Modern Coptic

Introduction

Modern Coptic (natively, ⲙⲧ̀ⲣⲙⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲉ ⲃⲣ̀ⲣⲉ Metremmenkeeme Verre [mətrm̩mn̩ˈkeːmə ˈvr̩rə]) is a revitalized vernacular version of Coptic, made to be a lingua franca for all varieties.

The language is written formally using the Coptic alphabet, however, since modern times a phonetic transliteration into the Latin Alphabet is preferred by the younger generations

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Post-Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n
Fricative	f	s	ʃ		(x)	h
Plosive	p	t	tʃ	(c)	k	(ʔ)
Approximant	β	l	j		w
		r

• x and c are minimal phonemes, while included in the standard and writing, they are free to merge with h and tʃ, respectively
• ʔ isn't phonemic and can only occur before a vowel, or to separate them
• β is most often realized as [v], and c can range between actual [c] and [kʲ]
• the sequence /kj/ never occurs and colloquially changes to /c/ whenever it appears
• n assimilates to the place of articulation of the next sound, becoming /m/, [ɲ] or [ŋ] depending on the sound
• r is pronounced [ɾ] between vowels

Vowels

	Front			Back
High	i		(y)	u
Mid	e	eː	ə	o	oː
Low	a

• y only occurs in Greek and French borrowings and unrounds to /i/ freely.
• The sequences /əl/, /ər/, /əm/ and /ən/ are pronounced [l̩], [r̩], [m̩] and [n̩].
• /a/, /i/, /y/ and /u/ are allophonically long when stressed.

• Stress isn't phonemic, but normally occurs in either one of the long vowels (eː and oː) or the (3rd to) last vowel.
• ə normally doesn't bear the stress unless it is the only vowel in a word.
• Greek borrowings normally bear the stress 2nd to last instead.

Orthography

Modern Coptic uses mostly the Latin Alphabet, although for formal and religious texts the Coptic Alphabet is preferred

Latin	Coptic	Sound	Example
m	ⲙ	m	ⲙⲟⲩⲉ	mue
n	ⲛ	n	ⲗⲉ̀ϭⲟⲛ	lékjon
l	ⲗ	l	ⲗⲁⲃⲟⲧⲉ	lavote
r	ⲣ	r	ⲣⲣⲟ	erro
f	ϥ	f	ϥⲉⲛⲧ	fént
s	ⲥ	s	ⲥⲱⲃⲉ	soove
x	ϣ	ʃ	ϣⲁϣϥ	xaxf
kh	ϧ	x	ⲥⲁϧ	sakh
h	ϩ	h	ϩⲗⲗⲟ	hello
p	ⲡ	p	ⲡⲣⲱ	proo
t	ⲧ	t	ⲧⲟ	to
c	ϫ	tʃ	ϫⲓ	ci
kj	ϭ	c	ϭⲱⲃⲉ	kjoove
k	ⲕ	k	ⲕⲁϣ	kax
v	ⲃ	β	ⲃⲉⲛⲓⲡⲉ	venipe
w	ⲟⲩ	w	ⲟⲩⲣ̀ⲧ	wert
	ⲩ		ⲥⲛⲁⲩ	snaw
j	ⲓ	j	ⲓⲱ	joo
ps	ⲯ	ps	psit	ⲯⲓⲧ
ks	ⲝ	ks	aksios	ⲁⲝⲓⲟⲥ

Latin	Coptic	Sound	Example
a	ⲁ	a	ⲁϥ	af
eC	⳿	əC	ⲧ̀ⲃϥ̀	etvef
e	ⲉ	ə	ⲥⲁϫⲉ	sace
é		e	ϣⲉⲙϣⲉ	xémxe
	ⲉ̀		ⲧⲉϣⲉ̀	texé
ee	ⲏ	eː	ⲏⲓ	eej
i	ⲓ	i	ⲓⲣⲉ	ire
y	ⲩ	y	ⲡⲩⲥⲓⲥ	pysis
o	ⲟ	o	ⲟⲓⲕ	ojk
oo	ⲱ	oː	ⲱⲛϧ	oonkh
u	ⲟⲩ	u	ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩ	unu

• /əl/, /ər/, /əm/ and /ən/ should be written ⲙ̀, ⲛ̀, ⲗ̀ and ⲣ̀ but the accent is removed before another consonant and only used when disambiguating
• əw and əj can't occur, they are normally ew and ej
• ow is written ⲟⲟⲩ (ϩⲟⲟⲩ how) and éj is written ⲉⲉⲓ (ⲥⲉϣⲉⲉⲓ sexéj)

Morphology

Pronouns

(Modern) Coptic distinguishes between 3 persons, 2 numbers and in the 2nd person and 3rd person singular distinguish masculine and feminine forms

Independent Pronouns

They are not used much, but are used for emphasis

		Singular	Plural
1st		anak	anan
2nd	M	entak	entooten
	F	ento
3rd	M	entof	entaw
	F	entos

Pronoun suffixes

Used on verbs and prepositions to mark the object and auxiliary and main verbs use similar affixes to mark the subject

		Singular	Plural
1st		-i/j* (-t)	-n
2nd	M	-k	-ten
	F	-(e)
3rd	M	-f	-u/w* (-se)
	F	-s

• -t and -se are used for verbal and prepositional objects, in other cases, -i/j and -u/w are used
• -(e) is more often a null suffix, only actual -e in verbal object suffixes

Reflexive pronoun

Normally the word hoo is supleted with pronoun suffixes, but since it has an irregular way of suffixing, it's considered its own kind of pronoun

		Singular	Plural
1st		hoo	hoon
2nd	M	hook	hoot
	F	hoote
3rd	M	hoof	hoow
	F	hoos

Nouns

Nouns inflect for definiteness (undefinite, definite and indefinite) and sometimes number (singular and plural).

They can also be preceded by possession prefixes, and a couple of them (although nowadays archaic) can take the pronominal suffixes to mark possession

Some of them also have a special "construct form", only used when compounding

	Singular	Plural
Undefinite	-
Definite	p/t(e)-*	n(e)-*
Indefinite	u/w-	hen-

• p(e)- is used for masculine nouns while t(e)- is used for feminine ones
• An epenthetic e is inserted when before a consonant that isn't h, when prefixed with consonants, h elides

The possessive prefixes are used in place of the definite article: they consist of the definite stem (p- for masculine, t- for feminine, n- for plural) + "é" + pronominal suffix, except in the case of the 1st person singular (pa-, ta-, na-) and the 3rd person plural (pu-, tu-, nu-).

			Masculine	Femenine	Plural
Singular	1st		pa-	ta-	na-
	2nd	M	pék-	ték-	nék-
		F	pé-	té-	né-
	3rd	M	péf-	téf-	néf-
		F	pés-	tés-	nés-
Plural	1st		pén-	tén-	nén-
	2nd		péten-	téten-	néten-
	3rd		pu-	tu-	nu-

Verbs

Modern Coptic has a copious amount of verb tenses

Tense	Explanation	English
Infinitive	Infinitive	to V
Present	Main present tense	I(‘m) V(-ing)
Future	Main future tense	I’ll V
Imperfect	Ongoing action in the past	I was V-ing
Future Imperfect	Ongoing action in the future	I will be V-ing
Past	Main past tense / Perfect	I V-ed / I have V-ed
Habitual	Habitual (present) tense	I normally V
Past Imperfect	Ongoing action before a finished action	I had V-ed
Habitual Imperfect	Habitual past tense	I used to V
Jussive	Giving orders (not 2nd person)	I should V
Subordinate Present	Subordinate clauses in the present	that I V
Subordinate Future	Subordinate clauses in the future	that I’ll V
Subordinate Past	Subordinate clauses in the past	that I V-ed
Subordinate Habitual	Subordinate clauses in the habitual	that I normally V
Conditional	Conditional tense	I would V
Conjunctive	Same time as the main clause	also I V/V-ed
Resultative	Result of the main clause	so I V/V-ed
Imperative	Giving orders (only 2nd person)	V!