2.1Nolden

We have very little information about E. Nolden, as no dates of birth or death, nationality, profession, or any other data are available; even his first name is unknown.33.Today, the highest incidence of the name Nolden is in Germany, see http://​forebears​.co​.uk​/surnames​/nolden. (All hyperlinks in this paper were checked and working on 28 July 2022.) The “Avant-propos” does not give away anything either, except that Nolden wrote the book initially for his own personal use (p. i). We do know that Nolden published another book, titled Egyptian travelling companion for overland passengers (Alexandria 1844).44.It is not mentioned in www​.worldcat​.org, but a copy is kept in the National Library of Indonesia in Jakarta: https://​www​.onesearch​.id​/Record​/IOS1​.INLISM00000000124448#holdings. An anonymous review of this work in Simmond’s Colonial Magazine (Anonymous 1845Anonymous 1845 Review of Egyptian Travelling Companion for Overland Passengers by E. Nolden (Alexandria, 1844). Simmond’s Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany 5.363–364.) sheds some light on the mysterious person of E. Nolden:

Five years’ residence in Egypt, and frequent trips by water and by land between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, have fully qualified Mr. Nolden for the task of describing the route, antiquities, climate, &c. of the country.55.See this screenshot in Google Books: https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​/content​?id​=oYUVAQAAIAAJ​&hl​=nl​&pg​=PA363​&img​=1​&zoom​=3​&sig​=ACfU3U3GD8nV6CDo​_TlkXfzgDlDLoyfJ9g​&ci​=80%2C1330%2C772%2C153​&edge​=0.

Apparently he did not publish anything after these two works.

It seems that Nolden’s work is an original one. In 1844, when he wrote his book, there were not many works describing the dialect of Egypt. There were travel guides which contained some useful phrases or grammar (see Mairs forthcomingMairs, Rachel Forthcoming. Arabic Dialogues: Learning colloquial Arabic through phrasebooks, 1798–1945.), but the popularity of phrasebooks and grammars only started to grow in the 1860s with the rise of tourism in Egypt (see Spiro 2007Spiro, Lisa 2007 “Leading Nineteenth Century Publishers of Travel Guidebooks to Egypt”. TIMEA – Travelers in the Middle East Archive. Rice University. https://​scholarship​.rice​.edu​/handle​/1911​/109672). Claude-Étienne Savary’s (1750–1788) grammar, finished in 1784 but only published posthumously in 1813, does not seem to have been consulted. Another candidate, Armand-Pierre Caussin de Perceval’s (1795–1871) grammar (1824Caussin de Perceval, Arman-Pierre 1824 Grammaire arabe-vulgaire, de dialogues, lettres, actes etc, à l’usage des élèves de l’École Royale et Spéciale des Langues Orientales Vivantes. Paris: Dondey-Dupré.), does not show similarities to Nolden’s book either. Of course, it cannot be excluded that Nolden used older texts for compiling his book, but I have not found any evidence of this.

2.2Zenker

Barthélémy is registered in various library catalogues as the pseudonym of the German orientalist Julius Theodor Zenker (1811–1884).66.See the catalogue of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France https://​catalogue​.bnf​.fr​/ark:​/12148​/cb107167108 and the Kalliope Verbundkatalog https://​kalliope​-verbund​.info​/gnd​/116979860, https://​d​-nb​.info​/gnd​/1167701178 and Weller (1977Weller, Emil 1977 Lexicon pseudonymorum. Wörterbuch der Pseudonymen aller Zeiten und Völker oder Verzeichnis jener Autoren, die sich falscher Namen bedienten. Hildesheim & New York: Georg Olms Verlag.: 60). Zenker studied oriental languages in Leipzig, Göttingen, Berlin and Paris. He published his Bibliotheca Orientalis Pars I, written in Latin, in 1840Zenker, Julius Theodor 1840 Bibliotheca orientalis. Pars I.: Libros continens Arabicos, Persicos, Turcicos inde ab arte typographica inventa ad nostra usque tempora impressos. Lipsiae: G. Engelmann.. An expanded French version, subtitled Manuel de bibliographie orientale, appeared in 1846Zenker, Julius Theodor 1846 Bibliotheca orientalis. Manuel de bibliographie orientale. I. Leipzig: Engelmann.. In the same year, he received his ‘Habilitation’ from the University of Rostock, where he worked as a lecturer for the remainder of the year. He then moved back to Leipzig and from then on lived and worked as an unaffiliated researcher. He published the second volume of the Bibliotheca Orientalis in 1861Zenker, Julius Theodor 1861 Bibliotheca orientalis. Manuel de bibliographie orientale. II. Leipzig: Engelmann. (see Klenz 1900Klenz, Heinrich 1900 “Zenker, Julius.” In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 45.62–64. https://​www​.deutsche​-biographie​.de​/sfz86553​.html: 62–64). He also worked as a private teacher at the residence of one of the princes of Wittgenstein (see Mildbraed 1923Mildbraed, J. 1923 “Georg Zenker”. Notizblatt des Königl. botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin 8:74.319–324.: 319). Zenker’s most well-known work is his Türkisch-arabisch-persisches Handwörterbuch (Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1866–1876). He also translated Edward William Lane’s (1801–1876) Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians into German.77.See the Deutsche Biographie https://​www​.deutsche​-biographie​.de​/sfz86553​.html. Interestingly, this work does not mention the Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, nor his pseudonym. For a list of his publications, see Worldcat.88.See Worldcat https://​www​.worldcat​.org​/search​?qt​=worldcat​_org​_all​&q​=zenker%2C+julius+theodor.

The question that first needs to be answered, is if Barthélémy was really the pseudonym of Zenker. Already in 1867Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud] 1867 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies et d’autres notices instructives à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. 2me éd., revue et augmentée. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=njp​.32101076136967, the year in which the second edition of Barthélémy’s Vocabulaire was published, the Catalogue général de la librairie française mentions: “Barthélemy, pseudonyme, sous lequel M. J. Th. Zenker, orientaliste allemand, a publié un « Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe ». – Voy. Zenker.” (Lorenz 1867Lorenz, Otto 1867 Catalogue général de la Librairie française pendant 25 ans (1840–1865). Tome premier (A-C). Paris: Chez O. Lorenz.: 157). Another telling sign is that the Vocabulaire was published in Leipzig, where he studied, lived after his graduation, and published some of his other works. Also the transcription used in the Vocabulaire shows remarkable similarities to the one used in Zenker’s Türkisch-arabisch-persisches Handwörterbuch (see Section 3.2 of this article). All in all, the evidence points to Zenker as the man behind the pseudonym Barthélémy.

As Zenker is not generally known by his pseudonym Barthélémy (no first name is provided on the title page, only the title “Mr.”), I will refer to him from here on as Zenker, following the guidelines of Chicago Manual of Style.99. https://​www​.chicagomanualofstyle​.org​/book​/ed17​/part3​/ch14​/psec080​.html. It is unclear why he chose to use a pseudonym, but it could be related to the fact that he used someone else’s work without attribution, and perhaps he wanted to shield himself from criticism in this way. He only used the pseudonym for this publication. As for the pseudonym itself, it is possible that he took it from Barthélemy d’Herbelot (1625–1695), a French orientalist who wrote, among others, the Bibliothèque orientale and an unpublished Dictionnaire arabe, persan, turc, expliqué en latin (BNF, mss. arabes 4844–4849), with whose work Zenker may have acquainted himself during his time in Paris.1010. https://​fr​.wikipedia​.org​/wiki​/Barth%C3%A9lemy​_d%27Herbelot​_de​_Molainville and http://​dictionnairedesorientalistes​.ehess​.fr​/document​.php​?id​=318. For the dictionary see: https://​archivesetmanuscrits​.bnf​.fr​/ark:​/12148​/cc32528x. Alternatively, Zenker could have borrowed the name from Jean-Jacques Barthélemy (1716–1795), a classical scholar who deciphered the Palmyrene and Phoenician alphabets.1111.See Dartmouth Library Archives & Manuscripts (s.d.)Dartmouth Library Archives & Manuscripts S.d. “Barthélemy, Jean Jacques, 1716–1795. https://​archives​-manuscripts​.dartmouth​.edu​/agents​/people​/6915 https://​archives​-manuscripts​.dartmouth​.edu​/agents​/people​/6915. Zenker mentioned Jean-Jacques Barthélemy’s Voyage du jeune Anacharsis en Grèce in his Bibliotheca Orientalis part II (1861: 212).

2.3Sacroug

Gabriel Sacroug / Ǧabrāʼīl Sakrūǧ (d. 1895) worked as an interpreter for the British consulates in Cairo (1843–1852 and 1864–1884), Jeddah (1858–1860), and Constantinople (1860–1864). His last post was as Acting Consul in Cairo for a few months in 1884 (see Hartslet 1895Hartslet, Godfrey Edward Proctor 1895 The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book. London: Harrison.: 191). Sacroug wrote another guide beside the Travelling Interpreter, titled Elementi della conversazione in francese, italiano, inglese ed arabo = Nuzhat al-aʿyun fī ʼarbaʿat alsun (Cairo, 1864) with his brother Mīxāʼīl as co-author.1212.See http://​raudabooks​.com​/vb​/showthread​.php​?t​=4839 and http://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/ssg​/content​/pageview​/312483. Their great-uncle, a native of Acre, was employed as interpreter in Napoleon’s army of occupation in Egypt.1313.According to Tāǧir (2014Tāǧir, Jāk [Tagher, Jacques] 2014 Ḥarakat al-tarǧama fī Miṣr fī al-qarn al-tāsiʿ ʿašar. New ed. Cairo: Hindawi. https://​downloads​.hindawi​.org​/books​/31613630​.pdf: 18) his name was Ibrāhīm Sakrūǧ, while according to Guémard & Ott (1925–1926Guémard, Gabriel & Jean Ott 1925–1926 “Supplément à la bibliographie critique de la commission d’Égypte (1798–1801)”. Bulletin de l’Institut d’Égypte 8.221–250.: 239–240) and Philipp (1985Philipp, Thomas 1985 The Syrians in Egypt, 1725–1975. (= Berliner Islamstudien, 3). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.: 45) it was Ǧubrān Sakrūǧ. The Sakrūǧ family, originally from Šfā ʿAmr, were Greek Orthodox merchants and served in the government administration of Acre, most notably the brothers Mixāʼīl and Buṭrus Sakrūǧ. They were the advisors of Aḥmad al-Ǧazzār (d. 1804), the ruler of Acre, and were executed by his order in 1795. See Philipp (2001Philipp, Thomas 2001 Acre: The rise and fall of a Palestinian city, 1730–1831. New York: Columbia University Press.: 120). It is unclear if Gabriel Sacroug was born in Egypt or in Palestine.

2.4De Vaujany & Radouan

Jean-Baptiste (Henry) de Vaujany was born in 1843 in Meursault into a French aristocratic family whose history goes back to the 11th century. Henry de Vaujany was an Egyptologist. After completing his studies in Grenoble, he left for Egypt in 1869 where he attended the inauguration of the Suez Canal. He made his career there, becoming the director of the Language School in Cairo1414. Madrasat al-alsun. This school for translators was founded in 1835 by Rifāʿa Rifʿat al-Ṭahṭāwī (1801–1873), the famous Egyptian teacher and translator. The Language School was later incorporated as the Faculty of Languages into the Ain Shams University in Cairo (see Newman 2011Newman, Daniel L.; Rifāʿa Rāfiʿ al-Ṭahṭāwī 2011 An Imam in Paris: Account of a stay in France by an Egyptian cleric (1826–1831). By Rifāʿa Rāfiʿ al-Ṭahṭāwī; introd. and transl. by Daniel L. Newman. London: Saqi.). and private tutor of the royal princes. Apparently his Arabic was so good, that he was sent on several confidential missions by the Egyptian government, for which he was awarded the title of Bey by the Khedive Tawfīq Pasha (1852–1892) in 1883. He died in Nice in 1893.1515.See Dayre de Mailhol (1896Dayre de Mailhol, [Camille Philippe] 1896 Dictionnaire historique et héraldique de la noblesse française, rédigé dans l’ordre patronymique. D’après les archives des anciens Parlements les manuscrits de d’Hozier et les travaux des auteurs contenant un vocabulaire du Blason et la notice des familles nobles existant actuellement en France avec la description et le dessin de leurs armes. Vol 2. Paris.: 758–760), Bachelin-Deflorenne (1886Bachelin-Deflorenne, M. ed. 1886 État présent de la noblesse française, contenant le dictionnaire de la noblesse contemporaine et l’armorial général de France d’après les manuscrits de Ch. d’Hozier […]. 5th ed. Paris: Librairie Bachelin Deflorenne.: 1753–1754), and https://​fr​.wikipedia​.org​/wiki​/Henry​_de​_Vaujany. De Vaujany wrote several works on Egypt, covering the history of the country from the pharaonic period until the 19th century.1616.For the list of his publications, see https://​www​.worldcat​.org​/wcidentities​/lccn​-nr99035937.

Moustapha-Bey Radouan / Muṣṭafā Bēh Raḍwān (d. 1887), who corrected the Arabic of the Vocabulaire français-arabe for De Vaujany and is credited as second author in the fifth edition, was head of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Public Instruction at the time the Vocabulaire was written.1717.See the title page. He has two other book titles to his name: Šarḥ muxtaṣar al-Bayān (“Explanation of the Abridged Version of The Eloquence”) on rhetoric, and Hidāyat al-ǧanān fī ʿilm al-mīzān (“The Guidance of the Soul Concerning the Science of the Balance”) on logic.1818.See Al-Ziriklī (2002Ziriklī, Xayr al-Dīn b. Maḥmūd al- 2002 Al-Aʿlām: Qāmūs tarāǧim li-ašhar al-riǧāl wa-l-nisāʼ min al-ʿArab wa-al-mustaʿribīn wa-al-mustašriqīn. 8 vols. 15th ed. Beirut: Dār al-ʿilm li-l-malāyīn., VII: 233).

3.1Nolden, Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan

Nolden, Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan do not use a consistent system of transcription. However, it is clear that the transcription systems are influenced by the spelling of the primary languages of the books. For instance, Nolden and De Vaujany & Radouan, who wrote in French, transcribe the ū [uː] and u with ou, under the influence of French orthography, while in Sacroug’s English book it is written with oo: kursi “chair” is koúrsi in Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 110), koursi in De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 289), and koorsi in Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 214). For the long vowel ī [iː], the French works use î, while the English one uses ee; for instance fiṭīr “many-layered pastry” is fetîr in Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 114) and De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 291), but fetéer in Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 220). Similar influences are found in the transcription of the consonants. For instance, the š [ʃ] is transcribed with ch in the French books and with sh in the English one: ḥōš “courtyard” is transcribed as hhoch 1919.The double h is used to indicate ḥ. by Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 109) and De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 288), and as hhosh by Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 213). The glottal stop ʼ [ʔ] from *q is transcribed with q in all four works, e.g. tôq “necklace in the shape of a ring” (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 113; Sacroug 1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 219; De Vaujany & Radouan 1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 295) for ṭōʼ. Nolden notes about the pronunciation:

Le q se prononce en Basse-Egypte comme k doux, ou à peu près comme le c dans le mot second, et au Caire on ne le prononce pas du tout. C’est la lettre arabe kaf qu’il représente dans ce vocabulaire, ainsi on prononce maqás (ciseaux) à Alexandrie, et ma’ás au Caire.(Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: vii–viii)

Nolden’s “k doux” is a rather vague description; however, in the old dialect of Alexandria, before the influence of Cairene Arabic took hold, the *q was pronounced as [g] (see Behnstedt 1980Behnstedt, Peter 1980 “Zum ursprünglichen Dialekt von Alexandria”. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 130.35–50.: 35–36), and this pronunciation is still found in large parts of the Delta (see Behnstedt & Woidich 1985Behnstedt, Peter & Manfred Woidich 1985 Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte. Vol. 2: Dialektatlas von Ägypten. Wiesbaden: Reichert.: map 7). It is therefore likely that this is what Nolden meant. A similar description is given by De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 6) : “q est très doux; au Caire, on ne le prononce pas du tout”.

Other notable transcription choices are:

• The ḥ [ħ] is transcribed with hh. Nolden confusingly also uses this to transcribe x [x].

• The ʿ [ʕ] is either not transcribed at all, or with a, or with e (the latter only by Nolden).

