Egyptian Arabic

Egyptians generally call their vernacular "Arabic" (عربى, [ˈʕɑrɑbi]) when juxtaposed with non-Arabic languages; "Colloquial Egyptian" (العاميه المصريه, [el.ʕæmˈmejjæ l.mɑsˤˈɾejjɑ])^{[note B]} or simply "Aamiyya" (عامية, colloquial) when juxtaposed with Standard Arabic and the Egyptian dialect (اللهجه المصريه, [elˈlæhɡæ l.mɑsˤˈɾejjɑ])^{[note C]} or simply Masri (مَصري, [ˈmɑsˤɾi], Egyptian) when juxtaposed with other vernacular Arabic dialects.[19] Sometimes it is also called Modern Egyptian language[20] (اللغه المصريه الحديثه,[20] Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [elˈloɣæ l.mɑsˤˈɾejjɑ l.ħæˈdiːsæ]).^{[note A]}

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 Maṣr, 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.[21]

Among the spoken varieties of Arabic, Standard Egyptian Arabic[22] (based on the dialect of the Egyptian capital) is the only one to have become a lingua franca in other parts of the Arabic-speaking world primarily for two reasons:[23][24] 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.

Standard Egyptian Arabic, when used in documents, broadcast media, prepared speeches and sometimes in liturgical purpose, is heavily influenced by Cairene Arabic with loanwords of Modern Standard Arabic origin or code-switching between Cairene Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic.[25]

Arabic was spoken in parts of Egypt such as the Eastern Desert and Sinai before Islam.[26] 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 Dafʿ al-ʾiṣr ʿan kalām ahl Miṣr [27](دفع الإصر عن كلام أهل مصر, "The Removal of the Burden from the Language of the People of Cairo") by Yusuf al-Maghribi (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.

Egyptian Arabic has no official status and is not officially recognized as a language (even though it has its own ISO language code). Standard Arabic is the official language of the state as per constitutional law with the name اللغة العربية al-luġa al-ʿarabiyyah, lit. "Arabic language".[28] 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" (تمصير, tamṣīr) by abandoning the so-called Modern Standard Arabic in favor of Masri or Egyptian Arabic.[29]

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.[30] 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.[29]

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%.[31]

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 abstand grounds, are united by a common 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.[32]

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, romanized: Fatāt Miṣr; first published in Al-Muqtataf 1905–1906), and Mohammed Hussein Heikal's Zaynab (1914).[33]

Early stage plays written in Egyptian Arabic were translated from or influenced by European playwrights. Muhammad 'Uthman Jalal translated plays by Molière, Racine and 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.[34] 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.[35] 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[36] or ca. 1952) and Al-Muzayyifun (Arabic: المزيفون, romanized: Al-Muzayyifūn, lit. 'The Forgers', ca. 1953).[37]

The writers of stage plays in Egyptian Arabic after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 include No'man Ashour, Alfred Farag, Saad Eddin Wahba, Rashad Roushdy, and Yusuf Idris.[36] Thereafter the use of colloquial Egyptian Arabic in theater is stable and common.[38] Later writers of plays in colloquial Egyptian include Ali Salem, and Naguib Surur.[36]

Novels in Egyptian Arabic after the 1940s and before the 1990s are rare. There are by Mustafa Musharrafah Qantarah Alladhi Kafar (Arabic: قنطرة الذي كفر, romanized: Qanṭarah Alladhī Kafar, lit. 'Qantara Who Disbelieved', Cairo, 1965) and Uthman Sabri's (Arabic: عثمان صبري, romanized: ʻUthmān Ṣabrī; 1896–1986) Journey on the Nile (Egyptian Arabic: رحلة في النيل, romanized: Riḥlah fī il-Nīl, 1965)[39] (and his Bet Sirri (بيت سري, Bēt Sirri, 'A Brothel', 1981) that apparently uses a mix of Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic[40]).

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, 'The Milk of the Bird'; 1994),[41] Baha' Awwad's (Arabic: بهاء عواد, romanized: Bahāʾ ʿAwwād) Shams il-Asil (شمس الاصيل, Shams il-ʿAṣīl, 'Late Afternoon Sun'; 1998), Safa Abdel Al Moneim's Min Halawit il-Ruh (من حلاوة الروح, Min Ḥalāwit il-Rōḥ, 'Zest for Life', 1998), Samih Faraj's (Arabic: سامح فرج, romanized: Sāmiḥ Faraj) Banhuf Ishtirasa (بانهوف اشتراسا, Bānhūf Ishtirāsā, 'Bahnhof Strasse', 1999); autobiographies include the one by Ahmed Fouad Negm, by Mohammed Naser Ali Ula Awwil (اولى أول, Ūlá Awwil, 'First Class Primary School'), and Fathia al-Assal's Hudn il-Umr (حضن العمر, Ḥuḍn il-ʿUmr, 'The Embrace of a Lifetime').[42][43]

The epistolary novel Jawabat Haraji il-Gutt (Sa'idi Arabic: جوابات حراجى القط, romanized: Jawābāt Ḥarājī il-Guṭṭ, lit. 'Letters of Haraji the Cat', 2001) by Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi is exceptional in its use of Saʽidi Arabic.[42]

21th-century journals publishing in Egyptian Arabic include Bārti (from at least 2002), the weekly magazine Idhak lil-Dunya (اضحك للدنيا, Iḍḥak lil-Dunyā, 'Smile for the World', from 2005),[44][45] and the monthly magazine Ihna (احنا, Iḥna, 'We', from 2005).[46]

Sa'īdi Arabic is a different variety than Egyptian Arabic in Ethnologue.com and ISO 639-3 and in other sources,[47] and the two varieties have limited mutual intelligibility. It carries little prestige nationally but continues to be widely spoken, with 19,000,000 speakers.[48]

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 baḥarwa ([bɑˈħɑɾwɑ]) and those of the south ṣaʿayda ([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.[49]

The Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic variety[50] of the western desert differs from all other Arabic varieties in Egypt in that it linguistically is part of Maghrebi Arabic.[51] Northwest Arabian Arabic is also distinct from Egyptian Arabic.[52]

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 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 قرأَ عادل الكتاب Qaraʾa ʿĀdilu l-kitāb IPA: [ˈqɑɾɑʔɑ ˈʕæːdel ol keˈtæːb] whereas EA would say عادل قرا الكتاب ʕādil ʔara l-kitāb IPA: [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 "هذان الأستاذان السوريان يمشيان إلى الجامعة" Haḏān al-ʾustāḏān as-Sūriyyān yamšiyān ʾilā l-ǧāmiʿah IPA: [hæːˈzæːn æl ʔostæːˈzæːn as suːrejˈjæːn jæmʃeˈjæːn ˈʔelæ lɡæːˈmeʕæ], which becomes in EA "الأستاذين السوريين دول بيمشو للجامعة" il-ʔustazēn il-Suriyyīn dōl biyimʃu lil-gamʕa, IPA: [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.

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,[58][59][60] 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.

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).[91] 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.[91] 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 gambari, [ɡæmˈbæɾi] "shrimp", from Italian gamberi, "shrimp" (pl.)) or refer to technological items that find no or poor equivalents in Arabic (e.g. تلفزيون tel(e)vezyōn/tel(e)fezyōn [tel(e)vezˈjoːn, tel(e)fezˈjoːn], television).[91] 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.[91]

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 ḥaḍretak/ḥaḍretek, meaning "Your Grace" is preferred (compare Spanish usted).

This use of ḥaḍretak/ḥaḍretek 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.

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):

/il ʔiʕˈlaːn il ʕaːˈlami li ħˈʔuːʔ il ʔinˈsaːn | il ˈband il ʔawwaˈlaːni/
/il bani ʔadˈmiːn kulˈluhum mawluˈdiːn ħurˈriːn wi mitsawˈjiːn fik kaˈrˤaːma wil ħuˈʔuːʔ || ʔetwahabˈlohom ilˈʕaʔle we ddˤaˈmiːr wel mafˈruːdˤ jeʕamlo baʕˈdˤiːhom biˈroːħ el ʔaxaˈwejja/

IPA phonemic transcription (for a general demonstration of Egyptian phonology):

/el ʔeʕˈlaːn el ʕaːˈlami le ħˈʔuːʔ el ʔenˈsaːn | el ˈband el ʔawwaˈlaːni/
/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):

