Egyptian Arabic
L. van der Zijden-Holstvoogd en B. Gianuzzi
1. Language description
Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by over 422 million people. Standard Arabic is the official language
in most Arabian countries. This is the language that is taught in schools and used by officials.
Egyptian children grow up with a (primarily only spoken) dialect of standard Arabic. Because of the size
of the country, there are even more variants within this dialect. The differences between the northern
and southern dialects can be quite serious.
The Egyptian dialect is understood by many people due to the great influence of Egyptian television
and film in the Arabic world.
Consonant system
Tabel 1
Consonant system Egyptian Arabic
Coronal Dorsal
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolir Palaaal Velar Uvular Pharyneaal Glottal
plosive p1 b t d k g₃ q2 ʔ
emphatic ṯ ḏ
nasals m n
trill r
fricatives f v1 s z ʃ (ʒ) 1 x χᴚ Ћ ʕ h
emphatic sˁ zˁ
liquids l
Semi j w
vowels
1 InEgyptian Arabic, these sounds only occur in loan words.
2 The q is very rare in Egyptian Arabic (as opposed to Moroccan Arabic). The sound is pronounced as a glottal stop in the
north and as a /g/ in the south; The sound is only pronounced as a /q/ in Standard Arabic (formal language).
3 The /g/ is pronounced as /dʒ/ in the south.
The emphatic sounds are separate phonemes, but the difference with the non-emphatic variants is
difficult to hear. Apparently, the difference can mainly be heard between the vowels before and after
the emphatic consonant. Because assessing vowels is not an objective of Speakaboo, the emphatic
consonants have been left out of the test. The /p/,/v/,/ʒ/, and /q/ also do not occur in the test due to
their low frequency in the language.
Syllable structure
Contrary to Moroccan Arabic, word-initial clusters are rare in Egyptian Arabic. Words preferably start
with a single consonant, and not with a vocal. To a non-native speaker, it may seem that a word starts
with a vocal, but it is more likely that the vocal is preceded by a /ʔ/ (glottal stop).
Final clusters of up to 2 consonants are very common and are therefore acquired early.
Stress
Stress is usually on the final syllable, if this is a CVC syllable. If not, then stress is on the penultimate
syllable.
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2. Phonological development
The consulted literature (Saleh et al. (2007) and Ammar et al. (2006) is ambiguous about the order of
acquisition of consonants in Egyptian Arabic.
The main difference between the studies of Saleh et al. (2007) and Ammar et al. (2006) concerns the
acquisition of the [b] and [d]. It is unlikely that these sounds, which are widespread in the languages
of the world and are not articulatorily complex, would be acquired only after the 4 th year, which is
suggested in the study by Ammar et al. (2006). However, for emphatic sounds, it is known that they
are acquired late and are only fully mastered by the 8th year. Based on the comparison with Dutch,
Blumenthal, et al. (2016) provide the most likely acquisition order.
Table 2
Most likely acquisition order of consonants in Egyptian Arabic
age phonemes
< 2;6 b, t, d, m, n, ʔ
2;6 – 3;6 k, f, ʃ, h, s, l, w, z, g
2;6-4 ħ, χ, j
>4 r, g, ʁ, ʕ
3. Common phonological processes
Devoicing
/r/ deviation
Sibilant deviation
Cluster reduction
Syllable reduction
Omitting emphatic pronunciation
4. Lexical variation
No data available.
5. Performance of normally developing Egyptian toddlers
No data available.
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6. Sources
Amayreh, M.M. (2003). Completion of the Consonant Inventory of Arabic, Journal of speech,
Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 46, p. 517-529 (Jordanië).
Abou-Elsaad, T., Baz, Hemmat, El-Banna, M. (2009). Developing an Articulation Test for Arabic-
Speaking School-Age Children, Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 61: 275-282.
Ammar, W., Morsi, R. (2006). Phonological Development and Disorders: Colloquial Egyptian Arabic, in
Z. Hua and B. Dodd (Eds.) Phonological development and disorders in children: A multilingual
perspective (pp. 216-232). Clevedon, UK :Multilingual Matters.
Badry, F. (2009). Milestones in Arabic Language Development. Encyclopedia of Language and Literacy
Development, p. 1-7, London, ON: Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network.
Blumenthal, M. Giannuzzi, B., Holstvoogd, L., Ruiter, E. de, Bos, P. (2016). Development of a screening
tool for speech production skills in two Arabic dialects for multilingual children in the
Netherlands.
Omar, M. K., & Nydell, M. K. (2007). The acquisition of Egyptian Arabic as a native language.
Georgetown University Press.
Saleh, M. Shoeib, R., Hegazi, M. Ali, P. (2007). Early Phonological Development in Arabic Egyptian
Children: 12-30 Months, Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 58: 234-240.
Wiig, E. El-Halees, Y. (2000). Developing a Language Screening Test for Arabic-Speaking Children.
Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 52:260-274 (Jordanië en Palestina).
© Kentalis, 20-11-17, Sint Michielsgestel