These are some general observation on trends that can be found in the transcriptions of these works, but it has to be noted that none of the authors are consistent in the way they use the transcription. For instance, De Vaujany & Radouan mention in the section “Alphabet arabe” that the emphatic ṣ [sˤ] is ç or s, but in the text itself, ss is also found: ḥuṣān “horse” is written as hhoçân on p. 72, but as hhossan’ on p. 8. Nolden and Sacroug do not give the Arabic alphabet, but only discuss the sounds of Cairene Arabic, which does not always help in understanding which phoneme they are describing. An example is Sacroug’s description of the ʿayn [ʕ] (p. 3): “it sounds very like the bleating of a goat or a kid. An acute ear will catch it”.

3.2Zenker

The transcription of Zenker is a different matter. Zenker studied oriental languages, and his academic background is reflected in his system of transcription. Zenker must be credited for being the first person to apply a consistent system of transcription to Egyptian Arabic, for instance in indicating the emphatics. He mostly used a system in which one symbol indicates one phoneme, but an exception to this are the x [x], which he transcribes as ʿh, and the t whose equivalent is ṯ [θ] in Classical Arabic, for which he used tʿ (e.g. matʿal “example”, p. 55). Other peculiarities of Zenker’s system are found in the emphatics: he used ç for ṣ [sˤ] and z͑ for ẓ [zˤ], while for the other two emphatics ḍ [dˤ] and ṭ [tˤ] he used ḍ and ṭ. As he was well aware of the term ‘emphatic’,2020.See his explanation of the Arabic sounds (pp. i–v). it is unclear why he did not use one system, for instance a dot below the letter, to indicate it. Some examples are: çiâm “fasting” (p. 23), z͑âlem “unjust” (p. 69), qùṭṭ “cat” (p. 26), yeḍrub “to hit” (p. 59).

Zenker used s͑ for š [ʃ], ṛ for ġ [ɣ] and ’ for the ʿayn [ʕ]. He did not notate the glottal stop (hamza) [ʔ].

Here are some examples of Nolden’s original text and the transcriptions as rendered by Zenker:

• moúshaf (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 116), múçḥaf (Zenker 1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 131) “copy of the Quran”;

• et’tohhtaboúch (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 109), et-taʿhtabús͑ (Zenker 1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 123) “peristyle surrounding a courtyard, used for receiving guests”;

• el qomàch di rouféyah ziâdeh min et’tâni (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 129), el qomâs͑ dî rufèyah ziyâdè min et-tânî (Zenker 1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: xi) “this fabric is thinner than the other”.

Zenker used a similar system for his Türkisch-arabisch-persisches Handwörterbuch (1866–1876),2121.In this system, he used h̨ for خ, z͑ for ژ, g for غ and ’ for ع. Emphatics were not indicated as such (see Zenker 1866Zenker, Julius Theodor 1866 Türkisch-arabisch-persisches Handwörterbuch = Dictionnaire turc-arabe-persan. Vol. 1: 1866, vol. 2 : 1876 Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann.: viii). but his system was not adopted by any other Arabic scholars, perhaps because of its inconsistencies.

4.1Comparison of the contents

Table 1 shows a schematic side-by-side comparison of the contents of the four books. The order of the chapters in Nolden’s book has been taken as the guideline. In the other three books, the order is different, and the order of the chapters has been rearranged here for easy comparison.

Nolden’s Vocabulaire français arabe starts with the “Avant-propos”, in which he describes the purpose of the work as follows:

Le but […] est de mettre à même les nombreux étrangers qui arrivent chaque année en Egypte d’apprendre en peu de temps les termes les plus nécessaires pour les rapports qu’ils pourraient avoir avec les indigènes, comme domestiques, bateliers, guides, etc. et pour faire des achats dans les marchés arabes.(Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: i)

The work then starts with a note on the orthography, followed by the vocabulary after which it is named (pp. 5–406): a French-Arabic word list, giving the Arabic in transcription. This is followed by a section titled “Mots arabes qui n’ont pas de noms assez descriptifs en français”, which deals with Arabic words that do not have an equivalent in French, divided into categories such as the house, clothing, professions etc. (pp. 409–419). This is followed by a concise grammar (pp. 420–454), and the work is concluded with a section on measures and weights (pp. 455–458) and an Islamic almanac that lists the Islamic months and feasts (pp. 459–462).

Zenker’s Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe does not have a preface. It starts with the “Extrait de grammaire” (pp. i–li) in which also the pronunciation is explained. The grammar, although using some of Nolden’s examples, is completely reworked and greatly expanded and can therefore be considered an original work. The grammar is followed by a vocabulary (pp. 1–122) and by “Mots arabes qui n’ont pas de noms assez descriptifs en français” (pp. 123–134). The book ends with the “Poids et mesures” (pp. 135–139) and the “Almanach musulman” (pp. 140–144).

Sacroug’s The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter starts with a Preface, in which the author does not refer to Nolden’s work. In the first paragraph, the goal of the work is explained:

My intention, in preparing this little book, is to supply the wants of English Travellers in the Arabic language, and to render them more independent of Couriers and Dragomans during their excursions in Egypt. With this object in view, I have only selected those common words and sentences which are required on a journey.(Sacroug 1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 1)

The next paragraph, advising readers to get an Arabic speaker to pronounce some of the words for them, echos Nolden’s text:

Je marque la prononciation des mots arabes aussi distinctement que possible, et autant que les moyens typographiques qui sont à ma disposition, le permettent ; et je suis persuadé qu’il suffira d’entendre articuler une douzaine de mots de ce recueil pour savoir prononcer le reste avec facilité.(Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: i–ii)

Although correct pronunciation, as much as possible, of the Arabic words has been given, still to enable Englishmen to pronounce them easily, it would be advisable to get a few words of this compilation read by a person acquainted with the Arabic tongue, so as to pronounce all the rest with facility.(Sacroug 1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 1–2)

The Preface is followed by two pages explaining the Arabic transcription, followed by an English-Arabic vocabulary (pp. 5–212); then “Arabic words which have no corresponding denomination in English” (pp. 213–226), which is a literal translation (without acknowledgement) of Nolden’s “Mots arabes qui n’ont pas de noms assez descriptifs en français”, as is the “Small grammar” (pp. 227–264), the “Weights and Measures” (pp. 265–26) and the “Small Mussulman Almanack” (pp. 268–273). Whereas Nolden’s work ends here, Sacroug has added a section titled “Dialogues” (pp. 275–337). These dialogues are divided into categories, such as “familiar phrases”, “travelling by rail”, “discourse with a donkey-boy and a guide” and “polite conversation”. Part of the dialogues have been copied from Kayat’s Turǧumān inkilīzī wa-ʿarabī / The Eastern Traveller’ s Interpreter: or, Arabic without a teacher” (1844Kayat, Assaad Yakoob [= al-Khayyāṭ, ̣ Asʿad Yaʿqūb] 1844 Turǧumān inkilīzī wa-ʿarabī = The Eastern Traveller’s Interpreter: or, Arabic without a teacher. London: Printed by W. McDowall, for the author; sold by J. Madden and Co.),2222.Mairs’ publication (forthcomingMairs, Rachel Forthcoming. Arabic Dialogues: Learning colloquial Arabic through phrasebooks, 1798–1945.) attended me to the fact that Sacroug copied from Kayat’s language guide. for instance the dialogue “with an Eastern lady”, in which Sacroug replaced Kayat’s references to Syria with Egypt. The dialogues are followed by two short sections, “Titles of dignity to be used in addressing any of the following orders” (p. 335) and “Some few of the most prevalent proper names in the East” (pp. 335–337) which he also copied from Kayat. The work ends with some “Arabic proverbs” (pp. 338–406), which have been taken verbatim from Burckhardt’s Arabic proverbs (1830)Burckhardt, John Lewis 1830 Arabic Proverbs, or the Manner and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, illustrated from their proverbial sayings current at Cairo, translated and explained. London: John Murray. https://​archive​.org​/details​/gpl​_587612, again without acknowledgement.2323.See the note by Huxley (1902Huxley, Henry Minor 1902 “Syrian Songs, Proverbs, and Stories; collected, translated, and annotated”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 23.175–288. : 180) in his bibliography of “Dictionaries and Conversational Guides”, where he writes about Sacroug’s book: “there is a collection of proverbs copied verbatim from Burckhardt, without acknowledgement”. However, Huxley did not mention Nolden in his bibliography and clearly was not aware of the borrowing done by Sacroug and Zenker.

De Vaujany & Radouan’s work does not have a preface. It starts with two pages on the pronunciation of Egyptian Arabic, followed by a short grammar and the Arabic alphabet (pp. 7–34). This is followed by a French-Arabic vocabulary (pp. 35–285), which, in contrast with the other two works, contains both Arabic in transcription and in the Arabic alphabet. This is followed by “Mots arabes qui n’ont pas leurs correspondants exacts en français” (pp. 286–297), “phrases élémentaires” (pp. 298–301), “conversations” (pp. 301–312) and “quelques phrases particulières fréquemment employées dans la conversation” (pp. 313–314); the work ends with a “calendrier musulman” (pp. 318) and “mesures” (pp. 319–320).

A comparison of the French works shows that both Zenker and De Vaujany & Radouan considerably expanded the vocabulary. However, De Vaujany & Radouan’s additions are different from those of Zenker, which indicates that they probably were not aware of Zenker’s book. Comparing Sacroug’s vocabulary to that of Nolden, Zenker and De Vaujany & Radouan is less straightforward, because Sacroug’s vocabulary is English-Arabic while the other three are French-Arabic, so the headwords are different and therefore, the arrangement of the lemmas is different as well. However, it is clear that Sacroug also added considerably to the word list, because where Nolden’s book contains around 1900 lemmas, Sacroug’s has around 3300. Sacroug also changed some of the Arabic translations.

These three examples of lemmas from the vocabularies (a noun, and adjective and a verb) show how the authors changed Nolden’s materials:

• “woman”: Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 42) “Màrrah. plur. nessouân”, Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 56) “màrra, pl. neswân”, Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 209) “Hhor’mah, màrah, pl. nissa, niswàn, hhâréem”, De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 102) “امرأة mara’a, pl. nessouân”.

• “absurd”: Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 1) “moughèffel, moughèffle belîd”, Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 2) “muṛèffel, muṛèffle belîd”, Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 5) “muhhāl”, De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 36) “محال – ضد العقل mohal, douddel’aaql”.

• “to know”: Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 23) “Araf, je ne sais pas maàrafche ne sais tu pas? matàrafch?”; Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 32) “’àraf, yà’ref; je ne connais pas, mâàrafs͑e; ne connais-tu pas? mâtàrafs͑?”, Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 94) “Aaraf, I do not know ana maàrafsh, how do I know ana âaraf”, De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 76) “عرف aarafa – connaissez-vous?… هل تعرف hal taaraf? – je ne vous connais pas لا أعرفك la aarafak”.

In the following sections, selected parts of the four books will be compared with each other. Firstly, the chapter titled “Mots arabes qui n’ont pas de noms assez descriptifs en français” in the original work by Nolden will be discussed (Section 4.2), to show to what extent the authors borrowed material from each other. Section 4.3 will compare three subjects from the chapters on grammar, namely the personal pronouns, the demonstrative pronouns and the present and future tense. Section 4.4 will compare the “Poids et mesures” and “Petit almanach musulman”, and finally, Section 4.5 will focus on the “Dialogues” by Sacroug and the “Conversations” and “Quelques phrases particulières fréquemment employées dans la conversation” by De Vaujany & Radouan, in order to determine whether De Vaujany & Radouan used Sacroug’s dialogues.

4.2Arabic words that have no equivalent in French or English

The chapters on Arabic words that do not have an equivalent in French or English, and therefore need to be described, have a dedicated chapter in each of the four books. This section will discuss two samples from the four books in order to establish the correspondences and the differences.2424.This chapter was also plagiarized by Conrad (1859Conrad, F. W. 1859 Reizen naar de landengte van Suez, Egypte, het Heilige Land. ’s Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.: 320–327), with Dutch translations of the Arabic lemmas. Conrad did not include the sections “Cérémonies, objets religieux etc.” and “Le bain oriental”. Conrad’s book is not taken into consideration in the remainder of this article, because it is a travel description rather than a book for learning Arabic.

4.2.1The Arab house

The first sample is the section called “La maison arabe, ses parties et son ameublement” (Nolden and Zenker) / “Apartments and furniture of an Arab house” (Sacroug) / “La maison arabe” (De Vaujany & Radouan). The lemmas are presented in Table 2 for easy comparison. Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan do not always follow the same order as Nolden; the order followed here is that of Nolden’s book.

Table 2.The Arab house: Lemmas

	Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 109)	Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 123–124)	Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 213–215)	De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 288)	Modern Cairene Arabica
1	El Hhoch	el-ḥos͑	El hhosh	Hhoch	ḥōš “the entrance yard of the house”
2	El Mástaba	el-máçṭàba	El mástaba	Màstaba	maṣṭaba “a bench for door keepers &c.”
3	El Mándara	el-mánḍàra	El mâdara [sic]	Man’dara	† mandara “room for the ground floor for receiving people that are not to be introduced into the inner apartments of the house”
4	Et’Tohhtaboúch	et-taʿhtabús͑	Et’ takhtabôsh	Takhtabouch	* taxtabūš “open room on the ground floor with a bench”
5	Ed’Divân	ed-diwân	Ed’ diwān	Diwân’	diwān “saloon for receiving people and dispatching business”
6	ElQâah	el-qâ’ah	El qăah	Qaah	† ʼāʿa “family saloon”
7	El Livân	el-liwàn	El liwān	Liwân’	* liwān “elevated part of the room where the sofas are placed”
8	Ed’Doúrqah	ed-dúrqa’ah	Ed’ doorqâah	Dourqah	* durʼāʿa “part of the floor about six inches lower than the rest, in the middle of the saloon […]”
9	Es’Soúffeh	es-súffeh	Es’ souffeh	Souffah	† ṣuffa “niche with a mantle-piece like that of a chimney, on which water bottles, flowers and utensils for ablution are placed”
10	El Mécherebîeh	el-més͑rebîeh	El mashrabèyeh	Mach’rabîeh ou Moucharabîeh.	* mašrabiyya “covered balcony of lattice work with one or two niches exposed to a draught of air, in which porous earthen-ware bottles are placed to cool the water for drink […]”
11	Es’Sottoúhh,	es-sottúḥ	–	Sotouhh	suṭūḥ “flat rooftop”
12	El Mólkoff	el-maqaf [sic]	El mâlqaf	Màlqaf.	malʼaf “sort of ventilator of wood on the roof of the house facing the north, and intended to give fresh air to the apartments below”
13	El Máhhba	el-máʿhba	El mákhba	Makhbah	maxbaʼ “secret place for hiding treasures”
14	El Koúrsi	el-kúrsi	El Koorsi	Koursi	kursi “stool on which they place Es’ sanéyeh”
15	Es’Sennîeh	es-sînîeh	Es’ sanéyeh	Sanîeh	ṣaniyya “large tray, which serves as a table for meals”
16	Et’Ticht	et-tis͑t	Et’tisht	Ticht	ṭišt “tin basin with a double bottom; the upper part is perforated like a sieve to pass the water, which a servant pours on his master’s hand after dinner, from a water pot called El abréeq” b
17	El’Ibrîq	el-ibrîq	El abréeq	Ibrîq	ʼabrīʼ “metal or earthenware ewer with a spout”
18	–		–	Qoulleh	ʼulla “earthenware water-jug”
19	–		–	Man’qad ou Man’qal	manʼad “metal or earthenware brazier”

aThe words are transcribed as pronounced in modern Cairene Arabic. The translations are taken from Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.), except for the words not given by Sacroug; these are taken from the dictionary of modern Egyptian Arabic by Badawi and Hinds (1986)Badawi, El-Said & Martin Hinds 1986 A Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic: Arabic-English. Beirut: Librairie du Liban.. Words with an * are either marked as obsolete in Badawi and Hinds, or are not found in the dictionary. Words marked with † are described as “rural” by Badawi and Hinds. Note that people in Cairo and other big cities mostly live in apartments nowadays, and houses such as the ones described in this vocabulary list, are not found there anymore, but they can still be found in the countryside.

bNote that a modern ṭišt is a “large shallow metal or plastic basin used for laundry and bathing” (Badawi and Hinds 1986Badawi, El-Said & Martin Hinds 1986 A Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic: Arabic-English. Beirut: Librairie du Liban.: 539) and is not perforated.

Zenker adjusted the transcription but other than that copied Nolden’s text verbatim, except for small changes in the French text in nos. 9 and 10.

As mentioned in Section 3.1, Sacroug anglicized the transcription, for instance writing koorsi with oo for ō, instead of ou, and tisht with sh for š instead of ch. Some entries are translations of Nolden’s French entries, without adding to or leaving out anything of the contents: nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16. Entry 11 is missing in Sacroug, and he shortened entries 1, 2, 3 and 9. In some entries he added information: in no. 8 it is mentioned that the floor is six inches lower, a fact not mentioned by Nolden; no. 10 mentions a diwān in the interior of the mašrabiyyeh.

De Vaujany & Radouan copied Nolden’s text (almost) verbatim in entries 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 (with “une palissade” instead of “un mur”), 12 and 13. Sometimes De Vaujany & Radouan add or remove something, for instance in entry 2 where they mention that the maṣṭaba 2525.Here, instead of choosing one of the four transcriptions, the transcription of the Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics is used, see http://​dx​.doi​.org​/10​.1163​/1570​-6699​_eall​_SIM​_0001c. is made of masonry, but do not mention the doorkeepers, or entry 4 where they mention that the taxtabōš is covered with a tapestry, or entry 9 in which they call the ṣuffa “espèce de console” instead of Nolden’s more elaborate “espèce d’armoire ouverte […] en forme de cheminée”. Some entries have been rewritten: no. 10 mašrabiyya, 14 kursi, 15 ṣaniyyeh, 16 ṭišt. De Vaujany & Radouan added two entries: qoulleh and man’qad / man’qal.

4.2.2Men’s clothing

The following short sample,2626.The complete list has 23 entries in Nolden and Zenker, and 24 in Sacroug and De Vaujany. The additions by Sacroug and De Vaujany are not the same. taken from the section “Habillemens d’hommes” / “Dress for men” / “Habillements d’homme”, shows that the descriptions by Nolden, Zenker and Sacroug resemble each other closely, while De Vaujany & Radouan often reword and/or expand the description given by Nolden:

Table 3.Dress for men

	Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 111)	Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: 125–127)	Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 216)	De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 292–3)	Modern Cairene Arabic
1	Tarboûch, bonnet rouge en laine avec un floche en soie bleue.	ṭarbus͑, bonnet rouge en laine avec un floche en soie bleue.	Tarboôsh. – Red woollen cap with blue silk tassel.	Tàrboûch. – Espèce de bonnet rouge en drap avec un gland en soie noire.	ṭarbūš
2	Taqîeh, bonnet blanc en coton qu’on met sous le tarboûch.	taqîeh ou ’araqîey, bonnet blanc en coton qu’on met sous le ṭarbus͑.	Taqeéyeh. – White cotton cap, which is worn under the tarboôsh.	Taqîeh. – Calotte blanche en coton que l’on met sous le tarbouch.	ṭaʼiyya
3	Libdah, bonnet brun en feutre grossier que portent les pauvres.	líbdeh, bonnet brun en feutre grossier que portent les pauvres.	Lib’dah. – Brown felt cap worn by the poor.	Libdah. – Bonnet brun en feutre grossier que portent les gens du peuple.	* libda
4	Immeh, chal [sic] qu’on roule autour de la tête et qui forme le turban.	’immeh, châle qu’on roule autour de la tête pour former le turban (’emameh).	Aem’meh. – Shawl wound round the head to form the turban.	Aemmah ou immeh. – Pièce d’étoffe roulée autour de la tête et qui forme le turban.	ʿimma
5	Qoúfîeh, grand mouchoir en soie que les hommes portent sur la tête pour se garantir du soleil.	qúfîeh, grand mouchoir en soie que les hommes portent sur la tête pour se garantir du soleil.	Qoofeéyeh. – Large kerchief of Syrian silk worn as a head dress.	Koufîeh. – Foulard en soie à longues franges que les hommes porte [sic] sur la tête, à la mode bédouine, pour se garantir du soleil.	kufiyya

Zenker added ’araqîey to the entry taqîeh (no. 2), and ’emameh to ’immeh (no. 4), which were not copied by Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan, indicating that they probably were not aware of Zenker’s book. Sacroug added shumӑr 2727.“A silk string with ornamented tassels, commonly worn by grooms over the shoulders to hold up the full sleeves of their aaérĭ or gown” (Sacroug 1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 217–218). to Nolden’s list. De Vaujany & Radouan added two items, the stambouline ou stamboulîeh 2828.“Tunique, redingote en drap noir à collet droit” (De Vaujany & Radouan 1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 293). and the balgha,2929.“Large pantoufle en cuir jaune” (De Vaujany & Radouan 1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 294). while leaving out daráboulous.3030.“Les chals [sic] en soie fabriqués à Tripoli” (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 112). What is interesting here is the word for “turban”, ʿimmeh. When looking at the way it is transcribed, it can be noted that Nolden transcribes it as immeh, Zenker as ’immeh, Sacroug as aem’meh, and De Vaujany & Radouan as aemmah and immeh, which seems to combine the two transcriptions of the earlier authors, showing a parallel with Sacroug’s book, although this could also be a coincidence.

Nolden’s chapter ends with a section called “Miscellanées”, which corresponds to Sacroug’s last section “Sundries”. The corresponding section in De Vaujany & Radouan is at the beginning of the chapter. Zenker did not add anything to this list. An interesting observation is that Sacroug added the word takhtarawán “camel-litter”, which was also added by De Vaujany & Radouan as takhtaraouân “palanquin porté par deux chameau”. Is this an indication that De Vaujany & Radouan had seen Sacroug’s book? It is possible, but it needs to be noted that De Vaujany & Radouan added 33 items in total to this section, so it could be a coincidence that this included the term for camel litter.

4.3The grammars

When comparing the four works, it becomes clear that Sacroug’s grammar is the closest to that of Nolden. It is an almost literal translation of Nolden’s text, only adjusting the transcription to the English conventions and sometimes making small adjustments in the Arabic text. Often Sacroug did not correct obvious mistakes, for instance that lām + alif (pronounced as lā) could be read as “la, lè, li, lou” (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 121 and Sacroug 1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 228).

De Vaujany & Radouan took Nolden’s text as their basis, but often reworded the text, expanded it, added examples and corrected mistakes (although sometimes “correcting” incorrectly, as the next section will show). For instance, they added a section about the broken plurals (De Vaujany & Radouan 1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 9). They also sometimes changed the order of the paragraphs.

The most different from Nolden’s grammar is the one of Zenker. He rewrote it almost completely and added many new subjects to it. Interesting is that Zenker’s description of the verbs is mostly classical Arabic rather than Egyptian.

The following three examples, of the personal pronouns, the demonstrative pronouns and the present and future tense, show how Zenker, Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan took Nolden’s text and translated or reworked it.

4.3.1The personal pronouns

The personal pronouns, both independent and suffixed, as given by the authors are represented schematically in Tables 4 and 5, followed by the pronouns in modern Cairene Arabic. The forms followed by an asterisk are, according to the authors, little used.

