The total number of Egyptian Arabic speakers worldwide is estimated at over 54 million people. MSA is used in television broadcasts and most written media. It is also spoken on formal occasions and used for formal purposes.
This form of Arabic is understood throughout many parts of the Arab world because Egypt has been an important influence in the film industry.
It is also spoken by a minority of the population of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as a small pocket of the population of Iraq. Approximately one-third of the population of Oman speaks the Gulf Arabic dialect. Gulf Arabic has fewer Persian words than other Arabic dialects. When you take a closer look to the way the dialects form words, you find that the Levantine Arabic uses consonant roots ; vowels and affixes are attached to them.
This language is heavily influenced by other languages. It borrows words from Hebrew, Greek, French and even English. If you choose to study Levantine Arabic, some of the words may seem a bit familiar to you, especially if you have studied previously studied some French.
The Egyptian Arabic dialect used one basic stem and several derived stems to create words. Each derived stem has several meanings. Each form has its own set of active and passive participles, verbs and nouns. It is a conservative dialect that still uses gender differentiation of the second and third person, although many speakers do not distinguish between masculine and feminine in the second person or third person plural, preferring to use a separate word to describe both genders together.
The difference between the three dialects lies between some grammar points, mainly in the way some phrases and verbs are structured. The basics of the language are fundamentally the same. The majority of the words used are the same in each dialect, and once you have a good understanding of them, you will be able to make yourself understood.
Aramaic replaced the Canaanite language that was spoken by the Phoenicians in the region until around the days of Jesus Christ. Aramaic was spoken in the whole region until about AD. Later, the people in Lebanon were speaking several dialects of Aramaic especially in the mountains of Lebanon.
Syriac-Aramaic was the dominant dialect in the mountains and North Lebanon, while some Arabic dialects were spoken in some costal cities and South Lebanon by the 13 th century. By the 17 th Century, a large population had moved from the Lebanese mountains to the costal cities. The people of Lebanon blended their Aramaic with Arabic utilizing Arabic words in their spoken Aramaic, and from the 17 th to 20 th centuries, some of the Turkish language was incorporated.
The Lebanese language kept developing and some French was introduced in the 20 th century. During the past couple decades, some English terms became part of the Lebanese daily conversation.
Arabic is a formal language that is not spoken today in any of the countries that use it as their official language. It is often used for documenting, publishing, formal speeches and some religious rituals. It has merely changed evolved since it was spoken in parts of the Arabian Peninsula some 1, years ago.
Nowadays, there is not a nation in the world with Arabic being its native language. One cannot learn Arabic by living with Lebanese, Egyptian or even Saudi Families; the only way to learn Arabic is to study it. Most of the Lebanese in Lebanon today know Arabic along with their native Lebanese. That is because they learn Lebanese from their parents and their daily life, while studying Arabic Language and Literature in schools.
Calling Lebanese a dialect of Arabic is another dilemma that would hurt the intention of teaching Lebanese in Diaspora. The people of Lebanon may have spoken dialects of Arabic at some costal cities a thousand years ago, but the language spoken now in Lebanon is much more different considering the Aramaic mix and the Turkish influence, not to forget the several centuries of development.
In other words, if people learned Arabic a thousand years ago, they would have been able to communicate with some people in Lebanon that time. If people learn Arabic now, they will not be able to communicate with the people in Lebanon today.
While Lebanese and Arabic are two different languages, the Lebanese in Lebanon do not worry, or may not care, for the difference between the two languages. They both come from Semitic roots, and have many common words and grammar. The Lebanese more than likely wanted to distinguish the language they speak from French a Latin language that is widely used in schools and normal life, from English a Germanic Language that is growing in education and business life, and from Armenian an Indo-European Language that is used by some Lebanese in education and business.
Dealing with all these languages descending from different linguistic branches probably made it easier for people in Lebanon to refer to the language by the roots or by the script the letters they use to write it with. Since Lebanese in general use Arabic script to write Lebanese, they often refer to the Lebanese language as Arabic language.
Some people tried to reach a compromise by claiming that the Lebanese people speak Lebanese but write Arabic. This incorrect statement often used by people in Lebanon who confuse the use of Arabic script to write, with the language itself. The Lebanese use Arabic script to write both Lebanese and Arabic; They write, read and speak Lebanese for their songs, poems, television production and letters, while they write, read, and speak Arabic in Arabic Literature, courts and some formal religious rituals.
This is not different from the people utilizing Latin letters to write both English and Spanish languages. Since the languages that the Lebanese in Lebanon are familiar with are from different roots except for Arabic and Lebanese, they think that there are no two languages closer to each other than Arabic to Lebanese.
Also, since the Lebanese are raised learning Lebanese and Arabic side by side, while the other languages they learn are form different roots they missed the opportunity to compare apples-to-apples such in comparing Italian to Spanish for example.
Linguists here, especially those who were not raised learning these two languages, can point out the difference. Professor Wheeler Thackston of Harvard pushes this analogy a bit further and argues that "the languages the 'Arabs' grow up speaking at home, are as different from each other and from Arabic itself, as Latin is different from English. Results of not distinguishing Arabic language from Lebanese language:. If people around the world had the chance to learn both Lebanese and Arabic languages, there would not be a need to distinguish Lebanese language from Arabic Language.
However, the problems of claming that Lebanese and Arabic are the same language, or that Lebanese is just a dialect of Arabic started to emerge on the surface in the twentieth century. Unofficial estimates show that there is approximately 15 million Lebanese living out side Lebanon while only 3 million Lebanese live in Lebanon today.
Some Lebanese descendents in Diaspora kept speaking Lebanese with their kids while others have not followed up with doing so. Not to mention the Lebanese married non-Lebanese descents, which made it even harder to pass the language to the next generation.
As for the people who were born in the United States and Canada, those who can speak Lebanese learned it solely from speaking it at home and within Lebanese communities. On the other hand, many people who tried to teach their kids or friends Lebanese, tried to use Arabic language books. Those who tried to learn Lebanese using Arabic teaching books experienced unpleasant result; it was like trying to teach someone Italian using Spanish language books. The kids and adults were not able to learn neither Arabic nor Lebanese.
Furthermore, most of them became convinced that Lebanese is a very tough language to learn; therefore losing the desire to learn it while in fact it is one of the easiest languages to learn from that region. Those who learned Lebanese abroad do not understand Arabic.
This is natural since, as previously stated, they are two different languages, and despite the similarities between the two languages it is a must to differentiate between them. In the case of the people who learned Arabic whether they were of Lebanese or non-Lebanese origins , they do not understand Egyptian or Lebanese except for few common words or phrases.
The same exists for Egyptians or Kuwaiti language for example. The people who learned Lebanese abroad cannot understand Egyptian and visa versa. Native Lebanese, who know Lebanese and Arabic, find it will easy to pick much of the Egyptian language due to the large Egyptian production in radio and television, and because of the Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish mix in the Egyptian language. On the other hand, they can hardly understand some words from Saudi or Moroccan languages.
The necessity of distinguishing Lebanese language from Arabic language:. Hence, it is important for the people who are first generation Lebanese to understand the need to differentiate and distinguish between Lebanese and Arabic Languages.
Being able to master both Lebanese and Arabic was a privilege for those who were raised in Lebanon. However, this does not help their children abroad since they do not have the chance or the atmosphere to learn two Semitic languages at the same time.
Dealing with the Lebanese language and Arabic as one language has caused numerous amount of Lebanese descendents a failure in learning Lebanese. The results of such methods are drastic since those who learn Egyptian will not be able to understand Lebanese nor Arabic. This is just a small example of how uncontrollable the situation has become and will continue to be when people consider all the languages Arabic.
The effect is not limited to the Lebanese who try to learn their mother language; it furthermore reaches the governmental and diplomatic affairs for countries. So they learn Arabic language only to later reach Lebanon and find out that they have learned a different language.
In most of the cases they will end up not able to communicate On the other hand, the Lebanese would understand them since they studied Arabic at school. But this will not do them any good in daily communication because of the limited use of classic Arabic in daily conversations. It is not unusual that most of the people who learned Arabic and went to Lebanon ended up communicating with the Lebanese in English or French.
To conclude, the Lebanese and Arabic languages are two different languages yet of same Semitic roots. Calling the language we speak in Lebanon, Arabic or a dialect of Arabic has proved to more confuse those who want to learn Lebanese by pushing them to learn a different language than their intended one.
Arabic is a rich language for literature, culture and religious cleric. First generations in Diaspora have a responsibility to clarify the difference between the two languages, and to be responsible for what their children are learning.
It is advisable that people do not get involved in any other language-learning processes whether Arabic, Egyptian or Saudi until they master their native Lebanese language.
They both come from Semitic roots, and have many common words and grammar. The Lebanese more than likely wanted to distinguish the language they speak from French a Latin language that is widely used in schools and normal life, from English a Germanic Language that is growing in education and business life, and from Armenian an Indo-European Language that is used by some Lebanese in education and business.
Dealing with all these languages descending from different linguistic branches probably made it easier for people in Lebanon to refer to the language by the roots or by the script the letters they use to write it with. Since Lebanese in general use Arabic script to write Lebanese, they often refer to the Lebanese language as Arabic language. Some people tried to reach a compromise by claiming that the Lebanese people speak Lebanese but write Arabic. This incorrect statement often used by people in Lebanon who confuse the use of Arabic script to write, with the language itself.
The Lebanese use Arabic script to write both Lebanese and Arabic; They write, read and speak Lebanese for their songs, poems, television production and letters, while they write, read, and speak Arabic in Arabic Literature, courts and some formal religious rituals. This is not different from the people utilizing Latin letters to write both English and Spanish languages.
Since the languages that the Lebanese in Lebanon are familiar with are from different roots except for Arabic and Lebanese, they think that there are no two languages closer to each other than Arabic to Lebanese. Also, since the Lebanese are raised learning Lebanese and Arabic side by side, while the other languages they learn are form different roots they missed the opportunity to compare apples-to-apples such in comparing Italian to Spanish for example. Linguists here, especially those who were not raised learning these two languages, can point out the difference.
If people around the world had the chance to learn both Lebanese and Arabic languages, there would not be a need to distinguish Lebanese language from Arabic Language. However, the problems of claiming that Lebanese and Arabic are the same language, or that Lebanese is just a dialect of Arabic started to emerge on the surface in the twentieth century.
Unofficial estimates show that there is approximately 15 million Lebanese living out side Lebanon while only 3 million Lebanese live in Lebanon today. Some Lebanese descendants in Diaspora kept speaking Lebanese with their kids while others have not followed up with doing so. Not to mention the Lebanese married non-Lebanese descents, which made it even harder to pass the language to the next generation. As for the people who were born in the United States and Canada, those who can speak Lebanese learned it solely from speaking it at home and within Lebanese communities.
On the other hand, many people who tried to teach their kids or friends Lebanese, tried to use Arabic language books. Those who tried to learn Lebanese using Arabic teaching books experienced unpleasant result; it was like trying to teach someone Italian using Spanish language books.
The kids and adults were not able to learn neither Arabic nor Lebanese. Furthermore, most of them became convinced that Lebanese is a very tough language to learn, therefore losing the desire to learn it while in fact it is one of the easiest languages to learn from that region. Those who learned Lebanese abroad do not understand Arabic. This is natural since, as previously stated, they are two different languages, and despite the similarities between the two languages it is a must to differentiate between them.
In the case of the people who learned Arabic whether they were of Lebanese or non-Lebanese origins , they do not understand Egyptian or Lebanese except for few common words or phrases. The same exists for Egyptians or Kuwaiti language for example. The people who learned Lebanese abroad cannot understand Egyptian and visa versa.
Native Lebanese, who know Lebanese and Arabic, find it will easy to pick much of the Egyptian language due to the large Egyptian production in radio and television, and because of the Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish mix in the Egyptian language.
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