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, respectivelly
- ʔ isn't phonemic and can only occur before a vowel, or to separate them
- β is most often realized as [v]
- 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
Vowels
| Front | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | (y) | u | ||
| Mid | e | eː | ə | o | oː |
| Low | a | ||||
- y only occurs in Greek and French borrowings.
- 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 | ϥⲛⲧ | fent |
| 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- | ||