Learn about common English loanwords in Egyptian Arabic
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What are some common English loanwords in Egyptian Arabic? |
| Nora: And are any English words used differently in Egyptian Arabic? |
| Michael: At ArabicPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha and her classmate Yomna are talking about a pair of shoes they saw previously at the mall. Yomna says, |
| "Will you get the shoes that you liked yesterday at the mall?" |
| هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| Dialogue |
| Yomna Yaseen:هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| Sasha Lee:!أَنا جِِبتُه أولريدي (ʾanā gebtoh ʾolredī!) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Yomna Yaseen:هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| Michael: "Will you get the shoes that you liked yesterday at the mall?" |
| Sasha Lee:!أَنا جِِبتُه أولريدي (ʾanā gebtoh ʾolredī!) |
| Michael: "I already got them!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about English loanwords in Egyptian Arabic. Let's start by taking a closer look at the dialogue. Do you remember how Yomna asks "Will you get the shoes that you liked yesterday at the mall?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen:هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| Michael: Here we have two English loanwords: "mall" and "shoes." An important thing to notice is that the definite article |
| Nora: ال (el-) |
| Michael: can be used with these loanwords seamlessly, becoming |
| Nora: الشوز ، المول (el-šūz , el-mol) |
| Michael: meaning "the shoes, the mall" respectively. Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. Do you remember how Sasha says, "I already got them?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Sasha Lee:!أَنا جِِبتُه أولريدي (ʾanā gebtoh ʾolredī!) |
| Michael: Here, we see that not only nouns are borrowed from English, but also adverbs, among other vocabulary. In this sentence, Sasha uses the adverb |
| Nora: أولريدي (ʾolredī) |
| Michael: meaning "already." It is placed in the exact same place in the sentence where it would be in English, making it very easy to use. Let's see some other commonly used English loanwords from other parts of speech. First off, let's check out some adjectives. |
| Nora: كول (kul) |
| Michael: meaning "cool." Just like English, you could use it to mean someone is cool, or to agree to a proposition or a suggestion. For example: |
| Nora: عايزَة أَعَرَّفَك عَلى رامي. دَه كول جِدّاً. (ʿāīzah ʾaʿarrafak ʿalā rāmī. dah kūl geddan.) |
| Michael: meaning "I wanted to introduce you to Rami. He is very cool." Another common adjective is |
| Nora: أوفر (ovar) |
| Michael: meaning "too much" or "over the top." Obviously, this is not used the same way it is used in English, so it might take a little bit of getting used to. For example, you can say |
| Nora: .لا، كده أوفر (la, keda ovar.) |
| Michael: meaning "No, this is too much." So, as you can see, some loanwords aren't used the way they are used in the origin language. Now, let's check out some commonly used expressions borrowed from English. A very common one is |
| Nora: هاي (hai) |
| Michael: meaning "Hi." This one is used just like English. For example: |
| Nora: هاي سارة. إزيك؟ (hi sara. ezzayyek?) |
| Michael: meaning "Hi Sara. How are you?" Another common expression is |
| Nora: باي (bai) |
| Michael: meaning "bye." Another very commonly used expression is |
| Nora: أوكيه (okkeh) |
| Michael: meaning "Okay." These three expressions are used exactly like they are used in English, so they should be very easy to use. Now let's check some other common nouns borrowed from English. The first one is |
| Nora: موبايل (mobail) |
| Michael: meaning "mobile phone." For example: |
| Nora: موبايلي فين؟ (mobaili fen?) |
| Michael: meaning "Where is my phone?" Another important one is |
| Nora: لابتوب (labtob) |
| Michael: meaning "laptop." For example, you can say |
| Nora: .اِشتَريت لابتوب جِديد (eštarīt lābtob gedīd) |
| Michael: meaning "I bought a new laptop." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: These are just some of the commonly used English loanwords in Egyptian Arabic. Of course, knowing the Modern Standard Arabic equivalent of these words is not a bad idea, but these loanwords are so commonly used and deeply rooted in the Egyptian dialect to the point that it is very weird to actually go out of your way and use the Arabic equivalent. For example, if you say |
| Nora: هاتِف مَحمول (hātef maḥmūl) |
| Michael: meaning "mobile phone" instead of |
| Nora: موبايل (mobail) |
| Michael: which is the equivalent English loanword, it is going to sound very weird. Moreover, if you are just starting out, using loanwords could be a good strategy to fill the gaps in your vocabulary. |
| Review |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Yomna says, "Will you get the shoes that you liked yesterday at the mall?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen:هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen:هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen:هَتجيبي الشوز إللي عَجَبِك إمبارِح في المول؟ (hatgībī el-šūz ʾellī ʿagabek ʾembāreḥ fī el-mol?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Sasha says, "I already got them?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Sasha Lee:!أَنا جِِبتُه أولريدي (ʾanā gebtoh ʾolredī!) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Sasha Lee:!أَنا جِِبتُه أولريدي (ʾanā gebtoh ʾolredī!) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Sasha Lee:!أَنا جِِبتُه أولريدي (ʾanā gebtoh ʾolredī!) |
| Expansion (Optional) |
| Michael: Arabic dialects have borrowed (and lent) so many words from and to so many languages like Turkish, Persian, Italian, Spanish, French, English; just to name a few. It is fun to know the origin of these words, how they were adapted into different dialects and the circumstances in which these words were borrowed. Happy learning! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Nora: !سلام (Salām!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
Comments
Hide