An Egyptian alphabet for the Egyptian People

p J

6321
E35
1904
MAIN

An

UC-NRLF

$B 7DD M2E

gyptian Alphabet

for the

E§:yptian People

Second Edition,

alifbe ahl masr.

a, a, e, e, i, y, o, 6, u, ^ (alif),
h(be), t(te), X(td), g (gym), g (^en), \\{hi),
h (M)^ b (hd), d (ddl), d (dad), r (re), z (zen),
s (syn), ^ (^yn), s {^dd), ' ('en), f (fe), q (qdf),
k Ci^ii/), 1 (Idm), m (mym), n («2a;2;, w (w^i5/:J, j C/<^J.

><'><><><y^^<>><>><>0^^><^^

Florence

The Land! Press

1322-1904

I

GIFT or

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2008 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/egyptianalphabetOOflorrich

The New-Egyptian Alphabet.

fyh alifb^ inglyzyja, we alifb^ riimyja, we alifb^
^arabyja. j^tara mu^ mumkin jekfln fyh alifb^ mas-
ryja kemcln?

— ^

wdgib ^cda kull wdhid jehibb masr, in jisaid ^ala
migy el jom elly fyh kull -en nds es sdkinyn '^alal nyl
jimkinhum jiqru we jiktibu el lisdn elly jit kallimuh we
ji/hamuk.

¥^

el alifb^ es sahla li et ta^'lym we HI kit^ba tig^'al
e§ ^a'^b nabyh; we en nabi,ha tig^al es ^a^b qawy
we mabsdt.

An

Egyptian Alphabet

for the

Egyptian People

jl)^<><><><X><X><><>'<X><<>''^>CO'0<><X><>><X><>>^

alifbe ahl ma^r.

a, ^, e,^ t, i, y, o, 6, u, a (alif),
b (be), t (te), t (td), g f^3//«j, g- (J-^^^;, h f/^^;,
h (hd), \ (hd), d C^^/), d (dad), r ^r^j, z (zen),
s Cjj/;2;, ^ f>>/^j, s {^dd), " {"en), f (fe), q f^^^X^,
k C>^4/9, 1 (Idm), m (mym), n (nun), w (wau), j (y'^J.

^<><>CK>0'OOK><><o>oo><<><^>=y^o<>fOP'<<><<><^ 3

Second Editioitt;/; i /;>

Florence

The Land! Press

1322-1904

-v^'

^C^

Tadle of Contents.

PAO

The Story of the Alphabet i

I. The Alphabet 37

II. Pronunciation 39

III. Illustrative Readings 48

IV. Grammatical Accidence 57

1. Article 57

2. Pronoun 58

3. Substantive 60

4. Suffixes 63

5. Adjective 66

6. Numeral 68

7. Verb 72

V. Proverbs and Sentences 90

VL Punctuation and Other Signs . 96

341218

The Story of the Alphabet

The alphabet here represented and explained is
that of the living language of Egypt. It consists of
thirty-four letters, of which the first ten express pure
vowel sounds — five short in their nature, and five long.
No existing tongue possesses an alphabet embracing
so wide a vocal range, and at the same time of so sim-
ple a character; and few nationalities can boast of one
which can be so rapidly acquired, or so readily applied
both in writing and printing. It may be generally de-
scribed as a modification of the Latin letters, devised
with no little ingenuity, and adapted with no little skill
to the vocabulary in use, at the present day, by the
inhabitants of the Nile valley. Properly speaking, it
is not to be regarded as a system of transcribing,
or transliterating, the elements of any other alphabet,
but rather as an independent ABC, specially elaborated,
to express, in the clearest and most convenient manner,
the vocal and consonantal articulations of this newest
Egyptian tongue. It is to be treated as belonging to
the Egyptians, just as the German alphabet belongs to
the Germans, or the Greek alphabet to the Greeks, or
the Persian alphabet to the Persians. It is not intend-
ed to be used in writing any other form of speech,

The Egyptian Alphabet

and, in particular, it cannot be employed, without ma-
terial alteration and extension, in writing the classical
or Koranic Arabic — often styled the Old-Arabic —
which is the parent of the modern Egyptian. Its com-
ponent letters are here arranged, to some extent, mor-
phologically — a method which, as a noted English
writer tells us, *' is very convenient for the' learner;
letters of similar form being brought into juxtaposition,
it becomes easy to compare them, and to remember
minute distinctions in their outlines. " ^) But the clas-
sification of the letters is not a matter of grave im-
portance. The Old-Arabic alphabet, as it has been,
in the course of time, adopted and adapted by various
Asiatic nations, differs more or less, in each country,
in order and extent, from its primitive. We have grown
accustomed, too, in these days of investigation, to see
all alphabets arranged, by the grammarians, for their
special purposes, in differing groups in accordance with
varying schemes of collocation or of classification.
This new alphabet — so simple yet so complete —
owes its origin to that most ardent friend of the Egyp-
tian people — that most zealous and most successful
of all students of the Egyptian dialect,

Wilhelm Spitta,

who was born June 14, 1853, in the little Hanoverian
town of Wittengen, and died at the baths of Lippspringe,
in the principality of Lippe, September 6, 1 883. Within
the narrow limits of an existence of three decades it
has rarely happened that a single brain has wrought

:) The Alphabet by Isaac Taylor (London, 1883), I, p. 189.

The Egyptian Alphabet

so much and wrought so well. But that brain was for-
tunate enough to discover its proper field of study and
energy at an extraordinarily early age. While still
young, Wilhelm lost his father, the lyric poet, Philipp
Spitta, from whom he inherited the quick intelligence
and early mental maturity which enabled him to begin
his Oriental studies even during his gymnasial years.
These were passed at Hildesheim, the picturesque
cradle of North-German art, whence, after a brilliant
exit-examination, he entered the university of Gotting-
en at the Easter term of 1871 ; but ultimately, having
meanwhile undergone his year of military service, he
transferred his studies, for the sake of the Arabic in-
struction of Heinrich Fleischer, to the university of
Leipsic, at which great school he took his doctorate
early in 1875. ^^ evident and so eminent were his
qualifications for the post that, through the efforts
and recommendations of his teacher, Fleischer, and
of the Egyptologist, Georg Ebers, he was appointed,
while still an undergraduate in the university, the suc-
cessor of Ludwig Stern as director of the Viceregal
Library which had been founded at Cairo in 1870 by
the khedive Isma'yl. He assumed the duties of this
office April 5, 1875 — i^^t yet twenty- two years of age.
The following year he published at Leipsic his valuable
tractate, ** Zur Geschichte Abu'l-hasan al Ascharis " —
a paper first drawn up in order to serve as his doctor's
dissertation. This was succeeded later on by various
contributions to the Oriental journals of Europe; it was
followed, as well, by numberless hours of ready and
ungrudging help to students and others, who sought
his scholarly aid, and by generous counsel and assist-

The Egyptian Alphabet

ance in all undertakings promising to be of advan-
tage to Egypt, its people or its letters. But to all
outward appearance his heart was, most of all, in his
official work. When, on April 19, 1882, he was de-
prived by the minister of education of the position he
had so ably filled — a consequence of the oligarchic
fanaticism which had raised the ignorant ""Araby and
his fellow conspirators to power — he could write to
a learned compatriot thus: — *' In truth, the existing
organization of the Library, in all its departments, is
my work'. I have re-arranged and catalogued, with
my own hand, its European section ; of the Oriental
division I have compiled a card-catalogue by authors,
with shelf-lists, and have very nearly ready for the
press two big volumes of a scientifically-classified cat-
alogue. I have brought the collection from 1 3.000
volumes to 30.000 — of which 20.000 are Arabic, Per-
sian and Turkish manuscripts. The present personnel
is my creation, and I have even taught the art of cata-
loguing to my successor. All this has been the labour
of seven hard years. " These '* seven hard years '*
were more fruitful for Egypt, as we shall hereafter
see, than were the Pharaonic " seven years of great
plenty. "

Those who had the good fortune, as did the
writer of these pages, to see Spitta b^ engaged at
his work in the important Cairene collection of books,
were amazed at both the quantity and the quality of
the labour he was accomplishing. He seemed to them
the model librarian — a combination of the highest
intelligence with the highest faculties of administra-
tion and industry. Little did many of his interested

The Egyptian Alphabet

visitors dream that those long hours of diligence rep-
resented the less valuable portion of the task he had
assigned himself. Few, certainly, of his European
associates, understood that outside of that not very
wholesome edifice in the darb el gam^myz, in which
were housed the precious volumes under his charge,
he was building himself (during hours which should
have been hours of restful leisure) a monument which
can never decay. He made his home, from the be-
ginning, in an Arabic household, and during much of
his unofficial time came into contact only with na-
tives, taking down from their mouths, with untiring
assiduity, glossaries, idiomatic sayings, proverbs and
popular tales. Amid these surroundings, or arrang-
ing, during his summer vacations, the abundant ma-
terial thus accumulated, he at length brought to a
conclusion, before the earliest five of his *' seven hard
years " had completely elapsed, his systematic investi-
gations into the living speech of Egypt. The result
was, as has been more than once remarked, " the first
scientific treatment of a modern Arabic dialect; " and
not often has a first treatment been so exhaustive.
His ** Grammatik des arabischen Vulgardialectes von
Aegypten '' was published in the latter half of 1880,
and was followed by its supplementary volume, the
" Contes Arabes Modernes " in 1883 — almost in his
dying hours. These two works form, perhaps, the
most remarkable contribution to Oriental linguistics
during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and
are, in every respect, models of philological research
and statement. No one who has read the deeply-inter-
esting preface to the '' Grammatik " can doubt the

The Egyptian Alphabet

\

warmth of the hope which he entertained that the work
— as his biographer expresses it — *' might contrib-
ute to the elevation of the spoken dialect into a
written language, thereby bridging over that deep
chasm between the idiom of the people and the idiom
of literature, which is the greatest obstruction in the
path of Egyptian progress. "

The striking and forcible paragraph which closes
the preface has been frequently cited, but a transla-
tion of it here can hardly be out of place: — ** Fi-
nally, I will venture to give utterance to a hope which,
during the compilation of this work, I have constantly
cherished; it is a hope which concerns Egypt itself,
and touches a matter which, for it and its people,
is almost a question of life or death. Every one
who has lived, for a considerable period, in an Ara-
bic-speaking land knows how seriously all its activities
are affected by the wide divergence of the written
language from the spoken. Under such circumstances
there can be no thought of popular culture ; for how
is it possible, in the brief period of primary instruc-
tion, to acquire even a half-way knowledge of so dif-
ficult a tongue as the literary Arabic, when, in the
secondary schools, youths undergo the torture of its
study during several years without arriving at other
than the most unsatisfying results? Of course the
unfortunate graphic medium — the complex alphabet —
is in great part to blame for all this ; yet how much
easier would the matter become if the student had
merely to write the tongue which he speaks, instead
of being forced to write a language which is as strange
to the present generation of Egyptians as the Latin

The Egyptian Alphabet

is to the people of Italy, or the Old-Greek to the
inhabitants of Greece — a language which, without
being the popular speech, is no longer even the clas-
sical Arabic! A real literature cannot be thus devel-
oped; for only the limited cultivated class knows how
to use a book ; to the mass of the people a book is
really a thing unknown. If he have need to write a
letter, or execute a document, the ordinary man of the
people must put himself blindly into the hands of a pro-
fessional scribe; he must trustingly sign the most im-
portant papers with a seal which he cannot read, and
which may be and is easily imitated. Why can this
lamentable condition of things not be changed for the
better? Simply because there is a fear, if the lan-
guage of the Koran be wholly given up, of incurring
the charge of trespassing upon the domain of religion.
But the Koranic language is now nowhere written; for
wherever you find a written Arabic it is the Middle-
Arabic of the offices. Even the dubious unity of the
Islamitic peoples would not be disturbed by the adop-
tion of the spoken vernacular, since the language of
prayer and of the ritual would still remain everywhere
the same. It is also asserted that the New-Arabic is
wholly unfit to become the language of the pen because
it obeys no fixed laws, and flows on without any syn-
tactic restrictions. I venture to believe that the pres-
ent publication proves that the speech of the people
is not so completely incapable of discipline; that, on
the contrary, it possesses an abundance of grammatical
niceties; and that it is precisely the simplicity of its
syntax, the plasticity of its verbal construction, which
will make it a most serviceable instrument. Did the

8 The Egyptian Alphabet

Italian seem any more promising when Dante wrote
his Divine Comedy? And would a commission of the
most learned and most expert men of Egypt not be
able to do infinitely better that which it has not ap-
peared to me, a foreigner, too difficult to undertake?"
The distinguished Eduard Meyer — himself a sad
loss to the ranks of Germany's orientalists before he
had reached his real maturity — was Spitta's most inti-
mate associate in his university years and afterwards.
He thus describes Spitta during his Leipsic days : — *' He
had an aspect full of vigor and comeliness; the weakness
which had affected him in his boyish years had com-
pletely vanished ; and no one who looked at him could
have divined that he was doomed to be a victim of
pulmonary disease. The strong moral seriousness and
lofty nobility of his nature were evident in every-
thing he did or said. *' The same friend affectingly
adds: — " Personally I know not how to do him other
honor than to declare thus publicly that the greater
part of whatever I may either intend, or accomplish,
will be based upon principles which we unitedly de-
veloped. " As early as the last months of 1877 his
physical appearence already showed shght changes,
but in the winter of 1880-81 he was still a striking
and attractive personage — perhaps handsomer be-
cause of the hectic flush which tinged his cheeks, and
presaged the sure fate awaiting him. In society he
was often modestly reticent, but when he did talk
the listener soon recognized the depth and breadth
of his knowledge. He was familiar with most of the
languages of Europe, and with all of those of the
East which have adopted the Old-Arabic alphabet,

The Egyptian Alphabet

although his Oriental studies began with the Sanscrit.
In the literature of bibliography, and of bibliothecal
management he was well versed. Like all his family-
he was fond of music, which was almost his only
diversion ; and his finely-trained ear stood him in
good stead in testing and fixing the fluctuating and
uncertain vowel-sounds of Egyptian speech. One may
occasionally doubt the correctness of his transcription,
but after hearing the word in question pronounced by
a dozen different native voices the decision is generally
in favor of the Spitta orthography.

Looking back upon the hours of intercourse with
him, and recalling a thousand instructive incidents in-
dicating his extraordinary intellectual capacity, it is im-
possible not to wonder what a score of years, added to
his scanty score and a half, might not have enabled him
to accomplish. But whatever his additional achieve-
rrients might have been it is certain that they would
have largely benefited the Egypt he so loved — how
deeply and truly may be judged from the concluding
words (the very last he wrote) of the introduction to
his " Contes Arabes Modernes: " — " Au moment o^
j'ecris ces lignes, je vais quitter T^fegypte probable-
ment pour toujours, assur6ment pour longtemps. Je
serais content si, par les pages suivantes, je gagnais
quelques nouveaux amis a la vieille 6gypte populaire,
humble et cach6e, mais forte par la chaleur int6rieure
de sa vie, par rintimit6 et la naivet6 de ses senti-
ments — a cette Egypte inconnue des financiers et
des diplomates, qui, depuis les Pharaons jusqu'a hos
jours, a surv6cu ^ toutes les civilisations."

lo The Egyptian Alphabet

Preceding Steps and Studies.

What the Germans style the '' Transcriptions-
frage " — which may be loosely defined as the ques-
tion of writing extra-European languages by means
of a European or modified European alphabet — has
producexi a considerable literature. The history of this
branch of philological work cannot, of course, be por-
trayed here at any length. The efforts of English schol-
arship, so far as this kind of research is concerned,
have been chiefly limited to the languages of India.
They began with an essay by Sir William Jones —
a man memorable in many ways — *' On the Ortho-
graphy of Asiatic Words in Roman Letters" (1788).
His observations show great insight, technical and other-
wise, for he objects to the use of " double letters "
to express a single vowel sound, and to the inter-
mixture of " Roman and Italic letters " in the same
word, which, he remarks, '' both in writing and printing
would be very inconvenient. " He did not however
adopt throughout the principle of " one sound, one
letter; " and the little he attempted in the transcription
of Arabic, evinced a marked deficiency of knowledge
in regard to the phonology of that tongue. He insist-
ed on giving to the European vowels their Italian
values, but in the crude condition of philological stud-
ies, at that time, he failed to see that the English con-
sonantal system is, in many respects, as barbarous as
its vowel scheme. On the whole, however, he exhibit-
ed qualities which were hardly again united in the
same mind until the appearance, more than two gen-

The Egyptian Alphabet 1 1

erations later, of Lepsius and Spitta. But his good
endeavours were thwarted by an inferior scholar, Johii
Gilchrist, who, in his grammatical and lexicographical
works on the Hindustani (i 787-1796), adopted, in his
transcriptions, the English alphabet pure and simple,
heedless of its defects and anomalies. It is Gilchrist
who is responsible for the uncouth orthography of In-
dian local and personal names so long prevalent in
English publications, and not yet wholly abandoned.
Sometime after 1830 Sir Charles Trevelyan, a man of
varied ability and familiar with many of the Indian
idioms, made a serious attempt to recur to the methods
of Sir William Jones, which partially succeeded ^) ; later
on Max Mliller, as we shall hear, proposed a complete
revision of the previous method of transliteration, but
his combination of Roman and Italic letters, long be-
fore justly condemned by Sir William Jones, gave evi-
dence of that want of proper aptitude for this kind of
labour, which has been common to many minds other-
wise of high philological astuteness. Dr. Caldwell,
Sir Monier Monier- Williams 2) and the Rev. George
Uglow Pope, as well as a special committee of the
Madras Literary Society, followed in the track of Tre-
velyan, the second-named displaying great good sense,

i) Origmal Papers illustrating the History of the Application of the
Roman Alphabet to the Languages of India, by Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan,
edited by Monier Williams (London, 1859). Interesting reviews of these pa-
pers appeared in the London Athenaeum (1859, II, p. 628), in the Calcutta
Review (July, 1864), ^^^ i^ the London Reader (1863, II, p. 604 and 1865,
I» p. 598).

2) Bagh 0 Bahar : the Hindustani Text of Mir Amman : edited in Roman
Type, with Notes, and an introductory Chapter on the Use of the Roman Char-
acters in Oriental Languages, by Monier Williams (London, 1859).

1 2 The Egyptian Alphabet

but some of the others clinging to the clumsy double
consonants (especially ch and sJi),

In France the acute, but not always profound Vol-
ney was the first to take up with seriousness the subject
of expressing Asiatic and African vocables by means
of European letters ; he did this in connection with the
publication of the results of the Napoleonic scientific
survey of Egypt (1795), and, at a subsequent period
(181 8), presented a more carefully elaborated scheme.
In his earlier method he employed two characters to
represent a single sound in only a single case, but
his mixture of Greek and Latin letters, and some of
his peculiar graphic modifications of the Latin alpha-
betical signs made a writing at once unseemly and com-
plicated; his final alphabet was an improvement, but
his mingled Italic and Roman letters, his superlinear
letters, his retention of several Greek letters, as well
as some other features of his alphabet, kept his text
still far from sightly. The Germans were late in the
field, but, as in so many other portions of the linguistic
domain, their labours were more fruitful. In his Latin
transliteration of Sanscrit words Bopp (1833) led the
van in forsaking the unsystematic modes of transcrip-
tion, but was soon followed by Brockhaus, Benfey and
the whole Sanscrit school — one of Germany's greatest
glories — while, in treating in the same way the Old-
Arabic alphabet, the late Karl Paul Caspari and Fleisch-
er were not slow to make important innovations in the
right direction.

In the meantime physiology had come to the aid
of philology, and the new science of phonology was
growing up. This led to a treatment of the subject on

The h^yptian Alphabet 13

a wider scale as well as by juster methods. Moreover
a new stimulus from a novel source was given to these
alphabetical studies. It was in 1848 that the Rev.
Henry Venn, the secretary of the Church Missionary
Society in London, issued his *' Rules for reducing
unwritten Languages to alphabetical Writing, *' for the
benefit more particularly of missionaries in various
parts of Africa. In many other quarters the subject
was now taken up with energy. The accomplished
Christian Bunsen — then Prussian ambassador in Eng-
land — enlisted several noted philologists and other
scholars in the movement, summoning them to a con-
ference in London. Among those participating were
Trevelyan, who still supported the alphabetical ideas of
Sir William Jones, and Max Miiller, ^) who devised and
advocated an entirely new scheme, to which allusion has
already been made, but which was soon overshadowed
by that emanating from Berlin. In that city Richard
Lepsius, incited by the missionary organizations, inter-
ested himself in the matter, for the treatment of which
his previous studies had specially fitted him, soon pro-
ducing his *' Standard Alphabet "(185 5), and ultimately
a second edition (1863) with modifications. ^^ Between
these two issues came his treatise " Ueber die Aus-

i) Proposals for a Missionary Alphabet by Max Miiller {London, i855»
with a folio volume of alphabets). As late as 1867, when his ** Outline Diction-
ary " was published, Professor Max Miiller, in his transliteration of foreign
alphabets, still made use of both Italic and Roman letters.

2) Standard Alphabet for reducing unwritten Languages and foreign
graphic Systems to a uniform Orthography in European Letters, by C. R.
Lepsius (London, 1863, but printed in Berlin). The slight historical sketch
of the subject here given is greatly indebted, for its facts and dates, to this
second edition of the treatise of Lepsius.

14 The Egyptian Alphabet

sprache und die Umschrift der arabischen Laute " (Ber-
lin, 1861). The " Standard Alphabet " is a vast con-
trivance of nearly eighty sonant expressions, notable
beyond all preceding efforts for its technical exellence,
and for the evidence of common sense, as well as of
scholarly research, which characterizes it. Five diph-
thongs are expressed by double vowels; nine letters
are either derived from the Greek alphabet or are ar-
bitrary signs; and the remainder are all Latin letters
modified by diacritical marks. It includes a distinct
representative of every possible variety of human artic-
ulation. But its chief utility is in furnishing a written
medium for the wholly uncultivated tribal tongues —
unconnected, even remotely, with any form of written
speech — and in which it seems unlikely that any great
printed literature will ever exist; in that aspect it has
undoubtedly been a boon to the missionary world. For
other purposes it has proved less useful; and it has
never been generally applied to any considerable lin-
guistic group.

Spitta's Work.

With all that had thus been discussed and done
by the preceding scholars — English, French and Ger-
man — whose names have here been cited, and by many
others to whom no reference has been made, Spitta was
minutely familiar. He approached the alphabetical
I / part of his task, however, with the sole idea of evolving
the simplest and clearest medium of expression for a
language which was, as yet, unendowed with any, and
which was the daughter of a tongue possessing one
too cumbersome for national use, too complex in its

The Egyptian Alphabet 15

character for the purposes of modern life. Although
still an unwritten speech the vulgar dialect was des-
tined, unless all our study of the history of linguistic
development be misleading, to blossom out, at no re-
mote date, into the flowery freshness of a new lite-
rature. Spitta was, perhaps, the only available person
of his day, who could look at his undertaking, as it
grew into realization, from every point of view. He
possessed all the imaginable qualifications for his task
— not a few of which, as has already been stated,
had been notably lacking in those who had hereto-
fore occupied themselves with the invention or de-
signing of alphabets, or with the evolution of schemes
of transliteration. He was not only an able philologist
and phonologist, but he perfectly understood every
phase and feature — even those technical subtleties
generally known only to the expert — of the arts of
writing and printing. This is a most important consid-
eration, for an alphabet must serve three very dissim-
ilar ends — it has to be read, it has to be written
and it has to be printed. A scholar may know whether
the alphabet be such that, through its proper expres-
sion of the proper sounds, the language can be sat-
isfactorily read, but only the calligraphist can decide
whether it be fit for the purposes of chirography, only
the printer can judge whether it be available for the
aims of typography. Want of this technical availa-
bihtyhas recently resulted in the speedy condemnation
of a method of transcribing Arabic, adopted, after much
learned travail, by a congress of Orientalists — a meth-
od which, at a glance, shows the absence of any prac-
tical, artistic or mechanical expertness in the committee

/

1 6 The Egyptian Alphabet

which devised it; for it employs signs inconvenient in
calligraphy and nearly impossible in typography. ^)

i) A diacritical sign frequently used in the system of transliteration for
Arabic, reported by a committee to a late (1894) Congress of Orientalists at
Geneva {*<Xme Congres international des Orientalistes Session de Geneve. —
Rapport de la Commission de Transcription, " pp. 7 and 14-15), is made by
the awkward process of a stroke backward, followed by a stroke forward —
an operation which will not commend itself to the calligraphist. W^hat would
the writer of English think, if instead of dotting the / he were constantly obliged
to complete this double stroke? Among the letters to which this diacritical
wonder must be subscript is the g (to represent the gen) — but the downward
extension of the printed g already goes as far below the line as is possible
without impinging upon the type below it. How do the astute devisers of
this scheme propose to get the type-founders to cast, or the printers to use such
an impossible type ? Unless they intend to cut off the lower end of the letter,
and put the sign under the tail of the g as it were, the mark must at best be
made too minute to remain long unbroken. But when the student has fairly
decided to learn and to employ this congressional method of transcription he
will find that, after all, he need not feel himself obliged to adhere to it, for
he is told that, in many cases, in place of the transliterating letter the substi-
tution of a combination of two other letters is "permissible. " For instance,
in place of the g^ with the double backward and forward stroke under it, he
may write for gen the combination gh; instead of j, with the same subscript
double stroke, he may, at his own sweet will, write sh. Again, if it does not
please him to put two dots under a t (to express td) he is allowed to put only
one. But it is hardly worth while to mention the other absurdities of this
scheme^ of which there are many. The evident dissatisfaction with the report
of the committee felt by that high Arabic authority, the late Albert Socin, is not
strange, although his expression of it seems not by any means as critically se-
vere as it might well have been — a forbearance which may possibly have arisen
from his personal relations to the committee. The same may be said of the
strictures upon the Geneva scheme in a more recent brochure, " Die Tran-
scription fremder Alphabete " (Leipzig, 1897) by Professor Ernst Kuhn and
the distinguished librarian, Hans Schnorr von Carolsfeld, of Munich. This little
work is intended particularly for the use of book-cataloguers, that is for cal-
ligraphic purposes. Otherwise useful, it is perhaps marred by giving too little
consideration to the exigencies of typography. It seems to grant the impro-
priety of /= soft g^ but decides to use it; and it abandons, with reason, the
" permissible " variants of the Geneva report. Both the " Rapport" and the
essay by the two Munich scholars are criticized in the Giornale delta Societa
Asiaiica lialiana (*' Le nuove Proposte di Trascrizione, " vol X, 1896-7) by
F. Scerbo, but not from a typographical point of view.

The Egyptian Alphabet 17

The alphabet of Spitta uses a single Latin char-
acter to express a simple phonetic element — an abso-
lutely essential condition — such combinations as ch,
gh, kh, sh finding no place in it, and indeed no literal
combinations whatever being used except those repre-
senting the diphthongal ai and au. This avoids every
chance of obscurity, for if you use s as one sonant sign,
h as another, and sh for a third sound, how are you to
know when the two letters are to be pronounced indi-
vidually and when together, in other terms, whether
you are to read ashal as as-hal or ash-alf Considered
from the outset as a genuine alphabet, and not as a
mere artificial contrivance for transliterating another
alphabet, it, of course, admits of no confusing alterna-
tives, such, for example, as allowing ch or kh to be
written at the will of the transcriber for ^. Each Latin
character, too, retains its identity, its personal individ-
uality, its pure Latinity, so to speak, without disfigure-
ment by over-heavy or wrongly-placed appendages.
The letters are modified solely by additions, not by
organic charges of form; and those additions are of the
simplest and slightest sort — dots and strokes — such as
can be read and written with the utmost ease, and
printed with the utmost facility and distinctness. These
diacritical marks, as they are usually styled, are all
superscript or subscript, never lateral adjuncts, disturb-
ing the letter's perpendicular simplicity and obscuring
its outline. In Spitta, too, there was the sense of the
artist as well as the wisdom of the scholar and the
cunning of the craftsman — another essential for the
profession of the alphabetist, if we may coin that term.
No useemly, outr6, non-homogeneous or non-accord-

1 8 The Egyptian Alphabet

ant letters (like those with which many who attempt
to follow in the footsteps of Cadmus are so apt to
disfigure their text) break the neat uniformity of the
lines, paragraphs and pages which are written or
printed with these Egyptian characters. ^)

One marked instance of Spitta's scholarly, prac-
tical sagacity — unusual because both scholarly and
practical in an extreme degree — is his treatment of
what may possibly be styled the /-group. His em-
ployment of the j — the true consonantal i — for the
sound expressed by the final letter of the Old-Arabic
alphabet is warranted on historical, philological and
typographical grounds. It is sanctioned also by gen-
eral usage, since a considerable majority of the peo-
ples making use of the Latin alphabet in any form
have adopted it as the representative of that phonetic
element. In fact only the English, the French and
Portuguese, and the Spanish give to the / another
yalue, and those nationalities all differ from each other
in the character of that value — the English sounding
it like soft g, the French and Portuguese like zh, and

i) If any curious person desire to see a noteworthy example of alpha-
betical uncouthness let him examine either of two works — one by an Austrian
and the other by an English professor. The first has little to do with the
newer Egyptian speech, is entitled " Die Transcription des Arabischen Alpha-
betes " (Wien, i860), and is by Professor H. A. Barb. The other is "A
Handbook of Modern Arabic" (London, 1866), the author of which is Pro-
fessor Francis W. Newman. Both are curiosities, each in its own way. Of
that class of works which attempts to reproduce Egyptian sounds by the unaided
use of the English alphabet there are no end of specimens. The method they
favour may be styled the dragomannic system of transcription — for many of
them are compiled by ambitious Syrian or Egyptian interpreters. But what-
ever be the nationality of their compilers they are almost equally entertaining
to the orthographical student.

The Egyptian Alphabet 19

the Spanish like the German guttural ch, Spitta's
employment of it for its legitimate purpose enabled
him to avail himself of the character jv — another i-
letter — for the rightful long sound of i (that is, of
ie in shield). This selection proves how carefully he
had studied the typographical side of alphabets. He
comprehended the inevitable inconvenience, in printing,
of an accented i — the accent, after slight usage, almost
invariably breaking off from the thin and frail body,
or becoming so worn or battered that it is no longer
distinguishable from the ordinary dot of the letter.
Even a tyro in the art of printing would compre-
hend the utter impracticability of adopting, in an
alphabet for general use, an accented i (whatever may
be the form of the accent) to express any sound of
very frequent recurrence. Furthermore to accent an
i — so far as printing is concerned — is to deliberate-
ly disfigure it by removing one of its essential features,
since the dot must generally be eliminated to make
place for the accent. The adoption of the / for the
consonantal Arabic je, and of y for the long ^'-sound
(as in fiend), are of themselves sufficient to demon-
strate the study, the acumen and the broad discern-
ment brought by Spitta. to the execution of his ar-
duous undertaking, i)

i) One of the absurd phases of our wonted extreme Englishness — so
often satirized even by ourselves — is our demand that foreigners, in our in-
tercourse with them, adopt and use, for our especial comfort and convenience,
English customs and forms. If we do not succeed in bringing this about we
cannot too severely censure the outside world for thus failing to cut its cloth
according to our measures — than which we can imagine none better. Such
a national habitude is not merely national obstinacy. It is often, if we but
knew it, an unwitting acknowledgment of our own ignorance or backwardness

20 The Egyptian Alphabet

Something must be said in this place of the four
semi-vowels to which Spitta had recourse in reducing
to writing the" spoken Egyptian, in order to express
the more obscure vocal articulations. These find no
place in an alphabet for permanent practical and pop-
ular use. That it is hardly the province of such
an alphabet to indicate the more delicate shades of

in certain fields of life or activity ; or mayhap an equally unintentional confession
of slowness of comprehension beyond certain intellectual limits. An example
in point is the tardiness of the whole Anglo-saxon world in accepting the met-
rical system — long since naturalized even among our sister Germanic peoples.
That this English trait is as striking in linguistic matters as elsewhere the
pages of Notes and Queries — to cite one particular witness — abundantly and
constantly testify ; and everybody will recall the case of the American diplomatist
who thought that all foreign governments should pass strenuous laws forbidding
their subjects to speak any language but English. A student of almost any
race but our own, with the fine early training given in so many continental
schools, can readily comprehend that no Latin character so fittingly represents
the consonantal z-sound as does the letter y, but anybody who peruses the Eng-
lish philological literature of the day will frequently have occasion to observe
that even experienced English-speaking writers on linguistic science cannot
wholly rid themselves, in this respect, of their intellectual insularity ; while in
the case of less learned people the prejudice against the historical and true ortho-
graphic use ofy arises as much from a felt lack of mental quickness, training
or adaptability, as from any other sentiment. Nothing seems simpler to the
average foreigner, when he is authoritatively told that / is the best represen-
tative of the Arabic je than to so use it; but the average Anglo-saxon will
none of it. He says, or feels : — * ' Let the ' blamed furriner ' do what he pleases
with his js, I am going to stick to my ys. ". But the same obstinate Englishman,
when he undertakes to learn German must of necessity acquiesce in the fact that
our jv-sound is to be expressed by j. Why should he find it more difficult to
utter the Egyptian /a (oh !) than the German /a (yes) — the two being pronounced
virtually alike ? On the other hand, in acquiring French, he must perforce be
content to know that /, in that language, is pronounced like our z in azure,
for he would hardly insist that the French be obliged to write z'ai (instead of
fcti) to suit his English eye and ear. In view of the differences in the orthography
of the various modern tongues which must be mastered in these days of inter-
national intercourse, it ought not to require either a great brain or an extraor-
dinary patience, to fix in one's mind the fact that the learner must write, in
the idiom of Egypt, jigy (not yigy)^ jitkallim (not yitkallim), joni (not yom),

The Egyptian Alphabet 21

sound Spitta was himself aware. He expressly states
that, in transcribing, he has largely confined himself
to the simple vowels, a, i, and u, instead of always
endeavouring to reproduce with exactness the obscurer
vowel- tpnes, "da einestheils solche feine Niiancen doch
wieder nur durch conventionelle Zeichen wiederge-

^arabyja (not '^arabyya or ^arabtyd). This letter / is, in truth, one of the many
confusing elements in our hybrid English alphabet. We write gem, gin and
George, but also jam, jelly and James. After the same fashion we articulate
the initial consonants of get and genial, of gip'^y and girdle quite differently,
while the two varying orthographical forms, gaol and jail, are sounded exactly
alike. The same is to be said likewise of the character y. We treat it as a
consonant in you, yellow, steelyard, yonder, and as a vowel element in quay,
key, stray, try, rely, while die and dye, like lie and lye, are as similar in pro-
nunciation as they are diverse in orthography. It is an alphabet like this which
the unlettered — and some who style themselves lettered — desire to offer to
any still unwritten language in search of a literary medium ! In reviewing the
literature which concerns itself more or less intimately with the current Egyptian
speech it will be found that it is the product of two conflicting classes of per-
sons, all of whom, as friends of Egypt, are quite willing that the Egyptians
shall learn to read and write. But each class attaches to its good will its own
uncompromising condition. The first group consists of those who have passed
safely through the wearisome hours necessary to be spent in order to make
one's self master of the Old-Arabic alphabet; they kindly wish to make the
rest of the world undergo the same ordeal; and they thus insist upon applying
this antiquated and incommodious alphabet to everything that can possibly be
styled, in any sense, Arabic. In other words they say to the mass of the
people of Egypt : — " Spend all the schooltime — all the intellectual labour —
which you can afford to spend, in the doubtful endeavour to familiarize your-
self with this tedious alphabet — then go plough your fields, gather your crops,
support your families, and thank God all the rest of your lives that you know
the Arabic alphabet when you see it ! " Then there is the second class of Egypt's
benefactors, which cannot conceive of any alphabetical dress for the Egyptian
speech other than that ungainly one so unfortunately and so inconveniently
worn by the English language. These benevolent people declare that it is quite
impossible to understand jiktib and jimsjk, unless you write them yiktib and
yimsik, or to x^^A jasmyn or jemyn unless you write them yasfneen And yemeen.
Between these two classes the unhappy Egyptians, who stand waiting, with /
the untiring patience bred of centuries, for the blessing of a broader culture,
may indeed feel that salvation lies only in getting rid of all their friends.

22 The Eo^yptian Alphabet

geben werden konnen, die das Transcriptionssystem
sehr complicirt machen wurden, andererseits man bei
richtiger Articulation der Consonanten von selbst sein-
er Stimme die Biegung giebt, welche der Aussprache
am bequemsten ist. " Another writer has perhaps
expressed the same idea more forcibly by saying that
*' An alphabet intended for practical purposes can nev-
er aim at giving, as it were, a minute image of the
varying sounds of language. Letters are meant to
indicate the sounds of words, and not to photograph
every shade of sound, that occurs in spoken langua-
ges. '' ^) Such characters as have been referred to are
naturally of utility in a dissertation markedly phonolog-
ical in. its purpose. To retain them in journals and
books designed merely for general reading, or ele-
mentary instruction, would be like attempting to em-
ploy, in writing our own language, the multitude of
signs, symbols and figures made use of by Ellis in
his invaluable scientific treatise on ** English Pronun-
ciation ; " or like trying to print one of the principal
Romance or Germanic tongues of Europe by means
of the " Standard Alphabet " of Lepsius. In the same
way it appears allowable, if not advisable, to abandon,
in practical usage, the employment of Spitta's semi-
vowels in their character of *' Zwischenvocale, '^ that
is, with the object of filling the hiatus (or cessation
of utterance) caused by too many sequent consonants.
This hiatus, although certainly more marked in the
pronunciation of the Semitic dialects, is also suffi-

i) Outline Dictionary for the Use of Missionaries ^ Explorers and Stu-
dents of Language, by Max Miiller (London, 1867), p. xxiv.

The Egyptian Alphabet 23

ciently noticeable in some of the Latin languages, in
which no expedient of avoiding it has ever been gen-
erally adopted. In Italian, for instance, the rule
which requires Ispagna (instead of Spagna), after a pre-
ceding consonant, is fast falling into disuse. In such
forms as *' go over " and ** wasps sting '' in English,
a similar hiatus is observable. It must then be al-
ways remembered, in studying the two important pro-
ductions of Spitta, that they are in a great degree
pioneer works. He was endeavouring to put on rec-
ord, for the first time in an intelligible way, and at
the same time in a final shape, the principal pho-
netic pecuharities of the Cairene dialect. But he
never, in doing this, lost sight of the fact that his
main and greatest purpose was, as has been said, to
provide a proper means of writing that dialect —
that it might become an efficaceous instrument for
the education of the whole Egyptian community.

The Alphabet.

It is to be noted first of all that the new Egyp-
tian alphabet has one feature in common with the
old alphabet of the written Arabic and with all
other Oriental alpabets — it knows nothing of capital
letters. In this respect, too, it fulfils the dream of
the philologist — of men like the founders of modern
Germanic linguistic studies, the brothers Grimm, in
whose noble lexicological work capitals have been
discarded. They, as many other profound students
of language have done, looked forward to the day
when written and printed speech everywhere shall be

24 The Egyptian Alphabet

simplified by the total abolition of the uncial alphabet.
The continued use of capitals, after the exigencies of
current writing had led to the adoption of the smaller
or technically-styled '* lower-case " letters, is a heritage
from the mediaeval scribes, who loved variety more
than simplicity, ornament more than utility, elaborate
decoration more than beauty unadorned. Without
capitals — large or small — the cost and toil of typo-
graphy would be sensibly diminished — not to speak
of the economy of labour effected in teaching and
learning. In this latter regard, it would be interest-
ing to understand exactly the feelings of a child,
when, after convincing himself, through a period of
much distress, of the individuality and identity of A,
B, C, D, E, he finds himself confronted by another
long series of characters — a, b, c, d, e, — very dif-
ferent in appearance, which he is told are positively
the same thing, having the same names and powers,
although he speedily finds that he has to begin to
exercise all over again his not yet very robust mental
faculties before he can fully complete his alphabetical
knowledge. The Egyptian alphabet possessing no
capitals, initial words of sentences, as well as names
of persons and places, begin with the same kind of
characters as all other words — as there is indeed
no reason why they should not — and so there is one
perplexing orthographical rule the less to learn and
apply.

Compared with the Old-Arabic alphabet, the Egyp-
tian ABC has 34 characters' instead of the 130 or
more necessary to represent, by the former, all the
consonantal and vocal elements. The so-called ** chan-

The Egyptian Alphabet 25

eery " Arabic — that bar to Egyptian progress — in
its journals and other published works, is obHged to
employ this huge Old-Arabic conglomeration of alpha-
betical signs. Imagine a compositor in an English,
French or German printing-office condemned to handle
130 distinct types (which do not even include any up-
per-case characters, nor any marks of punctuation, nor
any numerals) ! But the evil does not end with the
printer. The reader likewise suffers; and, above all,
education suffers. Nobody can fail to be .struck by
the irregularity and distortion of the Arabic printing-
alphabet, so far removed, in that respect, from the
graceful symmetry and uprightness of the Kufic and
other early forms of writing ; while the eye is wea-
ried by the indistinctness of the finer lines, the mi-
nuteness of the vowel-marks, and the imperspicuity
of the various diacritical points and strokes — all of
which are so liable to be shattered or mangled by
a little usage as often to make half a dozen words, in
a page or column, nearly illegible. No educational
torture can be more cruel than to subject the tender
eyes of children to such a typography. Many west-
ern scholars, although commencing their Arabic stud-
ies in adult years, can testify, by sad experience,
to the injury inflicted by the Arabic calligraphy
upon human eye-sight; and the typographical char-
acters are even more hurtful, because much smaller
and less clear. To be concise, it may be said that
the Old-Arabic alphabet, especially as it is used in
the press, seems designed to promote illegibility,
and to limit the spread of knowledge. With its con-
tinued service, as the handmaid of speech, the highest

2 6 lite E^yptimi Alphabet

stage of general, or popular, enlightenment can never
be attained in the East. But sober sense, uninfluenced
by the faddishness of the scholastic specialist on the
one hand, and the sentimentalism of the religious big-
ot on the other, will sooner or later bring about
the substitution everywhere of a better medium both
for the pen and the press.

In the phonetic, as in the inflexional forms of
the Egyptian dialect, there are many deviations from
the mother-tongue. Just as in the case of the verb,
the passive voice and various modal peculiarities, as
in the case of the noun, the dual, the feminine plural
and the case-endings have dropped away, so in the
pronunciation three sounds, once expressed by the
Old-Arabic letters ci;, o and ^ ^\ have disappeared, and,
of course, require no written or printed representa-
tives. Three of the existing Egyptian consonantal
elements (/, d and s) — and possibly a fourth {Ji) — are
not unlikely to follow, at a not very remote period,
since their enunciation, in som.e special words, at
least, not infrequently goes over to the sounds of /,
d, s and h respectively. Moreover, most of the at-
tributes formerly belonging to the first letter of the
Old- Arabic alphabet have ceased to be exercised;
and its position, as a distinct phonetic expression, has
thus been greatly weakened. It is for this reason that
it seems not improper to give its place to the vowel-
group, which heads the living Egyptian alphabet.

i) J^ is still heard in a limited number of Cairene words, but its place
is generally supplied by zen (z). Were it necessary to represent its sound
it would be done by z with, the subscript dot.

The Egyptiafi Alphabet 27

In this group the long vowels are indicated,
except in the case of the long /, by the circumflex
accent above the corresponding short-vowel character.
If one carefully examine the reasons for the use of
this diacritical sign, rather than of the customary
long-accent mark (as in a, for instance), they will be
found to be not altogether illogical. In writing, the
circumflex accent cannot interfere, so to speak, with
the preceding or the following letter. It cannot well
be prolonged in either direction, but must be begun
with the upward stroke and ended with the down-
ward; it thus occupies only the space existing above
the letter, and included in the outline, or contour,
of the character to which the sign is attached. The
ordinary long-accent sign, in the rapidity of calli-
graphy, is easily carried too far. In printing, the
circumflex has the advantage, as every printer knows,
over the slender long-accent line in being less easily
marred or broken ; this is owing to its shape, and
to what is technically described as its greater weight
of metal. So much for this feature. The long i-
sound, as will be noticed, is an exception to the
system followed in portraying the other long-vowel
sounds ; instead of a circumflex i, the letter y is em-
ployed to express this sound, and some weighty
reasons have already been given for this variation in
the graphic scheme of the long-vowel elements. But
there is an obscurer aspect — a more imaginative
view — of this instance of discontinuity in the vowel
method, which is worthy of a word, even if that word
must be addressed only to minds of a certain sen-
sitiveness of observation. This view of the matter

28 The Egyptian Alphabet

has reference to that subtle law of orderly beauty,
which makes a too symmetrical symmetry, so. to speak,
repulsive; and to that other law, which proves an
unbroken series of things to be less striking, and
therefore less easily fixed in the memory, than an
interrupted series. In all the arts the mind shrinks
from a succession of unvaryingly similar objects; a
list of words all ending in -tion is more difficult to
acquire by heart than if, now and then, words of
different terminations intervene ; and an alphabet of
letters all round, or all quadrangular, in their external
lines, would be neither attractive nor of facile acquire-
ment. But this digression is perhaps running too
near the boundary-line of fancy to be continued.

As to the consonants, the unusual, or non-Roman
characters are eight in number, representing sounds
not expressible by single letters of the Latin alphabet.
Of these, four, t, d, h and s are the graphic repre-
sentatives of sonant elements differing merely in a
slight degree from those expressed by /, d, h and s
respectively. This divergence could not be denoted
by diacritical marks above the first three of these con-
sonants because of their height, which is so great as to
occupy all the space above the line ; while, in the case
of the 6-, that character, with a superscript sign, has
another office, that is, to designate the English sh-
sound (i). The dot is the simplest form of diacriti-
cal distinction, and is thus properly significant of the
slightest shade of vocal dissimilarity. Placed below
the Latin letters representing sounds of an analogous
character, it thus completes the additional characters
required. Another letter, the li, describes an articulation

The Egyptian Alphabet 29

of the voice which the principal European alphabets
are able to portray only by the cumbersome device
of a combination of letters — as in the German by
ch. Some of the motives for the employment and
position of the distinguishing subscript curved stroke
are identical with those alluded to in speaking of the
circumflex long-vowel mark. Its convenience, both
in writing and printing, will be evident from a com-
parison with the other devices,' in the various trans-
literation schemes, for denoting the sound in question.
The letter syn (s) represents the English ^>^-sound, or
the German ^^^-sound. Being a pure sibilant it was
almost inevitable, in devising a proper character for it,
that its base should be the Latin s. The addition
of the customary acute-accent sign was a clever choice,
partly because of its ease in writing and simplicity
in form, partly because it is made use of nowhere
else in the Egyptian alphahet. The letter is, on this
account, immediately recognizable, and simple as is
its distinguishing adjunct it is plainly differentiated,
being superscript, from its near relative, the sad (s).
It appears to be much more appropriate, in every
way, than the representatives of the same sound in
the Lepsius alphabet, and in some other schemes.
The two remaining alphabetical forms required no lit-
tle amount of reflection. They are the gen (g) and
the V« Q. The former describes a sound, which, to
some ears, is nearer an r, than a gy and for it, in
some of the transcriptional methods, an r, with a diacrit-
ical mark, is employed. But the highest linguistic
authorities are united in treating it as a guttural rather
than a labial. The Latin g was, therefore, preferred

30 The Egyptian Alphabet

. J

as the base-letter. The shape of the g made the diacrit-
ical mark necessarily superscript, and again the sim-
plest one was chosen; again, too, the superscript is
in a certain respect unique, for no other letter, rep-
resentative of a non-Latin sound, bears it. There
are thus three dotted letters — the /, the g and the
y. The character used for the V/a-sound is really a
modification of the upper half of the Old-Arabic let-
ter (5). In the " Grammatik " of Spitta the German
printers used for it the inverted comma, which, though
similar in form, is too inconspicuous, but in the ** Contes
Arabes" this was replaced by a specially made and
more distinctly observable type. Dr. Spitta, as is
known from his own lips, did not accept this solu-
tion of the difficulty without some reluctance. The
marked dissimilarity of the ^hi to any Latin sound
made the choice of a graphic representative a matter
of embarassment. As usual it was desired to pay
heed to its typographical uniformity with its fellows,
but many suggestions to effect this purpose were one
after another rejected — all for important reasons. The
sound is the strongest of the vocal utterances made by
the almost unaided breath (faucal sounds, as they are
styled), and like all these breath-letters has something
of the character of a vowel. Holding thus a position
half way between a consonant and a vowel, it may be
looked at from the point of view of either as only half
a letter, and, as such, the type employed is not wholly
inapt. Glancing down the printed page the letter pro-
duces something of the effect of the quotation-marks —
it is however rarely doubled — ^in European typography,
and is therefore neither anomalous, nor disagreeable to

The Egyptian Alphabet 31

the European eye. It is assuredly less offensive than
the character used in its place in some of the translit-
erating methods — a slightly conventionalized but still
wholly unlatinized form of the Old-Arabic letter ^en.

Of the remaining 16 letters there is little to be
said. They are each familiar to the eye — as their
sounds are known to the ear — of all who are accus-
tomed to use the Roman alphabet. The gdf [q) has in
Egypt a double pronunciation, differing in its value in
different sections, but these are only dialectic varia-
tions, and do not make two separate characters at all
essential. The k, with an under-written dot, sometimes
used to express this element, as well as the other char-
acters occasionally adopted for this purpose, does not
seem to form any better representative than the q,
which has, at any rate, the advantage of being purely
Roman. Of the je we have spoken fully elsewhere.
The Egyptian does not employ the Latin c, which, even
in many of the European alphabets, is redundant; it is
replaced, in the transcription of foreign proper nouns,
by the syn (s) or the kdf (k). Both the />-sound and v-
sound of English speech are unfamiliar to the Egyptian
tongue; in writing foreign names containing these let-
ters recourse must be had to the other labials, be (b)
or fS (f). In the same way the foreign x is separated
into its two elements, and expressed by ks.

It should, finally, be understood that the order of
the alphabet, as given in these pages, is not the work
of Dr. Spitta. He wrote and treated the vowels apart,
as is usual in the case of the Old- Arabic vowel-signs,
and he gave the remaining letters in the order of the
corresponding consonants in the earlier alphabet. For

:^2 The Egypt ia?i Alphabet

his immediate purpose this was doubtless wise, but, if
the alphabet be generally used, and particularly if it be
used in the schools, a more rational grouping appears
advisable; and there need be no hesitation in adopting
such an arrangement while the alphabet is still in the
initiatory stage of its existence. The order, as here
printed, lays no claim to perfection, but is merely an
attempt to make the alphabet a little more easy of
acquisition to young learners, and a little more conve-
nient to all likely to familiarize themselves with it. It
is not too much, perhaps, to hope that the opponents
of a simplified or reformed alphabet will refrain, on
this point, from objections. For even in applying
the Old-Arabic alphabet to the dialects derived from
the ancient tongue, certain changes would necessarily
be made, since some of its letters have become totally
obsolete, and would naturally drop out. It is, in any
case, the letters of the new alphabet which are of im-
portance— and not the arrangement of them.

Conchision,

Careful study of its details — especially if sup-
plemented by a short period of use — can hardly fail
to convince the investigator that it would be difficult,
to say the least, to create an alphabet better adapted
to its purpose than that of Spitta; in truth — as was
stated in the first paragraph of these observations —
there are few if any existing forms of speech, which
possess one at once so complete and so simple, so
available for all the exigencies of writing and printing.

The Egyptian Alphabet 33

Its general application to the national dialect of Egypt
would forthwith immensely facilitate the extension of
knowledge, and inestimably lessen the task of the teach-
er throughout all the Nilotic lands; and this may well
be brought about without, in any measure, affecting
the position of the Old-Arabic alphabet as the medium
of the venerated classical literature. Nor would such
a step detract from the sanctified character of that
alphabet, with which the sacred Koranic scriptures are
written. The Bible of the Russians is printed by means
of the Cyrilhc alphabet, notably differing from that
made use of in the modern Russian. Our own English
Bible, in its existing version, has many verses and
phrases which can hardly be pronounced to be strictly
modern English. The Catholic church regards only
the Latin vulgate scriptures as authoritative, but the
Catholic nations all have secular literatures in their own
vernacular. The Copts daily use the Old-Arabic alpha-
bet, and the ** chancery " Arabic, in their correspon-
dence, while speaking the Egyptian idiom, although
their holy books are in the ancient Coptic, having its
own alphabet. There are other instances, even in the
East, of similar alphabetical and literary evolutions and
revolutions; and there seems no good reason why these
examples should not be followed to advantage by na-
tionalities of whatever race or creed. Religion in no
wise suffers thereby, while the progress of the people
is immeasurably accelerated.

With such a graphic medium as the Egyptian al-
phabet there is little need of waiting for the new Dante,
whose advent Spitta, in the closing phrases of the pre-
face to his " Grammatik, " seems to hint at. Other

34 I'he Egyptian Alphabet

efficient forces are already at hand. Hundreds of
young men are now constantly receiving an excellent
training in the higher schools of the Egyptian cities —
schools which are yearly growing better. These sons
of Egypt are both intelligent and patriotic. Let all
these youth of the newer generation put their shoulders
to the wheel. Let them give their influence — great,
if properly applied — to the development of the popu-
lar tongue, and there will soon follow the unapproacha-
ble blessing of universal education, with its inevitable
result of a broad literature ** for the people, of the
people and by the people. '' The present government
of Egypt might well lend its aid — as it is at last in a
position to do — to such an effort. An American writer
has characterized the marvellous financial, commercial,
agricultural and moral transformation of Egypt, effect-
ed in these later years, as **the most splendid Anglo-
saxon achievement of the century. " Why cannot the
men who have been the potent factor in bringing about
this beneficent material revolution, now open the gate,
as well, to the spiritual development of the people
they rule so ably and so honestly ? There is but one
path that passes through that gate, and that path can
be traversed only by a nation educated in the language
it understands. That language is already the daily
speech of social intercourse, of the family, the shop
and the farm. Why should it not become the medium
of an education, destined not only to elevate the nation
which has its home under the palms of the Nile, but
perhaps to revive, under a nobler form, the ancient
glory of the whole Saracenic world?

Appendices.

(mal^hiq).

I. The Alphabet.

(alifbg).

a

ah

b •

^

U)

a

a

d

ddl

(^)

e

eh

d

dad

(u^)

t

i

r

re

i, )

i

y

ih

y

> ( ' )

z
s

zin
syn

(J )

o

oh

s

^yn

{^)

6

6

s

?dd

(^)

u

uh

c

'in

(£)

ti

u \

f

fe

(-)

b

bi

( V )

q

qdf

(o)

t

a

( o )

k

kdf

(^ )

t

td

( ^ )

1

Idm

( i)

g

gym

( Z )

m

mym

( ^ )

g

gin

( t )

n

nun

(o)

h

hi

( » )

w

wau

( > )

h

H

( z )

J

ji

(c^)

The following names have been used or suggested
for the vowels : nasda for a/ fpefda for e ; I}if4^ for ^/
rof^a for (?/ and ruf'a for 2^. .

a, d, e, e, i, y, o, 6, u, ti, b, t, t, g, g, h, h,
f}, d, d, r, z, s, s, s, \ /, q, k, /, m, n, w, j.

t^j d>j e^ Sj f-j ^ t^ t^ ^

^ /, /^ ^, 'y, ^j ^j ^j

^ ^ ^ ^^^ ^ -^^^ /^.

^<<t«tttmtttmtt^ttm»tm»t<«ni

L»llillHHmill« 11 1111 itiiitnii linn

II. Pronunciation,

(el lafz).

Vowels (hurtif bala §6t).

a like English a in at, had^ man.

Examples. — ?h, father; abadan, 7iever ; afan-
dy, Mr., gentleman ; ana, // balad, village, town;
talagr^f, telegram, telegraph office; dahab, gold;
samak, fish ; fall^h, peasant; madrasa, school, col-
lege; ma^laqa, spoon; na^l, date-palms; nadah,
he has called ; nadd^ra, spectacles, eyeglasses, opera-
glass ; wara, behind; wa'^ad, he has promised:
jitkallimu, they speak, will speak ; jistann^k, he
waits for you; wala, or.

a - like English a In ah, bar, father.

Examples. — ^la, tool; b^b, door ; ^^jif, seeing;

^^f, he has seen; la, 7io ; m^ward, rosewater ; my-

• d^n, square, public place ; mylad, Christmas ; n^r,

fire ; n^mtisyja, mosquito-net; wMih, clear, distinct,

plain; j^fa, Jaffa.

Like the other long vowels a is pronounced as if short when fol-
lowed by two consonants, and in certain other well-defined positions.
But for orthographical reasons the long vowels all retain their original
and proper diacritical signs even when subjected to transient or local
phonetic changes. In the same way, the short vowels must occasionally
be enunciated as if they were long.

adeeiyoouubttgghhfpddrzss^^fqklmn w j

40 The Egyptian Alphabet

e like English e in bed, ell, send.

Examples. — el, the; esna, Esna ;\i^\,yr , much;
hxjmo, first; gedyd, new; hena, here; mega-
wir, student; we, and,

e like English ey in they, or ay in say, layer.

Examples. — etn^n, two; tk, what;ht^, eggs;
'^b, shame; '^s, bread; f^n, where; qar^t, I have
read; \t, why ; 1^1, night, evening,

1 like English i in begin, 'sip, tilL

Examples. — ibn, son; isbit^lja, hospital; is-
wid, black; inglyz, English; imta, when; intSi, you;
bint, girl; kilma, word; misik, he has seized,
grasped,

y like English ie m fiend, ea in steal, or ee in eel.

Examples. — yd, ha?id ; imsy! go away / hyr,
well; byra, beer; sittyn, sixty; 'yd, festival; m^-
lyja, finance; myn, zvho ; naggaryn, carpenters;
wazyr, vizir,

O like English o in not, offer, yonder.

Examples. — aho, there he is; ob^ra, opera;
ogostos, August; bortuq^n, orange; hod! take!*
''osmanly, Ottoman; moqattam, Mokattam,

O like English o in note, over, so, throne.

Examples. — 6da, room; ^6m, swimming ;
bord6, Bordeaux, claret ; g6z, husband; b6sta,
post, post-office; r6sto, roast; k6m, hill, mound;
n6ba, tim.e, once; j6m, day ; j6m^n, two days.

adeeiyoouubttgghhfpddrzsss'fqklmn wj

The Egyptian Alphabet 41

U like English u m full, pulley, put.

Examples. — ubt, sister; umm, ?nother ; um-
m^l, 0/ course, then ; gurncLl, neivspaper ; tult, third;
dukkan, shop; qums^n, shirts; ksLVskdn, police sta-
tion; kutub, books; muslim, Moslem; muft^h, key ;
wust, middle,

U like English 00 in fool, ooze, soot, stool.

Examples. — barg<it,y?^a/ btil^q, Boulak; g{i-
wa, in, zvithin; h{iwa, he ; dtld, worms ; fill, beans ;
malbtis, dress; kaltin, lock; niXr, light.

Consonants (hurtif laha s6t).

b like English b.

Examples. — abryl, April; divmb, rabbit; \h-
tada, he has begun; hkhdi, pasha; balt6, overcoat;
bijUt, houses; tibn, straw; sabab, cause; kit^b,
book; matba^'a, printing-office, press,

t like English /.

Examples. — etn^^ar, twelve; itkallim, he has
spoken; ban^t, girls, daughters; bintfi, Napoleon,
twenty franc piece ; taufyq, Teivfik ; tal^t, three ;
talafdn, telepho?ie ; t6r, ox, bull; h^gat, things;
kitten, linen,

t like English /, but with a rounding of the lips
(as in forming the letter 0), and with slightly
greater stress.

Examples. — ittala", he has studied; tanta,
Tanta; t^r, birds; tyn, clay, soil; ^'ats^n, thirsty;

adeeiyoouubttgghhfpddrzs^s^fqklmn wj

42 The Egyptian Alphabet

quttsiy. cat/ lahbata, confusio7i ; jitla", he ascends,
he comes out.

g like English g in bag, dagger, give, go.

Examples — agrtimyja, grammar ; tagir, mer-
chant; gamal, camel; gamb, side, beside ; hagar,
stone; faggal, radish-seller ; figl, radish.

g" like a strongly-aspirated, guttural r.

Examples. — aga, aga; bagl, m-ule ; gada,
break/east, lunch; gasal, he has zvashed ; sugl,
business, work; luga, language ; magrib, evening;
jigsil, he washes.

n like English h in have, hear, behind.

Examples. — all^h, God; azhar, Azhar mosque;
giha, direction; hyja, she; hum, they ; z3hv,/lozv-
ers; muhandis, engineer; jahiid, Jeivs.

n like English h in horde, but slightly more aspi-
rated.

Examples. — ahmar, red; tiftah, you open;
habl, rope ; h^t, ivall; ihna, ive ; humar, donkey ;
s^hiby, my friend ; mahall, place, spot.

Jl like German ch in ach, doch, Sache, or Scotch
ch in loch'.

Examples. — tabb^h, cook; habar, news, in-
formation; hamsa, five; duhhan, tobacco; h^jif,
afraid; kutubhana, library; mahzan, magazine,
warehouse.

adeeiyoouubttgghh^ddrzsss^fqklmnwj

The Egyptian Alphabet 43

d like English d.

Examples. — edfH, Edfu; tMrus, Theodore;
gidd, grandfather ; ddl, these; duriis, lessons;
mMna, minaret,

d like English d uttered with a rounding of the
lips and slightly greater stress.

Examples. — adrab, / strike; ard, earth; di-
lim, dark; duhr, 7ioon ; ""adm, bones ; o^^y^ judge;
nad^fa, cleanliness,

r like English r, but slightly more rolling.

Examples. — arba^a, four ; berins, prince ; r%-
gil, man; rtih! go! qir^, piastre; kafr, village;
marrat^n, tzvice.

Z like English z.

Examples. — gezyra, island ; r\izz, rice ; zamb,
mistake; z^j, as, how ; z^t, oil; mazb(it, firm, secure,

S like English ^ in sad, side, mouse.

Examples. — asmar, brown ; iswid, black ;
bass, 07ily, enough; r^s, head, cape; saijid, gen-
tleman ; s^'^a, hour, clock, tvatch ; sillim, stairs,
ladder,

S like English sh in fishing, shall, mesh.

Examples. — b^^^b? wood, timber ; Ija^^, he has
stepped in, entered; ^aij^l, porter, bearer ; ^t,
thing; ^uwaija, some, a little ; ^tk, bread ; mi^mii^,
apricot; mu^, not; wi^^, face, visage,

adeeiyoouub t tg g hh^dci^^s^s ^ f q k Im n w j

44 The Egyptian Alphabet

S like English s, but with a rounding of the lips
and somewhat greater stress.

Examples. — 2,^i?iV^ yellow ; bass, he has looked
at, gazed at ; rabys, cheap; saldi, prayer / sugaijar,
small, little ; s6t, voice ; masr, Cairo, Egypt; wasfa,
description; wus01, arrival,

C an explosive articulation, made by compressing
the air-passages deep down in the throat.

Examples. — it^allim, he has learned; gy'^^n,
he is hungry ; za'^^aq, he has cried out; ^'azym,
glorious, splendid ; ^aly, high, Ali; ^tn, eye, spring;
neby^ we will sell; ji^mil, he makes, he does.

f like English / in after, find.

Examples. — afryqa, Africa; alifb^, alphabet,
ABC; i%r, mouse; febr^jir, February; fihimt,
/ have understood; kaff, palm of the hand; nafar,
person, private soldier; nafs, soul, self.

q is in Cairo a catching (or quick, forced expul-
sion) of the breath: in other parts of Egypt
like the English g in gourd, but somewhat deeper
and stronger.

Examples. — baqar, cows ; daqq, he has struck,
knocked; siiq, market; qauw^s, cavass, consular
messenger ; qunsul, consul; maqa^^a, broom.

k like English k.

Examples. — ^}&\.,food; hanak, mouth; sikkyn,
knife; katMyk, Catholic; kalb, dog ; k^n, was;
kull, all, the whole ; l^kin, but; makk^r, sly, sharp,

adeeiyoouubtt gg hhfpddrzsss^fqk I m n wj

The Egyptian Alphabet 45

1 like English L

Examples. — atkallim, I speak ; alm^nja, Ger-
many ; tall, hill; lau, if; laban, milk; l^l^t,
nights; luqsor, Luxor ; jiilja, July,

m like English m.

Examples. — a'^ma, blind ; emb^reh, yesterday ;
badd^m, servant; sama, heaven^ sky ; lamma, when,
after, so that; makst^r, broken; min, from ; myl,
mile; minja, Minieh; n6m, sleep; j6m^ty, daily,

n like English n.

Examples. — enhu, which; t^ny, other, second,
again; nabolit^ny, Neapolitan; n^r, fire; n^s,
people ; fing^n, cup; jasmyn, jasmine,

W like English w.

Examples. — uwad, rooms ; tawyl, long ; sawa,
together; maswaqa, whip; wabiir, steam-engine,
steamboat, locomotive, train; wabry, late; Wclhid,
one; widn, ear ; jig^wibu, they answer,

J like English y in yet, yesterday, youth.

Examples. — itilja, Italy; yj^m, days; ta-
manja, eight; hyja masryja, she is a Cairene ;
""as^ja, stick, ca7ie ; lyja, to me; jasyr, prisoner,
captive ; j^kul, he eats; jegyb, he brings ; jeqM,
he says; jigu, they come ; yitkallim, he speaks; mi

adeeiyoouubttgghi^hddrzs^s ^ f q k I mn wj

46 The E^ptia7i Alphabet

jidrab^, he does not strike; ja salam! good gra-
cious! jekuhhu, they cough; jimla, he will fill;
jiisif, Joseph,

Diphthongs (ai we aii)

ai like English i in irate, life, right, or ei in height.

Examples. — aiwa, yes ; istaraijah, he has rest-
ed; baijad, he has whitened, whitewashed ; tult^i,
two thirds ; haiw^n, animal; saijib, he has let go,
let loose ; ^aij^n, ill, sick; kuwaijis, pretty, nice,
good; mitbaijin, shozmng, appearing ; jedaija^ he
will lose,

Ai is somtimes interchangeable with the long vowel e^ as in saija^
or ^eja^, " to send, " and saijdl or iejdl, " porter, " ezzaijak or ez-
zejak, how are you?

au like English ou in out, sound, or ow in now.

Examples. — auraq, /^/^r.y, documents; auwil,
first; bauwab, doorkeeper, hall-porter ; rauwah,
he has gone away, gone home; ^auwaq, he ivas
delayed ; fauwil, dealer iii beans ; mauwit, he has
killed; medauwar, round, circular ; mestaufy, com-
plete; waraq meqauwa, paste-board ; nauw^r, blos-
soms.

The Egyptian word for water varies greatly in its phonetic expres-
sion — maija, moija, mdja. The second of these forms seems to be an
almost unique example of a third diphthongal combination, namely, oi ;
but the most recent grammatical . work (Willmore, p. 5) cites besides
moija, alzo istugummoija (a game resembling hide-and-seek) , and '^oijdq
(for '^yj'dq, the plural of '^djiq, meaning "fop," "larkspur").

adeeiyo6uubttgghhl}ddrzsss^fqklmn w j

The Egyptian Alphabet 47

To the English Learner.

Those who are familiar only with the English
alphabet have merely to bear in mind that

j is always pronounced like En-
glish y in the words yes, your, yield,
yeoman, steelyard,

as, for example, in the Egyptian vocables: — agr{i-
myja, (grammar), italja (Italy), gam^'yja (society, as-
sembly), lyja (to me), myja (hundred), jallah! (go
ahead!), jerfih (he goes, he will go), jemynak (your
right), jigy (he comes), ji^rab (he drinks, he zvill drmk),
j6m (day), jtisif (Joseph), jfinja (June),

Likewise it must be remembered that

y is always pronounced like ie in
the English wield, or ee in steel, or e
in me,

as, for example, in the Egyptian words: — yd (hand),
battalyn (bad ones), byr (well), tyn (Jigs), taijibyn
(good ones), tawyl (long), kebyr (great, big), ketyr
(much, very), myl (mile), mylMyja (Anno Domini),
myn (who), nyl (Nile), jestifny (he sees me),

adeeiyoouubt t gg hhfpddrzsis^fqklmnwj

48 The Egyptian Alphabet

III. Illustrative Readings,

(tamryn^t).

Phrases and Sentences (gumal).

ana we inta, / and you, q{il ly ! tell me I bi
k^m er ratlPy^r how much a pound? kull j6m we
j6m, every other day, myn di? who is that? imsy
min hena, j^ walad! go away from here^ boy I g^rak
myn? who is your neighbour? rah fy b^toh, he went
into his house. \t 1^? ii)hy not? kalb el b^ kebyr
qawy, the bey s dog is very big. myn min es syn?
who is from China? aiwa, j^ sydy! yes, sir I el
haqq wRijsk, you are right, manys gany, I a7n not
rich, m^ lohs sugl ^andy, he has nothing to do with
me, hyja z^tha gat, she herself came, di ""^b, that
is a shame, lak al^ja, / am indebted to you. fyh t
g6r kida? what else is there? f^t 'al^ja fil b^t, he
called at my house. fyh full^s? is there any mofiey?
la, m^ fyhs, no, there is fione. gara ^? what has hap-
pened? ma garas Mga, nothing has happened, stlf el
banat d61? look at those girls! ana mus f^him, ""auz
tl I don^t understa7id, what do you want ? inta kunt
^and myn embareh bil lei? at whose house were you
yesterday evening? el ^ilm jegyb el hilm, learning
brings patience, el qabt^n sakin fy masr, the captain
resides at Cairo. etn^n etn^n, tivo and two. hum
k^nu hi hammam j6m el gum'^a, they were at the bath
on Friday, kclm n6ba ruht fil ihr^m? how many times

The Egyptian Alphabet 49

did you go to the Pyramids? marrat^n, we inta?
twice, and you ?

sab^h el \tv ! good morning / nah^rak sa^yd ?
good day / mesa el Y^tr ! good evening ! l^ltak sa^yda !
good night! ezzaijak? how do you do? k^f k^fak !
how are you f taijibyn? are you well? taijibyn, el
hamdu lill^h, very well, thank God! marhaba! wel-
come! ahlan we sahlan ! you are welcome! itfaddal,
tefaddal ! please ! be so good ! please come in! help your-
self! take a seat! ma'' es SdAkvcidi, good bye ! auha^-
tina, j^ b^-w^ga ! we are glad to see you, sir! istanna
^uwaija! stop a little! sallim ly ''ala ummak ! my
regards to your mother !

MMha f6n? where are her children? m^ afham^
turky, / do not understand Turkish. ruhna netull
""al^hum, we went to call upon them, diryt bil babar ?
did you hear the news? elly fat f^t, let bygones be by-
gones, mcLJiVaf^ rasoh min rigl^h, he does not know his
head from his foot, hyja ahsan minnoh bi ketyr, she is
better than he by a good deal, da bet^^ha, that's hers,
bij^kul lahma h^f, he eats meat and nothing ivith it,
ballyk jemynak! keep to your right! suft el jasmyn-
at fil gen^na betcl^etna? have you seen the jasmines
in our garden? baqa teljus^ en nas^ra .el kenysa,
now the Christians enter the church, ihna kunna fil
mahatta es sa^'a talata we nuss, we were at the station
at half past three, el b^g^ el alm^ny biji'^mil t dil-
waqt? what is the German school-teacher doing nozv?
m^ neq<ils h^ga, we say nothing, jertihu imta? when
are they going? hiiwa m^ jibdimny^, he does not serve
me, matltiboh kam qirs? how many piastres does he
demand? tivciA e fy masr? ivhat are you doing at

50 The Egyptian Alphabet

Cairo? elly ^at^an ji^rab, he who is thirsty will drink,
ma tidrabh^^ ! do not strike her I et talj^nyja jifhamu
el lis^n el esbanj61y, lakin m^ jiqruhs, the Italians
understand the Spanish language, but they do not read it,
b6stet el hind m^ gats lissa. — el kahrabayja
hyja hibr et talagrafgy, we 'iddet et talagraf hyja
qalamoh. — ism bed^wy masr 'abbas basa et tany.- —
mehammad taufyq el hed^wy es s^biq k^n jehibb
masr we jehibb b^fha; we wafatoh si'bet 'alal masryjyn
kulluhum. — el bahr el abjad we el bahr el azraq
jingim'u sawa ""and el harttim fy wust afryqa, we min
henak jibtidy bahr en nyl. — el agriimyja 'ilm el luga,
we hyja maqsHma qismen: i. 'ilm el kilm^t, we 2.
""ilm eg gumal. kull masry l^zim jit'allim el agrtimyja
^a^^n innaha ti'allimoh jitkallim we jiqra we jiktib el
lis^n elly rabbuna iddah loh, we elly jisma'oh kull
j6m. — masr maqsfima li qismen, bahary we qibly ;
fy kull qism saba*" mudyryjclt. mudyryjat bahry hyja:
qaljtlbyja, daqahlyja, garbyja, sarqyja, beh^ra, menli-
fyja; we mudyryjat qibly hyja: eg gyza, banysu^f,
el faij<im, minja, asjtit, girga, qena we mudyryjet
asw^n. — h^let el mcllyja el masryja fy yj^m 'abb^s
basa et t^ny g6r haletha fy yjam isma'yl b^^a. —
bilM eg gez^ir fil waqt el hMir tab'a li feransa ; we
hyja waq'a b^n maraki^ we tfinis. — el faqyr di jasyr
""and el amyr el kebyr ketyr. — sallim ""alal me^'allim
qabl m^ titkallim ! — el qamar jedtir hawal^n el ard
kull tal^tyn j6m marra. — ed dunja kullaha tiVaf ally
jiVafuh tal^t a^h^s. — eg g^mi*" el azhar akbar ma-
drasa isl^myja fy ed dunja, we el h6g^t fyh astar
h6g^t el lis^ri el ""araby el qadym, we min alam en
nets fy ""uhim el qor^n. ma fyhs mahall jimkin el insin

The Ecryptian Alphabet 51

jit^'allim fyh el ^'ulUrn el ^arabyja z^j el g%m\ da. el
meg^wiryn elly fyh gu min bilad ketyra, min maraki^
li hadd el hind, el g^mr el azhar kebyr we kuwaijis
qawy, we en nas tinbisit ketyr min et tafarrug ""al^h,
we mus^hdet el ""ulama el ""uz^m we et talamza elly
fyh. — dant^ k^n ^^'ir talj^ny mash(ir; '^^ min 600
Sana, ashar a^'aroh ismoh ek kom^dja el muqaddasa.
h<iwa inwalad fy felorensa, we mat manfy fy rafenna,
ja^'ny ba^yd ''an watanoh. — ism el felastlf elly ibtara*"
en naddara elly je^iifu biha en nug(im kcln galyl^o ;
htiwa mat sanet 1642 mylMyja, we indafan fy fel6-
rensa. — auwil kit^b taba'^uh k^n fy germ^nja min
rub^emyja we b^msyn sana. min qablaha k^net el
kutub kullaha makttiba bil Ijatt. — el g^mi'' loh madna
wala madnet^n, we lyw^n, we mambar, we dikka,
we mihr^b jedill ^alal qibla ja^ny gihet mekka el mu-
karrama; we fil h6^ hanafyja we m^da; we fyh ga-
wi-mi*" fyha madrasa. aqdam g^mi" fy masr htiwa
gctmi*" ^amr, we g^mi" ahmed ibn tuhin.

el masryjyn kanu fil auwil jitkallimu we jiktibu
el lis^n el masry el qadym; baM^n s^ru jitkallimu
bil qibty; we baM^n s^ru jiqru we jiktibu el ''araby.
dilwaqt humma jitkallimu we jiktibu el masry el ge-
dyd. bil taryqa di el masryjyn gaijaru lugethum
marr^t ketyr. — el luga el qibtyja k^nu jista'miluha
fy masr fil kit^ba we el kal^m qabl dubtll el islam ;
fy kutubb^nat bilM el ifrang kutub ketyra maktUba
bil lis^n el qibty. ahsan agrtlmyja qibty katabha el
mu'allim stern bil alm^ny. el luga el qibtyja m^
jitkallimus biha dilwaqt. — el fall^h el masry mu^
mit'allim. 16? 'a^^n innoh jiltizim jit'allim alifb^ sa'ba
qawy, we lamma jit'allim el alif b^ di jil^qyha m§, tin-

5 2 The Egyptian Alphabet

fa'us fil 'araby elly bijitkallimoh. htiwa 'auz jifallim
el lis^n elly jitkallimuh en nah^r da, mus el lis^n elly
itkallimuh min muddet bumsemyt sana. — el alifb^
ma'mtlla min gins^n min el hurfif: hurtlf laha s6t
ja'ny n^tqa; we hurHf bala s6t ja'ny sakta. el huriif
en s^kta gins^n: qusaijara (a, e, i, o, u) we tawyla
(d, e, y, 6, u), baqy hurtif alifb^, min harf el b^
lil ^bir» hyja hurtlf natqa (b li hadd j).

saqgdra, elly kdn ismaha zamd7i menf, kdnet auivil
tafpt li bildd masr ; baden luqsor, elly kdnu el jundn
jisammuha t^bes, baqet tafpt masr ; we bad luqsor
baqet iskandaryja et ta^t, el "agam da^alu masr min
aktar m.in alfen sana we hakaTnuha muddet myten sana
taqryban, fy yjdm er rumdn (et taljdnyjyn el quddm)
we eljuTidn, iskandaryja kdnet hyja talpt masr, iskandar
el kebyr, malik er rum, bana medynet iskandaryja we
indafan fyha. — fy sanet tamantdsar min el higra da-
l}al ^amr, ganardl el f}alyfa ^omar, bildd masr, voe kdnet
voaqtaha tab" a li mamlaket er rum ; we al].ad iskandaryja
fy sanet tvdhidwe "esryn min el higra, "omar kdn el f^aly/a
fy dimisq es sdm, huwa bana masr el qdhira, taht el huku-
ma li bildd masr. masr sdret guz min mamlaket et iurk
fy sanet g22 lil higra. — akbar feldsifet el "arab ibn syna,
el ma'^ruf ""and el ifraigg bi ism avisenna, we ib^i rusd,
el maruf "ayiduhum bi ism averrhoes. ibn sy?ia inwa-
lad fy bufpdra sanet j§8 higryja, we ibn rusd inwalad
fy bildd esbdnja sanet ^20 higryja. — el mdqryzy mat
sa7iet 81 g higryja; huwa katab gografyjet masr elly
intabd'et fy matbaet buldq; we ab el mahdsin katab
tdrylp masr min yjdm el fpalyfa "omar li hadd mot el
meallif sanet 84J higryja, we ibn ^aldun kdn min
a lam el masryjyn, ive katab tar yip taivyl li masr, —

The Egyptian Alphabet 53

el kitdb elly kataboh batlymoSy el /eldsuf er rumy, ^ala
en nugum targimoh bil ^araby el fergdny, — el gabr
"^ilm hisdb a la, jista'^milu fyh el huruf biddl el a' dad.

aqwdl hikmyja,

el yd el batt^la nigsa.

iftakarna el qutt gana jenutt.

el hasHd \% jesM.

m^ ba'd es sabr ilia el qabr.

el hurtib nuss e^ ^aga'a.

Ms min fummak jetiil kumma]<.

161cl el kastira m^ k^net el fabiira.

el aVar b^n el ""imy sultan.

ma fyh^ warda bala s6k, la hal§,wa bala n^r.

g^jib ly hakym ga^ym 1^ ji'raf et tyn min el ^'agyn.

basal bi b^msa we bi bamsa basal.

myn talab el ""ula sihir el lej^ly.

el j6m elly jeflit ahsan min elly jigy.

in k^n lak 'and el kalb haga, qM loh : "j^ sydy! "

j6m ^'asal we j6m basal.

elly m^ je^uf^ min el gurbsll a'^ma.

el g^ry jfisal qabl el m^^y.

kal^m d Id madhtin bi zibda; jitla' ^'al^h en nah^r,

jesyh.
m^ fyh^ fulUs, m^ fyh^ '^^.
m^ fyh^ mehabba b^n eg g6za we durretha.
en nad^fa min el ym^n.
itgadda itmadda, it'as^a itmas^a.
zi^q min g^r f^ida.
tekiin fy hanakak tiqsam li g^rak.

54 The Egyptian Alphabet

in ^uft en nugiim ed duhr.

utltib eg g^r qabl ed d^r, we el rafyq qabl et taryq.

myn taanna n^l m^ jitmanna.

elly fy ydak aqrab min elly fy g^bak.

**e^ biddak, j^ a'ma?" ** quffet 'ujan. ''

el qird ""and ummoh gazal.

qabl m^ timsy ^^i r^jih tehott riglak f^n.

elly ^ala r^soh batha jihassis 'al^ha. .

en n^r wala el 'ar.

in till' el '^b min ahl el '^b m^ hus '^b.

th g^b tl^b fy melyg?

