ti-ḥíbb-u | bi-t-ḥíbb | bi-t-ḥíbb-u | ḥa-t-ḥíbb | ḥa-t-ḥíbb-u | ḥíbb | ḥíbb-u |
| feminine | ḥabbé:-ti | ti-ḥíbb-i | bi-t-ḥíbb-i | ḥa-t-ḥíbb-i | ḥíbb-i | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | ḥább | ḥább-u | yi-ḥíbb | yi-ḥíbb-u | bi-y-ḥíbb | bi-y-ḥíbb-u | ḥa-y-ḥíbb | ḥa-y-ḥíbb-u | ||
| feminine | ḥább-it | ti-ḥíbb | bi-t-ḥíbb | ḥa-t-ḥíbb | |||||||
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). 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:
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 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).
The irregular verbs are as follows:
| Tense/Mood | Past | Present Subjunctive | Imperative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | gé:-t or gí:-t | gé:-na or gí:-na | á:-gi | ní:-gi | |||
| 2nd | masculine | gé:-t or gí:-t | gé:-tu or gí:-tu | tí:-gi | tí:-g-u | taʕá:la | taʕá:l-u |
| feminine | gé:-ti or gí:-ti | tí:-g-i | taʕá:l-i | ||||
| 3rd | masculine | gé or gá (also ʔíga) gá:-ni (or -li) "he came to me" but not *gé:-ni | gum but gú:-ni (or -li) "they came to me" and magú:-ʃ "they didn't come" | yí:-gi | yí:-g-u | ||
| feminine | gat (also ʔígat) | tí:-gi | |||||
Example: gé/yí:gi "come": non-finite forms
| Number/Gender | Active Participle | Verbal Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Masc. Sg. | gayy | nigíyy |
| Fem. Sg. | gáyy-a | |
| Pl. | gayy-í:n | |
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:
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.
| Tense/Mood | Past | Non-Past | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||
| 1st | style=background:gold | PAc-t | style=background:gold | PAc-na | a-NP0 | ni-NP0 | ||
| 2nd | masculine | style=background:gold | PAc-t | style=background:gold rowspan=2 | PAc-tu | ti-NP0 | style=background:silver rowspan=2 | ti-NPv-u |
| feminine | style=background:gold | PAc-ti | style=background:silver | ti-NPv-i | ||||
| 3rd | masculine | PA0 | style=background:silver rowspan=2 | PAv-u | yi-NP0 | style=background:silver rowspan=2 | yi-NPv-u | |
| feminine | style=background:silver | 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:
| Form | Root Type | Stem | Participle | Verbal Noun | Example | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style=background:silver | Past | Non-Past | Active | Passive | |||||||||
| Person of Suffix | 1st/2nd | 3rd | |||||||||||
| Suffix Type | Cons-Initial | None | Vowel-Initial | None | Vowel-Initial | ||||||||
| Suffix Name | style=background:gold | PAc | PA0 | style=background:silver | PAv | NP0 | style=background:silver | NPv | |||||
| I | Strong | FaMaL | FMaL | Fá:MiL | maFMú:L | (varies, e.g. FaML, FiML) | fátaḥ/yíftaḥ "open" | ||||||
| FMiL | kátab/yíktib "write" | ||||||||||||
| FMuL | dáxal/yúdxul "enter" | ||||||||||||
| FiMiL | FiML | FMaL | fíhim/yífham "understand" | ||||||||||
| FMiL | mísik/yímsik "hold, catch" | ||||||||||||
| FMuL | síkin/yúskun "reside" | ||||||||||||
| I | Defective | FaMé: | FáMa | FaM | FMa | FM | Fá:Mi | máFMi | (varies, e.g. FaMy, máFMa) | báʔa/yíbʔa "remain" | |||
| FMi | FM | ráma/yírmi "throw" | |||||||||||
| FiMí: | FíMi | FíMy | FMa | FM | nísi/yínsa "forget" | ||||||||
| FMi | FM | míʃi/yímʃi "walk" | |||||||||||
| I | Hollow | FíL | Fá:L | Fí:L | Fá:yiL | (mitFá:L, properly Form VIIt) | (varies, e.g. Fe:L, Fo:L) | ga:b/yigí:b "bring" | |||||
| FúL | Fú:L | ʃa:f/yiʃú:f "see" | |||||||||||
| FíL | Fá:L | na:m/yiná:m "sleep" | |||||||||||
| FúL | xa:f/yixá:f "fear" | ||||||||||||
| I | Doubled | FaMMé: | FáMM | FíMM | Fá:MiM | maFMú:M | (varies, e.g. FaMM, FuMM) | ḥabb/yiḥíbb "love" | |||||
| FúMM | ḥaṭṭ/yiḥúṭṭ "put" | ||||||||||||
| II | Strong | FaMMaL | miFáMMaL | taFMí:L | ɣáyyaṛ/yiɣáyyaṛ "change" | ||||||||
| FaMMiL | miFáMMiL | dárris/yidárris "teach" | |||||||||||
| II | Defective | style=background:silver | FaMMé: | FáMMa | FáMM | FáMMi | FáMM | miFáMMi | style=background:silver | taFMíya | wárra/yiwárri "show" | ||
| III | Strong | style=background:silver | FaMíL | Fá:MiL | FáML | Fá:MiL | FáML | miFá:MiL | style=background:silver | miFáMLa | zá:kir/yizá:kir "study" | ||
| III | Defective | style=background:silver | FaMé: | Fá:Ma | Fá:M | Fá:Mi | Fá:M | miFá:Mi | style=background:silver | miFáMya | ná:da/yiná:di "call" | ||
| IV | Strong | style=background:silver | ʔáFMaL | FMiL | míFMiL | style=background:silver | iFMá:L | ʔáḍṛab/yíḍrib "go on strike" | |||||
| IV | Defective | style=background:silver | ʔaFMé: | ʔáFMa | ʔáFM | FMi | FM | míFMi | style=background:silver | (uncommon) | ʔáṛḍa/yíṛḍi "please" | ||
| IV | Hollow | style=background:silver | ʔaFáL | ʔaFá:L | Fí:L | miFí:L | style=background:silver | ʔiFá:La | ʔafá:d/yifí:d "inform" | ||||
| IV | Doubled | style=background:silver | ʔaFaMMé: | ʔaFáMM | FíMM | miFíMM | style=background:silver | iFMá:M | ʔaṣárr/yiṣírr "insist" | ||||
| V | Strong | itFaMMaL | tFaMMaL | mitFáMMaL | taFáMMuL (or Form II) | itmáṛṛan/yitmáṛṛan "practice" | |||||||
| itFaMMiL | tFaMMiL | mitFáMMiL | itkállim/yitkállim "speak" | ||||||||||
| V | Defective | style=background:silver | itFaMMé: | itFáMMa | itFáMM | tFáMMa | tFáMM | mitFáMMi | style=background:silver | (use Form II) | itʔáwwa/yitʔáwwa "become strong" | ||
| VI | Strong | style=background:silver | itFaMíL | itFá:MiL | itFáML | tFá:MiL | tFáML | mitFá:MiL | style=background:silver | taFá:MuL (or Form III) | itʕá:win/yitʕá:win "cooperate" | ||
| VI | Defective | style=background:silver | itFaMé: | itFá:Ma | itFá:M | tFá:Ma | tFá:M | mitFá:Mi | style=background:silver | (use Form III) | iddá:wa/yiddá:wa "be treated, be cured" | ||
| VIIn | Strong | style=background:silver | inFáMaL | nFíMiL | nFíML | minFíMiL | style=background:silver | inFiMá:L (or Form I) | inbásaṭ/yinbísiṭ "enjoy oneself" | ||||
| VIIn | Defective | style=background:silver | inFaMé: | inFáMa | inFáM | nFíMi | nFíM | minFíMi | style=background:silver | (use Form I) | inḥáka/yinḥíki "be told" | ||
| VIIn | Hollow | style=background:silver | inFáL | inFá:L | nFá:L | minFá:L | style=background:silver | inFiyá:L (or Form I) | inbá:ʕ/yinbá:ʕ "be sold" | ||||
| VIIn | Doubled | style=background:silver | inFaMMé: | inFáMM | nFáMM | minFáMM | style=background:silver | inFiMá:M (or Form I) | inbáll/yinbáll "be wetted" | ||||
| VIIt | Strong | style=background:silver | itFáMaL | tFíMiL | tFíML | mitFíMiL | style=background:silver | itFiMá:L (or Form I) | itwágad/yitwígid "be found" | ||||
| VIIt | Defective | style=background:silver | itFaMé: | itFáMa | itFáM | tFíMi | tFíM | mitFíMi | style=background:silver | (use Form I) | itnása/yitnísi "be forgotten" | ||
| VIIt | Hollow | style=background:silver | itFáL | itFá:L | tFá:L | mitFá:L | style=background:silver | itFiyá:L (or Form I) | itbá:ʕ/yitbá:ʕ "be sold" | ||||
| VIIt | Doubled | style=background:silver | itFaMMé: | itFáMM | tFáMM | mitFáMM | style=background:silver | itFiMá:M (or Form I) | itʕádd/yitʕádd "be counted" | ||||
| VIII | Strong | style=background:silver | iFtáMaL | FtíMiL | FtíML | miFtíMiL, muFtáMiL (classicized) | muFtáMaL (classicized) | iFtiMá:L (or Form I) | istálam/yistílim "receive" | ||||
| VIII | Defective | style=background:silver | iFtaMé: | iFtáMa | iFtáM | FtíMi | FtíM | miFtíMi, muFtáMi (classicized) | style=background:silver | (use Form I) | iʃtára/yiʃtíri "buy" | ||
| VIII | Hollow | style=background:silver | iFtáL | iFtá:L | Ftá:L | miFtá:L, muFtá:L (classicized) | style=background:silver | iFtiyá:L (or Form I) | ixtá:ṛ/yixtá:ṛ "choose" | ||||
| VIII | Doubled | style=background:silver | iFtaMMé: | iFtáMM | FtáMM | miFtáMM, muFtáMM (classicized) | style=background:silver | iFtiMá:M (or Form I) | ihtámm/yihtámm "be interested (in)" | ||||
| IX | Strong | style=background:silver | iFMaLLé: | iFMáLL | FMáLL | miFMíLL | style=background:silver | iFMiLá:L | iḥmáṛṛ/yiḥmáṛṛ "be red, blush" | ||||
| X | Strong | istáFMaL | stáFMaL | mistáFMaL, mustáFMaL (classicized) | style=background:silver | istiFMá:L | istáɣṛab/yistáɣṛab "be surprised" | ||||||
| istáFMiL | stáFMiL | mistáFMiL, mustáFMiL (classicized) | mustáFMaL (classicized) | istáʕmil/yistáʕmil "use" | |||||||||
| X | Defective | style=background:silver | istaFMé: | istáFMa | istáFM | stáFMa | stáFM | mistáFMi, mustáFMi (classicized) | style=background:silver | (uncommon) | istákfa/yistákfa "be enough" | ||
| X | Hollow | style=background:silver | istaFáL | istaFá:L | staFí:L | mistaFí:L, mistaFí:L (classicized) | style=background:silver | istiFá:L a | istaʔá:l/yistaʔí:l "resign" | ||||
| X | Doubled | istaFaMMé: | istaFáMM | staFáMM | mistaFáMM, mustaFáMM (classicized) | istiFMá:M | istaḥáʔʔ/yistaḥáʔʔ "deserve" | ||||||
| staFíMM | mistaFíMM, mustaFíMM (classicized) | istamáṛṛ/yistamírr "continue" | |||||||||||
| Iq | Strong | FaSTaL | miFáSTaL | FaSTáLa | láxbaṭ/yiláxbaṭ "confuse" | ||||||||
| FaSTiL | miFáSTiL | xárbiʃ/yixárbiʃ "scratch" | |||||||||||
| IIq | Strong | itFaSTaL | tFaSTaL | mitFáSTaL | itFaSTáLa | itláxbaṭ/yitláxbaṭ "be confused" | |||||||
| itFaSTiL | tFaSTiL | mitFáSTiL | itʃáʕlil/yitʃáʕlil "flare up" | ||||||||||
See main article: Negation in Arabic. One characteristic feature of Egyptian syntax is the two-part negative verbal circumfix pronounced as //ma-...-ʃ(i)//, 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:
pronounced as //ma-// probably comes from the Arabic negator pronounced as //maː//. This negating circumfix is similar in function to the French circumfix French: ne ... pas. It should also be noted that Coptic and Ancient Egyptian both had negative circumfix.
The structure can end in a consonant pronounced as //ʃ// or in a vowel pronounced as //i//, varying according to the individual or region. Nowadays speakers use pronounced as //ʃ//. However, pronounced as //ʃi// 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:
However, verbs in the future tense can instead use the prefix /miʃ/:
Interrogative sentences can be formed by adding the negation clitic "(miʃ)" before the verb:
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:
In addition, certain other morphological changes occur:
In contrast with Classical Arabic, but much like the other varieties of Arabic, Egyptian Arabic prefers subject–verb–object (SVO) word order; CA and to a lesser extent MSA prefer verb–subject–object (VSO). For example, in MSA "Adel read the book" would be Arabic: قرأَ عادل الكتاب pronounced as /ar/ whereas EA would say عادل قرا الكتاب pronounced as /ˈʕæːdel ˈʔɑɾɑ lkeˈtæːb/.
