Egyptian Arabic

i'm new guy here wanna say hi to every bodyMohamed

Woooowwww,,

There's a lot that has been going on since I was away...

If I may add my personal opinion, the Egyptian dialect is not the standard arabic but it is definetely the most understood dialect of all the arab dialects.

This is not because Egyptian dialect is the easiest, it may not be at all...I personally think it is very complicated..But it is because Egypt took the lead for ages in the Arab media,movie industry and TV shows...that made the Egyptian dialect become the most understood one as it almost reached every house in the entire Arab world.

yes izayak means how are you and all the arabs will understand.

Ayman

safwany is izayak ust an egyptian phrase for how are you or will all arabs understand?

Giasi,

Lolz, you are British but seems you know alot about our accent, where did you learn all that ? can you manage a long conversation as well ?

Looking forword to have a conversation with you :)

Ayman

Super7,

I seems missed alot in this forum :)

I am glad that you start learning our language and accent as well, tell me if you need any help.

hey, why don't you attend one of our next meeting (I think I will cancel the meeting tonight) so you could learn more.

Ayman

Well, ive only heard egyptians say it (or people putting on an egyptian accent).

It can get confusing.... some phrases look completley different.. for example:

Standard arabic...........Egyptian....................English

MADHA HADHA ?.........EEH DAH ?.............WHATS THIS?

MADHA TAAMAL?.........INT AAMIL EEH?.....WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

ATRUKUH...................SEEBUH..................LEAVE HIM (alone)

Im certainly not an expert and im just sharing the difficulties i had. Im sure someone will set me straight :)

Respect

GIASI

On my tape they use teh word Izayak for how are you. I have not heard that before here, is that an Egyptian thing only?

May be you're right Loki, if you "understand" before you can "speak", i can only say, that is very good. I suppose it gets also easier if you already speak several other languages.

For most people it's the opposite, for a very simple reason, and i go back to my example for the Spanish language:

- what you learn it in a classroom, or from tapes or CDs, you get the pure language that is probably only spoken in Spain. But when you travel to Latin America or South America... the way in which they speak it and pronounce it, is a lot different. It is always easy to ask for "directions"... but understanding and getting there in one piece is another story... LOL

It is similar for the Arabic language, as you know there is ONE "written" language and SEVERAL "spoken" languages or (local) dialects which vary greatly from one Arabic country to another.

If your purpose is to master conversation, then you have to concentrate on the dialect of a given country. For full immersion, get married with a local... LOL

If your purpose is to read the printed news and catch the evening news on TV, then an academic approach to learning the "written" language becomes a must.

excellent - good luck with it.

It's strange you have found that, Moudir - my experience is the exact opposite.... (I mean once you are past the beginner, greetings and pleasantries level)... usually comprehension comes before the ability to express yourself clearly.... ie you can understand what someone says, but then when it comes to your making a complete sentence on your own, that is a lot harder...

loki at work

When you're learning a foreign language, the key question is not how fast you can make sentences and be understood in that language, but how can you understand the reply coming from the other person !!!

For starters, it boils down to this: you speak in Arabic ( Ya walad... Ya oustaaz, Ya Bey... Ya Mouhandis, etc) and ask the other person to reply in English... LOL

It is the same if you're trying to learn Spanish and travel to Cuba for example (where people speak the worst Spanish on earth), yes, you will be speaking to them, but no, you will not understand them.

But do not get discouraged, it is a very long process, and you have to be exposed to the language full time at home, at work, on TV and by reading newspapers and most of all, as one of my Spanish teachers used to say; try to understand the lyrics... in songs...!!

Yalla... good luck !

Super7 - where/how will you be learning your Arabic (post-tape)?

Qwerty. I got wind of the hindi influence while trying my elementary arabic on a taxi driver. I was saying sida to direct him (i think that is the one i used (it was late at night ;)) and he said that isn't the proper arabic word it is hindi.

From a mathematical view point can anyone tell me (no guessing now I want a proper mathematician to answer) whether it makes any difference whether the numbers go from right to left or left to right.

If not why doesn't arabic use numbers the same way as it does letters and write from the worng direction (I used wrong to wind you up - joke)

no, you're right! We are using the indian numbers I dunno why!

I myself use the origonal Arabic ones, the English now: 1234567

Super 7 et al,

The majority of Arabic friends that I have describe classical Arabic as Egyptian (in name only) however, Standard Arabic is a modernization of the structure of classical Arabic. Egyptian pronunciation is quite different, for example, when they use the letter J it sounds like G. The name Jamal is spoken as Gamal.

The Arabic spoken here in Qatar is known as Gulf Arabic or Khaleejee; it is interspersed with a number of Hind (Indian) words.

If anybody believes that I am wrong, then please correct me.

Just a clarification on that " Queens English" we were talkin about for those that may be confused. It means its spoken by the Queen and in no way or form does it relate to the sexual preferences of the speaker.

Just thought id clear that up for u super... there may be americans out there.

Respect

GIASI

I speak QE.

Received pronunciation in fact. A lot of debate about that at home

Aisha is right. Its a bit like Queens English. Apart from lizzy and her clan and a few news readers, noone really speaks it. However, classical Arabic is Quranic Arabic and understood by all arabs. If you have ever heard a gulf arab bedouin trying to communicate with an algerian you will understand my drift. :)

Respect

GIASI

An interesting concept. Did you know that a french academic transliterated the Vietnamese language in the early 20th century into the Roman alphabet (with different accents etc). The reason it was done was that most of the country was illiterate at that time and the vietnamese script was very complex and only really used by priests etc.

Now in Vietnam the romanised script is all they use.

I just got to thinking about it because of the way you are all writing arabic in roman.

right :-)

Welll,at streets no one uses the classical, though its clearly understood by everyone.And it's the best foundation for learners.

Aisha I meant "ya ustez" meant sir. I have learnt that you use "ya" when talking directly to someone so you have "ya madam" or "ya nisr" for maam or miss.

Giasi so what is the source of classical arabic? If Qatari, UAE, Egyptian arabic is not good for beginners who talks the classical kind?

Lilipink... i was being sarcastic... :)

But you have to concede that it is a strong dialect which really shouldnt be taught to non-arab speakers. most egyptians ive met dont pronounce the GHAF sound and the DHAL sound is pronounced like a Z.

In much the same way, qatari arabic shouldnt be taught, or UAE arabic or Tunisian arabic etc....

Respect

GIASI

Awesome. Cheers Aisha

innak=that you

lol , ya walad is like : , You Boy!

It's kinda slang but it's a compliment, it's like : you cool boy! Or Boy You Rock!

And yes, Walla is really..

Ya doesnt mean sir, its like O, when apostrophe.But it's ,unlike English, used a lot in Arabic.

Gameel Awi ya super :-) Ana Mabsoota innak sa'alt :-) Ashkorak ala zekr ismi :-)

very beautuful super :-) I'm happy you asked :-) I thank you for mentioning my name.

The same order :-)

( I ment what you said is beautifull ;-) )

Super 7,

Despite 800 years of paceful occupation, Spanish is very much a latin tongue so I find French or italian to be much more similar to Spanish. Arabic has very little in common with spanish.

You see ,the Moorish occupation in Spain was really very paceful and the spaniards were not forced to adopt the language or religion. Of course given the cultural superiority of the arabs at the time, they introduced lots of new things in politics, art, agriculture etc. and the spanish borrowed the arabic terms (words). So many spanish words are actually arab such as Alcalde (politics) Algodon (textile, cotton) or Alfombra (carpet)

The sounds of spanish might vaguely remind to arabic sounds. Other than that, they are two completely different languages.

I don't know what Ya walad means.

Does it mean "really?" I thought that was wallah

Ya is what you say when speaking directly to someone (Ya ustez meaning sir I think)

Awi means very

Ana means I

Rest of words I don't know yet

It`s great u want to learn Arabic super7....the guys had good points....most of the Arab world understands Egyptian Arabic because we have the oldest media in the Arab world .....but i have to ask GIASI....(as an Egyptian)...who the h--- speaks like that. What CHARACTERS say in movies or TV series does not represent how most Egyptians talk......it`s just the character talking....It is extremely common though for non Egyptians to stereo type us....lili.

Thanks guys. I got the tape free but it seems like it won't be a disaster if I keep doing it. Proper (classical) arabic lessons are coming soon anyway.

Aisha - spoken first. Written later I think!

Super7.. Egyptian arabic is a bit like say an irish accent :) Most people in england will understand it (thanks to terry wogan and the like) but its not how you should start unless ur thinking of moving to egypt. Plus, being english, people would most expect you to have a classical arabic (neutral) accent. An arab talking to you would be very amused if you suddenly came out with

azzayak ya sa3adat al basha :)

Plus, the egyptian dialect mispronounces some letters so thats not good for a beginner.

whatever you decide. i admire that youre doing what thousands of expats never do after decades here.

Good luck

Respect

GIASI

Ya walad! :-)

Welll, It's better if you learn the standard Arabic.But If you want the Egyptian Arabic it will be the best accent because everybody understand it , thanks to tv :-) ( You want to use the spoken only?,because you wont understand the written or the tv news because they are mostly in standard)

hummm,yes it IS different but I guarantee you that people from the Gulf will understand it.

Gameel Awi ya super :-) Ana Mabsoota innak sa'alt :-) Ashkorak ala zekr ismi :-)