Arabic has many dialects, varying from one Arab country to another and even throughout each country. In Egypt, dialects differ from the north, Fallaheen, to the south, Saiidi, and from the east, Bedouin, to the west, Siwi. Cairene Arabic, or Masry, is the most common and understood dialect, not only in Egypt but in all Arabic-speaking countries.

I come from Luxor, in the south of Egypt where people speak Saiidi dialect. As I grew up in an urban area, my dialect is quite plain in comparison to those of rural areas. During my college, I learned to talk in a more neutral and similar way to the Cairene dialect mainly because most of my roommates and friends were from the north and didn’t understand my Saiidi dialect. I can understand most of the southern and northern dialects however, I found it difficult to follow someone talking in Bedouin, either that of Sinai or Siwa.

I thought I could understand anyone who speaks in Saiidi until I visited my mother and grandmother in Aswan a few days ago. After my brother and I said goodbye to them, grandma said to me: "Leh karbaneen?" For a moment, I thought I didn't hear her well. I asked her to repeat and she did but I still didn't get it. Actually this time, I heard it: "Leh garbaneen?" which means something like: why are you in a rash? I immediately realized I misheard her because simply, we didn't have an itchy rash. I turned to my brother and whisperingly asked him: “What is she saying?” He instantly repeated it and explained to me, in Arabic, that it meant "Why are you in such a rush?" I looked back at my grandma and told her that we had to catch up with the train which was departing in half an hour.

Racing on our way to the Aswan railway station, I asked my brother if that was a common word. He answered that it was more common in villages and wondered what I would do if I went to my grandma’s home village where people speak like that all the time. I told him I would feel like an alien. When I was back home, I didn't settle down until I called my sister and asked her whether she could understand what "karbaneen" meant. She right away said the meaning. It seems like it is just me who isn’t fully immersed in the language of my hometown and its surroundings.

I've been away from home for most of the last two years and most of my interactions have been with non-Egyptians which was something I always aspired to. This fact doesn't justify my ignorance. I, however, need to keep in more contact with people in my local community. And definitely, I need to spend more time with my grandma and learn more from her before it's too late. I need to learn from her, not only about vernacular vocabulary but also about our family's history and about my mother which could help us with how we can approach my mother and her dementia.

How about you? Have you come across a word that you heard for the first time in your native language? What was it? What did it mean? How did you feel in that moment?