What language did Joseph speak in Egypt?

Question

What language did Joseph speak in Egypt? How did he learn it? Was there a common language like Aramaic?

In Genesis 39 part of his ability to find favor must have been the ability to communicate accurately. Similarly, he is shown here as communicating fluently with the Egyptians:

Genesis 40:6-8: And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad. And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day? And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

Answer 1

The Bible places the Exodus around 1440 BCE and therefore Joseph around 1870 BCE.

To be able to speak to the pharaohs and the common Egyptian people, Joseph would have needed to speak either Egyptian or a lingua franca known widely enough to be helpful. The Amarna letters may help in this regard, although they are somewhat later, around 1350 BCE.

The Canaanite petty kings who wrote to their Egyptian overlords could not speak Egyptian, and it appears the Egyptians could not speak Canaanite, so the letters were written in Akkadian, which was the language of regional diplomacy and the earliest attested form of Semitic language. So, an important resident of Canaan would probably have known some Akkadian. His linguistic skill demonstrated almost as soon as he arrived in Egypt means we should expect Joseph to have been fluent in this language, bearing in mind that the Bible says Joseph went to Egypt while still quite young.

Assuming, then, that Joseph knew some Akkadian, he would have been able to communicate with the pharaoh and some high officials, but he would have needed to learn Egyptian in order to survive in Egypt.

Another alternative is that Joseph might have been able to use Hyksos intermediaries as interpreters, however the Bible suggests that Joseph arrived in Egypt before the putative Hyksos invasion.

Answer 2

Joseph spoke in the language what the local spoke at the time, i.e., Egyptian language.

Genesis 39:23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Joseph was a teenager when he arrived in Egypt. His brain was still adaptable to a new language naturally.

He was a slave and had to talkd to fellow slaves in Egypt for some years before Potiphar put him in charge of his household.

Genesis 39:6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now, he had to learn to vocabulary to talk to an upper class of people, even to Pharaoh later on.

Genesis 41:41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

I doubt that Pharaoh would put Joseph at such a high position if Joseph did not speak perfect Egyptian, that he sounded like a foreigner.

42Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way c !” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

44Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” 45Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

If he didn't speak perfect Egyptian, I doubt he could command the respect of the Pharaoh and local officials.

His Egyptian name Zaphenath-Paneah means 'the god speaks and he lives'

Would you think that the Egyptian god speaks with a foreign tongue?

Joseph was a smart guy and quick to learn and the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did, including picking up the local language.