An Arabic-English Vocabulary of the Colloquial Arabic of Egypt: Containing the Vernacular Idioms and Expressions, Slang Phrases, Etc., Etc., Used by the Native Egyptians

688 Pages·1895·28.36 MB·English

by  Socrates Spiro

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AHABIC-ENGLISH VOCABULAHY
OF THE COLLOQUIAL ARABIC OF EGYPT,
CON'IAINING THF VERNACULARIDIOMS AND EXPRESSIONS,
SLANG PHRASES, ETC., ETC., USEDBYTHENATIVEEGYPTIA\'S.
COMPILED BY
SOCRATES SPIRO
OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE^
FOKMEULY OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS, CAIRO.
CAIRO
AL-MOKATTAM PRINTING OFFICE.
LONDON
BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY
1895
AU riyhls reserved.

AN
ARABIC-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
OF THE COLLOQUIAL ARABIC OF EGYPT,
CONTAINING THE VERNACULAR IDIOMS ANDEXPRESSIONS,
SLANG PllRASES, ETC.,ETC., USED JJY THENATIVEEGYFTIANS.
COMPILED BY
SOCRATES SPIRO
OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE,
FORMERLY OF TlIE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS, CAIRO.
CAIRO
AL-MOKATTAM PRINTING OFFICE

PREFACE.
IVM-liaiis no ai)()k\u\- is inTtlcd for iiiti'odueing tho present work to
the notice of oriental ricliolar.s in general and Arabic scholars in
i)articnlar. Having been interested for many yearsinthe colloqnial
Arabic of Egypt, the compiler was strnck - as, no donbt, all
those who have studied colloquial Arabic mustalsohave been-by the
wealth ofthe dialect, not onlyin words but informs ofexpression and
subtle meanings, and the more he studied the subject, the more he
liccanie convinced of the necessit\- and utility of a vocabulary to
introduce the foreigner to the still uncomprehended treasures of
colloquial Arabic.
But it was not until ISDl that he began to collect his materials.
His plan at first was to conq)ile asimplebookof some two hundred
ijiiges, but as the work progressed he foimd that it was gradually
o-rowing larger until at last its size as originally contemplated was
ijreatly increased. Finding this to be the case,the compiler decided
to "ivc thebook a wider scope, andfor this purpose he introduced a
large number ofadministrative,financial, engineering,mechanical and
military words which he met with in his perusal ofa mass of official
publications. The idioms and the slang phrasesAvere obtained notonly
l)y reading almost all the literature of which colloquial Arabic can
boast, but by listening and carefully noting casual words and trivial
phrases as they were usedin connnon conversation.
Inthe earlypart ofthe year the bookwas readyfor the i)n'ss, but
it must not for a moment beimagined that allthe phrases and charac-
teristic expressions in use amongstthe natives of this country have
been given. No single comjjiler can hope to make an exhaustive
collection, lint it can be confidently stated that the material here
collected represents almost all that a foreigner wouhl nu'ct with in
conversation with tiie natives ofEgypt.
(Jreat difficult}- was oltcn met witli in ascertaining the precise
meaning of some words. The comi)iler then had recourse to his
friends andin certain instances conflicting definitionsweregiven. Tlie
reason is not f;ir to seek. Collo([uial Arabic not having been writti'u
until ijuite recently,woi'ds are sometimes usedas the fancy ot the
speaki'i-dictatos. fn thesecases,the meaningsgiven arethosemostimi-
versallyaccepted. As regardstheidi(jmsand the slang,theconqiilerdid
his bestto obtain the equivalent Englishidioms, and where this was
notpossible,an expressionas near as possible resembling tlie original
was given. Forthisreason many ofthe English idiomatic and other
expressions canbeimprovedupon, butthe student can be assured that
no pains have been spared to render the book accurate and trust-
worthy.
While the book wasin the press objections were made to the de-
rivatives separately givenand to thetranslitei*ation.Thoseexperienced
in teaching Arabic to foreigners in Egypt know that only a small per-
centage ofthese study the syntax and the grammar and that the
Egyptians themselves are often at a loss to find a word in a purely
Arabic lexicon where the derivatives are given only under the root
verb. As tarasthe transliteration is concerned, the system adopted is
that ofthe late Spitta Bey-pronounced by scholars to be the most
scientific-simplified by adistinguishedAmerican scholar. Itmay per-
ha])s ])e added that no system of translitei-ation is perfect and the
adoption ofsystem is a matter oftaste.
In conclusion, the compiler wishes to express his grateful thanks
to his numerous friends, both in this country and al)road, for tlieir
kind assistance and encouragement whicli gave him fresh vigour at
moments Avhen he felt w'eary, andenabled him to summon up courage
to bring his work to a conclusion. He wishes that it were possible
lor him toname them all,but certain considerations prevent his doing
S(j. Mention must, however, ])e made of I. G. Mussawir Bey, ofthe
PiildicWorks Department,who read a part ofthe manuscript making
valual)le suggestions.
Thanks are also due to the printers for the diligence and skill
with whichthey have executed their difficult and complicated task,
submitting to numerous alterations and corrections whilst it was in
thepress.
Cairo, S. S.
y^uvcmber 1895.