Egyptian Arabic: Language of Pharaohs, Cinema, and a Polyglot Queen

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🇪🇬🐪Ever wanted to talk like an Egyptian? Now’s your chance! From pharaohs to the pyramids to a polyglot queen, this language is one you won’t want to miss!

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro
0:26 – What Is Egyptian Arabic?
2:16 – Ancient Egyptian
5:39 – Middle Ages Arabic
6:46 – Plagues and Prohibitions
7:52 – Egyptian Arabic
12:37 – How Egyptian Got Popular
15:35 – But Is It a Language?
15:35 – Modern Dialects
18:54 – Alphabet & Pronunciation
21:19 – Vocabulary & Writing
23:22 – Grammar
24:55 – Talk Like an Egyptian

📜 SOURCES & ATTRIBUTIONS:

🎬 Video Clips:
We Asked Egyptians What They Were Doing!

قصتي عن كيف تعلمت لغة العربية كبريطاني (من السعودية لمصر)

How to introduce yourself in Egyption Arabic in 2 minutes 😎

The Sound of the Ancient Egyptian Language

ABANOB – Ancient Egyptian New Year

Coptic: The Final Ancient Egyptian Language

EGYPTIAN LANGUAGES

CLASSICAL / QURANIC ARABIC LANGUAGE

5 Pharaonic Words Egyptians Use Today

5 Egyptian and Greek Words that are Insanely Similar

10 UNBELIEVABLE Egyptian Arabic Words From Italian

Ehab Tawfik – Tetraga Fya (Official Music Video )

CAIRO STATION

Zahret El Madaen

حسين الجسمي – بشرة خير (فيديو كليب) | Hussain Al Jassmi – Boshret Kheir | 2014

The Sound of the Alexandria Egyptian Arabic dialect

Advice On Learning Egyptian Arabic – Interview With Olly Richards

Learn MSA VS Egyptian Arabic letter pronunciation (a brain twist)

😲😲خمس عجائب مش معروفة في العالم العربي

Egyptian Arabic Genders

English guy speaking Egyptian Arabic after 6 months

Speaking EGYPTIAN ARABIC!

What It's Like To Have an Egyptian Friend

1950s EGYPTIAN FILM INDUSTRY

🖼 Images:
“Papyrus Bodmer VI fol.16” by Bodmer lab, UNIGE is licensed under CC BY-SA4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

“Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema-The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra” by Lawrence Alma-Tadema is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

“Tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, illuminated manuscript of Boccaccio, miniature by the Boucicaut master, 1409 AD (cropped)” by The Boucicaut Master is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

“Fostat-329” by Rappoport, AS is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

“‘About the soap question,’ Salah Jahine political cartoon” is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

“Hieroglyphs from the tomb of Seti I” by Egyptian Scribe is licensed under Free Use via Wikimedia Commons

“A page from the Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1500 B.C. Wellcome M0008455” is licensed under CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

“DemoticScriptsRosettaStoneReplica” by Chris 73 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Jean Antoine
 

  • Olly Richards says:

    Want more Arabic? Check this out! 👉🏼https://youtu.be/ILaeBQsQ-lg

  • sophia isabelle says:

    This is an amazing topic to discuss. We will always support you, Olly. Just know that your insights are well worth listening to.

  • Judah Benj says:

    👍👍👍

  • Tyrone Joshua says:

    Olly makes me want to learn every language in this world

  • PAPAZA TAKLA ATTIRAN İMAM says:

    Arabization of Egyptians is one of the saddest moments in history.

    • Romulus Augustulus says:

      We can’t do anything about historical events though

    • عبدالله says:

      If you asked the Egyptians to choose between speaking the Coptic language or the Arabic language, they would choose Arabic.
      Therefore, your opinion may contradict the opinion of the Egyptians

    • Ayyub Vernon says:

      aaand.. the French invading England changed English, the English invading Ireland changed Gaelic… Tamzight was changed by Arabic, Arabic was changed by French, South America is a mass of lost languages due to Spanish and Portuguese colonization. The British, Dutch and Spanish wiped out all the native American languages AND their people in North America.. It’s a similar story throughout the rest of the World.
      It’s not unique that Arabic came into Egypt – at least it didn’t destroy everything and transplant their culture.
      So I’m not sure what your point is

    • Mohamed El Tawil says:

      لا مافرقش كتير معايا الصراحة بتفرق بس مع جزء من المجتمع المصري بيسمي نفسه أولاد كيميت و حامي التاريخ المصري و في الحقيقة دي حاجات خلصانة من سنين فاتت أنا كل اللي يفرقلي إني إتولدت بتكلم بلهجتي اللي ممكن أعتبرها لغة زيادة غير العربية الفصحى .

    • Mohamed El Tawil says:

      I responded to you in egyptian dialect (my mother tongue)

  • Phil Kneeland says:

    Nice work Olly

  • عبدالله says:

    Hello Olly Richards, and Hello lovers of learning the Arabic language. The language of the Pharaohs is the Coptic language, which has become extinct. I do not advise anyone to learn the Egyptian dialect unless he wants to speak it with his Egyptian friends only, because the Egyptian dialect is far from the standard language and the exits of letters as well. The closest to it is the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, so many go to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, etc. to learn Arabic
    There are distinct curricula for learning Arabic for non-native speakers, so we see many Westerners speak Arabic better than Arabs, even though it is a difficult language.

  • TheRealBrook1968 says:

    Cleopatra Ptolemy would have spoken Greek as her native tongue as she was Macedonian. Her second language was probably Latin and her third language would have been Egyptian (Coptic being the most recent version) which would have been similar to Greek in written and spoken form. One can still go to the Coptic Orthodox churches and hear it spoken.

  • WVW says:

    Hindu-arabic numerals are the best imo. It is the most widely used numeral system.

  • corinna007 says:

    This, Old Norse, and Old English are the old languages that I would like to learn most.

  • Mentok says:

    Hey Olly ever thought about Scottish Gaelic just asking

  • v says:

    You have to do the same with Levantine arabic!

  • Jaime Benito says:

    Pharaohs spoke Ancient Egyptian, not Arabic! Their original language is now practically extinct, as it was replaced with Arabic with the Muslim invasion of Egypt.

  • AMR ismail gad says:

    Well that’s absolutely right I’m living in a village that talks the menya accent and the next village is speaking like Saudi ppl exactly

  • IlletopiaTCG says:

    Amazing video! I love your sources and I’m even subscribed to ilovelanguages and linguamid.

  • Beatriz Mendes says:

    Thank you, Olly! Please cover the Levantine dialect next!

  • Rowan Tharwat says:

    th is not always changed to an S, sometimes it is changed into T. for example te3ban instead of tho3ban (snake)

  • René Saussy says:

    Perfect timing, I was just starting to learn Arabic with Egyptian dialect!

  • Ammar Karakandi says:

    Hey olly would you please make a video about levantine and Syrian accents “I know it’s a small region but their is lots of dialects in here😂”

  • patrick_jane21 says:

    As an Egyptian I am delighted to see the video and the effort behind it ❤
    It is great
    Small thing though, Arabic (both MSA and Egyptian) does not have vowels
    In MSA, all letters are consonant and written in their consonant form, but we add حركات (something like accents) which can change the meaning significantly
    In Egyptian, حركات are not used and words generally have one form
    In both cases, there are no vowels in the English sense

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