LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN EGYPT: REFUGEE LANGUAGES IN CAIRO

1. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN EGYPT: REFUGEE LANGUAGES IN CAIRO Robert S. Williams Cairo Refugee Language Project The American University in Cairo rwilliams@aucegypt.edu PowerPoint available at: www.aucegypt.edu/faculty/rwilliams/downloads.htm

2. Language Diversity linguistic diversity linguistic diversity in Egypt: indigenous languages linguistic diversity in Egypt: refugee languages

3. Language Diversity How many languages are there in the world today? Between 5,000 and 6,000 Languages aren’t evenly distributed among the world’s geographic areas. China,which has a large land mass (over 9 million sq km) , has relatively few languages at 235 Papua New Guinea, which is 18 times smaller in land area (around 450, 000 sq km), has more than three times as many languages at 820

4. Language Diversity:Egypt Egypt has nearly 1 million sq km in land area. How many languages are spoken at home by Egyptian citizens? 9

5. Heritage (First) Languages of Egypt

6. Modern Standard Arabic Use in Egypt: Modern Standard Arabic is the official language of Egypt, and as such is the language of government, education, etc. However, it is not a first language. Areas of use outside of Egypt: Everywhere in the Arab world Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

7. Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Spoken Arabic Number of Speakers in Egypt: 780,000 (1996). Areas of Use in Egypt: Bedouin regions in Sinai and along parts of the Red Sea coast, most of the way to the southern border, along the whole east bank until it reaches the Bedawi language Number of Speakers in all countries: 1,610,000 Areas of use outside of Egypt: Also spoken in Israel, Jordan, Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, Syria. Alternate names: Bedawi, Levantine Bedawi Arabic. Dialects: Northeast Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, South Levantine Bedawi Arabic, North Levantine Bedawi Arabic. Similar to some Hijazi dialects in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

8. Egyptian Spoken Arabic Number of speakers in Egypt: 44,406,000 (1998). Areas of use in Egypt: Cairo and Delta Number of speakers outside of Egypt: 46,321,000 Areas of use outside of Egypt: Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Alternate names: none Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic Other information: a normal Egyptian Spoken Arabic, established the by the Egyptian media, is used in Arabic-language media produced in Egypt. It is based on Cairene Arabic.

9. Egyptian Spoken Arabic Dialects: North Delta Arabic, South Central Delta Arabic, Cairene Arabic. Cairene is the most widely understood dialect used for non print media, both in Egypt and throughout the secondary Arab world. It is an amalgam of Delta Arabic and Middle Egypt Arabic, with borrowings from literary Arabic.

10. Western Egyptian Bedawi Spoken Arabic Number of speakers in Egypt: 300,000 (1996). Areas of use in Egypt: Bedouin regions from the edge of Alexandria west to the Libyan border. Some in western oases. Number of speakers outside of Egypt: 0 Areas of use outside of Egypt: none Alternate names: Bedawi, Libyan Spoken Arabic, Sulaimitian Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic. Dialects: Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic, Tripolitanian Arabic, Southern Libyan Arabic, Eastern Libyan Arabic. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

11. Sa’idi Spoken Arabic Number of speakers in Egypt: 18,900,000 (1996) Areas of use in Egypt: Southern Egypt from the edge of Cairo to the Sudan border. Alternate names: Sa`idi, Upper Egypt Arabic. Dialects: Middle Egypt Arabic, Upper Egypt Arabic. The Middle Egypt dialect is in Bani Sweef, Fayyuum, and Gizeh. Upper Egypt dialect is from Asyuut to Edfu and south. Some might be in Libya or the Gulf. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

12. Coptic Use in Egypt: Coptic is considered an extinct language, meaning that no people speak it as a first language. However, the Bohairic dialect of Coptic is still the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.It probably became extinct in the 16th century. Alternate names: Neo-Egyptian Dialects: Bohairic, Sahidic. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Egyptian

