Coptic

Overview

Coptic is the final phase of the Egyptian language (Afro-Asiatic family, Egyptian branch), written by means of an alphabet derived from Greek and augmented with Demotic signs. It emerges in the first centuries CE in Christianized Egypt and becomes the vehicle of an immense Christian literature (the Bible, hagiography, monasticism, the Nag Hammadi gnosis). The majority vernacular until the 10th–12th centuries, it subsequently recedes before Arabic and dies out as a spoken language between the 15th and 17th centuries (possible survivals into the 19th). It remains alive as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic Churches. Its notation of vowels makes it an essential key for reconstructing the phonology of ancient Egyptian. Its principal literary dialects are Sahidic (the classical standard) and Bohairic (the present-day liturgical language).

History of the people

The Copts are the indigenous Christians of Egypt, direct heirs of the population of pharaonic and Hellenistic Egypt. The term "Copt" derives, via Arabic qibṭ, from Greek Aigyptios ("Egyptian"). Egyptian Christianity, traditionally traced to the preaching of Saint Mark at Alexandria, gives rise to one of the oldest Churches, a cradle of monasticism (Antony, Pachomius, Shenoute) and of the Theological School of Alexandria. After the Council of Chalcedon (451), the miaphysite Coptic Church separates from Chalcedonian orthodoxy. The Arab conquest (642) places the Copts under Muslim rule; they gradually become a minority while preserving their faith and, for a long time, their language. The Copts today form the principal Christian minority of the Middle East, chiefly in Egypt, with a substantial diaspora. Their linguistic and manuscript heritage is central to the history of early Christianity and of Late Antiquity.

History of the language

Coptic constitutes the sixth and final stage of Egyptian (after Old, Middle, and Late Egyptian, and Demotic). It takes shape from the 2nd to the 4th century CE, when Egyptian Christians adopt the Greek alphabet to transcribe their language and translate the Scriptures. It experiences its literary golden age from the 4th to the 8th century (Pachomian and Shenoutean monasticism, biblical translations, patristics). After the Arab conquest (642), Arabic progressively takes hold in the administration and then in daily life. Coptic remains the majority language until the 10th–12th centuries, then becomes a minority language; it ceases to be commonly spoken between the 15th and 17th centuries, with possible survivals in Upper Egypt into the 19th century (debated, uncertain testimonies). Today without native speakers, it survives exclusively as the liturgical language (Bohairic) of the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic Churches, the object of community revitalization efforts.

The script

Coptic is written from left to right in a complete alphabet notating BOTH consonants AND vowels — a major break with the earlier hieroglyphic, hieratic, and Demotic scripts. It typically comprises 30 to 32 graphemes: the 24 Greek letters (in uncial/majuscule script) plus 6 to 7 characters borrowed from Demotic to render Egyptian phonemes absent from Greek (6 in Sahidic, one more each in Bohairic and Akhmimic). Demotic signs (with dialectal variations): Ϣ (šai, /š/), Ϥ (fai, /f/), Ϩ (hori, /h/), Ϫ (ǧanǧa, /dʒ/ trad., also reconstructed /ɟ/), Ϭ (čima, /tʃ/ or /c/), Ϯ (ti, syllable /ti/), to which Bohairic adds Ϧ (ḫai, /x/), while other dialects (Akhmimic) employ Ⳉ. Important diacritics: the SUPRALINEAR STROKE (overline) marks a syllabic consonant (e.g., ⲛ̅) or nasalizes/abbreviates; the DJINKIM (dot or stroke) in Bohairic signals unstressed vowels/autonomous consonants; the diaeresis can note an initial semivowel. There is no systematic word separation in early manuscripts (scriptio continua), nor modern punctuation; the nomina sacra (overlined abbreviations of sacred words, e.g., ⲡ̅ⲛ̅ⲁ̅ for pneuma) are frequent.

Sign system

An ALPHABETIC system (non-logographic, non-syllabic — with the exception of the sign Ϯ, which notes the sequence /ti/). Base = 24 Greek uncial letters retaining both phonetic value and Greek numerical value (overlined alphabetic numeration). Demotic extension of 6–7 signs for /š f h dʒ tʃ ti/ (+ /x/ in Bohairic, Ⳉ in Akhmimic). No classifiers/determinatives (unlike the hieroglyphic/Demotic systems from which it descends). Greek loanwords — pervasive in the Christian and abstract lexicon — retain their Greek spelling, which aids identification. Values are stable and unambiguous within each dialect, the principal variation concerning the rendering of laryngeals/fricatives (Ϩ vs Ϧ vs Ⳉ) according to dialect.

