The present work is an expansion of a series of elementary lessons developed gradually during twenty years of teaching Sahidic Coptic at the college level. The Lessons are designed to provide a carefully graded introduction to the basic grammar and vocabulary of the language. The content of the Lessons and the mode of presentation were dictated by purely practical pedagogical considerations; the book is in no way intended to be a scientific reference grammar. The Reading Selections are furnished with glosses designed to facilitate the translation to unsimplified material. A thorough mastery of these and the Lessons will bring the student to the level at which any Sahidic text of average difficulty can be read with no trouble. The emphasis on basic matters has necessitated the omission of much technical linguistic data not immediately relevant to the needs of the average beginning student. Those who are interested in a detailed study of the phonology, in the relationship of Sahidic to the other Coptic dialects, or in the historical development of Coptic from ancient Egyptian may consult the standard works on these subjects as cited in the Bibliography.
A special effort has been made to provide a Glossary that will be useful to the student beyond his first year's study. In addition to covering the words used in the present text, the Glossary is intended to contain the full vocabulary of the Sahidic New Testament, including most associated phrases and idioms, as well as a generous selection of lexical items from other Biblical and literary texts. Deliberately excluded from the Glossary are words of a specialized nature, such as the names of plants, vessels, implements, drugs, and animals occurring only in technical texts that usually provide little clue to their precise meanings; nor has any effort been made to include the unusual lexical usage of Shenute. For these items the reader must consult the indispensible A Coptic Dictionary of W. E. Crum, which, together with M. Wilmet, Concordance du nouveau testament sahidique, is the main authority for the Glossary included here.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to my colleague, George W. MacRae, the Charles Chauncey Stillman Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School, for encouraging me to undertake this work and for his helpful comments on a large portion of the manuscript; to Mr. Gary A. Bisbee, for the exceptional skill and care with which he prepared the final copy for publication; to Mr. Watson E. Mills, Director of the Mercer University Press, for his part in initiating and publishing this work.
Thomas O. Lambdin
Cambridge, Mass.
June 19.2</p>
The names of specific conjugations and inflected verbal forms are capitalized throughout the book.
The political unification of Egypt took place around the beginning of the third millennium B.C. with the establishment of the First Dynasty at Memphis. Soon afterward written records began to appear in the hieroglyphic script, which together with its cursive derivatives, hieratic and demotic, remained the sole medium for writing the Egyptian language until the end of the second century A.D. At that time, the missionaries of the Church, then centered in Alexandria, undertook the translation of the Bible from Greek into Egyptian in order to facilitate their task of Christianizing the country. They abandoned the three-thousand-year-old hieroglyphic writing system, probably as much because of its complexity and imperfections as for its "heathen" associations, and chose instead to employ a modified form of the Greek alphabet. Egyptian in this new guise is known as Coptic, a modern term derived from Arabic qubṭî, itself a corruption of the Greek word (ai)gúpti(os), Egyptian.
The conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 3.2 B.C. and the subsequent Greek-speaking administration of the country under the Ptolemies led to the thorough Hellenization of Lower (i.e. Northern) Egypt. Egyptian-Greek bilingualism was apparently commonplace in the Delta, and it is probable that much Greek technical, legal, and commercial terminology was introduced into spoken Egyptian at this time. Rough and unsystematic attempts to transcribe Egyptian in the Greek alphabet were made as early as the third century B.C. It was only natural, then, that the Coptic translators of the Bible not only adopted the Greek alphabet but also generously supplemented the native lexicon with many more borrowings from Greek. The Greek vocabulary of any Coptic text is significantly large.
Evidence of dialectal differences is found as early as the third millenium B.C., but the general conservatism of the hieroglyphic script and the practice of standardizing a particular form of the language for long periods of time (e.g. Middle Egyptian, New Egyptian) tend to obscure the great dialectal diversity that must have existed in the spoken language as one traveled the 7.0 miles down the Nile from Aswan to the Mediterranean. The individual dialects first become recognizable when we reach the Coptic period and see the language spelled out in the Greek alphabet. The exact geographical location of the dialects is still a matter of scholarly debate, but the reader should become familiar with their names and the approximate chronological range of their use for literary purposes.
Sahidic, the dialect treated in this book, was the dialect chosen for the official translation of the Bible mentioned above. There is conflicting evidence on its geographical location: the name Sahidic, from Arabic aṣ-ṣaʿîd, Upper (i.e. Southern) Egypt, places it in the south (hence its alternate name: Theban, Thebaic); linguistic considerations, however, favor a northern locale, in the neighborhood of Memphis and the eastern Delta. One cannot rule out the possibility that both locations are correct; the fact that Thebes and Memphis alternated as the capital of Egypt through much of its history and were the chief centers of religious (priestly), building, and commercial activity could have led to the development of an "urban" dialect in these two areas, quite distinct from the dialects of the "rural" areas that lay between. By the fourth century A.D. Sahidic was firmly established as the standard literary dialect and retained this status until its demise around the tenth century. Surviving texts in Sahidic include, in addition to the New Testament and a large portion of the Old, a considerable corpus of Church literature and some remnants of secular literature, nearly all of which is translated from Greek. Of native works we have only the writings of Pachomius (c. 3.0), the founder of Egyptian monasticism; Shenute (c. 4.0), the administrator of the White Monastery in Upper Egypt; and Besa, a disciple of Shenute. The Coptic writings of Shenute, who attempted to mould the language into a literary vehicle comparable to Greek, are often referred to as the "classics" of Sahidic literature. Their syntactic complexity and unusual vocabulary usage, however, place them beyond the scope of the present work, which is based on the language of the more widely studied translation literature.
Bohairic replaced Sahidic as the standard literary dialect. Bohairic texts are attested as early as the ninth century, but the dialect does not seem to have achieved wide usage until it was adopted as the official language of the Coptic Church in the eleventh century. Most Bohairic texts come from after this time, and many of them were translated from Sahidic originals. The term Bohairic comes from Arabic al-buhairah, Lower (i.e. Northern) Egypt; it is generally assumed that Bohairic was the dialect of the Western Delta, including Alexandria and Nitria. The designation Memphitic has also been used for this dialect.
Fayyumic, as its name implies, was the dialect of northern Middle Egypt in the vicinity of the Fayyum Basin. It is well attested in texts ranging from the fourth to the eleventh century, but it apparently never attained the status of Sahidic.
Achmimic, generally located in the area of Akhmim (Panopolis) in southern Middle Egypt, enjoyed only a brief literary period from the third to the fifth century.
Subachmimic, tentatively localized between Akhmim and Thebes, was used extensively in the fourth and fifth centuries for the translation of Manichaean and Gnostic literature. Its association with this heretical material probably had much to do with its early demise as a literary dialect. The Nag Hammadi texts are in Subachmimic or a variety of Sahidic influenced by Subachmimic in varying degrees.
For further details on the dialects the reader should consult the works of Worrell, Vergote, Kahle, and Till cited in the Bibliography.
The Arab conquest of Egypt in 6.1 A.D. and the subsequent suppression of the native Christian population resulted in the gradual dying out of the Egyptian language in favor of Arabic. We cannot be sure how long this process took, but it is safe to assume that by the fifteenth century Coptic had ceased to be a native spoken language, thus bringing to an end a continuous written record of over four thousand years.
Sahidic Coptic is written in the Greek alphabet augmented by six letters borrowed from Demotic script, the last stage of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. The letters of the full alphabet, together with their conventional transcription, are as follows:
The following paragraphs deal with the Coptic, not the Greek, pronunciation of this alphabet.
ⲃ was apparently pronounced like English v in voice, but it is generally read simply as b in back.
ⲅ occurs only as a positional variant of ⲕ in a very small set of forms. Pronounced like the g of good.
ⲇ and ⲍ do not normally occur in standard Sahidic spelling. ⲍ may occur for ⲥ in a few words, e.g. ⲁⲛⲍⲏⲃⲉ for ⲁⲛⲥⲏⲃⲉ school. Pronounced d as in dog and z as in zoo respectively.
ⲫ, ⲑ, and ⲭ occur in Sahidic Coptic words only as combinations of two consonants: ⲡ + ϩ, ⲧ + ϩ, and ⲕ + ϩ respectively. ⲑ is fairly frequent, e.g. ⲡⲉⲑⲟⲟⲩ evil, for ⲡⲉⲧ ϩⲟⲟⲩ. ⲫ and ⲭ are rare and need not be used at all. The Copts seem to have used this same pronunciation for these letters in Greek words, contrary to the ordinary Greek pronunciation of ⲫ as f, ⲑ as th (thin), and ⲭ as ch (German ich, ach).
