Judeo-Egyptian Arabic

Judeo-Egyptian Arabic
Judeo-Egyptian Arabic
Native to	Egypt
Ethnicity	Egyptian Jews
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Egyptian Arabic Judeo-Egyptian Arabic; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Arabic alphabet; Hebrew alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None
ELP	Judeo-Egyptian Arabic; Judeo-Egyptian Arabic;

Judeo-Egyptian Arabic (also Egyptian Judeo-Arabic) is an Arabic dialect spoken by Egyptian Jews. It is a variety of Egyptian Arabic.

Classification

Judeo-Egyptian Arabic is one of the Judeo-Arabic dialects.^[1] It is close to the dialect of Alexandria, even for speakers in Cairo. For example, in Cairene Arabic, "I write" is baktib (بكتب) and "I eat" is bakol. In Egyptian Judeo-Arabic, as in western Alexandrian Arabic it is nektobou (نكتبوا) and neshrabou, resembling a first person but in plural form.^[2]

History

Until the mid 20th century, there were around 75,000 speakers of Judeo-Egyptian Arabic. Today, most Egyptian Jews live in Israel and speak Hebrew.^[3]

The first research on Judeo-Egyptian Arabic was done in 1968 by Nada Tomiche.^[4]

Current status

Judeo-Egyptian Arabic is currently in decline due to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, with almost none remaining today. The language may soon become extinct.^[5]

Vocabulary

Most of the unique words in Judeo-Egyptian Arabic come from Hebrew, though some come from French and Italian. It also contains several words made by mixing Hebrew and Egyptian Arabic, as well as several extra pronouns not found in Egyptian Arabic.^[5]

Like other Judeo-Arabic dialects, Judeo-Egyptian Arabic preserves several archaic traits lost in Egyptian Arabic.^[6]

Sample Text


Judeo-Egyptian Arabic^[5]	English^[5]
ואל צביה חוסנת אל מנטר קווי ברכיה וראגל אלם ערפהא ונזלת אל עין ומלת גרתהא וטלעת	and the girl (was) very good looking, a virgin, and no man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up

Notes

^ Hary, Benjamin (2022-09-20), "Egyptian Judeo-Arabic", Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Brill, retrieved 2024-01-28
^ Blau, Joshua, The Emergence and Linguistic Background of Judaeo-Arabic: OUP, last edition 1999
^ "Judeo-Egyptian Arabic". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
^ Hary, Benjamin (2017-01-01). "B. Hary. "Spoken Late Egyptian Judeo-Arabic as Reflected in Written Forms."". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam: 12 – via Academia.edu.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d M. Rosenbaum, Gabriel. "The Arabic Dialect of Jews in Modern Egypt" (PDF). Israeli Academic Center in Cairo: 35–39 – via Historical Society of Jews From Egypt.
^ Hary, Benjamin (2017-01-01). "B. Hary. "Spoken Late Egyptian Judeo-Arabic as Reflected in Written Forms."". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam: 24 – via Academia.edu.

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[1] Hary, Benjamin (2022-09-20), "Egyptian Judeo-Arabic", Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Brill, retrieved 2024-01-28

[2] Blau, Joshua, The Emergence and Linguistic Background of Judaeo-Arabic: OUP, last edition 1999

[3] "Judeo-Egyptian Arabic". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2024-02-02.

[4] Hary, Benjamin (2017-01-01). "B. Hary. "Spoken Late Egyptian Judeo-Arabic as Reflected in Written Forms."". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam: 12 – via Academia.edu.

[:0-5] M. Rosenbaum, Gabriel. "The Arabic Dialect of Jews in Modern Egypt" (PDF). Israeli Academic Center in Cairo: 35–39 – via Historical Society of Jews From Egypt.

[6] Hary, Benjamin (2017-01-01). "B. Hary. "Spoken Late Egyptian Judeo-Arabic as Reflected in Written Forms."". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam: 24 – via Academia.edu.

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