4.3.1.1Some remarks about the independent pronouns

Table 4.The independent personal pronouns

	Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 129–130)	Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: xv)	Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 237)	De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 13)	Modern Cairene Arabic
1 sg. m.	ána	anà	àna	ana	ana
1 sg. f.	áni	ani	áni
2 sg. m.	énta	enta	énta	énta	inta
2 sg. f.	énti	enti	énti	énti	inti
3 sg. m.	hoúa	hua, hu	howa	hoùa	huwwa
3 sg. f.	hya	hiyè	heéa	hîa	hiyya
1 pl.	neúhna, nàhna	nöḥna, naḥna, aḥna, nöḥn	nahh’na, ahh’na	nahnou	iḥna
2 pl. m.	èntom	entom, entu	en’tum	entoum	intu
2 pl. f.				entounna
3 pl. m.	hoúm	hom, hum	hom, hoom’ma	hoùm	humma
3 pl. f.	hoún*	honn, honne*	hòn, hon’na*	hoùnna

• The 1st sg. f. form ani “I” does not exist in modern Cairene Arabic, and did not exist in the 19th century either, because no distinction is made between masculine and feminine in the pronoun of the first person singular.3131.Spitta (1880Spitta, Wilhelm 1880 Grammatik des arabischen Vulgärdialectes von Aegypten. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung.: 72–73), which is the most detailed and precise description of Egyptian Arabic grammar of the time, does mention ani in the list of personal pronouns, but his explanation seems to indicate this form with -i was used with the suffix -š: ma-nīš “I am not”. This is still the case in modern Cairene Arabic. Spitta does not give examples of ani without this suffix. Pre-19th-century sources (e.g. Davies 1981Davies, Humphrey Taman 1981 Seventeenth-century Egyptian Arabic: A profile of the colloquial material in Yūsuf al-Širbīnī’s Hazz al-Quḥūf fī Šarḥ Qaṣīd ’Abī Šādūf. Unpublished PhD thesis. Berkeley: University of California.; Vrolijk 1998Vrolijk, Arnoud 1998 Bringing a Laugh to a Scowling Face: A study and critical edition of the “Nuzhat al-nufūs wa muḍḥik al-ʿabūs” by ʿAlī Ibn Sūdūn al-Bašbuġāwī (Cairo 810/1407 – Damascus 868/1464). Leiden: Research School CNWS, Leiden University.; Zack 2009Zack, Liesbeth 2009 Egyptian Arabic in the Seventeenth Century: A study and edition of Yūsuf al-Maġribī’s “Dafʿ al-iṣr ʿan kalām ahl Miṣr”. PhD thesis. Amsterdam, ACLC, Utrecht: LOT. https://​hdl​.handle​.net​/11245​/1​.319509) do not mention the feminine form ani either. There are other dialects in Egypt where ani is used, but without the masculine/feminine distinction.3232.It can for instance be found in the Šarqiyya-governorate in Egypt; see Behnstedt and Woidich (1985Behnstedt, Peter & Manfred Woidich 1985 Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte. Vol. 2: Dialektatlas von Ägypten. Wiesbaden: Reichert.: map 143). The pronunciation of ani with -i could be explained as a case of final ʼimāla, the phenomenon of pronouncing final -a as -e(h) or -i(h) (see also Section 4.3.2). Zaborski (1995)Zaborski, Andrzej 1995 “First Person Pronouns in Arabic in the Light of Arabic and Hamito-Semitic Dialectology”. Dialectologia Arabica: A collection of articles in honour of the sixtieth birthday of Professor Heikki Palva ed. by the Finnish Oriental Society ( Studia Orientalia, 75), 289–294. Helsinki: Finnish Oriental Society. however argues that ani goes back to Proto-Hamitosemitic rather than being a case of final ʼimāla. There are some dialects in Yemen and the Lower Gulf where a feminine form ani is used (see Vicente 2011Vicente, Ángeles 2011 “Personal Pronoun (Arabic dialects)”. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Managing Editors Online Edition: Lutz Edzard, Rudolf de Jong. ), but it is unlikely that Nolden borrowed from these dialects; it is therefore unclear from where he derived this feminine form ani. De Vaujany & Radouan corrected this and only mention the form ana for the first person singular.

• It is doubtful if the forms starting with n for “we” are Cairene. Two of the most reliable sources for 19th-century Cairo Arabic, Nakhlah (1874)Nakhlah, Yacoub 1874 New Manual of English and Arabic Conversation = al-Tuḥfa al-murḍiya fī ta‘allum al-luġa al-ingilīziyya. Cairo: The Khèdive’s Press. and Spitta (1880)Spitta, Wilhelm 1880 Grammatik des arabischen Vulgärdialectes von Aegypten. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung., do not mention them. These forms could be influenced by Levantine Arabic and/or classical Arabic.3333.See for instance Behnstedt (1997Behnstedt, Peter 1997 Sprachatlas von Syrien: Kartenband. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.: map 255) for niḥna, niḥne, niḥni in the Syrian dialects. Al-Ṭanṭāwī (1848Ṭanṭāwī, Muḥammad ʿAyyād al- (= Tantavy, Mouhammad Ayyad El-) 1848 Traité de la langue arabe vulgaire = Aḥsan al-nuxab fī maʿrifat lisān al-ʿarab. Leipsig: Guillaume Vogel Fils.: 9) does mention nḥn (the pronunciation is uncertain as the word is not vocalized) as an alternative to iḥna. However, Al-Ṭanṭāwī was born in the Delta and only went to live in Cairo at the age of 13, so it is unclear if his language shows rural influences (see Woidich 1995Woidich, Manfred 1995 “Das Kairenische im 19. Jh.: Gedanken zu Ṭanṭāwī’s ‘Traité de la langue arabe vulgaire’ ”. Dialectologia Arabica. A Collection of Articles in Honour of the Sixtieth Birthday of Professor Heikki Palva ed. by the Finnish Oriental Society ( Studia Orientalia, 75), 271–287. Helsinki: Finnish Oriental Society.: 285–286). It is interesting that in the conjugation tables of the verbs, Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 136–151) always uses áhna rather than neúhna or nàhna.

• De Vaujany & Radouan added a 2nd. pl. feminine pronoun entounna which is classical Arabic and does not exist in Cairene.

• For “they” two things are notable: first of all, the form hum (without final a) which is mentioned by three of the sources. There are many other sources that mention hum (or both hum and humma), so it seems likely that they existed side by side.3434.Spitta’s Grammatik (1880Spitta, Wilhelm 1880 Grammatik des arabischen Vulgärdialectes von Aegypten. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung.: 72), mentions both hum and huma. The second observation is that all sources mention a feminine form, either hon and/or honna, which does not exist in Cairene Arabic. They could be influences from Classical Arabic (hunna), from Levantine Arabic,3535.See e.g. Behnstedt (1997Behnstedt, Peter 1997 Sprachatlas von Syrien: Kartenband. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.: map 257) for Syria. or, less likely, from Bedouin dialects in Egypt.3636.The feminine plural hinna can be found in some isolated places in Egypt, for instance in the area around Luxor (see Behnstedt and Woidich 1985Behnstedt, Peter & Manfred Woidich 1985 Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte. Vol. 2: Dialektatlas von Ägypten. Wiesbaden: Reichert.: map 142).

4.3.1.2Some remarks about the suffixes

Table 5.The suffixed personal pronouns

	Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 130)	Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: xv–xvi)	Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 237)	De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 13)	Modern Cairene Arabic
1 sg. m.+ f.	i, ni, li	i, ni	i, ni, li	i, ni, li	i, ni *
2 sg. m.	ak, k	ak, k	ak, k	ak, k	ak, k
2 sg. f.	–	–	–	–	ik, ki
3 sg. m.	ou	u, o, ho, hu	oo	o, ou	u, h
3 sg. f.		hâ*		ha	ha, aha
1 pl.	na	nâ	na	na	na, ina
2 pl. m.	kom	kom	kom	koum	kum, ukum
2 pl. f.				kounna
3 pl. m.	hom	hom	hom	hoùm	hum, uhum
3 pl. f.		honne*		hounna

*I have not included the preposition li “for” + suffix, as the authors only mention it for the first person singular.

The object pronouns take the form of suffixes in Arabic. These suffixes can be added to a verb or active participle.

• It is interesting that all books except Zenker mention li “for me” in the 1st sg., which is the preposition li “for” + i “me”, but do not mention this for the other persons.

• None of the books mention the 2nd sg. feminine form. Although this may sound surprising, especially since the corresponding independent pronoun is in fact mentioned, it is something that can be seen in most textbooks of the time. The books were clearly meant for a male readership, who would probably never get to speak to a local Egyptian woman. This is reflected in the dialogues in books such as these. A nice exception is Sacroug’s book, which has a short section of phrases that could be used “with an eastern Lady” (pp. 328–329). De Vaujany & Radouan’s book, which is the only other one among these four containing conversational phrases, does not have phrases addressed to women.

• 3rd sg.: it is very strange that Nolden and Sacroug mention o ~ u as both masculine and feminine, and do not mention the feminine form. It is equally strange that Zenker mentions that the feminine form is little used. Not only was (and is) the feminine suffix -(a)ha used to refer to women, but also to inanimate feminine nouns and to the plural of inanimate nouns, so therefore it is used as often as the masculine suffix. De Vaujany & Radouan corrected this.

