Egyptian Arabic

"Masri" redirects here. For other uses, see Masri (disambiguation).
Egyptian Arabic
مصرى (Masri)
Pronunciation[ˈmɑsˤɾi]
Native toEgypt
EthnicityEgyptians
SpeakersL1: 78 million (2021)[1]
L2: 25 million (2022)[2]
Dialects
Arabic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3arz
Glottologegyp1253
IETFar-EG
Areas where Egyptian Arabic is spoken (in dark blue those areas where it is the most widely spoken).
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Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian (Arabic: العاميه المصريه)[3][4][5] [el.ʕæmˈmejjæ l.mɑsˤˈɾejjɑ]), or simply Masri (also Masry, lit. 'Egyptian') (مَصري),[6][7] is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic variety in Egypt.[8][9] 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.[10][11][12][13][14]

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.[15] Egyptian Arabic's phonetics, grammatical structure, and vocabulary are influenced by the Coptic language;[16][17][18] its rich vocabulary is also influenced by Turkish and by European languages such as French, Italian, Greek,[19] and English.

  1. ^ Egyptian Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Egyptian Arabic at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  3. ^ سبيرو (1999). قاموس اللهجة العامية المصرية، عربي – إنكليزي (in Arabic). مكتبة لبنان ناشرون. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  4. ^ تتويج رواية مكتوبة بالعامية.. طيف طه حسين ومستقبل الثقافة بمصر. www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  5. ^ Musa, Heba (15 November 2016). طه حسين..عشق الفصحى وكره العامية ودعى لتفهم التوارة والإنجيل والقرآن. بوابة اخبار اليوم. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  6. ^ "Different Arabic Dialects Spoken Around the Arab World". April 15, 2018. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  7. ^ "Disney returns to using Egyptian dialect in dubbing movies". Enterprise. Archived from the original on 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  8. ^ "Languages Spoken In Egypt". WorldAtlas. 25 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  9. ^ Ondras, Frantisek (2005-04-26). Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Czech Institute of Egyptology. ISBN 9788086277363. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  10. ^ Dick, Marlin. "TBS 15 The State of the Musalsal: Arab Television Drama and Comedy and the Politics of the Satellite Era by Marlin Dick". Arab Media & Society. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  11. ^ Mahmoud Gaafar, Jane Wightwick (2014).Colloquial Arabic of Egypt: The Complete Course for Beginners.
  12. ^ Ostergren, Robert C.; Bossé, Mathias Le (2011-06-15). The Europeans, Second Edition: A Geography of People, Culture, and Environment. Guilford Press. ISBN 978-1-60918-244-1. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  13. ^ Richardson, Dan (2007-08-02). The Rough Guide to Egypt. Rough Guides UK. ISBN 978-1-84836-798-2. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  14. ^ Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). Culture and Customs of Egypt. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-313-31740-8. egyptian arabic influence.
  15. ^ تعلم العربية| جامعة الأزهر | بوابة التعليم الالكتروني والتعليم عن بعد | e-Learning Al-Azhar University | Learn Arabic. tafl.live. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  16. ^ Bishai 1962.
  17. ^ لاف الكلمات القبطية في أحاديث المصريين اليومية, 18 February 2017, archived from the original on 30 October 2022, retrieved 30 October 2022, ليس أثر القبطية في العامية في مصر مجرد تبادل مصطلحات، أو كلمات دخلت القاموس العربي كما دخلت كلمة "تلفزيون"، إنما تأثرت بها من حيث نطق الحروف وبنية الجملة وتركيبها – الدكتور لؤي محمود سعيد
  18. ^ "البابا تواضروس: العامية المصرية ما زالت متأثرة باللغة القبطية", masrawy.com, archived from the original on 2022-10-21, retrieved 2022-10-21
  19. ^ 13 لغة أجنبية تشكل العامية المصرية [13 foreign languages within the Egyptian Arabic dialect]. رصيف 22. May 31, 2017. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2019.