A Pocket Dictionary of the Spoken Arabic of Cairo: English-Arabic

by Virginia Stevens and Maurice Salib

Whether you are newly arrived in Egypt and need to know the words for 'bread' and 'apartment, ' or a long-term resident who suddenly needs to know how to ask for a picture frame or complain of a sore throat, this dictionary is for you. Fully revised and expanded, the third edition of this unique and invaluable dictionary presents 6,500 words commonly needed by foreigners speaking Arabic in Egypt. Arabic words are written in a clear and consistent...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9774248392
• ISBN13: 9789774248399
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.3" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

finally an Egyptian Arabic dictionary, too bad it's not in Arabic

It's nearly impossible to find a good dictionary of actual spoken Arabic but this fits the bill. It has many of the words you want to know but hardly ever use like "screw driver" and "fumigation". You won't find those in a travel dictionary, and God only knows what archaic words the MSA dictionary will have. I'm disappointed that the actual Arabic spelling of the actual words was not included. Also, as is somewhat common among transliterated dictionaries, Greek characters are used for the letters which do not exist in English. I am at a complete loss as to why Greek characters are somehow more understandable than the actual letter from the language that I'm learning. I'm learning Arabic, not Greek. Also the Greek letters they chose are of course different than the Greek letters chosen by other authors, which only increases my confusion. The transliteration key does not even include the Arabic characters, leaving me to guess what letter "similar to the 'ch' in German 'doch'" refers to. I also don't speak German. I would think anyone who would find this dictionary useful would also have at least an elementary grasp on what sounds Arabic letters make, and if not it seems using the Arabic letters would help force them down that path a bit better than Greek letters.

a must-have for all who wouldn't be misunderstood

You may take it from a most diligent student of Arabic who came to spend a year in Egypt able to read everything including 7-th century poetry and the Qur'an, only to find herself unable to converse with people and understand what the ... they mean - this little dictionary has been a tremendous help to me as it will be to you. Given the shortage of textbooks and dictionaries of spoken Arabic (books by M.Salib and A.at-Tonsi, both from AUC, are to be praised and recommended, but hardly anything else), Stevens's dictionary stands out as one of the most helpful. couple it with a SUPERB Egyptian Arabic-English dictionary by M.Hinds and Badawi (worth any price, more thrilling than any detective story), and you have a fair chance of getting your 'ammiya (i.e. colloquial Arabic) right. Even if you're not planning to invest much time in it but are only going to spend a few weeks in Egypt, still it is worth having.More to the point: it covers practically all the words you need; transcription is accurate, simple but not oversimplified, as is the case with most phrasebooks that will get you just nowhere. Last but not least: it also contains essential bits of colloquial grammar (which is rather simple, so no need to fear).Good luck!

Instructor

Great pocket book for use as a starting point. Armed with this 200 page book you can usually get your meaning across to most Egyptians... they may want to 'correct' your pronounciation, but they understood what you said. The format is simple: English word followed by Egyptian pronunciation spelled out in Roman letters. Very simple once you get the hang of the few new sounds in Arabic. I lost my copy when I got back to the states and it was the first thing I looked to replace when I returned to Cairo this year.