Arabic is the official language in Egypt while English is almost the second language. Hence, it is the second most well-known language in Egypt. 

In brief, Arabic writing system is from right to left. It bases on the alphabetic system made up of 28 letters. The spoken Arabic dialect in Egypt is quite different from the classical Arabic ‘Fushaa‘. However, the ancient Egyptian language affected its phonology. Correspondingly, the influence of the Coptic language affected its phonetics and grammatical structures. Nowadays, Coptic language is still used in prayers within the Coptic Orthodox churches of Egypt.

Arabic origin 

Arabic language is a Neo-Aramaic language with a Semitic origin. At the same time, it is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. However, it is spoken language in a large area like North and South-Central Africa and most of the Arabian Peninsula. Before Islam, it was written in contracts and poetry within the Arabian peninsula. Since the 7th century AD, it has been recorded in Qur’an by the Prophet Muhammad.

Essentially, Arabic acquisition raised because many people converted to Islam by the time. Afterwards, Arabic began to spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Arabic is the language of Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Therefore, it is the religious language of all Muslims in the world. In fact, Classical Arabic is essentially the form found in the Qur’an with some modifications for modern usage.

Arabic as an official Language 

Today, Arabic is officially spoken in 22 countries with variants of dialects. Furthermore, each dialect varies in the pronunciation and vocabulary. Generally, around 450 million people speak Arabic as their first language. Hence, It is considered as the sixth most spoken language in the world.

The Arabic Dialect of Egypt

The Egyptian Arabic dialect is the most famous in the Arab world. Consequently, the advanced literary and artistic production that Egypt produces. There are varieties of Egyptian Arabic dialects. However, these dialects spread in Upper Egypt, Greater Cairo, Alexandria, Delta and the tribes and Bedouin clans. Generally, Bedouin are scattered in Sinai desert and the Arabian desert. While Nubian in Aswan speak their own oral language which is inherited by Nubian generations. Despite the fact that, the Nubian people speak their own oral language they also speak Arabic.

Otherwise, you can easily speak English at touristic sites. For the reason that English is considered the second used language. Likewise, you can also find other languages in touristic places such as French, German, Russian and Chinese. If you can speak Arabic, it will be a great advantage.

Useful words

Owing to Egyptian media influence, all Arabic speakers can understand Egyptian Arabic.

Here are some useful slang words and expressions that you may use during your stay in Egypt:

“Sabaah El-Kheer”:  Good morning.

“Masaa’ il-kheer”: Good evening.

“Izzaayak?” : How are you?

“Aal-Hamdu Lilleh”:  Thank God.

“Shokran” : Thank you.

“Tamam” : Ok.

“Al-Haram” : Pyramid.

“Sharea” : Street.

“ōdaa” = Room.

“Asansir” = Elevator.

List of countries, which use Arabic as their first language:

Algeria	Oman
Bahrain	Palestine
Djibouti	Qatar
Egypt	Saudi Arabia
Iraq	Somalia
Jordan	Sudan
Kuwait	Syria
Lebanon	Tunisia
Libya	United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Mauritania	Yemen
Morocco	Comoros

Furthermore, countries have Arabic-speaking communities or use Arabic as a co-official language:

Comoros

Chad

Eritrea