Egyptian Arabic is spoken by more than 110 million people, mainly in Egypt. It is one of the most understood varieties of Arabic, due to the widespread distribution of Egyptian films and television shows throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Egyptian Arabic has a consonant inventory of 27 phonemes, 8 vowel phonemes, and no diphthongs. Egyptian Arabic does not contain syllables with complex onsets or vowel-initial syllables. The few studies of children’s acquisition of Egyptian Arabic describe the phonetic inventory, phonological patterns, word structure, prosody, and phonological awareness. Researchers have focused on children with speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, and cleft palate. Common speech assessments include the Mansoura Arabic Articulation Test, Arabic Phonological Awareness Test, Mansoura Arabic Test for Phonological Processes, Arabic Phonological Processing Assessment, Arabic Speech Intelligibility Test, and the Arabic Adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. Interventions for Egyptian Arabic-speaking children include traditional articulation therapy, phonological awareness training, and a prosody treatment program.

Key words:
Egyptian, Arabic, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Abou-Elsaad, T., Afsah, O., Saad, M., & Mansour, A. (2025). Arabic (Egyptian) speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

• Abou-Elsaad, T., Afsah, O., Saad, M., & Mansour, A. (forthcoming). Arabic (Egyptian): Multilingual children’s speech development. Charles Sturt University, Australia. https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/languages
• Video: Arabic (Egyptian) [English version] – Children’s Speech Development
• PowerPoint: Arabic (Egyptian) [English version] – Children’s Speech Development (pdf)

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals