Ancient Egyptian words are still used in Egyptian dialect! Can you believe this? After thousands of years, some words survived through the generations and did not change – This is hardly the case with any language. In this article, I will talk about some of these words that defied time and could sneak through history to find a room in today’s spoken Egyptian dialect!
Speaking this wonderful dialect enables you to have a rich communication with Egyptians and dive more into the wonderful, rich culture of Egypt.
Furthermore, speaking the Egyptian dialect enables you to be understood in the entire Arab region.
Think of it like a master-key, which can be effectively used to open many doors.
But have you ever asked yourself, from where came the dialect people of Cairo use? Is it entirely Arabic? and why it is so important to consider learning it? I recommend that you read this article, where I talk about why you should consider learning the Egyptian dialect
Well, now you know that there are many Ancient Egyptian words that are still used in Egypt today. While some of these words changed slightly throughout the ages, others did not and are still used as they used to be.
In this article, we will talk about five words that are adopted from the Ancient Egyptian vocabulary, which are:
tata
emboo
bo3obo3
shabboorah
nunu
Ancient Egyptian derived word: tata
Our second word is ‘tata’ – this word is coupled with motion. Egyptian say ‘tata’ to kids to help them walk alone. To walk slowly, or yemshi tata, is a very widespread expression. The origin of this word came from Ancient Egyptians. The word ‘titi’ means in Ancient Egypt ‘slowly or step by step’.
Ancient Egyptian derived word: emboo
Here is our first word, ’emboo’, which came from the phrases ‘ebmoo = eb (I want) + mo (water). With time, Egyptians made this phrase shorter and easier to pronounce. Therefore, the phrase was transformed to a single easy word, emboo
We still use this word extensively in Egypt. If you were around Egyptian kids, you will most probably hear this word every time the kid wants to drink. We used to say ’emboo’ a lot and hear it from our parents when we were kids.
You may have guessed it – the name of the ultra-famous Egyptian queen ‘Nefertiti’ means ‘the beauty walking slowly’. From this word came the Coptic version, ‘tata’, that Egyptians use today.
Ancient Egyptian derived word: bo3bo3
Our third Ancient Egyptian word is a very known word for Egyptian children. As children, one of our utmost fears was this creepy ghost that can emerge from dark spots and from behind the furniture! Therefore, we still remember this word from childhood and will never forget it. This ghost has tens of names, depending on the culture.
In Egypt, we used to name it ‘el-bo3bo3’. This name came from the Ancient Egyptian god ‘baba’. The Egyptians transformed it into the Coptic word ‘bobo’, while the Greeks used the word ‘phobo’.
Sound familiar? Yes, the word ‘phobo’ is the grandparent of the well-known word ‘phobia’, which means inexplainable fear of something.
Ancient Egyptian derived word: shabboorah
The fourth Ancient Egyptian derived word is related to weather. Egyptian say ‘shabboorah’ in translation for ‘fog’. Shabboorah came from the ancient Egyptian word phrase ‘shab rah = shab (changed) + ra (light).
Like the case with many other phrases, Egyptians transformed the pronunciation of this phrase to be easier and quick. It changed to shabrah in Coptic.
Throughout the generations, the word shabrah transformed into ‘shabboorah’, which is an Egyptian word today, meaning fog.
Ancient Egyptian derived word: nunu
Our last word is very cute because we say ‘nunu’ or ‘nonna’ to refer to babies. This is a very common word in Egyptian dialect.
Do you know from where came this word? Yes, from the ancient Egyptian word ‘nu’, which means ‘fragile’.
We say it twice – nu nu, maybe it is an exaggerated form – who knows? Nevertheless, it is very interesting to know that this simple word has deep routes in Egyptians’ culture.
Now we know very important words in the amazing Egyptian dialect. These words show how rich the culture of Egypt is actually is. Check my episode below about the same topic
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Interested to learn the Egyptian dialect, then join my 100% Free Egyptian Arabic 101 course.
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