[el ʔeʕˈlæːn el ʕæˈlæmi le ħˈʔuːʔ el ʔenˈsæːn | el ˈbænd el ʔæwwæˈlæːni]
[el bæniʔædˈmiːn kolˈlohom mæwlʊˈdiːn ħʊrˈriːn we metsæwˈjiːn fel kɑˈɾɑːmɑ wel ħʊˈʔuːʔ || ʔetwæhæbˈlohom elˈʕæʔle we ddɑˈmiːɾ wel mɑfˈɾuːd jeˈʕæmlu bɑʕˈdiːhom beˈɾoːħ el ʔæxæˈwejjæ]

A suggested alphabet:[92]

El-Eɛlan el-Ɛalami le Ḥoquq el-Ensan, el-band el-awwalani:

El-baniʔadmin kollohom mawludin ḥorrin we metsawjin fek-karama wel-ḥoquq. Etwahablohom el-ɛaql weḍ-ḍamir, wel-mafruḍ jeɛamlo baɛḍihom be roḥ el-acawejja.

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.

• إزيك [ezˈzæjjæk] ("How are you [m.]")
• إزيك [ezˈzæjjek] ("How are you [f.]")
• إزيكو [ezzæjˈjoko] ("How are you [pl.]")
• ايه ده [ˈʔeː ˈdæ] ("What's all this?", "What's the point", "What's this?" – expression of annoyance)
  • Ex.: انت بتقوللهم عليا كده ليه, ايه ده؟ [entæ betʔolˈlohom ʕæˈlæjjæ ˈkedæ ˈleː ˈʔeː dæ] ("Why are you telling them such things about me, what's all this?")
• خلاص [xɑˈlɑːsˤ]: several meanings, though its main meaning is "enough", often adverbial
  • "Stop it!" Ex.: زهقت, خلاص [zeˈheʔte xɑˈlɑːsˤ] ("I'm annoyed, stop it!")
  • "It's over!", "finally, eventually" مامتى كانت عيانه و ماتت, خلاص Ex.: [ˈmɑmti kæːnet ʕajˈjæːnæ wˈmæːtet xɑˈlɑːsˤ]| ("My mother was ill and died finally." [or "...and it's over now"])
  • "Ok, then!" Ex.: خلاص, أشوفك بكرا [xɑˈlɑːsˤ ʔæˈʃuːfæk ˈbokɾɑ] ("I'll see you tomorrow then")
• خالص [ˈxɑːlesˤ] ("at all")
  • ماعندناش حاجه نقولها خالص [mæʕændeˈnæːʃ ˈħæːɡæ nˈʔolhæ ˈxɑːlesˤ] ("We have nothing at all to say")
• كفاية [keˈfæːjæ] ("It's enough!" or "That's enough")
• يعنى [ˈjæʕni] ("that's to say" or "meaning" or "y'know")
  • As answer to انت عامل إيه؟ [entæ ˈʕæːmel ˈ(ʔ)eː] ("How do you do [m.]?") (as an answer: مش أد كده [meʃ ˈʔædde ˈkedæ] "I am so so" or نص نص [ˈnosˤse ˈnosˤ] "half half" = مش تمام [meʃ tæˈmæːm] "not perfect")
  • يعنى ايه؟ [jæʕni ˈʔeː] ("What does that mean?")
  • امتى هتخلص يعنى؟ [ˈemtæ hɑtˈxɑllɑsˤ ˈjæʕni] ("When are you finishing exactly, then?)
• بقى [ˈbæʔæ] (particle of enforcement → "just" in imperative clauses and "well,...then?" in questions)
  • هاته بقى [ˈhæːto ˈbæʔæ] ("Just give it to me!)" عمل ايه بقى؟ [ˈʕæmæl ˈ(ʔ)eː ˈbæʔæ] or  [ˈʕæmæl ˈ(ʔ)eː ˈbæʔæ] ("Well, what did he do then?")

• Arabic language
• Bayoumi Andil
• Classical Arabic
• Coptic language
• Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia
• Egyptian language
• Futuh or early Muslim military expansions
• Modern Standard Arabic
• UCLA Language Materials Project
• Varieties of Arabic

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Egyptian Arabic edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Egyptian Arabic.

Look up Appendix:Egyptian Arabic Swadesh list in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "An Arabist's Guide to Egyptian Colloquial" by Daniel Pipes (Archive)
• Lisaan Masry Egyptian Arabic Dictionary
• Coptic Words in Egyptian Arabic (in Arabic)
• Description of Egyptian Arabic from UCLA's Language Materials Project Archived 2006-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
• A review on the book Present Culture in Egypt (in Arabic)