Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic | |
---|---|
Sahil Maryut Bedouin Arabic Sulaimitian Arabic | |
Native to | Egypt |
Region | Alexandria, Beheira, Matrouh, Beni Suef, Cairo, Egypt–Libya border |
Speakers | 470,000 (2021) [1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Arabic alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
ayl included in
Libyan Arabic [ayl]
[2] |
Glottolog |
west2774 |
Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, also known as Sahil Maryut Bedouin Arabic, [3] [4] is a group of Bedouin Arabic dialects spoken in Western Egypt along the Mediterranean coast, west to the Egypt–Libya border. [2] [5] Ethnologue and Glottolog classify Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic as a Libyan Arabic dialect. [6] [2]
This variety is spoken by the Awlad Ali tribe, [7] [8] who settled in the edges of Lake Maryut and west of Bihera beginning in the 17th century from the region of Jebel Akhdar (Libya). [9] It is also spoken in Wadi El Natrun. [10] Their dialect is phonologically, morphophonemically and morphologically closer to the Peninsular Bedouin dialects than to the adjacent Egyptian dialects. [11] Egyptian Arabic speakers from other parts of Egypt do not understand the Awlad Ali dialect. [12]
Western Bedouin dialects influenced the dialects of southern Upper Egypt between Asyut and Idfu, and those of the Bahariyya Oasis and Bihera. [9]
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. [13] 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. [14] [15] 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. [14]
Labial | Interdental | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | emph. | plain | emph. | |||||||
Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
Stop | voiceless | t | tˤʔ | k | ||||||
voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | θ | s | sˤ | ʃ | x | ħ | h | |
voiced | ð | ðˤ | z | ʒ | ɣ | ʕ | ||||
Tap/ Trill | r | |||||||||
Approximant | l | j | w |
Notes:
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː | uː | |
Mid | ə | ||
Open | a aː |
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 |
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. [9]
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 |
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. [9]
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. [16]
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