13. Siwi Number of Speakers in Egypt: 5,000 (1995) Areas of Use in Egypt: Northwestern desert, Siwa Oasis, several isolated villages in the western oasis Number of Speakers in all countries: 0 Areas of use outside of Egypt: none Alternate names: Siwa, Sioua, Oasis Berber, Zenati Dialects: Not closely related to other Berber languages Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Eastern, Siwa

14. Nobiin and Kenuzi-Dongola Number of Speakers in Egypt: Nobiin (200,000:1996), Kenuzi Dongola (100,000:1996) Areas of Use in Egypt:. 40% in the Upper Nile Valley, mainly near Kom Ombo; the rest in various cities Number of Speakers in all countries: Nobiin (495,000), Kenuzi-Dongola (280,000) Areas of use outside of Egypt: Sudan: Northern Province of Sudan Classification of Nobiin: Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Eastern, Nubian, Northern Classification of Kenuzi-Dongola: Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Eastern, Nubian, Central, Dongolawi

15. Domari Number of Speakers in Egypt: ?? Areas of Use in Egypt: mainly in Dakahlia Governorate, north of Cairo Number of Speakers in all countries: 1,876, 116 Areas of use outside of Egypt: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Isreal, Jordan, Libya, Palestine West Bank & Gaza, Russia (Caucasus Mountains), Uzbekistan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey. Alternate names: Middle Eastern Romani, Tsigene, Gypsy, Luti, Mehtar Dialects: Nawar (Ghagar), Helebi Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Dom Other information: The ethnic group, known as Ghagar,, are Mulsim. There are estimated to be over a million strong in Egypt.

16. Greek and Armenian Number of Greek Speakers in Egypt: 42,000 (2004) Areas of Use in Egypt: Alexandria Classification: Indo-European, Greek, Attic _________________________________ Number of Armenian Speakers in Egypt: 6,000 Areas of Use in Egypt: mainly Cairo Classification: Indo-European, Armenian

17. Non-Indigenous Languages in Egypt Of course Cairo is extremely cosmopolitan. People from all over the world live in Cairo, so many languages are spoken here. As you would expect, these languages include, besides every know dialect of Arabic, all of the world’s major languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, etc.

18. Refugee Languages in Egypt In addition, there are probably over 100 ‘smaller’ languages spoken by refugees from Cairo. Cairo has a good sampling of languages from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Somalia, and languages from many other African countries. Many of these languages are considered endangered.

19. Refugee Languages in Egypt In addition, there are probably over 100 ‘smaller’ languages spoken by refugees from Cairo. Cairo has a good sampling of languages from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Somalia, and languages from many other African countries. Though there are probably a million or so speakers of refugee languages, most of these languages are considered endangered.

20. Refugee Languages in Egypt: Ajang Ajang, spoken in the Nuba Mountains area of the Sudanese state of South Kordofan by around 10,000 people, is represented in the Cairo refugee community. There is a small Ajang speech community here, and Ajang is used in homes and in social gatherings. The refugee situation helps make Ajang an endangered language, since it: • is only used in two domains • is no longer the home language for Ajang speakers who are married to refugees who speak other languages Abdelbagi Daida Ajang Researcher

21. The Cairo Refugee Language Project The CRLP was founded in 2005 as a research support project We are a small group working with AUC’s Forced Migration and Refugee Studies program We are working to: • offer access to basic facts and statistics about refugees and language in Cairo • provide a site for storage and dissemination of scholarship on these issues • assist scholars in contacting and working with speakers of various languages among the refugee population in Cairo • provide any assistance possible to scholars conducting research in Cairo AUC’s Main Campus, downtown Cairo

22. CRLPOngoing Projects At present, CRLP-based scholars are working on • the Cairo Community Interpreters Project • basic fact gathering on refugee language issues • the Intercontinental Dictionary Series • endangered language documentation • Refugee schools faculty development Sudanese refugeesat AUC’s FMRS Center

23. References Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/. Comrie, B., Matthew, S., & Polinsky, M. Eds. (2002). The Atlas of Languages. Revised Edition. New York: Facts on File Comrie, B. (Ed.). 1990. The World’s Major Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Torrosian, M. (2007). Personal communication.