The Curious Case of the Missing “Qaff”

In case you haven’t noticed it by now, Egyptians don’t really speak the same language as the people from Arabic textbooks. What seems like 90 percent of the words are different. The intonation is a little off. Egyptians also don’t seem as obsessed about grammar as your university teacher implied. Egyptian Arabic and Standard Arabic might as well be Spanish and Chinese.

Of course, Egyptians will tell you that the people of Cairo do, in fact, speak the language that you have slaved away learning. But in all your frustration, you’re not so sure. Indeed, for a non-native speaker, it might as well be a different language.

And the pronunciation. Just when you think you have the flowing poetic voice of Standard down and can say your “jeems” with the best of them, in comes the Egyptian dialect with a sudden “geem punch” to the face. It’s enough to drive you crazy.

In a couple weeks, we’ll be doing a comprehensive overview of exactly how Egyptians say all these letters. For today, though, we’d like to talk about the letter “qaff” (and its curious disappearance).

Keep in mind that the pronunciation of Egyptian Arabic differs even within the country. Just like different regions in any country will have different accents, so too will Egyptians say things slightly differently. So for this lesson, we will be sticking with the way (most) Egyptians in Cairo speak.

Essentially, when it comes to the “qaff” in Cairo, you skip it. Whereas in Standard Arabic, you would pronounce the deep, guttural “q” (think about the “c” in the word “cork,” but make it deeper in the throat), Egyptians have essentially just forgotten about it. In 90+ percent of cases, you are safe skipping pronunciation all together. We will detail some exceptions at the end (damn those exceptions).

Here are some words in which the “coff” would normally be said, but isn’t.

دلوقتي : “Dellwuh’tee” : Now

دقي  : “DOee” : Dokki (neighborhood in Cairo)

قلب : “Ehlb” : Heart

قريب : “ooREYEib” : Near/soon

تقريبا : “TAW’reebawn” : Approximately

For the vast majority of words, the “qaff” is just skipped over. In the Egyptian dialect, the letter acts as a sort of placeholder. Whereas normally, there would be a sound there, in Egypt there just….isn’t.

Until, of course, there is.

قومي : “coomee” : National

قبيلة : “cuhBEEluh” : Tribe

قنبلة : “cunBEHluh” : Bomb

قوس قزح : “COWiss COWzuh” : Rainbow

قوس : “COOS” : Arch

As you can see, the “qaff” is pronounced in each of these words. As you can also see, there is hardly any relation among these words to speak of. Simply put, no hard and fast rule exists for when you should say the “qaff,” and when you should leave it out.

So we leave you with this: play it safe, and skip the “qaff” until otherwise told.

The words in which the letter is used are so few and far between that they will instantly stand out to you once said aloud. As much as we wish a rule existed, the “qaff” still comes and goes as it pleases.

Curious indeed.