Grammar - Lesson 01

Definitions

A bare noun is a base word without any form of determination (definiteness), which often takes the form of prefixes.
A determined (definite) noun is provided with a determiner, frequently in the form of a prefix.

Vocabulary: Bare Nouns

Masculine m		Feminine f
Ⲣⲱⲙⲓ	“man, human”	Ⲥ̀ϩⲓⲙⲓ	“woman, wife”
Ⲓⲱⲧ	“father”	Ⲙⲁⲩ	“mother”
Ⲥⲟⲛ	“brother”	Ⲥⲱⲛⲓ	“sister”
Ϣⲏⲣⲓ	“son”	Ϣⲉⲣⲓ	“daughter”
Ⲕⲁϩⲓ	“earth”	Ⲫⲉ	“heaven, sky”
Ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ	“saint”	Ⲉⲕⲕ̀ⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ̀	“church”
Ϯⲙⲓ	“village”	Ⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ	“city”

Significant Letters:

Masculine m: ⲡ /p/, ⲫ /pʰ/, ϥ /f/
Feminine f: ⲧ /t/, ⲑ /tʰ/, ⲥ /s/
Plural p^{[1]p stands for plural.}: ⲛ /n/, ⲟⲩ /u/

Determiner Selection (Prefixes)

Example words: Ⲥⲟⲛ “brother” / Ⲥⲱⲛⲓ “sister” / Ⲥⲱⲛⲓ “sisters”

Type	Masculine m	Feminine f	Plural p
Indefinite	Ⲟⲩⲥⲟⲛ^{[2]Ⲟⲩ- comes from ⲟⲩⲁⲓ (the number “one”). Compare with French un/une (articles), but also: un, deux, trois, … (numbers).} “a brother”	Ⲟⲩⲥⲱⲛⲓ “a sister”	Ϩⲁⲛⲥⲱⲛⲓ^{[3]Ϩⲁⲛ- comes from ϩⲟⲓ̈ⲛⲉ “some”. There is no direct English equivalent for the indefinite plural article ϩⲁⲛ-.} “sisters”
Definite (long)	Ⲡⲓⲥⲟⲛ “the brother”	Ϯⲥⲱⲛⲓ^{[4]Ⲧ + ⲓ = ϯ. Therefore: ϯⲥⲱⲛⲓ.} “the sister”	Ⲛⲓⲥⲱⲛⲓ “the sisters”
Definite (short)	Ⲡ̀ⲥⲟⲛ “the brother”	Ⲧ̀ⲥⲱⲛⲓ “the sister”	(No short form)
Possessive	Ⲡⲁⲥⲟⲛ “my brother”	Ⲧⲁⲥⲱⲛⲓ “my sister”	Ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲛⲓ “my sisters”
Demonstrative	Ⲡⲁⲓⲥⲟⲛ “this brother”	Ⲧⲁⲓⲥⲱⲛⲓ “this sister”	Ⲛⲁⲓⲥⲱⲛⲓ “these sisters”

Note: ⲡⲓ- and ⲡ̀- are synonyms. We refer to them as long vs. short definite articles.

Zero-Determination

Coptic is a highly determined language. Often (90% of the time), nouns are provided with a determiner (prefix). However, there are a few exceptions where nouns can appear without a determiner. This occurs, for example, with the quantifier ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ “every/each”.

^Ø-ⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ “every man”
^Ø-ⲥ̀ϩⲓⲙⲓ ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ “every woman”
^Ø-ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ “every saint”
^Ø-ⲉⲕⲕ̀ⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ̀ ⲛⲓⲃⲉⲛ “every church”

Bipartite Nominal Sentence (Predicate + Subject)

There are three connecting pronouns (copulas) in Coptic. They only appear after the first word (or the first phrase) of the sentence. We call these words postpositive (placed after) or enclitic (leaning on the preceding word). We mark these with the symbol '≡'.

≡ⲡⲉ m “he, it”^{[5]In Coptic, there is no specific word for the neuter “it”.}
≡ⲧⲉ f “she, it”
≡ⲛⲉ p “they”

Applications:

In Coptic (just like in Semitic languages such as Hebrew or Arabic), there is no verb 'to be' in the present tense. However, in English, we are required to use it, otherwise the translation is incorrect.

Ⲟⲩⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ.
“He is a father.”
Ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ.
“He is my father.”
Ⲡⲁⲓⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ.
“It is this father.”
Ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲩ ⲧⲉ.
“She is my mother.”
Ⲟⲩⲥ̀ϩⲓⲙⲓ ⲧⲉ.
“She is a woman.”
Ϩⲁⲛⲥⲱⲛⲓ ⲛⲉ.
“They are sisters.”
Ϩⲁⲛⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲛⲉ.
“They are men.”
Ⲛⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲛⲉ.
“They are the saints.”

Independent Personal Pronouns

Besides the connecting pronouns, there are also independent personal pronouns. In a bipartite nominal sentence, using the connecting pronouns is the standard (mandatory) rule. To emphasize such nominal sentences, one can also incorporate the independent personal pronouns. These are prepositive (placed before):

Ⲛ̀ⲑⲟϥ m “he, it”
Ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲥ f “she, it”
Ⲛ̀ⲑⲱⲟⲩ p “they”

Examples

Ⲛ̀ⲑⲟϥ, ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ. “He is my father.”
Ⲛ̀ⲑⲟⲥ, ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲩ ⲧⲉ. “She is my mother.”
Ⲛ̀ⲑⲱⲟⲩ, ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲛⲓ ⲛⲉ. “They are my sisters.”

Abbreviations

In Coptic literature, several common abbreviations are used, mostly to indicate holy names ("nomina sacra"). The conventional way to represent abbreviations in Coptic is by placing a horizontal line above the abbreviated word.

In a liturgical context, word abbreviations can also sometimes refer to common phrases:

ⲕ̅ⲉ̅ = ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲉ̀ ⲉⲗⲏⲥⲟⲛ “Lord have mercy”
ⲭ︦ⲉ︦ = ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ “Hail Mary”
ⲛ︦ⲧ︦ⲉ︦ϥ︦ = ⲛ̀ⲧⲉϥⲭⲁ ⲛⲉⲛⲛⲟⲃⲓⲛⲁⲛ ⲉ̀ⲃⲟⲗ “to forgive us our sins”
ⲧ︦ⲱ︦ⲃ︦ = ⲧⲱⲃϩ ⲙ̀Ⲡ̀ϭⲱⲓⲥ ⲉ̀ϩ̀ⲣⲏⲓ ⲉ̀ϫⲱⲛ “pray to the Lord for us”

Full Word	Abbreviation	Meaning
Ⲁⲗⲗⲏⲗⲟⲩⲓⲁ̀	ⲁ̅ⲗ̅	“hallelujah”
Ⲁ̀ⲙⲏⲛ	ⲁ̅ⲙ̅	“amen”
Ⲥⲱⲧⲏⲣ	ⲥ̅ⲱ̅ⲣ̅, ⲥ̅ⲣ̅	“savior”
Ϭⲱⲓⲥ^{[6]In older church books and presentations, this is often archaically written as ϭⲟⲓⲥ. The standard modern Bohairic spelling is ϭⲱⲓⲥ.}	͞⳪̅, ϭ̅ⲥ̅	“lord, lady”
Ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲟⲥ (-ⲉ̀)	ⲕ̅ⲉ̅	“lord”
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ	ⲭ̅ⲉ̅	“hail / greetings”
Ⲓⲏⲥⲟⲩⲥ N^m^{[7]N^m is the abbreviation/symbol for a Nomen (proper noun/name).}	Ⲓⲏ̅ⲥ̅, Ⲓⲥ̅, Ⲓ᷍ⲥ	Jesus
Ⲡⲓⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ N^m	Ⲡⲭ̅ⲥ̅, Ⲡⲭ᷍ⲥ	Christ
Ⲡ̀ⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ	ⲡ̅ⲛ̅ⲁ̅	“spirit”
Ⲉ̀ⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ	ⲉ̅ⲑ̅ⲩ̅, ⲉ̅ⲑ̅	“holy”
Ⲫ̀ⲛⲟⲩϯ	ⲫ︦ϯ︦, ⲫ᷍ϯ, ⲫ̀ϯ	“(the) God”

🎓 Exercise 01

Translate the following nominal expressions into Coptic (one solution is sufficient).

She is my daughter.
She is my wife.
It is heaven.
She is a lady.
They are the ladies.
He is a spirit.
It is the spirit.
Every city.
Every man.
The lord, the savior.