The primary spoken language and official language of Egypt is Arabic. That’s the short answer. The long answer is a little more complicated, but also a lot more interesting!

The official language of Egypt

The official language of Egypt is Modern Standard Arabic, the formal language that is used in books, newspapers, scripted speeches, and so on. This is the form of Arabic that is used across the Arab World, from Morocco in the West to Iraq in the east.  It is based on the Arabic written in the Qur’an, with more streamlined grammar and an expanded vocabulary to fit with modern times.  This form of Arabic is not used for everyday communication and is restricted to formal situations.

The spoken language of Egypt

In everyday communication the majority of Egyptians speak Egyptian Arabic,  a spoken dialect (well, a group of dialects) that is quite different from Modern Standard Arabic. The most popular variety of Egyptian Arabic is the dialect of the capital city Cairo, which for many decades was the most common form of Arabic spoken in movies and music because Cairo was the center of the Arab World’s entertainment industry.  Because of that, Egyptian Arabic (especially the Cairo dialect) is easily understood by most people throughout the Arab World.

The term Egyptian Arabic usually refers to the forms of Arabic spoken in northern Egypt. In southern Egypt (also known as Upper Egypt), most people speak Sa’idi Arabic. It is somewhat different from the spoken Arabic in the north of the country, and is actually similar to the Arabic spoken across the Red Sea in Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

There are also Bedouin dialects of Arabic spoken by Bedouin (traditionally nomadic people), particularly in the Sinai peninsula. These dialects are different from the others because Bedouin have historically been isolated from the rest of the population of the countries they are in.

Minority languages of Egypt

In Upper Egypt there are not only speakers of Sa’idi Arabic, but also of Nubian languages, which are completely separate from Arabic. There are around 300,000 speakers of Nubian languages in Egypt, in particular Nobiin.

In the area of the Siwa Oasis near the Libyan border, a Berber language known as Siwi Berber is spoken.  Travellers visiting the beautiful Siwa Oasis can hear the sounds of this language. But the local Berber people can also speak Arabic, and there are also Arabic-speaking Bedouin in the area.

One other minority language is Domari, which is spoken by a group of people known as Dom.  The Dom people are thought to have migrated out of the Indian subcontinent over a thousand years ago, and are thought to be related to the Roma people of Europe (commonly referred to as “Gypsy”). The Roma people refer to themselves as “Rom” (similar to “Dom”). Domari is therefore an Indo-European language, just like the Romani language.

The Coptic language

The Coptic language is a direct descendant of the Ancient Egyptian language which was written in hieroglyphics. Coptic is no longer spoken as a native language, but it is used as a liturgical language by the Coptic church. Coptic people make up about 10% of the population of Egypt, but today they speak Arabic as their native language.