What is Egyptian Arabic? Facts and aspects
Making it to this article means you’ve passed beyond common knowledge about Arabic. Unlike common belief, Arabic isn’t just one dialect that all Arabs speak. Just like any other language, Arabic has many dialects and accents.
Many people spend 2 to 3 years studying standard Arabic and end up being shocked when they find out that no one speaks that way in Arab countries. Now when it comes to the language spoken in Egypt, it’s basically the Egyptian accent or dialect of Arabic and within Egypt itself there are different accents depending on the region. Southern Egyptian (sa3eedy صعيدي) sound a lot different than the Cairo Accent.
Who understands Egyptian Arabic?
The good news is all Arab countries understand Egyptian Arabic well. Since, it’s very popular amongst the middle east. Egypt is well known for its movies and TV series. To the point where any actors or singer who are from other Arab countries strive for an opportunity in Egypt where if successful would mean a huge leap in their career.
Some differences between Egyptian Arabic and Standard Arabic (MSA)
MSA VS EGP differences video: https://youtu.be/cezMUn3AEK4
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Letter Pronunciation
| Letter | MSA | EGP |
| ث | Th | S,T |
| ج | J | G |
| ذ | Th (that) | Z |
| ظ | Th (deep) | Z (deep) |
| ق | Q | 2 (glottal stop) |
2 – Questions words
| Question words | MSA | Egp |
| What | ماذا maza | إيه eh |
| Where | اين ayna | فين feen |
| Why | لماذا lmaza | ليه leh |
| How | كيف kayf | إزاي ezzay |
MSA is mostly used in formal settings such as the news, official documents and international interpretations. Therefore, most Egyptian wouldn’t speak in that manner with their friends and family.
Which dialect to learn and why?
Before answering this question, a target needs to be established. Why are you learning Arabic? Based on my experience as a teacher, over 90% of people learning Egyptian Arabic are learning for personal relationships. It’s either having Egyptian parents who immigrated and haven’t really taught their kids the language or someone who’s in a relationship with an Egyptian and would like to learn to be able to communicate with the family and enjoy Egypt of course.
So if you’re in contact with or are going to be in contact with Egyptians in any way shape or form then you need to learn Egyptian Arabic to be able to understand Egyptians better. Make no mistake Egyptians can understand MSA well without any problems. Depending on their level of education but the problem will be understanding Egyptians since it’s a lot different than MSA as demonstrated above.
However, if your goals are professional. Such as becoming a translator, interpreter, consulate work and so on. Then MSA will be a better choice since you’ll be dealing more with official documents and situations more often.
How to learn Egyptian Arabic?
https://egyptianmimo.com/courses/introduction-to-egyptian-arabic/ introduction to Egyptian Arabic course gives a brief introduction into the world of Egyptian Arabic and how to communicate as quickly as possible. In just about 2 hours you should be able to communicate with Egyptians right away. There are also other courses that help with communication and Arabic writing as well.
Once the basics are covered and there’s a strong grasp of the foundation. It’s time to jump onto more in depth courses on how to form longer and more meaningful sentences. Such as describing your day, work and plans. Talking about the past, the present and future. And lots more.
Other sources to learning Egyptian Arabic:
- LearnEgyptianarabic with mimo Instagram page
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnKn_OpBA2c1qBWEBr_e-qg
- Egyptian Podcast on spotify for listening practice.
- https://egyptianmimo.com/ Egyptian Arabic website
Some useful Egyptian Arabic expressions
| عربي | Transliteration | English |
| السلام عليكم | Assalamu alaykom | peace be upon you |
| أنا اسمي ……. | Ana esme ……….. | my name is …………. |
| أنا عندي ………… سنة | Ana 3andy ………… | I am …… years old |
| أنا من ……. | Ana min ….. | I am from …… |
| فرصة سعيدة | Forsa sa3eeda | Nice to meet you |
3 = ع
| عربي | Transliteration | English |
| إزيك ؟ | Ezzayyak? (to male)
Ezzayyik? (To female) |
How are you? |
| اسمك إيه؟ | Esmak eh? (To male)
Esmik eh? (To female) |
What is your name? |
| إنت عندك كام سنة؟
إنتي عندك كام سنة؟ |
Enta 3andak kam sana? (To male) enty 3andik kam sana? (To female) |
How old are you? |
| إنت منين؟ إنتي منين؟ |
Enta mneen? (to male)
Enty mneen? (To female) |
Where are you from? |
| إنت بتشتغل إيه؟ إنتي بتشتغلي إيه؟ |
Enta beteshta8al eh? (To male) Enty beteshta8aly eh? (To female) |
What do you do? what is your work? |
8 = غ