ⲕ, ⲡ, and ⲧ were like English k, p, t, but without aspiration. Thus, they were more like the k, p, t of skin, spin, stop than the aspirated sounds of kin, pin, top.
ⲗ, ⲙ, and ⲛ were probably the same as English l, m, and n.
ⲝ is simply a combination of ⲕ + ⲥ, rarely used. E.g. ⲝⲟⲩⲣ ring.
ⲣ is conventionally pronounced like English r in road. Its actual pronunciation is unknown.
ⲥ was like English s in see.
ⲯ is simply ⲡ + ⲥ, rarely used. E.g. ⲯⲓⲧⲉ nine (psite).
ϣ was the sh of shall.
ϥ was the f of foot.
ϩ was probably like English h in hope.
ϫ is conventionally pronounced like the j of judge. Its actual pronunciation was probably closer to that of the [tʸ] of tune.¹
ϭ, conventionally like the ch of church, was probably closer to the [kʸ] of cue, cute.
ϯ is merely a graphic symbol for ⲧ + ⲓ, but it was the normal way to spell this sequence of sounds. E.g. ϯⲙⲉ village (time).
¹ Brackets are used to indicate phonetic pronunciation in standard phonetic symbols. Do not confuse these with the conventional transcriptions.
ⲁ like the a of father. E.g. ⲁϥ [af] meat.
ⲉ like the e of let. E.g. ϩⲉⲛ [hɛn] some.
ⲏ probably like the a of hate. E.g. ⲙⲏⲧ [met] ten.
ⲓ like the i of machine. This vowel is always spelled ⲉⲓ in initial positions: ⲉⲓⲛⲉ [íne] to bring, ⲉⲓⲥ [is] behold. Internally and finally the spelling alternates between ⲓ and ⲉⲓ, but ⲓ is preferred.
ⲟ like the o of log, fog, dog, off, on. E.g. ⲧⲟⲡ [tɔp] edge.
ⲩ does not appear as a simple vowel in Coptic words.
ⲟⲩ is the normal writing of the vowel [u], the oo of food. E.g. ⲛⲟⲩⲃ noub [nub] gold.
ⲱ like the o of hope. E.g. ϩⲱⲡ [hop] to hide.
The consonants y and w of English yet and wet are often referred to as semivowels because they are the same sounds as the vowels [i] and [u] of beet and boot very briefly articulated. The Coptic vowels ⲉⲓ (ⲓ) and ⲟⲩ may function as consonants in the same way. E.g. ⲉⲓⲱⲧ [yot] father, ⲟⲩⲟⲡ [wɔp] to become pure.
The semivowels ⲉⲓ (ⲓ) and ⲟⲩ combine with a preceding simple vowel to form various diphthongs. Many of the diphthongs have more than one spelling; the reader should follow the spelling used in the Lessons. The diphthongs should be pronounced carefully, with the value of the single vowel as given above plus a final y or w as the case may be.
ⲁⲓ, ⲁⲉⲓ as in ⲥⲁⲉⲓⲛ [sayn] physician, ⲁⲓⲡⲱⲧ [aypót] I ran.
ⲁⲩ (rarely ⲁⲟⲩ) as in ⲛⲁⲩ [naw] to see, ⲁⲩⲡⲱⲧ [awpót] they ran.
ⲉⲓ (less commonly ⲉⲉⲓ) as in ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ [pɛyrómɛ] this man. Although a knowledge of the grammar is necessary for making the correct distinction between ⲉⲓ = [i] and ⲉⲓ = [ɛy], the problem is not a serious one: in normal Sahidic spelling ⲉⲓ has the value ⲉ + ⲓ (1) in the demonstrative adjectives ⲡⲉⲓ- ⲧⲉⲓ- ⲛⲉⲓ- (Lesson 5), (2) in the first person verbal prefixes of the forms ⲉⲓ-, ⲛⲉⲓ-, ⲙⲉⲓ- (Lesson 21 and following), and in a few isolated words like ⲉⲓⲉ [ɛyɛ] (Lesson 29).
ⲉⲩ (rarely ⲉⲟⲩ), as in ⲉⲩϣⲁϫⲉ [ɛwšátʸɛ] while they were talking.
ⲏⲓ as in ⲡⲏⲓ [pey] the house.
ⲏⲩ (less commonly ⲏⲟⲩ) as in ⲧⲏⲩ [tew] wind.
ⲓⲉⲓ, ⲉⲓⲉⲓ is very rare and is [yi] not [iy], e.g. ϩⲓⲉⲓⲃ [hyib] lamb.
ⲓⲟⲩ is rare, e.g. ⲥⲓⲟⲩ [siw] star.
ⲟⲉⲓ, ⲟⲓ as in ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ [wɔyn] light.
ⲟⲟⲩ as in ⲙⲟⲟⲩ [mɔw] water, ⲙⲟⲟⲩⲧ [mɔwt] dead.
ⲱⲓ as in ⲉϫⲱⲓ [ɛtʸóy] on me; rare except in final position.
ⲱⲟⲩ as in ⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ [town] to stand up, ⲉϫⲱⲟⲩ [ɛtʸów] on them.
ⲟⲩⲓ (rare) as in ⲛⲟⲩⲓ [nuy] mine; also possibly as [wi] in some words, e.g. ⲕⲟⲩⲓ [kwi] small.
ⲟⲩⲟⲩ (rare) as in ⲙⲟⲩⲟⲩⲧ [muwt] to kill, ⲛⲟⲩⲟⲩ [nuw] theirs.
The double writing of any of the simple vowels is generally understood to be an indication of the presence of a glottal stop, i.e. the complete but very brief stoppage of airflow in the glottis, conventionally indicated by ʾ in transcription. Thus ⲙⲁⲁⲃ máʾăb thirty, ⲥⲉⲉⲡⲉ séʾĕpe remainder, ϣⲟⲟⲡ šóʾŏp to be. The stress is on the first vowel; the vowel after the glottal stop was probably of very brief duration.
Vowel doubling occurs in diphthongs as well, e.g. ⲙⲁⲁⲩ máʾăw mother, ⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ méʾĕwe to think. There is no sure way of knowing whether ⲟⲟⲩ indicates [ɔw] or [ɔ́ʾɔ̆w].
One of the most distinctive features of Sahidic spelling is the short stroke placed over certain consonants or groups of consonants. This supralinear stroke, as it is called, indicates a syllable, but there is some disagreement among Coptic scholars on how this syllabification actually sounded in the spoken language. When the stroke is used over a voiced consonant such as ⲛ, it probably meant that the consonant is functioning as the vowel, i.e. the most sonorous part, of the syllable in question, exactly like the final n of English button and sudden, phonetically [-tn̥] and [-dn̥]. Thus, ϣⲛ̄ⲧ (to seek me) was pronounced [šn̥t] and ⲛ̄ⲧ (to bring me) as [n̥t]. The voiced consonants capable of having this syllabic pronunciation are ⲃ, ⲗ, ⲙ, ⲛ, and ⲣ, known mnemonically as the blemner consonants. Note that they are all voiced continuants, i.e. consonants whose voiced duration may be prolonged at will (remember that ⲃ is v, not b). E.g.
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | (we hear) | [tn̥sótm̥] |
| ϣⲧⲟⲣⲧⲣ̄ | (to disturb) | [štɔ́rtr̥] |
| ⲧⲃ̄ⲧ | (fish) | [tv̥t] |
| ⲕⲣⲙ̄ⲣⲙ̄ | (to mutter) | [krḿ̥rm̥] |
The stroke over the remaining consonants may be pronounced as a brief ⲉ or as ə (the first vowel of English above) before the consonant over which the stroke is placed, e.g. ⲥⲡ̄ⲥⲱⲡϥ̄ [səpsópəf] to entreat him. This pronunciation may also be used with the blemner consonants for the sake of convenience.
In non-standard texts, of which there are many, the vowel ⲉ is often written instead of using the stroke (and vice versa), but most frequently in proclitic elements and initial clusters, e.g. ⲥⲉⲡⲥⲱⲡϥ̄ = ⲥⲡ̄ⲥⲱⲡϥ̄, ϩⲉⲙ ⲡⲏⲓ = ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ. In standard spelling ⲉ is used regularly instead of the stroke only when the consonant preceding the consonant that would have had the stroke is a blemner; thus ⲙⲟⲕⲙⲉⲕ and ⲛⲟϭⲛⲉϭ are words of the same pattern as ⲥⲟⲡⲥⲡ̄ and ⲥⲟⲗⲥⲗ̄. This convention may have been adopted to prevent incorrect syllabification: ⲙⲟⲕⲙⲕ could be read as [mɔ́km̥k] or [mɔ́kmək]. The chief exceptions are indeed words where a different syllabification is required: ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ [šɔ́mn̥t] three, ⲧⲱⲙⲛ̄ⲧ [tómn̥t] to befall. The ⲛ̄ of these words is an intrusive (secondary) glide from the labial ⲙ to the dental ⲧ; the earlier forms were ϣⲟⲙⲧ̄ and ⲧⲱⲙⲧ̄. The convention likewise does not apply when the final consonant is also a blemner: ⲛⲁϩⲙⲛ̄ [náhmn̥] to rescue us. Much of the variation between ⲉ and a stroke that occurs in the writing of certain verbal prefixes (e.g. ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣϥ̄-, ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉϥ-; ⲙⲁⲣϥ̄-, ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥ-) probably results from inconsistent application of this rule.
The forms ⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ (to arise) and ⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ̄ (to know) have been standardized in the Lessons. In the Reading Selections the orthography of the source has been followed.
Coptic is a highly compounding language, mostly by prefixation. All prefixal elements are proclitic, i.e. unstressed and bound, to the word which stands last in the sequence, regardless of its length, e.g.
ϩⲛ̄ ⲧⲉϥⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲧⲧⲁⲕⲟ = ϩⲛ̄-ⲧⲉ-ϥ-ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ-ⲁⲧ-ⲧⲁⲕⲟ́
in his imperishability
Any element designated as prefixal in the course of the Lessons should be considered as proclitic. All simple prepositions are proclitic, like ϩⲛ̄ in the above example, but for the sake of clarity they are written as separate words in this text.
The main stress, then, is on the word standing at the end of the compound. The successive application of the following rules will enable the reader to apply the correct stress in all but the rarest cases:
Assimilation, for our present purposes, may be defined briefly as the alteration of a sound due to its proximity to another sound, usually resulting in greater phonetic compatibility. The final ⲛ̄ of prefixal elements (e.g. prepositions, particles, articles) is regularly assimilated to ⲙ̄ before ⲡ and ⲙ, e.g.
*ϩⲛ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ → ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ
in the house
*ⲛ̄ⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ → ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ
the signs
The assimilation of consonant -ⲛ also occurs but is not standard, e.g. ⲧⲉⲙⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ for ⲧⲉⲛⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ (our faith). In some texts the particle ⲛ̄, which has several grammatical functions, assimilates completely to ⲃ, ⲗ, and ⲣ, e.g. ⲛ̄ⲃⲣ̄ⲣⲉ → ⲃ̄ⲃⲣ̄ⲣⲉ (the young), ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ → ⲣ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ (the men). This is not considered standard, but it is not uncommon; numerous examples will be met in our reading selection from the Wisdom of Solomon.
Whatever the pronunciation of the supralinear stroke was, an alternate spelling with -ⲁ- often occurs before final -ϩ: ⲱⲛⲁϩ = ⲱⲛϩ̄ to live. This represents an assimilation to the guttural quality of ϩ.
An alternation between -ⲱ- and -ⲟⲩ- in certain word patterns is a result of an assimilation in the pre-Coptic stage. ⲱ was altered to ⲟⲩ after ⲙ and ⲛ; thus, words like ⲙⲟⲩϩ, ⲛⲟⲩϫⲉ, ⲙⲟⲩⲟⲩⲧ, and ⲛⲟⲩⲕ originally had the same vowel as ⲕⲱⲧ, ⲕⲱⲧⲉ, ⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ, and ⲧⲱⲕ respectively.
Greek words in Coptic are usually spelled correctly. Certain types of errors do occasionally occur, however, resulting in part from the discrepancy between the classical spelling and the contemporary pronunciation, and they must be taken into account when consulting a standard Greek dictionary. The most frequent of these are confusions between (1) ⲏ and ⲩ; (2) ⲉ and ⲁⲓ; (3) ⲓ and ⲏ; (4) ⲟ and ⲱ; (5) ⲅ and ⲕ; (6) ⲓ and ⲉⲓ; (7) ⲏ and ⲉ; (8) ⲧ and ⲇ; (9) initial ϩ and zero. All of these are illustrated by the following words chosen from our Reading Selections.
1.1 Gender. There are two grammatical genders in Coptic: masculine and feminine. Nouns denoting male beings are usually masculine; those denoting females, feminine. The gender of other nouns cannot, in general, be deduced either from their form or meaning and must be learned for each noun. Examples:
| masculine | |
|---|---|
| ⲉⲓⲱⲧ | father |
| ⲕⲁϩ | earth, ground |
| ϩⲟⲟⲩ | day |
| feminine | |
|---|---|
| ⲙⲁⲁⲩ | mother |
| ⲡⲉ | sky, heaven |
| ⲟⲩϣⲏ | night |
There are some pairs of nouns where a formal relationship exists between the masculine and the feminine form:
| masculine | |
|---|---|
| ⲥⲟⲛ | brother |
| ϣⲏⲣⲉ | boy, son |
| ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ | old man |
| ⲟⲩϩⲟⲣ | dog (male) |
| feminine | |
|---|---|
| ⲥⲱⲛⲉ | sister |
| ϣⲉⲉⲣⲉ | girl, daughter |
| ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲱ | old woman |
| ⲟⲩϩⲱⲣⲉ | dog (female) |
These will be noted in the lesson vocabularies. The derivational process involved is no longer a productive one in Coptic: such pairs cannot be formed at will.
1.2 Number: singular and plural. Only a relatively small number of nouns have preserved a distinct plural form. For example:
| singular | |
|---|---|
| ⲉⲓⲱⲧ | father |
| ⲥⲟⲛ | brother |
| ϫⲟⲓ | ship |
| plural | |
|---|---|
| ⲉⲓⲟⲧⲉ | fathers |
| ⲥⲛⲏⲩ | brothers |
| ⲉϫⲏⲩ | ships |
The plural is otherwise made explicit by the form of the article (see below), the noun itself remaining unchanged. Those plurals that are in common use will be given in the lesson vocabularies along with the singular. They should be learned as they occur, since there is no consistent pattern for their formation.
1.3 The definite article. The definite article has the forms
| masc. sing. | ⲡ, ⲡⲉ |
| fem. sing. | ⲧ, ⲧⲉ |
| common plural | ⲛ̄, ⲛⲉ |
These are attached directly to the noun, as in
| ⲣⲱⲙⲉ | man |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ | the man |
| ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ | the men |
| ϭⲓϫ | hand |
| ⲧϭⲓϫ | the hand |
| ⲛ̄ϭⲓϫ | the hands |
The plural article appears as ⲙ̄ before ⲡ and ⲙ (cf. Intro., p. xvi):
| ⲡⲉ | sky |
| ⲧⲡⲉ | the sky |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲏⲩⲉ | the heavens |
| ⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ | sign |
| ⲡⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ | the sign |
| ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ | the signs |
Before nouns beginning with a vowel the plural article appears as either ⲛ̄ or ⲛ:
| ⲉϫⲏⲩ | ships |
| ⲛ̄ⲉϫⲏⲩ or ⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ | the ships |
Before initial stroked consonants there are several possibilities:
| ⲙ̄ⲧⲟⲛ | ⲛ̄ⲕⲁ |
| ⲉⲙⲧⲟⲛ | ⲉⲛⲕⲁ |
| repose | thing |
| ⲡⲉⲙⲧⲟⲛ | ⲛⲉⲛⲕⲁ |
| ⲡⲙ̄ⲧⲟⲛ | ⲛⲛ̄ⲕⲁ |
| ⲡⲉⲙ̄ⲧⲟⲛ | ⲛ̄ⲛ̄ⲕⲁ |
| the repose | the things |
The fuller forms ⲡⲉ-, ⲧⲉ-, ⲛⲉ- are used regularly before nouns beginning with two consonants:
| ⲕⲗⲟⲙ | crown |
| ⲡⲉⲕⲗⲟⲙ | the crown |
| ⲛⲉⲕⲗⲟⲙ | the crowns |
| ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ | woman |
| ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ | the woman |
| ⲛⲉϩⲓⲟⲙⲉ | the women |
Note that ⲟⲩ and (ⲉ)ⲓ have a consonantal value (w and y respectively) in certain initial situations:
| ⲟⲩϩⲟⲣ | dog |
| ⲡⲉⲩϩⲟⲣ | the dog (pewhor) |
| ⲛⲉⲩϩⲟⲟⲣ | the dogs |
| ϩⲓⲏ | road |
| ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ | the road (tehyē) |
| ⲛⲉϩⲓⲟⲟⲩⲉ | the roads |
The fuller forms are also used with certain nouns denoting periods of time:
| ⲡⲉⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓϣ | the time |
| ⲡⲉϩⲟⲟⲩ | the day |
| ⲧⲉⲩⲛⲟⲩ | the hour (ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩ) |
| ⲧⲉⲣⲟⲙⲡⲉ | the year |
| ⲧⲉⲩϣⲏ | the night (ⲟⲩϣⲏ) |
Note that ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩ and ⲟⲩϣⲏ fall under the two-consonant rule above.