Phonology

Coptic is the only stage of Egyptian to note vowels explicitly, hence its value for historical phonology. Vowels: a, e, ē (ⲏ), i (ⲓ/ⲉⲓ), o (ⲟ), ō (ⲱ), u (ⲟⲩ), with contrasts of quality and length varying by dialect; the schwa/syllabic consonants are noted by the supralinear stroke. Consonants: voiceless stops p, t, k (unaspirated in Sahidic; Bohairic notes aspiration via ⲫ ⲑ ⲭ), fricatives s, š, f, h, x (Bohairic), the voiced b (often realized /β/ or /v/), the nasals m, n, the liquids r, l, the semivowels w, j, the affricate ǧ, and čima. The major dialectal differences are phonological: Sahidic employs Ϩ where Bohairic distinguishes Ϩ/Ϧ; Akhmimic and Lycopolitan note Ⳉ (/x/). Fine and debated reconstruction: the exact value of certain vowels and of the letters Ϫ (/dʒ/ or /ɟ/) and Ϭ (/tʃ/ or /c/) remains disputed (uncertain).

Grammar — essentials

An analytic language (loss of the synthetic inflection of ancient Egyptian). ORDER: article + noun; in the present, subject + verb + object (SVO). GENDER/NUMBER: masculine/feminine, singular/plural marked mainly by the article. ARTICLES: definite ⲡ- (m.sg), ⲧ- (f.sg), ⲛ- (pl.); indefinite ⲟⲩ- (sg), ϩⲉⲛ- (pl.). POSSESSION: possessive articles (ⲡⲁ- "my," ⲡⲉⲕ- "your"…) and genitive by ⲛ̅ / ⲛ̅ⲧⲉ. VERB: the core of the system = the "prefix conjugation" (conjugation bases + subject pronoun + infinitive). Principal tenses/aspects: Present I (ϯ-, ⲕ-, ⲧⲉ-, ϥ-, ⲥ-, ⲧⲛ̅-, ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̅-, ⲥⲉ-), Perfect I (ⲁⲓ-, ⲁⲕ-, ⲁϥ-…), Future I (ϯⲛⲁ-…), Habitual, Conjunctive (ⲛ̅ⲧⲁ-/ⲛⲅ̅-), Temporal, Conditional, plus the forms of the "second tenses" (focalization). The infinitive has three states (absolute, nominal in construction, pronominal with object suffix). NEGATION: often discontinuous (ⲙⲛ̅…, ⲛ̅…ⲁⲛ). SUBORDINATION: the particle ϫⲉ introduces complement clauses, direct speech, and causal clauses; ⲉⲧⲉ/ⲉⲧ- forms relatives; numerous prepositions (ϩⲛ̅ "in," ⲉ- "toward/to," ⲙⲛ̅ "with," ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ "by").

Reading tips

1) Identify the dialect first (presence of Ϧ/Ⳉ, aspirated spellings ⲫⲑⲭ → Bohairic; otherwise Sahidic by default). 2) Segment: isolate articles (ⲡ/ⲧ/ⲛ/ⲟⲩ/ϩⲉⲛ) and verbal prefixes before the roots. 3) Recognize the "tense" by its prefix (ⲁ- past, ⲛⲁ- future, Present I with no explicit marker apart from the pronoun). 4) Treat the supralinear stroke as a vowel/syllabic consonant, not as decoration. 5) Spot Greek loanwords (intact Greek form: ⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ, ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ, ⲇⲉ, ⲅⲁⲣ, ⲁⲗⲗⲁ) — often connective particles. 6) ϫⲉ almost always signals a clause boundary (citation or subordinate clause). 7) Distinguish the vowel ⲟⲩ /u/ from the indefinite article ⲟⲩ- by position. 8) Use Crum (the dictionary) for roots and verify the verbal construction (absolute/nominal/pronominal state). 9) In the case of a manuscript lacuna ([...] or dotted letters), flag the uncertainty rather than restore arbitrarily.

