Egypt Languages

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Egypt

Languages

Description

The official language of the Arab Republic of Egypt is Arabic.

The spoken languages are:

• Egyptian Arabic (68%),
• Sa'idi Arabic (29%),
• Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic (1.6%),
• Sudanese Arabic (0.6%),
• Domari (0.3%),
• Nobiin (0.3%),
• Beja (0.1%),
• Siwi

and others.

Additionally, Greek, Armenian and Italian, and more recently, African languages like Amharic and Tigrigna are the main languages of immigrants.

The main foreign languages taught in schools, by order of popularity, are English, French, German and Italian.

Historically Egyptian was spoken, of which the latest stage is Coptic Egyptian. Spoken Coptic was mostly extinct by the 17th century but may have survived in isolated pockets in Upper Egypt as late as the 19th century. It remains in use as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It forms a separate branch among the family of Afroasiatic languages.

Word List(s)

For word lists and help researching in Egyptian records, see:

• Arabic Genealogical Word List

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Egyptian Arabic Sa'idi Arabic Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic Sudanese Arabic Domari Nobiin Beja Siwi Coptic Egyptian

• Phonology

Language Aids and Dictionaries

• Egyptian Arabic Dictionary
• Ancient Egyptian Language (history)
• Languages of Egypt