Coptic Word of the Week 003 Ⲡⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥϥ! Merry Christmas! (Patreon)

Word of the Week series index

Coptic WotW 003

Ⲡⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥϥ! Merry Christmas!

Ⲡⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥϥ! Merry Christmas! That’s how you say this in Coptic. In this expression we have the familiar ⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ for Christ, with the masculine definite article, which often accompanies the name: ⲡⲓ, so ⲡⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ, frequently abbreviated Ⲡⲭ̅ⲥ̅.

For the passive, Coptic uses the prefix ⲁⲩ which is used for “they,” thus ⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥ means “they bore.” The suffix -ϥ indicates “him,” thus ⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥϥ literally means “they bore him,” but in context we understand this to mean “he was born.”

Ⲓⲏ̅ⲥ̅ Ⲡⲭ̅ⲥ̅ ⲁⲩⲙⲁⲥϥ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲃⲏⲑⲗⲉⲉⲙ.

Jesus (the) Christ was born in Bethlehem.

A very happy holiday season to you. Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ!