Languages of Egypt

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Egyptians speak a continuum of dialects. The predominant dialect in

Official language

Literary Arabic is the official language of Egypt.^[14]

Main spoken language

Egyptian Arabic is the commonly spoken language, based on the dialect of Cairo, and is occasionally written in Arabic script, or in Arabic chat alphabet mostly on new communication services.

Of the many

Minority languages

In southern Egypt,

In the far-Southern Upper Nile Valley, around Kom Ombo and Aswan, there are about 300,000 speakers of Nubian languages, mainly Nobiin, but also Kenuzi.

About 30,000 Egyptian Berbers living in the

The only sign language known to be used in Egypt is Egyptian Sign Language.^[17] It is known to be used in Alexandria and Cairo, and possibly other regions. Regional variation is reported anecdotally but not documented.

Foreign languages

English

There is generally no preference towards British or American English, however, the younger generations increasingly prefer the American variant, mostly due to their exposure to American media.[19]

French

In 2009–2010, about six million people studied French in Egypt, and this number increased to eight million in 2013. As of 2014, most people in Egypt using French have studied it as a foreign language in school.^[20]

The first French-medium schools in Egypt were established in 1836. By the end of the nineteenth century, it had become the dominant foreign language in Egypt and the lingua franca of foreigners; this was especially the case in Cairo.^[21]

French became the primary foreign language in media during the rule of

Due to social and political reasons, the role of French in Egypt began to decline in the 1920s.[21] Two French-language newspapers are still published in Egypt: Al-Ahram Hebdo and Le Progrès Egyptien.

Italian

The primary foreign language during the reign of

Historical languages

Other

The "Koiné" dialect of the Greek language was important in Hellenistic Alexandria, and was used in the philosophy and science of that culture, and was also studied by later Arabic scholars.

Notes