• 2nd and 3rd pl.: again, the feminine form does not exist in Cairene Arabic. Remarkable is Zenker, who indicates a feminine form in the third person, but not in the second.

4.3.2The demonstrative pronouns

First of all, we see Nolden’s (1844: 131–132) description of the demonstrative pronouns:

PRONOMS DÉMONSTRATIFS

Les pronoms démonstratifs usités en Egypte sont:

Ce, ceci di, deh	}	pluriel dôle
Cette, celle-ci dî
Cela, celui-la dâk	}	pluriel dôk
Celle-là díkha

Lorsque ces pronoms accompagnent un substantif, ils se mettent après le substantif, et ce dernier est précédé de l’article défini, par ex. ces hommes er’ragl di, ces gens là en’nass dôle. Si on disait di er’ragl, dole en’nass cela signifierait c’est l’homme, ceux là sont les gens.

Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: xix–xx) writes the following:

Les pronoms démonstratifs usités en Égypte sont:

Singulier.		Pluriel.
hâdâ, dê, dî, ce, ceci	}	dôle, dôl.
dî, celle-ci
dak, cela, celui	}	dôk.
dikha, celle-la

Les pronoms démonstratifs se mettent après les mots; p. ex. el-ḥoçân dê, ce cheval; el-as͑gâr dôk; ces arbres-là.

Sacroug’s (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 239) version of the text is as follows:

Demonstrative Pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns used in Egypt are as follows:

This	da, deh (mas.) di (fem.)
These	dôle
That	dâk, fem. deêk-ha
Those	dōk

When these pronouns accompany a substantive, they are placed after the substantive, and the latter is preceded by the definite article, as, this man er’râgel deh, these people en’nass dóle. If one said deh er’rágel, dóle en’nass that would signify he is the man, they are the people.

Finally, De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 14–15) give the following description:

Pronoms démonstratifs. – Ce, ceci, deh; celle, celle-ci, di, plur. dôl.

Cela, celui-là, dak ; celle-la, dik’ha, plur. douk’houm.

Lorsque ces pronoms accompagnent un substantif, ils se placent après lui, et le substantif lui-même est précédé d’un déterminatif. Ex : cet homme, er’ rag’l deh ; ces gens-la, en’ nass dôl. Si l’on disait : deh er’ rag’l, dôl en’ nass, cela signifierait c’est l’homme, ceux-là sont les gens.

Table 6.Comparison of the demonstratives

	Nolden (1844)Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015	Zenker (1854)Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false	Sacroug (1874)Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.	De Vaujany & Radouan (1887)De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.	Modern Cairene Arabic
this m.	di, deh	hâdâ, dê, dî	da, deh	deh	da
this f.	dî	dî	di	di	di
these	dôle	dôle, dôl	dôle	dôl	dōl
that m.	dâk	dak	dâk	dak	dukha
that f.	díkha	dikha	deêk-ha	dik’ha	dikha
those	dôk	dôk	dōk	douk’houm	dukham, dukhum, dukhumma

When analysing the four texts, the following can be noted:

• Zenker added hâdâ (from classical Arabic or Levantine) for the masculine singular, but did not add the classical forms for the feminine or plural. He changed deh to dê, di to dî and added dôl to dôle. The form deh ~ dê (da in modern Cairene Arabic) shows pausal ’imāla, a phenomenon in which final a is raised to e(h) (in the case of Cairene Arabic) or i(h) in some rural dialects.3737.See Behnstedt and Woidich (1985Behnstedt, Peter & Manfred Woidich 1985 Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte. Vol. 2: Dialektatlas von Ägypten. Wiesbaden: Reichert.: maps 35–37) for the current distribution of pausal imāla in Egypt. ʼimāla disappeared from Cairo Arabic in the second half of the 19th century.3838.See Blanc (1973–1974)Blanc, Haim 1973–1974 “La perte d’une forme pausale dans le parler arabe du Caire”. Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph 48.375–390. and Zack, Pilette & Den Heijer (2021)Zack, Liesbeth, Johannes den Heijer & Perrine Pilette 2021 “L’imāla finale en Égypte : Une approche diachronique”. Libellules arabes, sémitiques, italiennes, berbères. Études linguistiques et littéraires offertes à Jérôme Lentin par ses collègues, élèves et amis ed. by Nadia Comolli, Julien Dufour & Marie-Aimée Germanos, 629–662. Paris: Geuthner.. The normal form in modern Cairene Arabic for the plural is dōl; the form dōla is a substandard alternative (Woidich 2006Woidich, Manfred 2006 Das Kairenisch-Arabische: Eine Grammatik. (= Porta Linguarum Orientalium Neue Serie, 22.) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.: 44). In Nolden and Zenker’s time, when there was still pausal ʼimāla in Cairene Arabic, the latter would have been pronounced as dōle(h).

• Sacroug’s text is a literal translation of Nolden’s; however, Sacroug made two changes. First of all, he corrected the translation of er’ragl di from “these men” (“ces hommes”) to “this man”. Secondly, he changed the masc. sg. from di, deh to da, deh. The form di mentioned by Nolden and Zenker reflects the historical situation in which di, the feminine form, could be used both with masculine and feminine nouns. In modern Cairene Arabic, this is reflected in the word dilwaʼti “now”, a combination of di and the masculine noun ilwaʼt “the time”.3939.See Doss (1979)Doss, Madiha 1979 “The Position of the Demonstrative da, di in Egyptian Arabic: A diachronic inquiry”. Annales Islamologiques 15.349–357. and Woidich (1992)Woidich, Manfred 1992 “Vorangestellte Demonstrativa im Kairenischen”. Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 15.195–219.. De Vaujany & Radouan removed the old-fashioned di for the masculine sg. Like Sacroug, they corrected “ces hommes” into “cet homme”. The text has been somewhat rewritten. The most important change compared to Nolden and Sacroug is that De Vaujany & Radouan mention the plural as doukhoum instead of dōk. Nowadays, the existing distal demonstratives are dukha (masc. sg.), dikha (fem. sg.), dukham/dukhum/dukhumma (pl.).4040.As well as extended forms adding -huwwa, -hiyya or -t or -n. See Woidich (2006Woidich, Manfred 2006 Das Kairenisch-Arabische: Eine Grammatik. (= Porta Linguarum Orientalium Neue Serie, 22.) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.: 46). However, the forms dāk, dīk, dōk are mentioned in some older sources, such as Forskål (1772Forskål, Peter 1772 Linguistic Notes in Carsten Niebuhr, Beschreibung von Arabien: aus eigenen Beobachtungen und im Lande selbst gesammleten Nachrichten , 85–88. Kopenhagen: Möller.: 87) and Hassan (1869Hassan, Anton 1869 Kurzgefasste Grammatik der vulgär-arabischen Sprache mit besonderer Berucksichtigung auf den egyptischen Dialekt. Wien: K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei.: 88).

4.3.3The present and future tense

In modern Cairene Arabic, the present tense is expressed by prefixing bi to the imperfect verb and the future tense by prefixing ḥa to the imperfect verb; ḥa is a shortened form of the present participle ṛāyiḥ “going”. This participle and its shortened form ṛāḥ 4141.Both could be used either declined for feminine and plural, or indeclinable. were the standard ways of making the future tense in 19th-century sources. The shortened form ḥa only appears in the last decades of the century.4242.The earliest example I have found is in Nakhlah (1874)Nakhlah, Yacoub 1874 New Manual of English and Arabic Conversation = al-Tuḥfa al-murḍiya fī ta‘allum al-luġa al-ingilīziyya. Cairo: The Khèdive’s Press..