Decipherment history

Coptic was never "lost" and then deciphered like the hieroglyphic script: its uninterrupted liturgical transmission by the Coptic Church preserved the values of the signs and the pronunciation (however evolved). As early as the Renaissance and the 17th century, European scholars studied it from liturgical manuscripts and from Arabic-Coptic grammars ("scalae"). Athanasius Kircher (17th c.) was among the first Westerners to publish systematic studies of Coptic, with the intuition — sound in principle, though mistaken in its application to the hieroglyphs — that it preserved the language of the ancient Egyptians. This continuity was decisive for Jean-François Champollion: his mastery of Coptic furnished him with the phonetic and lexical key that allowed him, in 1822, to decipher the hieroglyphs by recognizing beneath them the Egyptian language of which Coptic is the descendant. Coptic was thus less "deciphered" than it served as an instrument of decipherment for the earlier scripts.

Common formulae & expressions

ϩⲙ̅ ⲡⲣⲁⲛ ⲙ̅ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ (hm peran m-pnoute)

"In the name of God" — a frequent opening of texts (ⲛ̅→ⲙ̅ before ⲡ)

ϫⲉ (je)

particle introducing direct speech, the complementizer "that," or the causal "for"

ⲁⲙⲏⲛ (amēn)

"Amen" (liturgical loanword)

ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ (p-noute)

"God" (definite article + noute)

ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ (p-joeis)

"the Lord"

ⲡⲉⲭ̅ⲥ̅ / ⲓⲥ̅ ⲡⲉⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ

"the Christ" / "Jesus Christ" (overlined nomina sacra)

ⲉⲧⲃⲉ (etbe)

"concerning, because of"

ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ / ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ (hitn / ebol hitn)

"by, by means of" (agent, instrument)

ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ (tenou)

"now"

ⲛⲁϣⲉ- (nashe-)

"numerous, there are many" (predicate)

Corpora & reference editions

• Nag Hammadi Codices (Coptic gnostic library, Sahidic, discovered 1945) — edition The Coptic Gnostic Library, Brill
• Coptic biblical corpus: Sahidic and Bohairic versions of the Old and New Testaments
• Works of Shenoute and the monastic corpus (the 'Coptic Scriptorium' project, annotated corpus online)
• Bohairic liturgical manuscripts of the Coptic Orthodox Church
• Documentary Coptic papyri and ostraca (letters, contracts, deeds) — edited collections (P.Bal., O.Crum, etc.)
• Coptic magical papyri (edited corpora and the Coptic Magical Papyri project, Würzburg)
• Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae (TLA) — integration of Egyptian/Demotic/Coptic materials
• Coptic Scriptorium (data.copticscriptorium.org) — digital corpora, treebanks, and lexical tools

Bibliographic references

• Walter E. Crum, A Coptic Dictionary, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1939 — The reference dictionary of Coptic (chiefly Sahidic); indispensable for roots. Published in 6 fascicles, 1929–1939.
• Bentley Layton, A Coptic Grammar (Sahidic Dialect), Harrassowitz, 2000 (2nd ed. 2004, 3rd ed. 2011) — The reference descriptive grammar of Sahidic (Porta Linguarum Orientalium 20)
• Thomas O. Lambdin, Introduction to Sahidic Coptic, Mercer University Press, 1983 — The standard pedagogical textbook for learning Sahidic
• Walter C. Till, Koptische Grammatik (Saïdischer Dialekt), Leipzig, Harrassowitz, 1955 — The classic German-language grammar of the Sahidic dialect
• Alexis Mallon, Grammaire copte (avec bibliographie, chrestomathie et vocabulaire), Beyrouth, Imprimerie Catholique, 1904 and later editions — An older reference grammar, oriented toward Bohairic
• Werner Vycichl, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue copte, Leuven, Peeters, 1983 — Etymology of the Coptic lexicon; useful for the Egyptian substratum
• James M. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library in English, Harper & Row / E. J. Brill, 1977 and later editions — The reference translation of the Nag Hammadi corpus
• Aziz S. Atiya (ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia, Macmillan, 1991 — An encyclopedic synthesis (history, language, dialects); its dialectology owes much to R. Kasser et al.