Egyptian Arabic A1, Unit 1: Egyptian and Modern Standard Arabic

Egyptian and Modern Standard Arabic

Egyptian Arabic A1 · Unit 1

GoalUnderstand the two kinds of Arabic, know which one this course teaches, and see which way Arabic is written.

New words

مِصْر (miṣr) · Egyptإِزَّيَّك (izzayyak) · how are you? (to a man)أَيْوَه (aywa) · yesإِيه (ēh) · what?دِلْوَقْتِي (dilwaʾti) · nowيَلَّا (yalla) · come on, let's go

Explanation

Arabic has two main forms. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the written language of books, news and speeches. Egyptian Arabic is the spoken language of Cairo: people use it at home, in the street, in films and in songs. This course teaches Egyptian, written in the same Arabic script that MSA uses. Arabic is written from right to left, so your eyes start at the right side of the page. Numbers are the exception: they run from left to right. If you also study MSA, many words look familiar, but some sounds and words change.

English	Egyptian (this course)	Standard (MSA)
now	دِلْوَقْتِي	الْآن
what?	إِيه	مَاذَا
yes	أَيْوَه	نَعَم
how are you? (to a man)	إِزَّيَّك	كَيْفَ حَالُكَ

Worked examples

Press each card to hear Egyptian words. Every word starts at the right and ends at the left.

Same meaning, two kinds of Arabic. Press both and listen: yes in Egyptian, yes in standard Arabic.

مِmi+صْṣ+رr

Read the word مِصْر from the right: first م, then ص, then ر.

Class activity

Say the six words aloud three times. Point at each word with your finger and move from right to left. Then find one place where you can hear Egyptian Arabic (a film, a song, a friend) and listen for one minute. Try to catch the word يَلَّا.

Practice

Which way do you read Arabic?

This picture shows a TV series from Cairo. Which kind of Arabic do the actors usually speak?

This picture shows a newspaper. Which kind of Arabic is it mostly written in: Egyptian or MSA?

Listen. Do you hear tamām (OK) or yalla (come on)?

Which word means “yes” in Egyptian: أَيْوَه or نَعَم?

Welcome to Egyptian Arabic

Egyptian and Modern Standard Arabic