Linguistic Differences. Even though scribal training worked to keep the written language of Egypt as stable and "correct" as possible, there were clear differences of speech among people who lived in various regions of the Nile Valley. When people are conscious of speaking a common language, but there are nevertheless noticeable differences in speech patterns among subgroups, then these people are said to speak dialects of the common language. Speakers of varying dialects of the same language can usually understand one another; if two dialects are so different that one cannot understand the speakers of another dialect, then it is often more accurate to consider them two different languages. Nevertheless, it is sometimes the case—as in the modern Arabic- and German-speaking worlds—that for cultural reasons, speakers of dialects that are virtually or completely incomprehensible to each other...