A Story (hikaja).

k^n r^gil ruziq bi walad we firih boh. k^n bid-
doh jittery loh mahd. r^h li w^hid naggar we idda
loh masalan rijal we q^l loh: *' i^'mil ly mahd:" q^l
loh en nagger : " taijib ! nah^r el gum^'a ta^'^la we
bod el mahd ! '' ja'^ny baM tamant yjam, k^n el liamys.
nah^r el gum^a er ragil r^h loh, we qi-lloh; '*h^t el
mahd ! " q^l loh en naggi^r : ** lissa mus balas. " we
itahbar en nagger lamma misy el walad, we kibir, we
itgauwiz we istaulid walad. qcll li abfih : " ""auz mahd
li ibny. " q^l loh abtlh: " rfih 'and en nagger el
ful^ny, ana wass^toh bi mahd jibqa dilwaqt 'e^ryn
Sana; bodoh minnoh ! " rah /and en nagger, q^l loh :
" hat el mahd elly wassak boh abtija we idda lak
rij^l ! " qal loh en nagger : '' bod er rijal, m^ ahibbi^
asta'gil e^ sugl ! "

The Egyptia7i Alphabet 55

. Verse (si°r).

ana el wabtir iswid gatys
we mu^tarctja alf^n kys;
d61 jibdimuny afandyja
mitrahifyn n^zilyja
kull w^hid bi mahyja
bil^f el d^ira we el dyw^n.

huiva. — "j^ munjet el qalb, qtll ly we t^ baqa jigra?
^di talatyn sana b^-dd^m bala ugra;
we cldi talatyn sana we ana warak sauw^h;
we idi talatyn sana baddy lukum mad^s ;
we Mi talatyn sana we basma*" kal^m en n^s ;
we Mi talatyn sana we el b^b qusad el bib;
myja we taminyn sana ma hadd radd gawab. '*

hyja. — ''in g^t min el bib isha el bauwib jidrabak !
we in g^t min el h^t ti^a es silla wag'^a bak!
we in tirt fil gau ^aija^t el 'uqab gibak ;
we in g^t min el bahr et timsih aula bak. ''

huwa. — '' in g^t min el bib ball^toh sab'at ilwih,
we in g^t min el h^t ball^toh sadih we madah,
we in tirt fil gau aksar HI ''uqib eg ginih,
we elly b^laqny jinaggyny min et timsih. *'

56 The Eo^yptian Alphabet

hasan li fdtma.

I.

agy lik min b^ty r^kib hus^n min nar ; we asbaq
er ryh min kutr ^6qy. ''a^^n inny ahibbik inty bass
mahabba md ternuts ilia lamma es ^ams tibrad, we en
nugum t'lattim, zve yjdni ed dunja tii/^las.

2.

bussy min sibbakik, we hMy hubby we ^az^by !
ana raqid ^alal ard maijit ^asan innik m^ bitis^lys
""al^ja. ja r6t ryh el 161 jiwassal lik hararet hubby,
we jimaijil qalbik 'as^n tisma'y hilf^ny bi inny ahibbik
hubb md jemuts ilia lamma e§ sams tibrad^ we en nugum.
t'lattim, we yjdm ed dunja tif^las.

rigl^ja tigry kull lela min kutr el har^ra elly
fy qalby li "and sibbakik, ''a^^n asma"" el kilma elly
tifarrahny. ^ iftahy bab qalbik, we b^b odtik, we ana
aqtil lik ""an el hubb elly "andy liky elly 7nd jemuts
ilia lamma es sams tibrad, zve en nugum tiattim, zve
yjdm ed dunja ti^las.

The Egyptian Alphabet 57

IV. Grammatical Accidence.

(agrumyja — tagyjirdt el kilmdt)

el, et, et, eg, ed, edy er^ ez, es, e^, e^, ek. bil,
"^alal, jfil, HI,

el arnab, el aranib. el etn^n. el imtih^n, el
imtihan^t. el yd, el yd^n. el 6da, el uwad. el
uht. el titad. el b^b. et tob. et tarbl^^, et
tar^bys. eg gamal. el gammal. el hedyja. el
hum^r. el b^rta, el b^rt^t. ed dyb. ed dufda^
ed dafMr. er rasfll. ez zirr. es sabat, es sabat^t.
es ^amsyja. es sandtlq, es sanMyq. el ^igl. el
farr^s. el qamara. ek k6m. el kiti,b. el madfa";.
el nafar, el anf^r. el walad, el walad^n. el jetym.
el ab we el umm. el me'^allim we et talimyz. j6m
et talat. es sa'a bamsa. ""and eg gazz^r. er ruzz
we es sukkar. wara el kenysa. ^ala ek kursy. ibn
et t^gir. el gum^'a. eg garas. wust el birka.
tarkybet we hagar el "iXd. mudyryjet el faijUm.
e^ ^ams tM^'a. dyw^n el auqslf. masr el 'atyqa.
el b^t^n ek kub^r. e^ ^al el ka^myr. bad ez zibda.
el b^d el masltlq. gild el barHf. el gabal el ahmar.
el 'asakir betH^ ez zabtyja. el mara eg gamyla.
el badd^myn et ta'b^nyn. el qir^ et ta'ryfa. min
el quds li es su^s. es sana el higryja. es sana el
mylMyja. sab^h el b^r !

58

The Egyptian Alphabet

fil ard. fil rukn da. HI g^mi^ ^alal gen^na.
lahm bil bat^tes. tiru fil markib el kebyra. ''alal
hamz^wy. bil mil^zim we bil jtlzb^^a. HI akl. rah
lil balad. artih ""alal b6t. fil dahabyia el ameryka-
nyja. bil kullyja. hHwa fil medyna dilwaqt. katab
bil qalam er rus^s. qa^ad ""alal qahwa kuU el j6m.
amar loh bil mirwah. gaw^bcltak fil b6sta. jistiku
lil hakim, fil aijam es sa'yda elly kan fyha hartln
er rasyd.

2.

ana

many^

da

enhu

inta

manias

di

enhuwa

inty

manty^

dot

any

Jiuwa

mahus

dola

enhy

hyja

mahys

enhyja

mahyjds

dukha

dikha

enhum

ihna

mahnds

dukhauwa

intu

mantus

dikhaija

hum

mahums

hum^na

mahummds

dukhamma

ady. adyny,adinta^ adinty,ako,ake, ahyja; adikna,
adintu, ahom, adyk, adyky, adyk, ady ha; adyna, ady-
ku7n, adyhum, myn, e, is, aij, md, elly, min. na/s,
zdt, '^en. ba^'d.

ana we inta. ana Mdir. hyja hena. riX\\ inta!
ihna binitkalHm. intu gy'anyn? hiiwa '^Hm kebyr.
hyja ^aijana. ihna muslimyn, hum nasira. inty
ti'mily ^? inty zi'ilty? ana ma suftis di abadan.

The Egyptian Alphabet 59

iskutu intu! hyja q^let. q^l hiiwa. ana ""auz ar{ih
es saraja. htiwa mes^fir fy tirubbi,. hum inhazamu.
r^hu humma we ashabhum. abadet el ^M hyja.
baM^n tili''t ana. daljalu humma el etn^n.

many^ f^kir. manys gany. mantys ''agtiza. mahlii^
lissa mil^zim. mahy^ mit'^a^^yja el l^la di. mahyj^^
^^jifa hadd. mahna^ ^^rifyn maqslidoh. mahumm^^
arwi,m, humma sawam.

er r^gil da. el mir^ja di. el g^m^ dukhauwa.
en nah^r da. el h^g^t d61. el kutub dola betd*"
myn? el bijtit dukhamma. el hudUm bettl^ak d61.
di t di ^, ja sydy? imsik el kubbaja di ! e^ ^abb
da qa'^ad mudda fil azhar. da bet^^y we dikha be-
t^^'ak. d61 mu^ kutaba. da m^ jisahhi§. mustal}-
dimyn el dyw^n d61. es sagara dikhaija.

ady fiqy taijib. ady husany. ady t^ladak. Ijod
ady qir^^n. adinty g^ty. el b^t beta'y aho. es
seggMa beti,'et el baw^ga ahe. aho es sirdar, adyk
aho ^uftoh. adyku siribtu el qez^za kullaha. hum
hena ahom. adyha r^het b^tha. adyna inbasatna.
adyny katabt li abilk.

» htiwa myn? akallim myn? myn g^boh hena?
myn balla^ak? inta futt ed dukkan li myn? ""ala
myn ed d6r? myn el malik 'ala bilM el falamank?
^'auz ^? absar ^? "auz minny ^? ''ala ^^n t
darabak el me^'allim? ti'mil ^ fy masr? tk 'andak?
^s qal lak? li aij nahja? aij dukkan dukkctnak?
el haryqa fy aij ^^ri^? inta min aij balad? m^ loh?
we ana m§, ly we m^ loh ? m^ lil mara di ?^ ana
m^ ly!

elly 'at^^n ji^rab. elly batnoh wig'ah m^ j^kul^.
htiwa elly ^'amal kida r^gil battel, hyja elly qa'ida

6o The Egyptian Alphabet

biti^hat fy es sikka maskyna faqyra. hum elly gum
hena aglabhum nass^hyn. warryny elly hatt^toh fy
g^bak da ^ ? body ek kys da we elly fyh. elly min
qismetak, meharram ^ala g^rak. el markib elly fyha
rays^n tigraq. el b^sa elly m^t fy el b^rttim ismoh
gord6n. ]% myn jehibbiny jigy 'andy. .,

''auz a^^wir nafsy. el mufattis g^y lak bi nafsoh.
humma qMu fy nafsuhum. htlwa bi^iif nafsoh taijib.
""^nak ma liha. el balad z^tha m^ birbits. el wabiir
zitoh elly s^fir boh. biddy et tarab^za "^nha. el
kutaba d61 jimdahu rdhhum.

qalu li ba'duhum. sallimu ''ala ba'duhum. bijid-
haku waja baMuhum. . itbaniqu waja ba'd. r^hu
jidrabu ba'd. istak^na min ba'd. htiwa elly 'irif.

inta min enhy balad? el qumels da min enhu
gins? enhyja kutuby? enhum tlladak?

batty f}, batty fpa; baqar, baqara; bed, beda ; tibuy
tibna ; tab I, tab la ; Ipabt, fpabta; Ipass, fpassa; zahr,
zahra; ^adm, ^adfna; ^ankabut, ^ankabuta; qauwun,
qauwuna ; kabryt, kabryta; na?nl, namla.

humdr, humdra; fpadddm, Ipadddma; f^anzyr,^an-
zyra; sultan, sultana ; ^a?nm,^amma; malik, malika;
me^allimj me'^allima; ivizz, wizza, sahib, sdhiba; ^dlim,
^dlma. ab, umm ; a^, ulpt; gamal, ndqa ; husdn,
far as ; fparuf, na'ga; dyk, farfj^a; rdgil, mara;
walad, bint.

alf, alfeii; yd, yden; qirs, qirsen; kitdb, ki-
tdben ; jom, jomen, batt, batteten ; sa^a, sa^aten;

The Egyptian Alphabet 6i

kilma, kilmeten; niara^ maraten; marra, marraten,
ab^abben; etnin; ^asanen; haramen,

tabbdfp, tabbdl^yn; sauwdq^ sauwdqyn ; farrdi,
farrdsyn; falldh^ falldhyn; nahhds, nahhdsyn; ^dbid,
^abdyn. sana, senyn, suddny. suddnyjyn ; megdimr^
megdwirjyn; mekkdwy, makkdwyjyn,

bantalon, bantalondt ; tahryr, tahryrdt; talagrdf^
talagrafdt; harym, ^arymdt ; hammdm, hammdmdt ;
^asara, ""asardt ; ^aldma, ^aldmdt ; kilma, ktlmdt; 77 ds,
ndsdt; wabuVy waburdt, aga, agawdt ; usta, ustawdt;
bdsa, bdsawdt ; be, behawdt ; zdt, zawdt; sama, sa-
mawdt, bintu, bintijdt; afandy, afandyjdt, ab, abba-
hdt ; a^, ufpimt ; umm, ummahdt, bint, bandt,

tobgy, tobgyja ; haldwdny, haldwdnyja ; qahwagy,
qahwagyja; menddy, me?iddyja,

ibn, abna; bina, abnyja; ta^wyr, tasdwyr ; tdgir,
tuggdr ; gdr, gyrdn; gezyra, gezdir; goz, igwdz;
gafyr, gufara; hedyja, haddja; hakym, hukama;
humdr, himyr ; dywdn, dewdwyn; dufda"", dafddt ;
rdhib, ruhbdn ; sikka, sikak ; sahr, ushur ; ^ura,
suwar ; fatwa, fatdwy ; qalb, qulub ; qdlib, qawdlib ;
kuttdb, katatyb ; medyna, niudun ; maldk, maldika.

^'andak waraq? iddyny waraqa. en nabl da mu§
^'^ly qawy, lakin en nabla bet^'^etna a^la. er rumm^n
taijib, ^auz rumm^na.

hfiwa baija'' fM, hyja baij^^et tirmis. laq^t el
fall^h bijihrit, we el fall§,ha bitimla el ball^s. el ab
we el ubt birtihu el madrasa. i^tar^t gidy we waj^h
mi^za.

62 The Egyptian Alphabet

el insan loh yd^n etn^n, we rigl^n etn^n, lakin el
haiw^n loh arba^ rigl^n. kunt ""andoh n6bt^n. g6z^n
asawir bass, sarafu myt^n tazkara. salla rak'at^n.
es sagara ba^'yda ^an el h^t bi mitr^n. darbet^n fy
er r^s t(iga'.

es sittat we el badd§,myn. el gin^h^t el masry
agla min el gin^hat el inglyzy. el ^arbagyja h^\<^
el bimba^yja. §tlft el haw^gat d61 min senyn. hattu
el mebadd^t ""ala el dywan^t. el ban^t es sUdanyjyn.
d61 ""al^m^t betfi"" el qiraja. htiwa hatyb el muslimyn.
fa'^al kida hamas marrat. ugret el ""arabyja liamas
^ilinat. ""al^hum barakat all^h.

el hukama taijibu ban^t es s^jih el frans^wy.
fy a^jM el muslimyn ji^'allaqu faw^nys ketyra fy es
sikak. el hadcldy lamma tetyr tiftah agnihetha. b^n
el jtinan el qudam k^n fyh fel^sifa ketyr kub^r, minhum
afl^tlln we aristotalys. es san^jir d61 talj^nyja. fy
asja buhUr ketyra minhum el fur^t we ed dagla jesubbu
fy bahr el ""agam. salatyn bugdad kan ''anduhum
zaman gij(is kebyra. uwad el 'asakir sugaijara qawy.
el nawMir elly hak^ha ahUja qaraha fy kit^b alf Ida
we tela, sab^h el qurtld wala sab^h el agr{id. el
kutubh^na el masryja fyha kutub ketyr matbil^'a we
batt jadd minha nusab ''azyma myn el quran. huttit
el kutaba d61 ^'azyma qawy. 'and banyhasan qubfir
masryja ""agyba qadyma maqtli^'a fy es stihur. wustis
el kit§,b da menammara bil galat. myn talab el 'ula
sihir el lejlly.

The Egyptian Alphabet

63

t

/•

dawdja

safary

higdby

hably

dawdk

safarak

higdbak

J^ablak

dawdky

safarik

higdbik

hablik

dawdh

safaroh

higdboh

habloh

dawdha

safarha

higdbha

hablaha

dawdna

safarna

higdbna

hablina

dawdkum

safarku7n

higdbkum

hablukum

dawdhum

safarhum

higdbhum

habluhum

sdhby, ^dhbak, sdhbik, sdhboh, sdhibha; sdhibna,
sdhibkum, sdhibhum, hdrty, hdrtak, hdrtik, hdrtoh^
hdretha ; hdretna, hdretkum, hdrethum. rigleja, rig-
lek, rigleky^ rigleh, rigleha; riglena, riglenkum, rig-
lenhum. naggdry?iy, naggdrynak, naggdrynik, nagga-
rynoh, naggdrynha ; naggdrynna, naggdrynkum, nag-
gdrynhum. kutuby, kutubak, kutubik, kutuboh, kutubha ;
kuticbna, kutubkum, kutubkum. abuja^ abuk, abuky,
abtih, abuha; abtina, abukum^ abuhum.

byja
by

bak
bik

'aleja

'alek

'aleky

biky
boh
biha

"aleh
'aleha

bina

bukum

buhum

'alena
'alekum

byhum

'alehum

fyja
fyk

fyky
fyh

lyja
ly

minny
minnak

lak

liky

loh

minnik
minnoh
viinha

fyha

laha

fyna

Una

minna
minnina

fykum

lukuni

minkum

fyhum

luhum

minhum

64 The Egyptian Alphabet

ba^dy, ba^dak, bd'dik, ba^doh, badaha; badina^
ba'^dukum, bd^duhum, baldja, baldk, baldky, baldh,
baldha; baldna, baldkum, baldhum, betd'y, betd^ak^
beta'ik, betd'^oh, betd'^ha; betd'ty, betd^tak, betd^tik,
betd'toh, betd'^ha; betuy, betuak, betuik, betuoh^
betuha; betuna, betukum, betuhu^n, ^ala sdfiy, "ala
sdnak, ^ala sdnik, ^ala sdnoh, ^ala sdnha ; "ala sdnna,
^ala Mnkum, ^ala idnhum. ^anny^ ^annak, ^annik,
''annoh, '^anha; ^anna, ^ankum, ^anhum. ^andy, ^andak,
^andik, ^andoh, ^andaha; ^andina, ^andukum, ^anduhuTU.
wajdja, wajdk, wajdky, wajdh, wajdha ; wajdna, wajd-
kum^ wajdhum, beny,benak; benna, benkum. biddly,
biddlak ; biddlna, biddlkum. tahty, tahtak ; tahtina,
tahtukum, gamby, gambak; gambina, gambukum.
hawdleny, hawdlenak ; hawdlenna, hawdlenkum. fogy,
foqak; fogna, fogkum. gably, gablak ; gablma, gab-
lukum, gusddy, gusddak ; gusddna, gusddhum, qud-
ddmy, gudddmak; gudddmna^ gudddmkum. may^
md'dk; mi'dja, midk; mtdna^ midkum; wardja,
ivardh, wustina, wustukum, wustuhum.

ezzajy, ezzajak, ezzajik, ezzajoh, ezsajaha; ezzajina,
ezzajukuTfiy ezzajuhum. ikminny, ikminnak ; ikfnin-
nina, ikfninnukum. inny, innak ; innina, innuhum.
bar dy, bur dak; bardina, bardukum, gamy^na,gamy^kum.
zajy, zajak. gery, gerak ; gerna, gerku?n, gaddy,
gaddak ; gaddina, gaddukum^ kully, kullak ; kullina,
kullukum. wahdy, wahdak ; wahdina, wahdukum.
jd retny, jd retak ; jd retna, jd retkum.

^if^h kan 'ala yd el hakym el {irubbawy. talabak t ?
kal^mha kuwaijis. fy dulaby hudtim ask^l. suglu-

The Egyptian Alphabet 65

hum mus suglina. qalbaha q^sy. naharak sa^'yd!
l^ltak sa'^yda! kan biddoh jistery loh kalb. biddaha
titgauwiz. bidduhum jirauwahu. kan fy ydoh
kurbag siidany. ydeh fy gijClboh. sallim ydek!
sufrat^nkum gud^d. dahabyj^t en nyl fyha tabbab-
ynha. bigclly asluhum min es sa^'yd. kattar b^rik,
ja sitt! ab^'idhum fy mudyryjet el faij^im. da mal-
""ilbak? gen^nety we gen^net aljiih. ibrahym ba^a
dabal dimisq bi ""asakiroh sanet 1832 myladyja. mu-
fattisyn er raj jiVafu asgalhum taijib. ba' ty ranch
we baqaroh bi taman taijib. bod n^ibak we n^iboh.
misku hudiimna we hudiimkum.

tiktib boh. firih boh. safir bina ""ala iskandaryja.
dabil ''al^ja ibn sahby. saal 'al^h we ''al^hum. fattis
'al^ha. siif lina matrah nuq'ud fyh. all^h jebarik
fyk ! ma fyhs fulils. intu m^ fykums b^r. m^ fyhs
fyh 'eb. indah ly ab^ik. lyja ^andak qir^^n. ana
lyja ^'andoh arb^'^yn gin^. manys qa^'id lak hen^k.
i^taka minnak we minnoh. biddaha hadd minhum
jertlh wajaha. ana a'^mil aktar minkum. ba'daha
misy el wazyr we el malik. ruht baMuhum. b^rag
min et te^tro balahum. el habl bet^^'y gamid. el
berins talla'ha es seraja beta'toh. biddina ni^tery
el hemyr betil^kum. eg genain betti^'hum kebyra we
kuwaijisa. kallimtoh ""ala ^anak. riih ''anny! m.%
aruhs ^andoh. hatt el h^g^t 'andaha. 'andukum t
min el kutub el ^araby? ana ""andy mandyl ibny.
ly waj^k Sana, ana lyja abiija wajija hena. mi
fyh^ za'al b^ny we benoh. humma bistagalu bidMna.
mus 'ala et tarab^za, lakin tahtaha. bally el bfiga
gambak. el b^t we el ard elly hawalenoh. mi^y
warihum 'alal qarafa. allih jektln mi'ik. mi'aja

66 The Egyptia7i Alphabet

talat sanadyq. ady 16kanda we el gen^na qudd^mha.
sand<iq ed d^n we el b6sta qusadoh.

ezz3i]ak, ja sydy ? azunn innoh es safyr et taljany.
Ijammin 'ala innuhum rahyn ja^du minnoh el b^d.
h{iwa bardoh sakin fil b^t da. el ful{is gamy'ha.
'azamny 'alal gada zajukum. g^rak jitlub frank^n
bass, sufna n^s ketyr g^rhum. iddy loh qaddoh.
simi' gun^hum kulloh. d61 kulluhum ntltyja. rat-
tibu el kutub d61 kullaha. titla*" we teftit ed dukkan
li wahdaha. hyja wahdaha fil bustan. j^ r^thum
ma giXs ""andina.

taijib , taijiba ; gasu r, gasu ra ; sugaijar^ sugaijara ;
"atsdn^ ^atsdna; ^aguz, ^aguzd; ^azym, ^azyma; kas-
Idn^kasldna; kebyr,kebyra; maktub,maktuba; mead-
dib, meaddiba; maskyn, maskyna ; murr^ murra ;
/aqyr, /aqyra. tdhir, tdhra; gdly, gdlja ; fddil,
fdcila; kdmil, kdmla. gdny, ganyja; mesdfir^ me-
sdfra; turky, turkyja: surjdny, surjdnyja; qibly,
qiblyja; masry, masryja; mestau/y,mestau/yja, abjad^
be da; atras, tarsa; ahwal, hola; aszval, sola ; a^/ar,
sa/ra ; arag^ "arga ; akta ^ kafa; iswid, soda;
rdfi^ar^ r ultra.

baftdl, battdlyn; barrdny, barrdnyjyn ; sugaijar,
sugaijaryn ; kuwaijis, kuwaijisyn; maijify maijityn;
maljdUy maljdnyn, gdly , gdljyn ; sdtir, sdtryn ; ^dri/^
"dr/yn; kdtib, kdtbyn, abjad^ byd; ahmar, humr ;
azraq^ zurq ; a^/ar, su/r ; a ma, ^imy, ^hnjdn ;
iswid, sud ; bafpyl, bulpala; tawyl, tuwdl ; gedyd,
guddd ; galbdn, galdba ; gany^agnija; raky^, ru^ds ;

The Egyptian Alphahet 67

zaryf^ zurdf ; ^ugaijar, ^ugdr ; ^azym, ''uzdm ;
faqyr , fuqara ; gadym, qudm ; kebyr, kubdr ; ketyr,
kutdr ; kerym, kurdm ; latyf, lutdf ; maskyn,
masdkyn.

gdly, agia; rafiys, arJ}as ; stigaijar, asgar ; ke-
byr, akbar ; ketyr, aktar ; galyl, aqall ; nedy/,
andaf ; imsi , ansa ; ivikis, auhoA. taijib, ahsan ;
mukimm, ahamm.

r^gil taijib, mara taijiba. htiwa el gany, hyja
el faqyra. el bint eg gamyla. abtih 'agClz, lakin
ummoh mus ^agliza. hadyd el mihrat el gedyd.
hus^n el "arabya el kuwaijisa. es sultan waqtaha
k^n ""aijan. indah HI hakym, ujjty ""aij^na. el bur-
n^ta galja bil taman da. el badd^ma ^aqla, l^kin
el baddam mus '^qil. el fall^ha el masryja elly tiby'
el b^d. qara embareh gurnal masry. el kit^ba
bet^^'tak mestaufyja. es sarkasy abjad we es siida-
nyja s6da. el fall^h el masry asmar. ard el gibal
samra. el walad aVag, l^kin ubtoh mu^ 'arga.
hyja rubra mes^fra. sikkynet el ahl metallima.

e^ ^aijalyn et ta'banyn. suf es sagarat d61
'alyjyn. ballyna nitfarrag 'alal har^t et t^nyjyn.
es sittat el ma^'ziimyn ^auwaqu. ""auz myt maqtaf
malj^nyn tiffah. battybten mistiwyjyn ketyr. mu^
kull en nas satryn wala mit^allimyn. es stlah el me-
safryn dabalu el wabHr. el ward^t elly fy ydak zurq
we byd. er rigal d61 el masdkyn 'org we ^imy. fy
masr es ser^jat kubar we qudm. htiwa faqyr, l^kin
humma fuqara ""annoh. en ntity kebyr fil ""omr,
sugaijar fil 'aql. el 'araby da tawyl el q^ma, 'aryd

68 The Egyptian Alphabet

el iktaf, galyd es saq^n, kebyr ed daqn. el bint
latyfa we meaddiba. ed dinja finja. ij^tara nusha
^azyma, qadyma, mesahhaha we megallida by qatyfa
hamra. ibrymy j^ balah ! seggadat hegazy we
bafta hindy. ""auz lak '^s stlqy wala '^s b^ty? ha-
wagibik sUd we maqrllna. ""auz tarab^zat medau-
waryn, mus murabba'yn. es sahid elly qal kida
mu^ mu^'tamad. jatara ana maslil ""annoh? kitabet
el kutub ^ugl mut'ib. ma tiqdar^ testif en nuzz^r;
humma ma^gMyn dilwaqt. el 'asakir el masryjyn
d61 sidad we sug^an. el 1^1 fy es s6f aqsar min el
1^1 fy e^ sita. 1^ hissoh ma k^ns masmfi"? hedy-
jetak maqbtlla. hiss el mazzyka met kans masmli'
barra eg gen^na. kan qabla jasyr l;^kinnoh dilwaqt
hurr. inta 1^ mus mabsiit zajoh?

rijil^n ahsan min rijal. en nahar da ahsan min
bukra. el gamal da mehammil aktar min dikha.
^asfllr fil yd ahsan min ^asara ""alal sagara. wissoh
ausab min rigloh. wazyfetoh ahamm min wazyfetak.
el birka di sugaijara, we di asgar minha, lakin
dukhaija asgar min el kull. safyqa asgar el ban^t.
hfiwa akbarhum. aglabhum fuqara. htiwa ahsan
en n^s. aqra' we nuzahy. akbar minnak bi j6m,
ji'raf'annak bi sana. elly fy ydak aqrab min elly
fy g^bak. 'arga ^ala maksiira.

6

/

wdhid

taldta

wdhda

4

arbd"

2

etnhi

arbd'a

3

taldt

arbat

The Egyptian Alphabet

69

5

/jamsa

80 tamdfiyn

llamas

go tls'yn

fpa?nast

100 myja

6

sitta

myt

sitt

10 1 myja ive wdhid

7

sab'a

200 my ten

sabat

joo tultemyja

8

tamanja

tultemyt

tama7i

400 rub'emyja

tamant

rub^emyt

9

tis'a

^00 fptwisemyja

tis'at

dumsemyt

10

^a^ara

600 suttemyja

^asarat

suttemyt

II

hlddsar

yoo sub'emyja

12

etndsar

sub^emyt

^3

talattdsar

800 tumnemyja

H

arbatdsar

tu7n7iemyt

15

/jamastdsar

goo tus'emyja

16

sittdsar

tus^emyt

17

sabatdsar

1. 000 alf

18

taniantdsar

i.oio alf zve ^asara

19

tisatdsar

2.000 alfen

20

^isryn

j.ooo taldt did/

21

wdhid we ^isryn

10.000 ''asarat did/

22

etnen we ^Uryn

11.000 hiddsar alf

30

taldtyn

100.000 myt al/

40

arbtyn

200.000 my ten alf

50

Ipamsyn

1. 000.000 maljun

60

sittyn

2.000.000 etnen maljUn

70

sab'' y 11

70 The Egyptian Alphabet

hagar w^hid. bortuq^na wahda. arba' lamiin^t
we hid^sar lamiina. sitt fal^ik we sitta we 'isryn
feliika. el buluk fyh myja we 'isryn 'askary. fy eg
gin6 alf milj^m. min masr li iskandaryja myja te-
manja we ^ii^ryn myl, au myt^n kylometr taqryban.
teby' ly el get da bi alf we myt^n we afba'a we
sittyn (1264) frank? es sana di alf we tultemyja we
'asara (13 10) higryja, we alf we tumnemyja we etn^n
we tis'yn (1892) mylMyja. kull saba't aijam gum'a,
we kull arba' guma' sahr, we kull etn^^ar sahr sana.
kull tultemyja we hamsa we sittyn (365) j6m sana.
bamsyn we sittyn jibqu myja we 'a^ara (50 + 60= 1 10).
talatyn min etn^n we hamsyn jibqa etn^n we 'i^ryn
(52 — 50 = 22). hamsa we talatyn fy arba'a jibqu myja
we arb^'yn (35x4= 140). arb^'yn 'ala hamsa jibqa
tamanja (40-^5 = 8). taman mal^jyn we tultemyja
sitta we arb^'yn alf we myja bamsa we tam^nyn
(8, 346, 185). ""omraha saba'ta^ar sana we sitt u^hur.
lamma kan 'omroh talatt^sar sana k^n ji'raf el gam*"
we et tarh we ed darb we el qisma. es si'^a etn^n we
nuss. el wabtir jeqtlm es s^^'a sitta ^ala franka. li es
sa^'a arba'a min el 1^1 nizilu Ijan el halyly. hflwa
k^n fy masr j6m et talat sab^'a we ^isryn min es sahr.
gi tis'^a we ^isryn min es ^ahr elly fat. ma ma^ys
talat qurtas. istara minnoh arba"" sag^gyd, wahda
bi etn^n bintu we talata bi etn^n gin^. en niity et
taljany kolombo iktasaf ameryka fy sanet alf we rub*"-
emyja we etn^n we tis^yn (1492) myladyja; we kanet
ameryka qabl zamanoh mu^ ma'rilfa bil kullyja. fy
sanet alf we tultemyja we tis^a (1309) higryja itwaffa
fy helw^n afandyna mehammad taufyq el auwil et
taijib ez zikr.

The E^yptia7i Alphabet

71

el auwil

er- rdbi

et tdst

autvila

rdb'a

tds'a

ula

el l^d?nis

el 'dsir

auivlldfiy

hdmsa

^dsra

autmldnyja

es sddis

el hiddsar

auimldnyjyn

sddsa

el etnd§ar

et tdny

es sdb'i

el ^i^ryn

tdnja

sdb^a

el wdhid ive ^iiryn

et tdlit

et tdmin

el my/a

idlta

tdmna

el alf

jom eg gurna

; es sabt ; el hadd ; el etfien ; et

ialdt ; el arba ;

el Ipamys, es

subu\ nuss, insds ;

tult, tulten, itldt;

rub\ irba ;

Ipums, ifpmds ; suds,

is (ids ; sub'^ ^ isba" ;

tumn, itmdn;

tus

\ itsa ; "o.<r, asdr.

hHwa dabal el auwil. el bint di el iila fy es saff.
el auwilany abr^ny, we el abr^ny auwil^ny. es sarr§,f
istara el b^t el auwilany, we et tany we el hid^^ar,
we el etn^n we 'i^ryn fy darb el gamamyz. min
el arba"" himyr d61 ana afaddal el humar el auwilany
we el humar et talit. jtisif ""andoh taman rumm^nat;
balla banisa li nafsoh, we idda es Scldsa we es s^b'a
li ^aly we et t^mna lyja. el ^asar riggala el auwi-
lanyjyn elly qabilhum fy izmyr k^nu kulluhum turk.
gaw^bak el mHarrab arba^a jtllja wisilny auwil em-
bareh. taqryroh el auwilany k^n t^ryboh sitt^^ar
n6fembar. es s^^'a wahda we nuss. es sa'^a tal^ta
we rub", es s^^'a tis'a ilia rub\ nitq^bil j6m el
bamys es sa'^a sab'a ilia etn^sar deqyqa. ga ly j6m
el hadd es Scl'^a etn^^ar we ^i^ryn deqyqa. aktjln
hen^k es si^'a etn^n tamam. e^ ^ams titla*" bukra

72

The Egyptian Alphabet

es s^'a sitta we rub^ nuss we rub' jibqu tal^t
irba' G + - = -)• baragna wahid walhid. saija' ga-
w^b^ty auwil bauwil. el ""as^kir misju etn^n etn^n.

7'

ana darabt

huwa jidrab

intu bitidrabu

inta darabt

hyja tidrab

hum bijidrabu

inty darabty

ihna nidrab

huwa darab

intu tidrabu

idrab

hyja darabet

hum jidrabu

idraby

ihna darabna

idrabu

intu darab tu

ana badrab

hum darabu

inta bitidrab

ddrib

inty bitidraby

madrub

a?ia adrab

huzva bijidrab

i7ita iidrab

hyja bitidrab

darb

inty tidraby

ihna binidrab

darab ^ jidrab ; madrub^ darb, dalpal^ jid/jul; mad-
^ul, dui^ul. "amal, jimil ; ma^mul, "amal. fatah^ jiftah ;
maftuh, fath, katab, jiktib ; maktub, kit aba. kasar,
jiksar ; maksur, kasr.

ana daljalt ; inta dahalt ; inty dahalty ; htiwa da^al
hum daljalu. ana 'amalt; hyja 'amalet ; htlwa "amal
ihna ^amalna ; intu 'amaltu. ana fataht ; h{iwa fatah
hum fatahu. ana katabt ; inta katabt. ana kasart
inty kasarty. ana adhul; inta tidhul; hfiwa jidhul
ihna nidh.ul; hum jidhulu. ana a^'mil, inty ti'mily
htlwa ji'mil; intu ti'milu. ana aktib ; inta tiktib; hum

The Egyptian Alphabet

73

jiktibu. ana aksar; hfiwa jiksar. ana badbul ; htiwa
bijidbul; ihna binidbul ; hum bijidbulu. ana ba'mil;
huwa biji'mil. ana baftah ; inty bitiftahy. ana baktib ;
inta bitiktib; h(iwa bijiktib; ihna biniktib ; intu bitik-
tibu. ana baksar; inty bitiksary; htlwa bijiksar ; hum
bijiksaru. idbul ! i'mil inta ! iftah ! iktiby inty! iksaru !
ana darabt el gamal. h^wa jidrab ibnoh. ihna
darabna a^'d^na. hyja dabalet el b^t, hiiwa j idbul el
gami^ humma jidbulu el balad. er r%il bijidbul
we ana babrug. inta biti'mil kida 1^? ana ba'miloh
^ala sanak. hyja ""amalet b^tha 16kanda. i^'mil zaj
m^ baqtll lak. ""amalna suglina biFagal. iftah el
bab ! ana fataht e:^ ^ibb^k. ihna fatahna es sandiiq
walla la? ihna biniftah es sandtiq, ana baktib gaw^b.
myn katab el kitab da? hdwa kasar el kubbaja.
bitiksar el qulla 1^? el gaw^b kan maktfib lamma
g^t. el walad da madrllb 'alqa. el bab kan maMh.
kasr e^ ^ibb^k da kan bil qada we bil qadar. idbul
we iqfil el bab ! madbtiloh myt^n gin^ fy es sana.
jom eg gum^'a k^n katb kitaboh. el 'amal da fy
mahalloh. dabalu min g^r ma jeqtilu li hadd. darb
el walad da k^n ""ala ^^n ma saraq h^get abtih. nidbul
el wabtir qabl ma jisafir. isbitta b^, 'alim almany,
katab kit^b 'azym ""alal lis^n el ""araby ed d^rig.

?nd darabtis

?nd darabtis

ma darabtys

md darabs

ma darabets

md darabnds

md darabtus

?nd tidrabs
?nd tidraby^
md jidrabs
m.d tidrabs
md nidrabs
md tidrabus
md jidrabus

md bitidrabys
md bijidrabs
md bitidrabs
md bifiidrabs
md bitidrabu^
md bijidrabu^

10

74

The Egyptian Alphabet

ma darabus

?nd adrabs

ma badrabs
ma bitidrabs

ma tidrabs
77td tidrabys
ma tidrabus

sirlby jisrab ; fnasrub, surb. /ihim, jl/ham ; maf-
hum, fahm. misik, jimsik ; inamsuk^ mask.

ana ma darabtis el fallah. ihna ma nidrabs hadd.
inta m^ bitidrabs el haramy 16? ma tidrabys ! ma
dahalets el b^t ilia ba'd ma harag. ma tisrabs maija
we inta 'arqan. ma jisrablis haga. da mus masriib
taijib. surb en nebyt ketyr mus taijib. ma timsik^
el qalam da li hadd ma agy. el 'askary ma misik^
el nassal. ana m^ 'amaltis kida abadan. ma tiftahtis
el gawabat ! inty ma fatahtys es sandtiq. ma fihim-
tiis 16? ana mu^ fahim, 'auz 6? m^ afhams turky.
htlwa ma kasar^ el qalam. intu m^ kasartHs el b^b?
ana ma katabti^ el kitab el farsy. m^ tiktibs h^ga !
m^ katabll^ lissa. ma tiksarys el ''^s qabl ma jigy !
met k^ns madrilb bi sikkyn, kan madriib bi rus^sa.
el gawab ma kans makt{ib. ma ji'mils haga. hllwa
m^ biji'mils haga. el qatil katab iqraroh.

darabtiny tidrabny bitidrabny

darabtak tidrabak bitidrabak

darabtik tidrabik bitidrabik

darabtoh tidraboh bitidraboh

darabtaha tidrabha bitidrabha

darabtina

darabtukum

darabtuhum

tidrabjia

tidrabkum

tidrabhum

bitldrabna

bitidrabkum

bitidrabhum

The Egyptian Alphabet

75

idrabhum

tidrabyha

tidrabuh

harnal^ jihmil ; mahmul, hamL ^adam, jifpdim;
7na/jdu9n, Ipidma, qatal, jiqtil ; magtul, qatl.

inta darabtiny. ana darabtak. darabtoh ana?
inte darabtina. inta tidrabny. ana badrabik ; inta
bitidrabny. hyja bitidrabna. hyja bitidrabkum. inta
tidrabhum 1^? myn darabik? htlwa bijidrabkum 1^?
ihna darabna el kaslan. ihna darabn^ky. intu da-
rabttlny bil qawy. intu tidrabtlha bil ""asSja le?
humma darabfihum fil h^ra. hum jidrabiih lamma
jitkallim. darabtyha imta? inty darabtyhum ba^'d^n.
di el 6da elly dabaltaha. di el fetyra elly ^'amaletha.
el "amal da humma ""amaltih. ^iribtyha kullaha? si-
ribnah qabl el akl. imsikha min ydha! H^u timsi-
ktihum. fihimtak we inta bitkallimoh. fihimn^ha
^as^n kalamha mafhiim. ana hamaltoh li hadd el b^t.
ana bahmiloh kuU j6m ""ala dahry. ana abdimak zaj
el lazim. ha-damtlna lamma kunna ""anduhum fy iskan-
daryja. myn jibdimhum lamma familjathum tis^fir? es
sfidany b^damny taijib. hum qataliih. 1^ qatalha?
qatahihum ''an ^birhum.

md darabtinys

nid darabtaks

md darabtiks

md darabtohs

md darabtahds

md darabtinds

md darabtukum^

md darabtuhu?ns

md tidrabnys

md tidrabak§

md tidrabik^

md tidrabohs

md tidrabhds

md tidrabnd^

md tidrabkum^

md tidrabhums

md bitidrabnys
md bitidrabaks
md bitidrabiks
md bitidrabohs
md bitidrabhds

md bitidrabnds
md bitidrabkum^
md bitidrabhums

76

The Egyptian Alphabet

inta ma darabtinys. inta m^ darabtohs. ana ma
darabtukums. hyja ma tidrabny^. inta ma tidrab-
has. inta ma tidrabhums. hyja ma tidrabohs?
inta ma bitidrabny^? hyja ma bitidrabaks. ma bi-
tidrabn^s inta? hfiwa ma darabna^ emb^reh. ihna
m^ darabnahums. m^ darabHh^. ihna m^ nidrabohs.
er ragil ma jidrabaks 1^? htlwa m^ bijidrabnys. ana
ma asrabohs. ana ma afhamaks. h{iwa m^ bijif-
hamnys. inta ma tifhamhtims 1^? m^ timsikhas!
hum ma misktihums. el walad ma misikiks. htiwa
m^ qatalohs. hyja m^ qatalethas. el har^myja ma
jiqtiliikums. hiawa ma ji^dimny^. hum m^ jibdi-
mtihs. ana ma ahmilaks. inty ma tihmilyhas. intu
m^ bitihmihlhs? saf el gawab lakin ma katabohs
htawa. ma biddys aqraha ilia quddamkum. el haddad
^amal el muftah lakin ma kasarohs. ahuha hamalha
we misy ""alal mad rasa, et taljanyja jifhamu el lisan
el esbanj61y l^kin ma jiqrilhs. inta ma bitiljdimnys
zaj ma quit.

