From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The charts below show how the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Egyptian Arabic pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Egyptian Arabic phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Egyptian Arabic.

The romanization of the examples is the commonly used form in Egypt.

Consonants
IPA Arabic letter Example Romanization English approximation
ʔ ء, أ, إ, آ, ؤ, ئ, ق مؤمن
[ˈmoʔmen]
Moamen uh-(ʔ)oh
ʕ ع عين
ʕeːn]
ein no equivalent
b ب بواب
bæwˈwæːb
bawab bike
d د دقه
dæʔʔæ]
dakka done
ض ضمير
ɑˈmiːɾ]
damir emphatic / d/
f ف فول
fuːl]
foul fast
ɡ ج جمال
ɡæˈmæːl]
Gamal gas
h هـ هشام
heˈʃæːm]
Hesham hat
ħ ح حب
ħob]
hob had, but pharyngeal
j ى ياما
jæːmæ]
yama yes
k ك كوارع
kæˈwæːɾeʕ]
kawarea skin
l ل لمبه
lɑmbɑ]
lamba lip
m م مازوره
mɑˈzuːɾɑ]
mazoura mother
n ن نونو
nnu]
nounou nest
q [1] ق القاهره
[elqɑ(ː)ˈheɾɑ]
el Kahera cap, but uvular
ɾ [2] ر راجل
ɾɑːɡel]
ragel Flapped or rolled R
s س
ث
سوق
suːʔ]

ثامر
sæːmeɾ]

souk

Thamer

sorry
ص صباح
ɑˈbɑːħ]
Sabah emphatic / s/
ʃ ش شوربه
ʃoɾbɑ]
shorba ship
t ت توت
tt
tout star
ط طارق
ɑːɾeʔ]
Tarek emphatic / t/
w و وش
weʃ]
wesh water
x خ خريف
xæˈɾiːf]
kharif loch ( Scottish English)
ɣ غ غسيل
ɣæˈsiːl]
ghasil French "R"
z ز ذ زباله
zeˈbæːlæ]
zebala zebra
ظ ظابط
ɑːbet]
zabet emphatic / z/
Non-native Consonants [3]
p پ ب پيتر
piːteɾ, -tɑɾ]
Peter spark
v ڤ ف نيڤين
[nɪˈviːn, ne-]
Nevin view
ʒ چ ج چورچ
ʒʒ
George vision
Vowels
IPA Example Romanization English approximation
Monophthongs
æ جمال
æˈmæːl]
Gamal mad
ɑ لمبه
[ˈlɑmbɑ
lamba father
ɪ~ e [4] انتى
enti]
enti sit or set
i [4] انتى
[ˈenti
enti happy
ʊ~ o [5] انتو
[ˈentʊ
ento put or more
u [5] نونو
[ˈnuːnu
nounou food
æː جمال
[ɡæˈmæːl]
Gamal mad
ɑː بابا
[ˈbɑːbɑ]
baba father
ليل
[ll]
leil bay
حبيبى
[ħæˈbbi]
habibi need
روح
ħ]
roh more
فول
[fl]
foul food
Diphthongs (vowel+glide)
æj أيمن
[ˈʔæjmæn]
Ayman
ɑj مايه
[ˈmɑj.jɑ]
mayya white
æw دوله
[ˈdæwlæ]
dawla
ɑw دوره
[ˈdɑwɾɑ]
dawra
ej ميه
[ˈmej.jæ]
meyya stay
ew~ow اوعه
[ˈ(ʔ)ewʕæ]
ewaa
 
Suprasegmentals
IPA examples Explanation
ˈ جميل
/ɡæˈmiːl/ ("beautiful")
Indicates that the following syllable is stressed.
ː ليل
/leːl/ ("night")
Indicates that the preceding vowel is long.

Notes

  1. ^ The classicized consonant [ q only occurs in Classical Arabic borrowings and proper nouns.
  2. ^ The rhotic consonant is in free variation between a flap [ ɾ and a trill [ r.
  3. ^ The phonemes / p/, / v/, and / ʒ/ are only found in loanwords and they can be pronounced as / b/, / f/, and / ʃ/ respectively depending on the speaker.
  4. ^ a b [ɪ~e] and [i] are allophones of the phoneme /i/. Word initial and medial /i/ in stressed syllables typically varies across [ɪ~e], but it is strictly [ i at the end of words, in unstressed syllables.
  5. ^ a b [ʊ~o] and [ u are allophones of the phoneme /u/. Word initial and medial /u/ in stressed syllables typically varies across [ʊ~o], but it varies [u~ʊ~o] in final positions.

See also