Saʽidi Arabic

Ṣaʽīdi Arabic, also called Upper Egyptian Arabic, is a special way of speaking Arabic used by people in Southern Egypt. This area is a narrow strip of land on both sides of the Nile, stretching from Aswan up to Lower Egypt. It is different from the Arabic spoken in other parts of Egypt but shares some features with everyday Egyptian Arabic, the formal Modern Standard Arabic, and the ancient Classical Arabic of the Quran.

People who speak standard Egyptian Arabic sometimes have trouble understanding the more traditional forms of Ṣaʽīdi Arabic. Even though it does not get as much respect nationwide, many people in the south still use it, and some northerners who moved from the south use it too, though they often mix it with standard Egyptian Arabic.

Ṣaʽīdi Arabic has many smaller versions, or dialects, that change from place to place. Because of the history of tribes in Upper Egypt, some of these dialects keep sounds and words that are closer to the older, classical Arabic. For example, the word “قعمز” meaning “sit” is used not just in Egypt but also in Sudan and other nearby areas. Famous Egyptian poet Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi wrote in his native Sa'idi dialect and became a voice for Egyptians during the 2011 revolution.

Dialects

Upper Egyptian Arabic has four main dialect groups.

1. The first group is spoken south of Asyut to Luxor.
2. The second group is found in the Nile bend from Nag Hammadi to south of Qena.
3. The third group lives on the west bank of the Nile from near Luxor to Esna.
4. The fourth group is spoken south of Luxor.

Each group has its own special sounds and ways of speaking.

Phonology

Ṣaʽīdi Arabic has special sounds called consonants and vowels that make its speech unique.

Some consonant sounds can change depending on the word or dialect, like how d͡ʒ might sound like ʒ or d in certain places. In southern Upper Egyptian dialects, dʒ can sound like ɟ. There is also a special sound tˤ that sometimes sounds like tˀ.

For vowels, sounds like e and o appear in some southern dialects, such as Qifṭi. The sound a can also change to sound like ə. Vowels can also have special emphatic sounds too.