Coptic Word of the Week 002 ⲛ̀ⲙⲉⲧϩⲉⲃⲣⲁⲓⲟⲥ, ⲛ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ, ⲛ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ, ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, in Hebrew, in Latin, in Greek, in Coptic (Patreon)

Word of the Week series index

Coptic WotW 002

ⲛ̀ⲙⲉⲧϩⲉⲃⲣⲁⲓⲟⲥ, ⲛ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ, ⲛ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ, ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, in Hebrew, in Latin, in Greek, in Coptic

Ⲛⲟϥⲣⲓ! Today’s Coptic expression is how to say “in Coptic, in Greek, in Latin, in Hebrew.” So for this we need to say a nationality of a person first. Roman is ⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ, even sometimes ϩⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ, with an initial aspiration to indicate the voiceless initial ῥ /r̥/ of contemporary Greek, and also ⲣⲱⲙⲉⲟⲥ, a variant that shows the monophthongization of the diphthong that occurred more and more frequently in later Koine. To this we add a prefix ⲙⲉⲧ- meaning “speech” or “matter,” and we get ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ “Roman speech” or “Latin.”

For Hebrew, we take the demonym ϩⲉⲃⲣⲉⲟⲥ or ϩⲉⲃⲣⲁⲓⲟⲥ, and make ⲙⲉⲧϩⲉⲃⲣⲁⲓⲟⲥ, Hebrew. The term for a Greek person starts with the archaic Ἰᾱ́ϝων “Ionian,” passing through Aramaic and Demotic to become ⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ in Coptic, and thus ⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ is the Greek language. We see this in John 19:20:

Ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲛⲁϥⲥϧⲏⲟⲩⲧ ⲡⲉ ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧϩⲉⲃⲣⲉⲟⲥ, ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲱⲙⲉⲟⲥ, ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ.

“And it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, in Greek.”

The prefix in front of each language name is actually ⲛ̀, a sort of attributive connecting suffix with a lot of uses, and in front of a labial consonant, such as ⲙ, it naturally assimilates to also become ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧϩⲉⲃⲣⲁⲓⲟⲥ, ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ, ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ.

The Coptic language can be expressed either as “Egyptian language” ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ — ⲭⲏⲙⲓ is Egypt, and ⲣⲉⲙ- is the construct form of ⲣⲱⲙⲓ a man — or as ⲙⲉⲧⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲛ, which comes from what Arabs heard when the Greek name for “Egyptian” Αἴγυπτος was said, giving gobt or kopt: ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲛ

Ϯⲥ̀ϧⲁⲓ ⲙ̀ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ.

“I write in Coptic/Egygptian.”

Ϯϣⲉⲡϩ̀ⲙⲟⲧ! Thank you for listening. See you next time! Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ.