Egyptian Arabic

Discover the language

Egyptian Arabic, the dialect spoken in Egypt, is a variety of the Arabic language distinguished from other Arabic dialects by certain linguistic, historical and cultural specificities. Geographically limited to Egypt, it is nevertheless the most widely spoken dialect in the Arab world, with around 100 million Egyptian speakers. Its spread in the 20th century through audio-visual productions (films, songs, broadcasts...) made it easily understandable for most Arab speakers. The profusion in recent years of literary writings in Egyptian dialect, characterized by their local dimension, has enabled researchers, particularly sociologists and anthropologists, to gain an insight into the workings of Egyptian society and the particularities of its users. The frequent use of dialect in the oral discourse of Egyptians at both colloquial and professional levels, and its codic alternation (code switching) with literal Arabic, a very frequent phenomenon in Egyptian speech, merit particular attention both at the level of its learning and its teaching.