When we think of Iraq, we usually picture a war-torn country after suffering from decades of chaos. It is hard to think of it as a thriving or even functional place. But before the wars, Iraq was a modernized country full of rich culture, language, and ethnic groups. Traveling between Iraq and Egypt is like being in two different worlds.
Iraq has several different languages. You will find Kurdish and Turkmen, along with the Neo-Aramaic languages of Chaldean and Ashuri. Out and about on the streets of Baghdad and other major cities, you will hear Amiya Arabic everywhere in the Iraqi Arabic conversation.
You may be wondering what is the difference between the Egyptian dialect from the Iraqi dialect? This is a very interesting thing to look at, especially if you are looking for the best app to learn Iraqi Arabic. In the spoken form, the greatest difference between the two dialects is the Iraqi Arabic uses consonant roots, vowels, and affixes that are attached to them. This dialect is influenced by Hebrew, Greek, French, and some English. The Egyptian dialect uses one basic stem word or several stems are derived stems to create words. Each form has its own set of active and passive participles, verbs and nouns. To sum that up in simple language, they sound different. The use of sounds and accents are noticeable.
The dialects are different enough for the armies around the world that have troops on the ground in the region to break the languages into two distinct groups. Iraqi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. They are encouraging personnel that speaks Modern Standard Arabic to pick up another Arabic language from these two groups. They feel that this will assist personnel in their missions.
Some amusing Iraqi phrases are saying like “Shako mako” which means “What’s up”? they also call their grandma’s “Bibi” instead of the more used “Taita” in Egyptian Arabic. Egypt has some cool lingo of its own as well – For example, here are some Egyptian Arabic phrases to highlight the differences. “Nice to meet you”. “furSa sa3īda” – literally “Happy chance”. You would respond “ana l-as3ad” – literally – “I am happier”. “Welcome to Egypt”.” nawwart maSr”. – literally – “You have lit up Egypt”.
The Iraqi Arabic alphabet and Egyptian Arabic alphabet are the same as Modern Standard Arabic. This alphabet contains twenty-eight letters. Adaptation of the alphabet added and removed some letters to adapt to Kurdish for example as it is widely spoken in Iraq.
So, if you are wanting to learn Arabic to converse with Iraqi people, this will also mean that you will be able to communicate with people from all over the Arabic region. You will also be able to understand people from the Gulf Region, North Africa including Egypt. But you may struggle with their dialects. Therefore, it is important to do your research and see what is the best Arabic language for you. Don’t forget to download our Arabic learning app, where you can choose from a multitude of dialects.