Also in common with other Arabic varieties is the loss of unique agreement 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 "Arabic: هذان الأستاذان السوريان يمشيان إلى الجامعة" pronounced as /ar/, which becomes in EA "الأستاذين السوريين دول بيمشو للجامعة" , pronounced as /el ʔostæˈzeːn el soɾejˈjiːn ˈdoːl beˈjemʃo lelˈɡæmʕæ/.
Unlike most other forms of Arabic, however, Egyptian prefers final placement of question words in interrogative sentences. This is a feature characteristic of the Coptic substratum of Egyptian Arabic.
See also: Copto-Arabic literature. Some authors have argued for the influence of a substratum of the Coptic language which was the native language of the vast majority of Nile Valley Egyptians prior to the Muslim conquest on Egyptian Arabic, specifically on its phonology, syntax, and lexicon. Coptic is the latest stage of the indigenous Egyptian 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 lacked interdental consonants it could possibly have influenced the manifestation of their occurrences in Classical Arabic pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ as their dental counterparts pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ and the emphatic dental pronounced as /link/ respectively. (see consonants)
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, Aden and Bahrain, 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."
A syntactic feature of to Egyptian Arabic arguably inherited from Coptic is the remaining of wh-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:
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.
Behnstedt estimates the existence of ca. 250 to 300 Coptic loanwords in Egyptian Arabic.
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:
See also: Arabic alphabet and Romanization of Arabic.
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 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.
| Arabic letter | Romanization | IPA[35] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spitta[36] | Mitchell | Harrell[37] | Abdel-Massih | Hinds/ Badawi | Woidich | Franco[38] | |||
| Consonants | |||||||||
| ب | b | b | b | b | b | b | b | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ب/پ[39] | p | p | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| ت | t | t | t | t | t | t | t | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ث[40] (respelled to ت for pronounced as /link/) | t/s[41] | t/θ | t/s | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| ج | g | g | g | g | g | g | g | pronounced as /link/ | |
| j | ž | ž | j | ž | j | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| ح | ḥ | ꞕ | ɦ | ꞕ | ḥ | 7/h (h[42]) | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| خ | ḫ | x | x | x | x | x | kh/7’/5 (kh) | pronounced as /link/ | |
| د | d | d | d | d | d | d | d | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ذ (respelled to د for pronounced as /link/) | d/z | d/z | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| ر | r | r | r | r/ṛ | r | r | r | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | |
| ز | z | z | z | z | z | z | z | pronounced as /link/ | |
| س | s | s | s | s | s | s | s | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ش | ś | ʃ | ʃ | š | ʃ | š | sh/ch/4 | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ص | ṣ | ʂ | ṣ | ʂ | ṣ | s | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ض | ḍ | ɖ | ḍ | ɖ/ẓ | ḍ | d | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ط | ṭ | ʈ | ṭ | ʈ | ṭ | t | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ظ (respelled to ض for pronounced as /link/) | ʐ | ẓ | d/ᶎ | ẓ | z | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ | |||
| ع | ʿ | ƹ | ع | ʕ | ʿ | 3 (not written or a/e) | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| غ | ġ | ɣ | ɣ | ɣ | ġ | gh/3’ (gh) | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ف | f | f | f | f | f | f | f | pronounced as /link/ | |
| v | v | v | v | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| ق | q (ʾ)[43] | q | ʔ | ʔ | ɢ | 2/k | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| q | q | q | q | q | q | k | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ك | k | k | k | k | k | k | k | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ل | l | l | l | l/ḷ | l | l | l | pronounced as /link/ | |
