Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
Arabic variety of Western Egypt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, also known as Sahil Maryut Bedouin Arabic,[4][5] is a group of Bedouin Arabic dialects spoken in Western Egypt along the Mediterranean coast, west to the Egypt–Libya border.[6][7] Ethnologue and Glottolog classify Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic as a Libyan Arabic dialect.[8][9]
-
Semitic
- West Semitic
- Central Semitic
- Arabic
- Maghrebi Arabic
- Libyan Arabic[2]
- Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
- Libyan Arabic[2]
- Maghrebi Arabic
- Arabic
- Central Semitic
- West Semitic
| Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Sahil Maryut Bedouin Arabic Sulaimitian Arabic | |
| Native to | Egypt |
| Region | Alexandria, Beheira, Matrouh, Beni Suef, Cairo, Egypt–Libya border |
| Speakers | 1 million (2022)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Arabic alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ayl included in Libyan Arabic [ayl][3] |
| Glottolog | west2774 |
This variety is spoken by the Awlad Ali tribe,[10][11] who settled in the edges of Lake Maryut and west of Bihera beginning in the 17th century from the region of Jebel Akhdar (Libya).[12] It is also spoken in Wadi El Natrun.[13] Their dialect is phonologically, morphophonemically and morphologically closer to the Peninsular Bedouin dialects than to the adjacent Egyptian dialects.[14] Egyptian Arabic speakers from other parts of Egypt do not understand the Awlad Ali dialect.[15]
Western Bedouin dialects influenced the dialects of southern Upper Egypt between Asyut and Idfu, and those of the Bahariyya Oasis and Bihera.[12]
Classification
The dialects spoken in Matruh province as well as in eastern Libya have been traditionally classified as belonging to the Sulaymi Bedouin dialects, characterized by a /g/ reflex of Qāf, the gahawa-syndrome, and feminine plural conjugations and pronouns.[16] However, the classification of North African Bedouin dialects into Hilalian, Sulaimitian, and Ma’qilian groups is not uncontroversial, and is based primarily on socio-historical and geographical considerations.[17][18] While the dialects of Tripolitania represent a continuation of Tunisian dialects, the dialects of Cyrenaica show affinities with Eastern Bedouin dialects, especially with regards to the gahawa-syndrome and syllable structure.[17]
Phonology
Notes:
- /ṭ/ is glottalized as in Upper Egyptian Arabic: [tˤʔ]
Grammar
Pronouns
Contrary to MSA, Western Egyptian Bedawi uses the plural pronouns for dual pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person (m/f) | nā, nābīdi | iḥna, niḥna | |
| 2nd person | m | init | intu |
| f | inti | intan | |
| 3rd person | m | hū | həm |
| f | hī | hin | |
The following direct object pronominal suffixes are attached to verbs:
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person (m/f) | -ni | -na | |
| 2nd person | m | -ak | -kam |
| f | -ik | -kan | |
| 3rd person | m | -ih, -ah (near emphatics) | -həm ~ -ham |
| f | -ha | -hin ~ -hən | |
The following demonstrative pronouns are used. The form hāḏ̣ayīəhi is also used with the suffix -yīəhi:
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal
(this, these) |
m | hāḏ̣a | hāḏowl |
| f | hāḏi | hāḏeyn | |
| Distal
(that, those) |
m | hāḏ̣āk | hāḏ̣alówk |
| f | hāḏīk | hāḏ̣alák | |
The following interrogative pronouns are used:
| Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| eyš | what |
| leyš | why |
| eymítta | when |
| weyn | where |
| keyf, eyšinhū, eyšinhī | how |
Verbs
Perfect
There are two types of strong perfect stems, CiCáC (a-type) and CCiC (i-type). Examples of a-type perfects are misák, nizál, ṭiláʿ, fihám. Examples of i-type perfects are šrib, rkib, zʿil, smiʿ, ʿrif, gdir, kbir, kṯir, tʿib, lbis, ybis.[12]
Some perfect conjugations are shown below:
| Base | w/ Object Suffixes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd person sg. | m | misák | |
| f | msíkat | msikīət-ih, msikát-ta | |
| 3rd person pl. | m | msíkaw | |
| f | msíkan | msikánn-ih | |
Imperfect
There are three types of strong imperfect stems, CCiC (i-type), CCəC (ə-type), and CCaC (a-type). The vowel of the conjugation prefix harmonizes with the vowel of the stem: yiktib, yərgəd, yašṛab. The conjugation of the 1st person follows the niktib-níkitbu paradigm.[12]
Influence
Bihera
The pronunciation [ʒ] for ǧīm occurs in the west of the Bihera, were Awlad Ali settled. Metathesized forms such as mašzid “mosque” may be a result of the influence of their dialect.[19]