kattibt

akaitib

. bakattib

kattib

kattibt

tikattib

bitkattib

kattiby

kattibty

tikattiby

bitkattiby

kattibu

kattib

jikattib

bikattib

kattibet

tikattib

bitkattib

mekattib

kattlbiia

nikattib

binkattib

kattibtu

tikattibu

bitkattibu

taktyb

kattibu

ji kattibu

bi kattibu

rattib, jirattib ; merattib, tarty b. sallim, jisallim;
mesallim, taslym. saddag, jisaddaq ; mesaddaq ; tasdyq.
kassar , jikassar ; mekassar, taksyr, said,jisaid; mu-
said, musada. sdfir, jisdfir ; niesdjir, safar, qdbil,

The Egyptian Alphabet 77

jiqdbil ; meqdbil^ mugdb/a. afab^ jifib; mafub, ifdb.
a/}bar, jilibir ; mul}bir, i/pbdr, f}abar, amkan, jimkin ;
mumkin, imkdn.

htiwa kattibny el wasl. ana akattib el wilad. ana
kattibtaha loh. kattibny gaw^b^n li ab<ih. tikattibha
el wi^^ kulloh. jikattibak tfil en nahar. kattiboh loh !
many^ mekattibha dilwaqt. taktybak loh el gaw^b
da min g^r luzlim. ana rattibt asgalhum. hum
jirattibu b^thum qabl el farah. ma tirattib^ haget
abtik 1^? rattibhum zaj m^ k^nu. el kutub fil ku-
tubb^na el masryja merattiba taijib. sallim ly ^ala
ummak! m^ sallimti^ 'al^hum 1^ zaj m^ quit lak?
ablija jisallim ''al^k. qalu ly asallim ^ala kull ashab-
hum. . bitsallim ''al^h ubty. ma tisaddaq^ kalamy
1^ ? saddaq el kadd§,b li hadd bab ed d^r ! et tasdyq
qawam mus tamally taijib. kassar rasoh bi hagar.
kassarna kull ma kan fy taryqna. iza safuhum jikas-
sarl^hum. kassar zaj m^ baqM lak ! es sukkar
mekassar. ma tit'^ibnys baqa? tdl el 161 jit^ibny.
asgalhum at^abetna ketyr qawy. m^ biddy^ at^ibak
fil masala di. myn elly abbarak? ibbirhum bi elly
tisma'oh ! m^ abbart{ina^ \t min badry ? hum jibbir-
tihum bil kidb. el babar 6? m^ jimkinny^ agy bukra.
jimkinha tiktib li abtlha bi elly gara. amkanhum
jidbulu el bet. mus fy imkany a'mil kida. mus
mumkin aktib loh bil b6sta di. sa'idny fy e^ ^ugl da!
ma tisa'idnas 16 ? sa'idnahum lamma kanu bijistaga-
lu. inta sa'idtiny we ana mamntin lak. safir auwil
embareh. m% safir{i^ sawa. tis^firu imta? nis^fir
lamma jigy abtlna. es safar kuwaijis fy es s6f. sa-
firet waja ubtaha. imta qabiltoh? q^bilny es sa'^a

78

The Egyptian Alphabet

arba^a min en nahar. humma itqibilu sawa ba'd ed
duhr. qabiltiny 'and ed dyw^n.

ifallimt
if al Unit
ifallinity
ifallim
ifallimt

ifallivma nifalli?n

ifallimtu tifallimu

ifallimu jifallimu

ifallim, ifallimy, ifallimu.

afallim

tifallim

tifallimy

jifallim

tifallim

bafallim

bitifallim

bitifallimy

bijifallim

bitifallim

binifaltim
bitifallimu
bijif allimti

mifallifji. td'lyfjt.

itai}lpar, jitaf^f^ar ; metaf^f^ar, tdfiyr. itkallim, jit-
kallim ; metkallim, taklym. ^inbaat, jinbiit; inab^ut,
ib'dt. indarab, jindirib ; mindirib, inkasar, jinkisir ;
minkisir, inkisdr, imtahan, jimtihin ; imtihdn, ih-
m,arr, jihmarr ; mihmirr ; ihmirdr, istalam, jistilim;
m^istilim, istildm, iUagal, jistagal ; miUigil.

inta tit'allim. ihna nit'allim. bijit'allim htlwa?
inty it'allimty. intu it'allimtu t ? ana bat'allim his^b.
humma bijit'allimu el kit^ba 1^? it'allimy taijib!
htiwa mit'allim fy madraset el myry. ta'lym el ma-
drasa di mus taijib. bijit'allim rllmy fy atyna. hliwa
it'allim el lisan el inglyzy lamma k^n fil sk61a. ma
biddah^s tit'^allim ""araby. hum bijit'^allimu talj^ny.
itahljar suwaija! kull j6m titahhar? ita^b^ru ""an
sugluhum. ana r^jih atabb^r Suwaija. ana batkallim
waja abtlh. biddukum titkallimu sawa? kunt bitit-
kallim waja myn lamma q^biltak? titkallim ""araby?
atkallim 'araby Suwaija. myn 'allimak titkallim farsy?

The Egyptian Alphabet

79

me^'allimy ibrahym el bugdady. hyja inba'atet 'and
garetha. ma inba'atHs ilia lamma talabUhum. in-
ba'at fy mamtaryja. hdwa indarab ""alqa. indarabna
'ala ^an ma ruhn^s el madrasa. abtih indarab 'asan
sikir. el 'arabyja inkasaret boh. inkasaru fy es sikka.
iza wiqi^'t min es sibb^k tinkisir. imtahantiha qud-
dam en nas. imtihinny lamma ablas. imtahaniih
laq(ih jiVaf. 16 ma qidirs jiqaddim el imtihan fy
dywan el harbyja? ihmarr min el haja. m^ ihmar-
rt^^ min en nar. ihmarret lamma ga. istalam el
wardyja es sa'a 'a^ara min el 161. rajih jistilim min-
noh el fultls. istilim minha el gawab. istilam el
m^l kan 'ala ydoh. es sarraf htlwa elly mistilim en
naqdyja. h{iwa ji^tagal fy dywan el ma^'^rif. kull
j6m jistagalu fil b6t. istagalna li hadd ma s^firna.
el muhandis bijistagal dilwaqt fy maslahet er raj.
balas i^tigala es sa'a di ahsan ''andy kitaba ketyra.
hHwa mi^tigil dilwaqt fy h^ga tanja.

habbet

ahibb

bahibb

habbet

tehibb

bitJpibb

habbety

tehibby

bithibby

habb

jehibb

bihibb

habbet

tehibb

bithibb

habbena

nehibb

bi7iJ}ibb

habbetu

tehibbu

bithibbu

habbic

jehibbu

bihibbti

hibb, hibby, hibbu, hdbib, mahbub, hubb.

bass, jebuss ; bdsi^, ^att, jehutt ; hat it, mahfuf.
zann, jezunn; zdnin, maznun, zann, sahh je^ahh.
sadd, jesidd ; sddid, masdud, sadd.

8o

The Eo^yptian Alphabet

hiiwa jehibbiny we ana ahibboh. kull w^hid
jehibb ummoh. hyja habbet myn? ana ma ahibbis
^urb ed dubbin, humma habbu kida. d61 nas m^
jehibblls ilia nafsuhum. tehibby el bint di? haby-
bik f^n? habb^naha ""asan hatir abUha. buss min
e^ sibb^k ti^t^foh. biddak tebuss ""al^h lammajeftit?
m^ bass^ti^ ''al^ha lamma haraget. kunt b^sis wajak.
hyja m^ tebussis abadan 'ala hadd min et t^qa.
hutt el fuliis fy g^bak! hyja tehutt ibnaha 'and
wahid naggar. hattCihum fy es sandtlq li hadd m^
jiby^tlhum. el kutub k^net mahtfita 'ala et tarab^za.
azunn innoh m^ jigy^ hena es sana di. zannak mus
fy mahalloh. bizunn innaha mus hena. zannu ana
ma aVafhums. kunt zanin en nahar da abir es sahr.
m^ jesahhis teftitoh we tis^fir. 'adam es sihha ^?
rigloh elly k^net maksiira sahhet. hum jesahhu mu-
handisyn. sidd el habl suwaija! m^ tesiddis bil
qawy! hyja saddetoh min dira'oh. r^jihyn nesidd
ek kursy li hena. el habl masdiid taijib.

imyt

aua

baua

ua

ivl^yt

tua

bitua

uy

wiyty

tuy

bituy

uu

luiy

jua

bijua

wi'yet

tua

bitua

wiy?ia

nua

binua

imy

wiytu

tuu

bituu

way

wiyu

juu

bijuu

wisil^ jusal; usal, usaly

usalu; was it; usul. wigi ^

juqa ; uga, ugay, ugau;

wdgi. wigi/, jugaf; ugaf,

uga/y, ugafu

; wdgif; uguj

r

The Egyptian Alphabet

8i

^2i loh min es sikka! ti^'a j^ baw^ga riglak!
m^ wi^'yti^ loh 1^? ]^m lamma jigarrab. mu^ ""auza
tti^'y? manys w^Y- wisilna el balad ""and el magrib.
<isal qaw^m we ta^^la! t^isaly li hadd f^n? we
htiwa masy wiqi^ wiq^'et min et t^qa. auqa*" fil byr.
m^ tllqafi^ we inta g^y ! lamma jidljul <lqaf ""ala li6-
lak! el wabtir^t wiqfu 'and es su^s.

ana quit
inta quit
inty qulty
huwa qdl
hyja qdlet
ihna qulna
intu qultu
hum qdlu

qui quly

ana aqul
inta tequl
inty tequly
huwa jequl
hyja tequl
ihna nequl
intu tequlu
hum jequlu

qulu

ana

baqul
inta bitqul
inty bitquly
huwa biqul
hyja bitqul
ihna binqul
intu bitqulu
hum biqulu

qdjil qoL

rdh, jeruJp ; rdjih, mirwdh. sd/y je^uf; Mji/, sofa,
'^dZyje'^uz; ^auz, ^6z, kdn, jekun; kon, bd^^^jeby^ ; bdji" ^
bt, gdb, jegyb; gdib, megyba. ndm, jendm; ndjim, nom.

jeq<il laha. qM ly! m^ baqM^ lak. q{il lina!
qalet loh ^? humma biq^ilu liky. q{ilu ly 'auzyn 6?
m^ qulti^ laha h%a. 'aly qil ly kida emb^reh.
biqM ^? s^hbak jeqM ^? q^let ly innaha ma tiq-
dar^ tigy. ihna m^ neqM^ haga. hiiwa ma k^n^ q^jil
kida. k^nu q^jilyn ^? q61ak da mu^ fy mahalloh.
rah f6n? m^ nertlh^ waj^h. inta 'auz teqtlm we
tertih ? tertlhu f6n ? rath 'and ummoh. biddoh jeriih
el madrasa. jeriihu imta? r^het wajaja. hyja bit-

82 The Egyptian Alphabet

rtlh el kenysa. rajih ji^rab. ana rajih anzil. el bint
r^jiha teztlr el ihr^m. r^jih awaddyk henak. rajihyn
jidrabu el kalb. inta suftoh fi^n? stlf el bint dil
m^ sufti^ wala marra. ana ^^jifak z^lkn. safetha
qabl ma matet.V ana suftak. ne^tifak f^n? s^jif bi ^^n-
ak? inta s^jif el ""amM da? di s6fa wih^a. 'auz ^?
hliwa mus ''auz minnak ^^s, lakin ^'auz fulHs. hyja
^auza 6? er rigg^la d61 mus ""auzynak. hummaje^'uzu
hibr we waraq. hyja te'^tizak qabl ma tihrug. lam-
ma ''uzn^k m^ laq^naks. ""uzn^hum auwil emb^reh.
""auzyn ^? inta 'auz taljod b^t bil ugra? 1^, mu^
''auz. hiiwa kan hena. kunt bakul lamma ga. ana
ak(in tamally fil b^t. kunna bin'azzil. ana kunt
hen^k. inty tektiny f^n ? hum biktinu ^and abfihum.
kiin hena bukra! kan ^'andina lamma suftoh. kunt
'and myn embareh bil 1^1? hyja kinet maskyna.
hum jektinu fy ed dyw^n.. ana aklln 'andak qabl m^
tisaiir. ma kunti^ ashat minnak in m^ kunti^ faqyr.
k^nu hassalu et te^tro. k^n fil waqt da es s^^'a
s^ret arba'a. k^n gara ^ fil b^t? kan abu el bint
gahhiz el far^. lamma tigy henak neklin ihna rau-
wahna. bi't b^tak li myn? bi'toh bi myt^n gin^.
teby' laha el qalam da? bi'tah 1^? by' we ihlas !
by' loh dil- mi, aby's higa. agyb lak kutubak
bukra. jegybu Uladak we jigu. gyboh hena! m^
gibtah^^ 'and abliha 1^? bidduhum jegybtlk 'alal
madrasa. gibniha we bi'naha. humma mu^ g^ibyn
banithum wajahum. ° ma nimnis taijib el l^la di.
mu^ 'auzyn jenimu 'andina. en n6m el ketyr 'alima
'ala ek kasal. nimt ba'd el gada. nimtu 'and myn
el 161a elly fitet? nim fil 16kanda. n^m baqa!

The Egyptia7i Alphabet

83

ana malet

amla

bamla

inta malet

timla

bitimla

inty malety

timly

bitimly

htlwa mala

jimla

bijimla

hyja malet

timla

biti7nla

ihna malhia

nimla

. binimla

intu maletu

timlu

bitimlu

hum 7nalu

. jimlu

bijimlu

imla,

imly

, imlu. mdly, Tnaljdn^ maly

ana giryt.

agry

bagry

inta giryt

tigry

bitigry

inty giryty

tigry

bitigry

huwa giry

jigry

bijigry

hyja girjet

tigry

■

bitigry

ihna giryna

nigry

binigry

intu girytu

tigru

bitigru

hum girju

jigru

bijigru

tgry, tgru, gary, gary

bag a, jibqa; bdqy, baqa, laga, jilqa; Idqy, laqy.
bana, jibny ; bdny, mabny, bina, haka, j'ihky ; I^dky^
haky . giry, jigry ; gdry, gary, misy, jimsy ; mdsy, ma-
sy. ridy, jirda; rddy, rida, sihy, ji§ha ; salty, ^uhjdn.

hliwa jimla ek kiXz. bijimlu el markib bud^^'a.
mala el b^t n^s. ed dukk^n k§,net malj^na san^dyq.

84

The Egyptian Alphabet

jimlu el byr min el bahr. imlyha nebyt ! mal6tuha
16? laq^toh fy es sikka. jilqtlna ni^rab duhh^n.
nilqaha tirab el k6ra. laq^ttlhum f^n ? jilqah waj^k.
laq^t el gumla di fy enhy kitclb. k^n laqyh fy es
sikka. banet loh b6t. ibny lak b^t latyf! banu
luhum ''issa gamb el gen^na. m^ jibntl^ ilia baM m^
jigyhum fulHs. rajiha tibny ba'd el ""yd. humma
bijibnu luhum ser^ja. haka loh 6? jihky loh kull
kt. ihky waj^h lamma te^tifoh. m^ tihkys li hadd!
hyja tihky lak baM^n. k^nu h^kyjyn il kalclm da 16?
ana giryt ketyr. girytu qawy, istaraijahu hena ! igry
b6tak qawam ! girjet ttll es sikka. bidduhum jigru
'a^cln jihassalu el wabHr. girytu wara el ""arabyja.
m^ bitigry^ biFagal. im^y min hena, ji walad!
mi^yt lamma ti'ibt. m^ mi^yti^ abadan qadd en na-
h^r da. misyna sawa ttll el 161. hyja misjet min
b6tha 111 hamm^m. el ma^y fy es subh mufyd. ma
biddak^ tim^y min hena? htiwa m^ jirdcls jeby"" ly
hus^noh. tirda tiljdim ''andy. m^ tird^^ tim^y.
ridju emb^reh. nirda bil taman da. isha baqa bala
n6m ! sihju es subh badry. hyja tisha es s^^a sitta.
sihytu imta? d61 m^ jisM^ badry.

iddet

get

akalt {kalt)

ahatt (jpatt)

iddet

get

akalt (kalt)

afpatt {(patt)

iddety

gety

akatty (kalty)

akatty {(patty)

idda

g^

akal (kal)

abad [bad)

iddet

gat

akalet {kalet)

a^adet {fpadet)

iddena

gena

akalna {kalnd)

afpadna ijpadna)

iddetu

getu

akaltu (kaltu)

alpattu (Jpattu)

iddu

gu

akalu {kalu)

a^adu (fpadu)

The Egyptian Alphabet

85

addy

agy

dkul

dhod

tiddy

tigy

tdkul

tdi-od

tiddy

tigy

tdkly

tdfpdy

jiddy

jigy

jdkul

jdf}od

tiddy

tigy

tdkul

tdljod

niddy

nigy

ndkul

ndlpod

tiddu

tigu

tdklu

td^du

jiddu

jigu

jdklu

jdfpdu

baddy

bagy

bdkul

bdbod

bitiddy

bitigy

bitdkul

bitdfpod

bitiddy

bitigy

bitdkly

bitdhdy

bijiddy

bijigy

bijdkul

bijdfpod

bitiddy

bitigy

bitdkul

bitdhod

biniddy

binigy

bindkul

bind^od

bitiddu

bitigu

bitdklu

bitd^du

bijiddu

bijigu

bijdklu

bijdipdu

iddy

ta'^dla

kul

hod

iddu

tadly

kuly

hody

tadlu

kulu

h,odu

middy

gay

magy

ivdkil
akl

wdfpid
afpd

idd^t 'af^ak li myn? iddy loh qir^^n we ana
addyhum lak ba'd^n ! iddyny sikkyna! kull m^ jib-
dimiina biniddyhum baq^y^. m^ bijiddy^ hadd b^ga.

