As `Umad Ahmad Hiläl has written, slaves in all their forms in Egypt had no knowledge of classical Arabic. Even after Circassian-Ottoman slaves were manumitted, the majority remained affili- ated with the Turkish-speaking social classes and were fairly isolated from Arabic-speaking groups. Sudanese slaves, the majority of whom came from the non-Muslim territories of the Sudan, communicated with each other in the colloquial dialect.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 789