Table 7 presents an overview of the way the present and future tense are given in the four books under discussion. Only the 3rd sg. m. form has been mentioned here:

Table 7.The present and future tense

	Nolden (1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 137; 145)	Zenker (1854Zenker, Julius Theodor [Barthélémy, pseud.] 1854 Vocabulaire phraséologique français-arabe, avec la prononciation figurée, précédé d’un extrait de grammaire et suivi d’un appendix des poids et mesures, des monnaies, d’un almanach muselman et d’autres notices instructives, à l’usage des étrangers en Égypte. Leipzig: Wolfgang Gerhard. https://​books​.google​.nl​/books​?id​=F8w9AAAAYAAJ​&dq​=%22julius%20theodor%20zenker%22​&pg​=PP5#v​=onepage​&q​&f​=false: xxxi–xxxiii)	Sacroug (1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 254–255)	De Vaujany & Radouan (1887De Vaujany, H. & Moustapha-Bey Radouan 1887 Vocabulaire français-arabe (dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte) avec la prononciation figurée contenant un petit abrégé́ de grammaire arabe, des exercices de conversation, les poids et mesures, un tableau des monnaies, les principales fêtes musulmanes, etc. = qāmūs faransāwī wa-ʿarabī. Le Caire: Imprimerie Nationale de Boulaq. 5th ed.: 16–17)	Modern Cairene Arabic
present	yâkoul ~ biâkoul “he eats”	bi-ktob, ’ammâl byktob, amm byktob “he writes”	yàkool ~ beyákul “he eats”	yakoûn “he is”	biykūn “he is” (habitual); biyiktib “he writes/is writing”
future	yakoùn “he will be”	beddo yektob “he will write”		sa’yakoun’ “he will be”	ḥaykūn “he will be”; ḥayiktib “he will write”

Nolden’s and Sacroug’s information on the present and future tense is quite messy. In the present tense, the only verb for which the prefix bi is mentioned, is biâkoul ~ beyákul “to eat”. For the others, only verbs without bi prefix are mentioned. The future tense is only mentioned for “to be”; both authors mention that the future tense is formed by using the imperfect verb followed by the adverb baʿdēn “afterwards, later”:

Le futur manque en Arabe vulgaire, et est rendu par une post-position comme: après, par exemple:

Je ne sais pas.

mais je le saurai après.

àna maaràfchi.

lâkin ârafou bâden. (Nolden 1844Nolden, E. 1844 Vocabulaire français arabe, dialecte vulgaire de l’Égypte, avec la prononciation exprimée en caractères français, à l’usage des étrangers arrivant en Égypte, suivi d’un petit extrait de grammaire et d’un appendix contenant les poids et mesures, monnaies, cours de change, un petit almanac musulman, etc. etc. Alexandrie: s.n. https://​menadoc​.bibliothek​.uni​-halle​.de​/inhouse​/content​/titleinfo​/1135743 and https://​babel​.hathitrust​.org​/cgi​/pt​?id​=uc1​.b0000068015: 144)

The Future is wanting in vulgar arabic, and is rendered by a post-preposition [sic] as after; as:

I do not know	but I shall know it afterwards
Ana maaràfshi.	lâkin aarafoò baâden. (Sacroug 1874Sacroug, Gabriel 1874 The Egyptian Travelling Interpreter or Arabic without a Teacher for English Travellers visiting Egypt. Cairo: s.n.: 253)

It is clear that Nolden’s knowledge of the language was, at least on this point, not sufficient, but the opposite would be expected from Sacroug, who was a native speaker. Nevertheless, he did not bother to correct this information.

Zenker has the most complete information on the present and future tense. Beside the prefix bi for the present tense, he also gives ’ammâl 4343. ʿAmmāl; this actually indicates duration and intensity, see Woidich (2006Woidich, Manfred 2006 Das Kairenisch-Arabische: Eine Grammatik. (= Porta Linguarum Orientalium Neue Serie, 22.) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.: 282–283). and its shortened form amm. Nowadays, bidd- in the future tense is only found in Sinai and to the east of Egypt (Zack 2015Zack, Liesbeth 2015 “Future Particles”. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Managing Editors Online Edition: Lutz Edzard, Rudolf de Jong. ); in Egypt, it was used in the 19th century to indicate “to want”, but was not a future marker.

De Vaujany & Radouan do not give a prefix for the present tense, and the prefix they give for the future tense is the classical Arabic sa .

4.4The weights and measures and almanac

Zenker’s “Poids et mesures” and “Almanach musulman” are almost identical to those of Nolden, except for the transcription of the Arabic words and some very minimal differences in wording. The only substantial difference is that the calendar of the Islamic year 1260 (1844 CE) in Nolden’s book (p. 160) was replaced by one of the Islamic years 1270 and 1271 (1853–1855) in Zenker’s (p. 145). Sacroug completely rewrote the part about weights, measures and money (pp. 265–269). He translated the Almanac, only changing the year to 1289–1290 AH/1873–1874 CE (pp. 268–270). De Vaujany & Radouan also rewrote the part about weights, measures and money (pp. 319–320). They, like the others, adjusted the Almanac, covering the years 1299–1310 AH/1881–1892 CE. More interesting, however, is that their book is the only one that contains a list of Coptic feasts. They included Christmas, the Baptism of Jesus, the Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost and the Feast of the Apostles [Peter and Paul]. It also contains a list with the Coptic months (p. 318).

4.5The dialogues

Nolden’s book did not contain any dialogues. Up to the 18th century, dialogues were used extensively for teaching languages. Proponents of dialogues in Arabic text books were, among others, François Pétis de la Croix (1653–1713) and Claude-Étienne Savary (1750–1788). However, this trend started to wane at the end of the 18th century, when the emphasis shifted to teaching grammar (see Doss 2012Doss, Madiha 2012 “Une tradition didactique appliquée à l’arabe: Les dialogues Pétis de La Croix – Savary”. Autour de la langue arabe. Études présentées à Jacques Grand’Henry à l’occasion de son 70e anniversaire ed. by Johannes den Heijer, Paolo La Spisa & Laurence Tuerlinckx, 189–206. Louvain-la-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste; Leuven: Peeters.: 202). Nolden’s publication from 1844 can be seen in the light of this trend.

When Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan published their books, respectively in the seventies and eighties of the 19th century, the market for grammars and text books had changed. In the mid-19th century, travelling became easier and more affordable due to improved transportation, and Egypt became a popular tourist destination for European and American travellers who wanted to see the monuments and visit the bazaars. With the popularity of tourism in Egypt came a need for guidebooks. Dozens of such guides were published between 1847 and 1929 (see Spiro 2007Spiro, Lisa 2007 “Leading Nineteenth Century Publishers of Travel Guidebooks to Egypt”. TIMEA – Travelers in the Middle East Archive. Rice University. https://​scholarship​.rice​.edu​/handle​/1911​/109672: 1 and Mairs forthcomingMairs, Rachel Forthcoming. Arabic Dialogues: Learning colloquial Arabic through phrasebooks, 1798–1945.).

The addition of dialogues by Sacroug and De Vaujany & Radouan can be seen in the light of this fashion for travelling and of the popularity of guide books. Travellers to Egypt would benefit from phrases written in transcription that they could read aloud to make themselves understood, rather than just using a dictionary and grammar to try to put phrases together themselves. That would be a rather hard exercise for someone who was not familiar with the language. The practical side of travelling in Egypt is especially visible in Sacroug’s dialogues, which cover all the kinds of transport a tourist in 19th-century Egypt could use, such as the train, boat, carriage, donkey and camel.

De Vaujany & Radouan’s dialogues section is very short, only 17 pages, while Sacroug’s dialogues cover 60 pages. The subjects covered by De Vaujany & Radouan are: greeting and informing about someone’s health, visiting, saying goodbye, waking up, going to sleep, meeting friends, going for a walk, renting an apartment, asking the way and talking to domestics. Sacroug’s dialogues cover a lot more ground and include some conversations that are less of a domestic nature, such as talking to a Governor-General and a Pasha or with an eastern lady, but also some very practical ones, like talking to a shopkeeper, the captain of a boat or a donkey boy. As mentioned in Section 4.1, some of Sacroug’s dialogues were copied or adapted from Kayat (1844)Kayat, Assaad Yakoob [= al-Khayyāṭ, ̣ Asʿad Yaʿqūb] 1844 Turǧumān inkilīzī wa-ʿarabī = The Eastern Traveller’s Interpreter: or, Arabic without a teacher. London: Printed by W. McDowall, for the author; sold by J. Madden and Co..

The dialogues are very interesting and warrant an article on their own, but there is no space here to go deeper into their contents. However, it is clear that there is no overlap between the two books. The phrases used by Sacroug are in Egyptian Arabic, whereas the phrases by De Vaujany & Radouan are heavily influenced by classical Arabic. Even where there is some slight overlap between the subjects under discussion, the phrases presented are different. It is clear that the two dialogue sections were created independently from each other.