86 The Egyptian Alphabet

ga je^llf ummoh we jirga'' tany. bagy ^anduhum kuU
j6m. gay jabdak. bijigu hena ji^'milu ^? m^ lohs
magy hena. ah{ik baqa loh sana ma g^s hena. akal
kull m^l abllh. jaklu lamma jisba'^u. kul, ma tistan-
n^k hadd! akalna we sibi'na. taklu 6 fy ed duhr?
kull ma jiktib wis^ j^hod frank^n. lamma suftoh
k^n w^hid minny kull elly wajija. ahadn^hum ^alal
ob^ra. hod es surM body da we r<ihy baqa!

intaq biFagal! el masgiinyn ma nataqlis wala
kilma quddam el qady. zi'^lit elly m^ ruhti^ ab^rik
laha. jisahh tiz^alu min sahibkum? lamma jiz^'al
jisfarr. sUf el miraja bitilma' ezzai ! hallu el qezaz
jilma"" qawy. lama'anoh m^ jedHms. el haryr da mu^
magzM taijib. gazalu el qutn hytg-n rufaija'a. iktim
sirr habybak! katamna el habar ma qulnas li hadd,
m^ jiktims es sirr j6m6n. iqtum hitta we iddy loh
el bciqy! qatamu fil hij^r zaj el mag^nyn. ihlas
baqa! mu^ r^jih tihlas en nahar da? hilsu min sa'a.
ma nihlass qabl ed duhr. k^n balis lamma talabtoh.

rajih afda baM nuss sa'a. inta fMy es sa^a di?
lamma jifdu jigu 'ala ed dywan. fidjet min suglaha.
dira'oh wirim min qarset ed dabbilr. el waram rah
min dawa el hakym. hudtidha wirmet. ilzin es san-
dtiq da qabl ma tertih ! ntizin fy en nahar alf barmyl.
wazantih laqHh teqyl qawy. ^'idny innak tesiif el
qadyja di ! k^n mau'tid bi hidma. ana ma wa'adtti^
bi haga. wiq'et min es sibbak. la'a tliqa' ! suftoh
waqi' min foq li taht. kan rajih jtiqa^

m^ tibtidys ilia lamma aqtil lak ! ibtad^na ni^-
rab dubbin we ihna <ilad. ibtidy fil akl ! ii^tara loh
s^'^a we katyna. jistiru luhum tarab^zat we kar^sy.
biddy a^tiry hag^t ketyr lamma jigy ly fuhis. istiry

The Egyptian Alphabet 87

lak gurn^l tiqr^h fil wabtlrl inta ^nistina en nah^r
da. uq^'ud ^nis ash^bak ^uwaija. hyja tiVaf ti^nis
en n^s. auha^tina min zam^n. lamma tisafiru tti-
ba^iina qawy. auha^tina, ]% baw%a ! ballyk 'andina
suwaija ! ball^hum ''and abtihum we s^fir. mus rady
jiballyh fil balad.

el bslb inqafal ''al^ja. e^ ^ibb^k mi jinqifil^ ilia
min gtiwa. el 'ilba di tinqifil bil muMh jatara t
elly imbi*" min el budi^'a di ? mi imbi^s minha wala
haga. el fars da jimbi*" fil kanto. timba' lamma jigy
sihibha.

bijinMu ""alal ^^k er ragyf bi ^e^ryn fadda. nadet
fy es sfiq ^ala et tirmis. inhy el qadyja di we iblas !
es si^'a di tisiwy kim fy ed dilila? jisiwu ""e^ryn
ferank. rabby ibnak we ihsin adaboh 1 jirabby firab
we jeby^hum. rabb^nahum ^alal ^\zz, b^bbyh dil-
waqt! biddoh jibabbyny ""andoh. babbu fultlshum
taht el ard. mi tibabby^ minnoh higa^

mi^y ji^arsar fil ard. sar^aru ^al^h. wadda tili-
doh jifarfishum kim j6m fy er ryf. kaskis el ""ara-
byja li wara ! jikaskisu el husin ahsan je^'udd el bint,
lagllghum min el \bi, jilagligtihum lil kalam. ta-
mally jitlaglig lamma jitkallim. mi tilagligiis fil ka-
lim ! inta lagligtiny ketyr.

ana mit'auwid ""alal masy ek ketyr. it'auwidet
min sugraha ''alal qirija. humma bijit^'auwidu ^ala
ruklib el b^l- tiVaf tithagga inglyzy? ithagga ly
el kilma di! et talimyz mi jiVaftis jithaggu lissa.
lizim titnaddaf, ji walad ! qtllu li ummukum tinad-
dafkum qabl mi tigu el madrasa. qtil lil baddimyn
jinaddafu es sila ! baddimak ithabas ^ahr fil zabtyja.
in mi dafa'tti^ elly ''al^kum titbibsu. el maglis ba-

88 The Egyptian Alphabet

karn innuhum jithibsu. m% titfaddaltis ti^rabu qahwa
""andina el 1^1 di? itfaddalu istaraijahul ma bid-
duhums jitfaddalu fy bgtak? el malik jitna^'am fil
akl we e^ ^urb. humma mitna^amyn fy Y^ethum.
biddy atna"am fy b^tna. el habl elly k^n el humar
marbtlt byh itfakk. iza sadd^toh jeqtim jitfakk. h<iwa
r%il mitrabby taijib. ban^tha mitrabbyjyn fil ma-
diris. ubw^tak jitrabbu fy enhy kuttab?

es sandllq itmasmar bi masamyr hadyd. mas-
maru bab el b^t qabl met safiru. ana mit^'aggib min
k6nak lissa ma Ijulustis. it'aggibu min kutr en nals.
jit'aggibu elly safirt waj^h. el b^t itwaddab qabl el
''uzHma. ahwalhum itwaddabet taijib el aijam di. 'da
r%il mu^ mitmaddin abadan. itmaddinu lamma it'^al-
limu fil madaris. d61 nas mitmaddinyn.

nazzil ''afsak fil markib ! mus ""auzyn jinazzilu
hadd waj^hum. hiiwa gallid kutuboh bi gild ahmar.
kit^b as^ar el fardtlsy e^ i^cl^'ir el farsy itgallid kuwaijis
qawy. farragny 'ala m^ ""andak ! bukra jifarragtina
^alal buda'a el gedyda. sarrafny fulUs ketyr qawy.
jisarrafdh aktar min el lazim. hyja wakkiletny fil
mas^la di. myn elly jiwakkilak 'annoh? htlwa m^
addib^ ibnoh zaj el Islzim. el me^'allimyn jiaddibCih
bid^l abUh.

akkidu ly innuhum m^ jis^firfis min g^ry. el ha-
bar da mus muakkad. dawaha taijibny. el hukama
ma ""irftis jitaijibu el ""aij^n. Ijaijatet ly qamys we libi,s.
jiVaf jihaijat bantal6nat taijib. warryny ydak ! el
ban^t jiwarrlina asgalhum fil imtih^n. waddy el wa-
lad b^toh ! bidduhum jiwaddiina el madrasa bil z{ir.

el qMy simi' loh. m^ biddak^ tisma"" biqfil ^?
istaksifu ''ala mahall gedyd. safir bahr barra jistak-

The Egyptian Alphabet 89

^if ""ala bilM gedyda. ana istaswibt ""adam es safar.
jistaswibu innak m^ terHh^ waj^hum, istahsinet ka-
l^m abliha. t elly tistahsintlh ? biddak ti§tM samak ?
istadu gaz^l^n min eg gabal. istanniina lamma nigy !
kunt tistanna myn lamma ^uftak? istanadu ^'ala ed
darabzyn. biddak tistinid ""ala kal^m mazbtit. quss
^aVak ahsan tawyl qawy ! qass^na el qumcl^ ""ala
qadd el luz<im. midd riglak ""ala qadd hasyrtak !
inta bitmidd fil masy. lammet hudtimha we b^i'^get.
m^ jelimmtli^ ^afsuhum ilia ba'^d m^ jertih. nimna
"^ala es suttlh. ten^mu fy enhy 16kanda? sadd e^
^ibbak ^a^^n ma haddi^ jebuss minnoh. es sikka di
masdHda. fidil jekidd tM en nahar. kadd^t min es
subh HI magrib. el mas^jib ''ammetna. ma azunni^
in el hawa el asfar je'imm el bilM kuUaha.

q^l el jahtidy: aqul lak, j^ nusr^ny? qal loh:
qui ly, j^ jahfidy! ana ^^lim min ^ulama el ""agam,
we m^ haddi^ jiqdar jib^hisny fil ''ilm. mu^ es suMn
amar bi istihkam istambill? ]% sijMy, elly tiwahhidu
all^h! da ^t ""omrak ma kaltoh. m^ lohi^ ab wala
ubt. ihna m^ fihimn^^ 1^ es su^l wala el gaw^b.
inta in ^irift m^ tequl^ li hadd 1^ el qaryb wala el garyb.
qi,bilt hasan b^ mahmild, wakyl el auqaf. in kan
kallimn^h kida, jiz'al. iza ga, ariih waj^h; m^ g^^,
afdal fy b^ty. lau kunna neriih, jinbisit. iza kunt
tidfa' dijtinak, teriih; m^ tidfa'^ r^h tinhibis.

go The Egyptian Alphabet

V. Proverbs and Sentences.

(gumal).

et tdlym fy es sugr zaj e7i nags ^alal hagar, el
hurub nuss es saga a, ^and ed dyq jinirif e^ saddyq,
myn talab el ^ula sihir el lajdly. hus min fummak
jetul kummak, qabl fnd tlmsy silf rdjih tehott riglak
Jen. myn tanna ndl md jitjnanna, in kdn lak ^and
el kalb hdga, qui loh jd sydy, jifty ^alalibra^ we jibla
el midra, et tijur "ala askdlha tuqa" , jom ""asal we
joTfi basal, iza md kuntis tiqdar tit has sal ^ala md te-
ryd, ryd elly tiqdar tithassal ^aleh, in suft en nuguni
fy ed duhr. bany ddam md jimlds ^enoh ilia et turdb,
ihna/y et ta/kyr loe er rabb fy et tadbyr, ez zar ai^dar
we en nds aipbar, el hasud Id jesud, sahib el haqq
loh fnaqdm. el qijdma my'' ad we er 7' abb jihkum. es
sugl elly tibtidyh taijib, taqryban ipulus, 9nyn gdwir el
hadddd jithiriq bi ndroh. elly 7na jehim^mak wassy
^aleh goz U7nm.ak. ndkul we 7iisrab we bukra nemut.
sahib bdlen kadddb. qdlu HI gindy ^azzil rama tartu-
roh miTt es sibbdk, jehibb el ^ttla we lau ^ala l^dzuq,
itlub eg gdr qabl ed ddr, ive el rafyq qabl et taryq,
el qird ^and timmoh gazdl. basal bi ^amsa ive bi fiamsa
basal, el aivar be7i el ^imy sultdn,

md fhys gawdbdt fil bos fa, el gawdb Tnin masr It
ameryka ^aleh qirs ivdhid, fy lak gawdb mesogar fil
bosta. ""auz waraqten bosia kull zvahda bi qirsen. el
bosta tigy imtaf ugret el bosta ^ala el gurndldt li bi-

The Egyptian Alphabet 91

lad el if rang etnen miljem. tiqdar tisaija et tard
min el bosta el gedyda fy masr, ittihdd el bosta el
""omumy jidfpul fyh dilwaqt hull ed dinja taqryban,
wabur ed daqahlyja jisdfir bil bosta ^ala bildd er rum
jdvi el arbd e^ §ubh es sd^a "^asara. wisihiy gawdboh
embdreh, we arudd ^aleh dilwaqt. ugret el bosta ^ala
et turud li bildd el if rang hiddsar qirs, fyh nds ketyr
jigmau waraq bosta. we jilazzaquh fy dafdtir, we bad
ed dafdtir di iza kdnet kdmilah laha qyma ^azyma ^asdn
ketyr min el ivaraq el qadym nadir qaivy. ugret tele-
grdf ^asar kilmdt ddfpil masr qirsen we nuss, tiqdar
tiktib telegrdfak bil ^araby wala bil ifrangy, md fyhs
telegrdf ^asdnak lissa. telegrdfat ruter we hawds jegybu
Una alpbdr bildd el if rang hull jom, ugret tazkaret
es sikka el hadyd min masr li asjut etnen giyie fil brymo,
we etnen bintu fil sekondo. zvabur el eksebres juqaf
^ala taldt mahattdt bass,

ism fpedewy masr ^abbds bdsa et tdny. mehammad
taufyq el fpedewy es sdbiq kdn jehibb masr we jehibb
d^erha ; ive ivafdtoh ^ibit ^alal masryjyn kulluhum.
masr min qadym el azal maqsuma li qismen, bahary
we qibly. fy kull qism saba mudyryjdt. mudyryjdt
bahry hyja: qaljubyja, daqahlyja, garbyja, sarqyja, be-
tter a, menufyja; ive ?nudyryjdt qibly hyja: el gyza, ba-
nysuef el faijum, minja, asjut, girga, qena we mudy-
ryjet el aswdn. saqqdra, elly kd7i ismaha zamdn menf,
kdnet auwal talit li bildd masr ; baden luqsor, elly
kdnu el jundn jisammuha t^bes, baqet tafpt ma^r ; we
bad luqsor baqet iskandaryja et taht, el ^agam dafpalu
masr min aktar min alfen sana we hakamuha muddet
my ten sana taqryban, fy aijdm er rumdii (et talja-
nyjyn el quddni) zve el jundn, iskandaryja kdnet hyja

92 The Egyptian Alphabet

taf},t masr, fnasr el qdhira ismaha bil almdny kairo.
iskandar el kebyr, malik er rum, bana medynet iskan-
daryja zve indafan fyha. el luga el qibtyja kd7iu jista-
miluha fy masr fil kitdba we el kaldm qabl du^ul el
islam; fy kutubfpdndt bildd el if rang kutub ketyra
maktuba bil lisdn el qibty, el bahr el abjad we el bahr
el azraq jingim'u sazva ^and el Ipartum fy wast afryqa,
we min hendk jibtidy bahr en nyl,

hdlet el mdlyja el masryja fy aijdm ^abbds bdsa et
tdny ger hdletha fy aijdm. ism.a'yl bdsa, el f^att el ge-
dyd min as jut li girga infatah ^an qaryb, we bad su-
waija jemidduh ^ala en nyl li hadd qe7ia. jatara el
qudbdn betu es sikka el hadyd ^alal f^att et tdny haf-
tuha wala lissa f es sikak el gedyda fy mudyryjet el
behera tifplas bd'd suwaija, hisdbdt ""amal eg guz et
tdny fnin es sikka el hadyd Idzim taqdymha hdlan, el
mdlyja rdjiha tirfa darybet el ard di ^asdn in dywdn
el asgdl a^adha HI mandf el ^om^umyja. el ard di
tidfa mdl qadd if mandub el mdlyja rdjih jihdar HI
mudyryja ^asdn jehaqqaq el masdla elly katabet "atiha
min jomen. el mufattis biqul el maija ketyr fy et tira
dilwaqt ; huwa amar bi fath el qantara di bad hamast
yjdm, et tira di rdjihyn jitahharuha bad gunia. el
arddy el ^dlja elly kdnet qabla tamally sardqy rawdha
el mufattis es sana di,

bildd eg gezdir fil waqt el hddir tdb^a li fransa ;
we hyja wdq^a ben mardkis we tunis, el lisdn elly
jitkallimuh aktar min geroh fy afryqa huwa el lisdn
el ^araby. nyu jork akbar balad fy ameryka, Id kin
tafpt el hukuma fy wasinton. asdmy hukkdm urubba:
bildd el inglyz, edward es sdbt" , malik zve sultdn; almdn-
je, wilhelm et tdny ; itdlja,fikt6r ^ammanuel et tdlit ; bi-

The Egyptian Alphabet 93

lad en nemsa, fransys jUsif ; bildd el moskof^ niqula
et tdny ; /ransa, lube; bildd er rum, g'^f^gy / w^^
bildd et ttirk, ^abd el hamyd fpdn. fy aktar bildd el
/rang magdlis a ddhum jt aiji7ihum el ahdly, zaj maglis
^aura el qawdnyn fy masr. ahsan bindjdt el isldm qa^r
el hamra, elly el esbanjol jisammuh alhambra, fy ge-
ranada min bildd esbdnja, eg ges el almdny aqwa ges
fy ed dinja, el gabal el abjad a la gabal fy urubba;
huwa wdhid min el gibdl el mcirufa bi ism el alb.

fyh madrasa fy masr jiallimu fyha el muhandisyn
we el mimdrgyja. el fotogrdfdt ^uwar jdl^duha bi
nur es sams, inta bitifalUm ""ilm en nabdtdt we ^ilm
el bajdtra fy madraset ez zira'a f tiqdar ti^raf ketyr
^an ""ilm en nabdtdt min genenet el azbakyja, ^asdn fyha
asgdr ketyra min wast afryqa we min bildd el hind
we bildd tdnja. el ard medauwara, mus mebattata,
hyja tedur haivalen es sams, we mus es sams elly tedur
hawalen el ard, el qamar jedur hawalen el ard kull
talatyn jom marra, ^usuf e^ sams jihsal min migy el
qamar ben el ard we e§ sams ; we fpusuf el qamar
jihsal min migy el ard ben el qamar we es sams lamma
dill el ard juqa" ^alal qamar. ism el feldsuf elly
il}tara en nadddra elly jesufu biha en nugum kdn ga-
lyleo ; huwa mdt sanet 1642 mylddyja we indafan fy
felorensa, el kitdb elly kataboh baflymos, el feldsuf er
rumy, ^ala en nugum targimoh bil ^araby el Jergdny,
el gabr ^ilm hisdb a^la, jistd^milu fyh el huruf biddl
el addd, el kymja ""ilm jtrafu boh gins el agza elly
mitrakkiba minha el asjdt. el wabur jim^y bil buf}dr ;
we el bufpdr jitla min el maija es sufpna, Idkin fyh
waburdt timiy bi hdga tdnja ger el bu^dr ismaha el
kahrabayja. el kahramdn jitla min borussia we min

94 ^'^^ Egyptian Alphabet

barr el anadol. el gdz elly jinaiiwaru byh sikak el
bildd, we il gdz elly jiwalla'uh fil lambdt fil bijut, jit-
la" u min el fahm el kagar, darivyfi, el "dlim el in-
glyzy fy et taby^a, iktasaf el asl el haqyqy HI insdn
we el mafpluqat et tdnja. afkdroh "a?i el masdld di
Tnd'rufa fil waqt el hddir bi ism asl el mahltiqit, we
ketyr min el "ulania el kubdr qiblu el afkdr di.

auwal kitdb taba^uh kdn fy germdnja min rub^emyja
we ii-amsyn sana. min qablaha kdnet el kutub kullaha
maktuba bil i^att. akbar feldsifet el "arab ibn syna el
maruf "and el ifrang bi ism avisenna, we ibn rusd,
el maruf "anduhum bi ism averrhoes. ibn syna in-
walad fy bu^dra sanet j^8 higryja^ tve ibn rusd in-
walad fy bildd esbdnja sanet ^20 higryja. el maqryzy
mat sanet 81 g higryja; huiva katab gogrdfyjet masr
elly intaba"et fy matbaet buldq ; we ab el m^ahdsin
katab tdryfp masr m.in aijdm el ^alyfa "oniar li hadd
mot el meallif sanet 8 4^ higryja, ibn Ipaldun kdn min
a lam el masryjyn, zve katab tdryfp tawyl li masr, qa-
ritis dywdn el buhtury es mir el mashurf es sefp
ndsyf el jdzgy katab kitdb "azym ismoh magma'' el
bahr^n. arba riwdjdt 7nin riwdjdt moljer es mir
el fransdwy ittargimu bil "araby ed ddrig targima
"azyma we intabau fy masr,

jifalUm "ilm el luga, "andak qdrntls "araby we in-
glyzyf tiqdar tequl ly enhy agriimyja "araby ahsan
min el kullf qaretis el maqdla "alal "araby ed dd-
rig bi huruf frangyja fy gurndl el moqattam beta"
embdrehf el falldh el masry mu§ mifalUm. lef
"asdn innohjiltizimjifallim alifbe sa"ba qawy, we lamma
ifallim el alifbe di jildqyha md tin/a" us fil "araby elly
dijitkallimoh, huwa "auz jifallim el lisdn elly jitkal-

The Egyptian Alphabei * ' 95

limuh en nahdr da, mus el lisdn elly ifkallifnuk min
muddet humsemyt sana, eg gardnyl fy ma^r matbua
bi luga aktar en nds ma jirafuhds; el luga elly el
gurndlgyja dol jiktibuha mu^ lugat el ^arab betu za-
mdn, wala betu dilwaqt, el watan el gurndl el ^araby
el qibty el wdhyd fy masr, ibn sdhby kdn fatah duk-
kdn jiby"" fyha hardjir ive hatt ildndt fy arba"" gur-
ndldt ; Idkin qaret ^an motoh fy el ahr^m en na-
hdr da,

jd abulhol! intaq zve qui Una ^an tdryfp masr el
qadym we ""an mulukha we hurubha zve turabha! es
sams tisriq we tigrib ; we er ryh jitlu we jiskut ;
we e7i nyl jezyd we jinqas ; Idkin ahrdm eg gyzafddila
zaj m,d hyja. ^ijun habyby sud zaj el lei, we (pudud
habyby homr zaj el ward ; sotha zaj sot el bulbul ;
we hanakha zaj Ipdtim selymdn. sahyh inny tamally
asdfir fy ed dinja, bahary we qibly, Idkin qalby dai-
Tnan ""and habyby. ^and habyby ddjy we '^and habyby
kamd7i dawdy. dfiir el kitdb zaj dfj-ir es safar fil
bahr ; lamma tusal el markib li dfpir es safar, e
mardkbyja zve el mesdfryn jinbistu.

VI. Punctuation and Other Signs.

i^aldmdt HI qirdja we HI hisdb).

, damma (waqf b^fyf).

; damma we noqta (waqf atwal).

noqta (waqf tim).

: noqtet^n (ma'n^ha zaj ; hag^t zaj d61 ; d61).

? 'aMmet istifh^m.

! ^al^met ta'^aggub we 'al^met amr.

( ) q6s^n (el kal^m elly b^nhum tafsyr el kal^m
elly fat).

* nigma (^t^f fy giha tinja!).

-{- zajid, we (gam*").
— n^qis (tarh).
X fy, marrat (darb).
^ ""ala (qisma).
= jis^wy.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY

Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

mm: I

■J

LD 21-100m-7,'52(A2528sl6)476

}

344218

UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA UBRARY