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]
Classification
[edit]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]
Phonology
[edit]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:
- /ṭ/ is glottalized as in Upper Egyptian Arabic: [tˤʔ]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː | uː | |
Mid | ə | ||
Open | a aː |
Grammar
[edit]Pronouns
[edit]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
[edit]Perfect
[edit]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 |
Imperfect
[edit]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]
Influence
[edit]Bihera
[edit]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]
References
[edit]- ^ Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ a b c d Arabic, Libyan Spoken at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Maṭar 1967.
- ^ Maṭar 1981.
- ^ Ennaji 1998, p. 7.
- ^ "Glottolog 4.7 - Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
- ^ Al‐Wer & Jong 2017, p. 529.
- ^ Hüsken 2019, p. 39.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Behnstedt & Woidich 1987, p. 244-251.
- ^ Wilmsen & Woidich 2011, p. 2.
- ^ Behnstedt & Woidich 2005, p. 39.
- ^ Hüsken 2019, p. 54.
- ^ Souag, Lameen (2009). "Siwa and its significance for Arabic dialectology". Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik (51): 51–75. ISSN 0170-026X. JSTOR 43525858.
- ^ a b Taine-Cheikh, Catherine (2017). "La classification des parlers bédouins du Maghreb : revisiter le classement traditionnel". Tunisian and Libyan Arabic Dialects: Common Trends - Recent Developments - Diachronic Aspects (in French).
- ^ Benkato, Adam (2019-12-13). "From Medieval Tribes to Modern Dialects: on the Afterlives of Colonial Knowledge in Arabic Dialectology". Philological Encounters. 4 (1–2): 2–25. doi:10.1163/24519197-12340061. ISSN 2451-9197. S2CID 213987414.
- ^ Holes 2018, p. 80.
Bibliography
[edit]- Al‐Wer, Enam; Jong, Rudolf (2017). "Dialects of Arabic". In Boberg, Charles; Nerbonne, John; Watt, Dominic (eds.). The Handbook of Dialectology. Wiley. pp. 523–534. doi:10.1002/9781118827628.ch32. ISBN 978-1-118-82755-0. OCLC 989950951.
- Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred (1987). Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte: Texte. Delta-Dialekte (in German). Vol. 3. Reichert. ISBN 978-3-88226-415-9. OCLC 158521055.
- Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred (2005). Arabische Dialektgeographie : eine Einführung (in German). Boston: Brill. ISBN 90-04-14130-8. OCLC 182530188.
- Ennaji, Moha (1998). Arabic varieties in North Africa. Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society. Florida Hills: Vivlia. ISBN 1-919799-12-5. OCLC 42746547.
- Holes, Clive, ed. (2018). Arabic Historical Dialectology: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Approaches. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-870137-8. OCLC 1059441655.
- Hüsken, Thomas (2019). "People, Places and a Brief History". Tribal Politics in the Borderland of Egypt and Libya. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 31–59. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92342-0_3. ISBN 978-3-319-92342-0. OCLC 1059513981. S2CID 165534196.
- Maṭar, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz (1967). لهجة البدو في اقليم ساحل مريوط: دراسة لغوية [The Bedouin Dialect in Mariut Coast: A Linguistic Study] (in Arabic). دار الكاتب العربي،. OCLC 784347217.
- Maṭar, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz (1981). لهجة البدو في الساحل الشمالي لجمهورية مصر العربية : دراسة لغوية [Bedouin dialect in the northern coast of the Arab Republic of Egypt: A linguistic study] (in Arabic). Dār al-Maʻārif, [Cairo]. ISBN 9789777334730. OCLC 60506275.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Wilmsen, David; Woidich, Manfred (2011). "Egypt". In Edzard, Lutz; de Jong, Rudolf (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Brill. doi:10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_COM_vol2_0001.
Further reading
[edit]- Behnstedt, Peter (1998). "La frontière orientale des parlers maghrébins en Égypte". In Aguadé, Jorge; Cressier, Patrice; Vicente, Ángeles (eds.). Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental : Dialectologie et histoire (in French). Madrid: Casa de Velázquez. pp. 85–96. ISBN 84-86839-85-8. OCLC 40820286.
- Owens, Jonathan (2003). "Arabic Dialect History and Historical Linguistic Mythology". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 123 (4): 715–740. doi:10.2307/3589965. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 3589965.
- Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred (2018-10-18). "Map 3.1: The Egyptian Arabic dialect area today". The formation of the Egyptian Arabic dialect area. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198701378.003.0003.