format_quote Originally Posted by
Malaak
^jazakallah
brother isقاف pronounced as الف in egyptian arabic?
is egyptian arabic quite different from classical arabic?
Yes sister It is right and this is one of the basic differences between Arabic-Egyptian accent and standard Arabic.
Actually it is said that the Egyptian accent is the softest accent of Arabic in the Arabic world and I agree totally with that...you ask why?
1-If we compare Egyptian accent with other accents we will find out that the Egyptian accent avoid the hard Arabic consonants which requires more efforts from the organs of speech than the other simple consonants!!! that is due to To be sure, Classical/Standard Arabic tends to be more conservative in its vocabulary and grammar, while Egyptian Arabic has been more open to influence by other languages, including Egyptian/Coptic (in the main), Greek, Turkish, Persian, Italian and French.
the following is from the wikipedia encyclopedia:
examples:
Egyptian/Coptic: ادي /ɪdi/ "give"
Italian: جمبري /gam'bari/ "shrimp" (IT gamberi)
Greek: برتقان /burtu'ʔaan/ "orange" (GK πορτοκαλί)
Turkish: أوضة /'ʔooḍɑ/ "room" (TK oda)
French: چیبة /'ʒiiba/ "skirt" (FR jupe)
English: يفاول - فاول /'faawil/ - /yi'faawil/ "to foul (in football)"
[edit] Vowels
The Egyptian Arabic vocalic system has changed relatively little from the Classical system:
4 short vowels: /a/, /i/, /u/ and /ɑ/
6 long vowels: /aː/, /iː/, /uː/, /ɑː/, /eː/ and /oː/ from the former Classical diphthongs */ai/ and */au/
Where Egyptian Arabic differs considerably is in vowel reduction due to changes in syllable shape. The distinction between short and long vowels is still phonemic, but only stressed vowels can remain long. Unstressed long vowels are shortened, and stressed short vowels lengthened.
Long vowels in closed syllables are reduced to their short version:
/ʔaːl/ "he said" + -/li/ "to me" (*/ʔaːlli/) > /ʔalli/ "he said to me"
Short vowels (especially /i/ and /u/), if unstressed in certain situations, are reduced to nothing (i.e. epenthesis):
/fiː/ "in" + /kiˈtaːb/ "a book" > /fi-ktaːb/ "in a book"
Both of these tendencies can work simultaneously:
/ˈsˁɑːħib/ (friend m.) + -/a/ "fem." (*/ˈsˁɑːħiba/) > /ˈsˁɑħbɑ/ (compare with Classical Arabic */sˁɑːħiba/)
[edit] Consonants
The Classical Arabic (CA) letter jīm ج (/dʒ/) denotes /g/ in most Lower Egyptian (i.e. northern) dialects, including the dominant Cairene dialect: e.g. /gabal/ for /dʒabal/ (mountain), /gamiːl/ for /dʒamiːl/ (beautiful), and so forth. To speakers of other varieties of Arabic, the pronunciation of this one sound is considered the quintessential marker of Egyptian Arabic. However, this pronuncation also occurs in certain varieties of Yemeni Arabic, namely the Yafi'i and Adeni dialects. The sound is also attested in ancient Egyptian and is thought to have been the original proto-Semitic pronunciation of the sound - e.g. corresponding to the letter gimel in Hebrew and Aramaic. Some therefore consider the sound in Egyptian Arabic to be a direct retention from ancient Egyptian or proto-Semitic, or it may be a secondary development from a palatal or palatalized /g/ ([ɟ] or [gʲ]), which is the Sa'idi pronunciation of the consonant south of Cairo in the Sa'id, or Upper Egypt.
The letter qāf ق (CA /q/ denotes a glottal stop /ʔ/ in Cairo and the eastern Delta. However, it denotes /q/ in the western Delta outside of Alexandria, and /g/ in Upper Egypt (the Sa'id), i.e. the consonant /g/ is represented by two separate original Arabic letters in Cairene and Sa'idi Arabic.
The letter θāʔ ث (CA /θ/) denotes either /t/ in ordinary words (e.g. tāni "second") or /s/ in classicisms (e.g. sanawiyya "secondary (school)")
The letter ðāl ذ (CA /ð/) denotes /d/ in ordinary words (e.g. danab "tail") or /z/ in classicisms (e.g. /ʔizaːʕa/ "broadcasting")
The letter ð̣āʔ ظ (CA emphatic /ðˤ/) denotes /dˤ/ in ordinary words (e.g. ḍuhr "noon" ) or /zˤ/ in classicisms (e.g. ẓāhira "phenomenon")
Egyptian Arabic maintains in all positions the early post-Classical distinctions between short /i/ and /u/ which become ktāb, jmāl, and xtār in several other dialects.:
kitāb "book"
gumāl "beautiful" (pl.) versus gimāl "camels"
ʔixtār "he chose", which is actually a contextual realization and the i may not phonemically be part of the word.
Negation
One characteristic of Egyptian syntax in which it differs from many other Arabic dialects is in the double negation of verbs: /ma-...-ʃ(i)/
Past: /katab/ "he wrote" /ma-katab-ʃ(i)/ "he didn't write"
Present: /ji-ktib/ "he writes" /ma-ji-ktib-ʃ(i)/ "he doesn't write"
This double negation is similar to French.
(Exception: Future: /ħa-ji-ktib/ "he will write" /miʃ ħa-ji-ktib/ "he won't write")
The double negation surrounds the entire verbal composite including direct and indirect objects:
/ma-katab-hum-liː-ʃ/ "'he didn't write them to me"
Characteristic words and sentences in Egyptian Arabicإزيك - ʔizzayyak? ("How are you [m.]")
إزيك - ʔizzayyik? ("How are you [f.]")
إزيكو - ʔizzayyuku? ("How are you [pl.]")
إيه ده - ʔeeh da? ("What's all this?", "What's the point", "What's this?" - expression of annoyance)
Ex.: (ʔinta) bitʔulluhum ʕalayya kida leeh, ʔeeh da? "Why are you telling them such things about me, what's all this?"
خلاص - xɑlɑɑṣ: several meanings, often adverbial
"Stop it!" Ex.: zihiʔt, xɑlɑɑṣ! "I'm annoyed, stop it!"
"It's over!", "finally, eventually" Ex.: ʔummi kaanit ʕayyaana wi-maatit, xɑlɑɑṣ. "My mother was ill and died finally." [or "...and it's over now."]
"Ok, then!" Ex.: "خلاص، أشوفك بكرة" "xɑlɑɑṣ, ʔaʃuufak bukrɑ" meaning "I'll see you tomorrow then"
خالص - xɑɑliṣ "at all"
maʕandinaʃ ħaaga nakulha xɑɑliṣ "We have nothing at all to eat."
كفاية - kifaaya! ("It's enough!" or "That's enough")
يعني - yaʕni ("that's to say" or "meaning" or "y'know")
As answer to إنت عامل إيه؟ ʔinta ʕaamil ʔeeh? ("How do you do [m.]?") (as an answer: "I am so so" or "half half" = "not perfect"): يعني إيه؟ yaʕni ʔeeh? ("What does that mean?")
إمتى هتخلص يعني؟** ʔimta hatxɑllɑṣ yaʕni? ("When are you finishing exactly, then?)
بقى - baʔa (particle of enforcement --> "just" in imperative clauses and "well,...then?" in questions)
.هاته بقى haatu baʔa! "Just give it to me!"
عمل إيه بقى؟ ʕamal ʔeeh baʔa? "Well, what did he do then?"
Hope it helps and I can give you more and more things regarding Arabic Egyptian If you like.
Peace