Coptic Word of the Week 001 ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ? who are you? (Patreon)

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Coptic WotW 001

ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ? who are you?

Ⲛⲟϥⲣⲓ! Welcome to the Coptic Word of the Week! Like the new series Latin Word of the Week and Greek Word of the Week, we will learn, dear Patron, new and interesting phrases in the final Ancient Egyptian language (and that’s Coptic of course).

Today we look at the phrase ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ? “who are you?” So the last word in this sentence is ⲛⲓⲙ meaning “who,” and there is no copula, no verb “to be” necessary in this expression. The first word is ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ, the emphatic pronoun for “you” singular, masculine. Does that mean there is a feminine way to say “you” singular? you ask. Absolutely! Great question, you’re going to be an expert in Coptic if you keep this up. The feminine way to say “you” singular is ⲛ̀ⲑⲟ.

Thus, if you want to learn the identity of a woman or girl, you’d say to her ⲛ̀ⲑⲟ ⲛⲓⲙ?

The phrase ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ is attested in John 8:25 of the Bohairic Coptic Bible. There is also a yet more emphatic way to say this found in Romans 14:4 ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ? You who you, literally.

Ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲫⲏ ⲉⲧϯϩⲁⲡ ⲉ̀ⲟⲩⲃⲱⲕ ⲛ̀ϣⲉⲙⲙⲟ?

“Who are you to be the one who judges a slave of a stranger?”

I’ve been using a reconstruction of the Old Bohairic pronunciation, which stands out because it has aspirates like ⲑ (other dialects have far fewer aspirates); the liturgical or Greco-Bohairic way to say ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ is ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ, essentially treating any Coptic letter that has a Greek equivalent as in Modern Greek. And there are other dialects besides Bohairic, but that’s what I’ll be covering for now.

Here is my phrase:

Ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲕ ⲫⲏ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛ̀ⲥⲁϫⲓ ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲁⲛ?

“Who are you who doesn’t speak Coptic?”

Now I want you to use this phrase, either the masculine ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲛⲓⲙ? or the feminine ⲛⲑⲟ ⲛⲓⲙ? at least once today. While you certainly can use it with the Coptic speakers you may encounter during the day, more practical might be to think the phrase to yourself when you see someone on the street, or even just in a TV show. If you want to try an original phrase of your own, I’d love to read it! Write it below this post on Patreon. ϯϣⲉⲡϩ̀ⲙⲟⲧ, thanks so much for your support. Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ!