Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Egyptian Arabic
The charts below show how the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Egyptian Arabic pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters .
See Egyptian Arabic phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Egyptian Arabic.
The romanization of the examples is the commonly used form in Egypt .
Consonants
IPA
Arabic letter
Example
Romanization
English approximation
ʔ ء أ إ آ ؤ ئ ق مؤمن [ˈmoʔ men]
Moa men uh-(ʔ )oh
ʕ ع عين [ʕ eːn]
e inno equivalent
b ب بواب [b æwˈwæːb ]
b awab b ike
d د دقه [ˈd æʔʔæ]
d akkad one
dˤ ض ضمير [dˤ ɑˈmiːr]
d amiremphatic /d /
f ف فول [f uːl]
f oulf ast
ɡ ج جمال [ɡ æˈmæːl]
G amalg as
h هـ هشام [h eˈʃæːm]
H eshamh at
ħ ح حب [ħ ob]
h obh ad, but pharyngeal
j ى ياما [ˈj æːmæ]
y amay es
k ك كوارع [k æˈwæːreʕ]
k awareask in
l ل لمبه [ˈl ɑmbɑ]
l ambal ip
m م مازوره [m ɑˈzuːrɑ]
m azouram other
n ن نونو [ˈn uːn u]
n oun oun est
q [ 1] ق القاهره [elq ɑ(ː)ˈherɑ]
el K ahera c ap, but uvular
r [ 2] ر راجل [ˈr ɑːɡel]
r agelFlapped or rolled R
s س ث سوق [s uːʔ] ثامر [ˈs æːmer]
s oukTh amer
s orry
sˤ ص صباح [sˤ ɑˈbɑːħ]
S abahemphatic /s /
ʃ ش شوربه [ˈʃ orbɑ]
sh orbash ip
t ت توت [t uːt ]
t out st ar
tˤ ط طارق [ˈtˤ ɑːreʔ]
T arekemphatic /t /
w و وش [w eʃ]
w eshw ater
x خ خريف [x æˈriːf]
kh arifloch (Scottish English )
ɣ غ غسيل [ɣ æˈsiːl]
gh asilFrench "R"
z ز ذ زباله [z eˈbæːlæ]
z ebalaz ebra
zˤ ظ ظابط [ˈzˤ ɑːbet]
z abetemphatic /z /
Non-native Consonants[ 3]
p پ ب پيتر [ˈp iːter, -tɑr]
P etersp ark
v ڤ ف نيڤين [nɪˈv iːn, ne-]
Nev in v iew
ʒ چ ج چورچ [ʒ orʒ ]
Ge orge vis ion
Vowels
IPA
Example
Romanization
English approximation
Monophthongs
æ جمال [ɡæ ˈmæːl]
Ga mal ma d (short)
ɑ لمبه [ˈlɑ mbɑ ]
la mba fa ther (short)
ɪ e [ 4] انتى [ˈe nti]
e ntisi t or se t
i [ 4] انتى [ˈenti ]
enti nee d (short)
ʊ o [ 5] انتو [ˈentʊ ]
ento pu t or mo re
u [ 5] نونو [ˈnuːnu ]
nounou coo l (short)
æː جمال [ɡæˈmæː l]
Gama l ma d (long)
ɑː بابا [ˈbɑː bɑ]
ba ba fa ther (long)
eː ليل [leː l]
lei l bay
iː حبيبى [ħæˈbiː bi]
habi bi nee d (long)
oː روح [roː ħ]
ro h mo re (long)
uː فول [fuː l]
fou l coo l (long)
Diphthongs (vowel+glide)
æj أيمن [ˈʔæj mæn]
Ay man
ɑj مايه [ˈmɑj .jɑ]
may ya whi te
æw دوله [ˈdæw læ]
daw la
ɑw دوره [ˈdɑw rɑ]
daw ra
ej ميه [ˈmej .jæ]
mey ya stay
ew~ow اوعه [ˈ(ʔ)ew ʕæ]
ew aa
Suprasegmentals
IPA
examples
Explanation
ˈ جميل /ɡæˈ miːl/ ("beautiful")
Indicates that the following syllable is stressed.
ː ليل /leː l/ ("night")
Indicates that the preceding vowel is long.
^ The classicized consonant [q ] only occurs in Classical Arabic borrowings and proper nouns.
^ The rhotic consonant is in free variation between a trill [r ] and a flap [ɾ ] .
^ The phonemes /p / , /v / , and /ʒ / are only found in loanwords and they can be pronounced as /b / , /f / , and /ʃ / respectively depending on the speaker.
^ a b [ɪ~e] and [i] are allophones of the phoneme /i/ . Word initial and medial /i/ in stressed syllables typically varies across [ɪ~e] , but it is strictly [i ] at the end of words, in unstressed syllables.^ a b [ʊ~o] and [u ] are allophones of the phoneme /u/ . Word initial and medial /u/ in stressed syllables typically varies across [ʊ~o] , but it varies [u~ʊ~o] in final positions.
Comparisons Introductory guides
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