| م | m | m | m | m | m | m | m | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ن | n | n | n | n | n | n | n | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ه | h | h | h | h | h | h | h | pronounced as /link/ | |
| و | w | w | w | w | w | w | w/ou | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ي | j | y | y | y | y | y | y/i | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ء | ʾ | ʕ | ʔ | ʔ | ʕ | ʾ | 2 (not written or a/e[44]) | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Long vowels | |||||||||
| ا | ɑ̂/(ɑ̊)[45] | aa | a: | aa | aa | ā | a | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | |
| ɑ̈ | aa | a: | aa | ɑɑ | ā | a | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | ||
| و | û | uu | u: | uu | uu | ū | ou/oo/o | pronounced as /link/ | |
| oo | o: | oo | oo | ō | o | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| ي | y | ii | i: | ii | ii | ī | i/ee | pronounced as /link/ | |
| ee | e: | ee | ee | ē | e/ei/ai | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Short vowels | |||||||||
| ـَ/ا | ɑ/ɑ̈/(e/ɑ̊)[46] | a | a | a | a/ɑ | a | a | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ | |
| ـُ/و | o/u | o/u | u/(o) | o/u | o/u | o/u | o/ou | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | |
| ـِ/ي | i/(e/ü)[47] | i/e | i/(e) | e/i | e/i | e/i | e/i | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ | |
| epenthetic (anaptyctic vowel)[48] | e̊/å/i̊/ů | ĭ/ă/ŭ | a/e/i/o/u | ⁱ/ᵃ/...[49] | i/i̊/u/ů[50] | not written/e | pronounced as /link/~pronounced as /link/ | ||
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 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). It is relatively standardized and, being closer to the standard, it is understood fairly well across the Arab world. 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. جمبرى , pronounced as /[ɡæmˈbæɾi]/ "shrimp", from Italian gamberi, "shrimp" (pl.)) or refer to technological items that find no or poor equivalents in Arabic (e.g. تلفزيون pronounced as /[tel(e)vezˈjoːn, tel(e)fezˈjoːn]/, television). 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 of Egyptian cinema 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, انت 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 حضرتك , meaning "Your Grace" is preferred (compare Spanish usted).
This use of is linked to the system of honorifics in daily Egyptian speech. The honorific taken by a given person is determined by their relationship to the speaker and their occupation.
| Honorific | IPA | Origin/meaning | Usage and notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| سِيَادْتَك/سِيَادْتِك / | pronounced as /[seˈjættæk]/ | Standard Arabic , "Your Lordship" | Persons with a far higher social standing than the speaker, particularly at work. Also applied to high government officials, including the President. Equivalent in practical terms to "Your Excellency" or "The Most Honourable". | |
| سَعَادْتَك | pronounced as /[sæˈʕættæk]/ | Standard Arabic , "Your Happiness" | Government officials and others with significantly higher social standing. Equivalent in governmental contexts "Your Excellency", or "Your Honor" when addressing a judge. | |
| مَعَالِيك | pronounced as /[mæʕæˈliːk]/ | Standard Arabic , "Your Highness" | (Obsolete.) Government ministers. Equivalent in practical terms to "Your Excellency" or "The Right Honourable". | |
| حَجّ/حَجَّة / | pronounced as /[ˈħæɡ(ɡ)]//pronounced as /[ˈħæɡɡæ]/ | Standard Arabic , "pilgrim" | Traditionally, any Muslim who has made the Hajj, or any Christian who has made pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Currently also used as a general term of respect for all elderly. | |
| بَاشَا | pronounced as /[ˈbæːʃæ]/ | Ottoman Turkish pasha | Informal address to a male of equal or lesser social status. Roughly equivalent to "man" or "dude" in informal English speech. | |
| بيه/بك | pronounced as /[beː]/ | Ottoman Turkish bey | Informal address to a male of equal or lesser social status. Essentially equivalent to but less current than . | |
| أَفَنْدِي | pronounced as /[æˈfændi]/ | Ottoman Turkish efendi | Largely archaic address to a well-born male of a less social standard than and ; more commonly used jocularly to social equals or to younger male members of the same family. | |
| هَانِم | pronounced as /[ˈhæːnem]/ | Ottoman Turkish hanım/khanum, "Lady" | Address to a woman of high social standing, or esteemed as such by the speaker. Somewhat archaic. | |
| سِتّ | pronounced as /[ˈset(t)]/ | Standard Arabic sayyida(t) "mistress" | The usual word for "woman". When used as a term of address, it conveys a modicum of respect. | |
| مَدَام | pronounced as /[mæˈdæːm]/ | French madame | Respectful term of address for an older or married woman. | |
| آنِسَة | pronounced as /[ʔæˈnesæ]/ | Standard Arabic , "young lady" | Semi-formal address to an unmarried young woman. | |
| أُسْتَاذ | pronounced as /[ʔosˈtæːz]/ | Standard Arabic , "professor", "gentleman" | Besides actual university professors and schoolteachers, used for experts in certain fields. May also be used as a generic informal reference, as or . | |
| أُوسْطَى/أُسْطَى | pronounced as /[ˈostˤɑ]//pronounced as /[ˈɑstˤɑ]/ | Turkish , "master" | Drivers and also skilled laborers. | |
| رَئِيس | pronounced as /[ˈɾɑjjes]/ | Standard Arabic , "chief" | Skilled laborers. The term predates the use of the same word to mean "president", and traditionally referred to the chief of a village. | |
| بَاش مُهَنْدِس | pronounced as /[bæʃmoˈhændes]/ | Ottoman Turkish baş mühendis, "chief engineer" | Certain types of highly skilled laborers (e.g. electricians and plumbers). | |
| مِعَلِّم | pronounced as /[meˈʕællem]/ | Standard Arabic , "teacher" | Most working class men, particularly semi-skilled and unskilled laborers. | |
| عَمّ | pronounced as /[ˈʕæm(m)]/ | Standard Arabic , "paternal uncle" | 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 like basha. 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 is pronounced as /[ˈʕæmmo]/; pronounced as /[ˈʔonkel]/, from French oncle, may also be used, particularly for uncles unrelated by blood (including spouses of aunts, uncles-in-law, and "honorary" uncles). | |
| دَادَة | pronounced as /[ˈdæːdæ]/ | Turkish dadı, "nanny" | Older female servants or social subordinates with whom the speaker has a close relationship. | |
| أَبِيه | pronounced as /[ʔæˈbeː]/ | Ottoman Turkish abi/ağabey, "elder brother" | Male relatives older than the speaker by about 10–15 years. Upper-class, and somewhat archaic. | |
| أَبْلَة | pronounced as /[ˈʔɑblɑ]/ | Ottoman Turkish abla, "elder sister" | Female relatives older than the speaker by about 10–15 years. |
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.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Egyptian/Masri (Arabic script; spelling not standardised):
الاعلان العالمى لحقوق الانسان, البند الاولانى
البنى ادمين كلهم مولودين حرّين ومتساويين فى الكرامة والحقوق. اتوهبلهم العقل والضمير، والمفروض يعاملو بعضيهم بروح الاخوية.
Franco/Arabic Chat Alphabet (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):
pronounced as //il ʔiʕˈlaːn il ʕaːˈlami li ħˈʔuːʔ il ʔinˈsaːn | il ˈband il ʔawwaˈlaːni/}}
pronounced as //il bani ʔadˈmiːn kulˈluhum mawluˈdiːn ħurˈriːn wi mitsawˈjiːn fil kaˈrˤaːma wil ħuˈʔuːʔ || ʔetwahabˈlohom ilˈʕaʔle we ddˤaˈmiːr wel mafˈruːdˤ jeʕamlo baʕˈdˤiːhom biˈroːħ el ʔaxaˈwejja///
IPA phonemic transcription (for a general demonstration of Egyptian phonology):
pronounced as //el ʔeʕˈlaːn el ʕaːˈlami le ħˈʔuːʔ el ʔenˈsaːn | el ˈband el ʔawwaˈlaːni/}}
pronounced as //el bani ʔadˈmiːn kolˈlohom mawloˈdiːn ħorˈriːn we metsawˈjiːn fel kaˈrˤaːma wel ħoˈʔuːʔ || ʔetwahabˈlohom elˈʕaʔle we ddˤaˈmiːr wel mafˈruːdˤ jeˈʕamlu baʕˈdˤiːhom beˈroːħ el ʔaxaˈwejja///
IPA phonetic transcription morphologically (in fast speech, long vowels are half-long or without distinctive length):
pronounced as /[el ʔeʕˈlæːn el ʕæˈlæmi le ħˈʔuːʔ el ʔenˈsæːn <nowiki>|</nowiki> el ˈbænd el ʔæwwæˈlæːni]}}
pronounced as /[el bæniʔædˈmiːn kolˈlohom mæwlʊˈdiːn ħʊrˈriːn we metsæwˈjiːn fel kɑˈɾɑːmɑ wel ħʊˈʔuːʔ <nowiki>||</nowiki> ʔetwæhæbˈlohom elˈʕæʔle we ddɑˈmiːɾ wel mɑfˈɾuːd jeˈʕæmlu bɑʕˈdiːhom beˈɾoːħ el ʔæxæˈwejjæ]//
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.