1.4 Prepositions. Coptic prepositions are proclitic (i.e. unstressed and bound) to the word they govern. In many texts some or all of the prepositions are printed as a unit with the following word: ϩⲓⲡϫⲟⲓ on the ship, ⲉⲡⲏⲓ to the house. In this text, however, all prepositions will be printed as separate words: ϩⲓ ⲡϫⲟⲓ, ⲉ ⲡⲏⲓ. An exception will be made only in the case of the preposition ⲉ (to, for) if it is ligatured orthographically to a following ⲟⲩ- as ⲉⲩ-.
The preposition ⲙⲛ̄ (with) is used as the conjunction "and" in joining two nouns:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ |
| the man and the woman |
A definite noun followed by a prepositional phrase or local adverb (e.g. ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ there) constitutes a full predication (sentence) in Coptic:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ϩⲓ ⲡϫⲟⲓ. |
| The man is on the ship. |
| ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ. |
| The woman is in the house. |
| ⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| The ships are there. |
In sentences of this type there is no overt equivalent of English "is/are". We shall refer to sentences of this type as sentences with adverbial predicates.
In the lesson vocabularies all nouns will be given with the definite article, separated from the noun by a period. This device makes both the gender of the noun and the correct form of the article clear at a glance. To save space, the article is not included in the definition. Prepositions and particles which regularly have assimilation of final ⲛ̄ to ⲙ̄ before ⲡ and ⲙ will be noted, as e.g. ϩⲛ̄ (ϩⲙ̄).
2.1 The indefinite article. The indefinite article for nouns of either gender is ⲟⲩ in the singular, ϩⲉⲛ in the plural, prefixed directly to the noun:
| ⲟⲩϫⲟⲓ | a ship |
| ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ | a man |
| ⲟⲩϩⲓⲏ | a road |
| ϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ | ships, some ships |
| ϩⲉⲛⲣⲱⲙⲉ | men, some men |
| ϩⲉⲛϩⲓⲟⲟⲩⲉ | roads, some roads |
The plural indefinite article may be translated as "some, certain" or be omitted entirely in translation, as the context requires. The plural indefinite article is frequently written as ϩⲛ̄ and is easily confused with the preposition ϩⲛ̄. In the exercises to the lessons we shall always distinguish between the two, but in part of the Reading Selections the orthography of the source is maintained.
Because the use of the Coptic articles, both definite and indefinite, corresponds closely to the use of the articles in English, only exceptions to this general correspondence will be noted in the following lessons when appropriate. References to the omission of the article require special attention. For the present lesson note that indefinite nouns designating unspecific quantities of a substance require an indefinite article in Coptic where there is none in English:
| ⲟⲩⲙⲟⲟⲩ | water |
| ϩⲉⲛⲟⲉⲓⲕ | bread |
| ϩⲉⲛⲁϥ | meat |
The choice between the singular and plural article here is lexical, i.e. it depends on the particular noun. All such nouns, if definite and specific, may of course appear with the definite article: ⲡⲙⲟⲟⲩ, ⲡⲟⲉⲓⲕ, ⲡⲁϥ. Abstract nouns, such as ⲙⲉ truth, often appear with either article (ⲟⲩⲙⲉ, ⲧⲙⲉ) where English employs no article.
2.2 Indefinite nouns cannot be used as subjects of sentences with adverbial predicates unless introduced by the word ⲟⲩⲛ̄- or its negative:
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ϩⲓ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ. |
| A monk is on the road. |
ⲟⲩⲛ̄- is actually a predicator of existence ("there is, there are"), and the sentence given may also be translated as "There is a monk on the road.".
The negative of ⲟⲩⲛ̄- is ⲙⲛ̄- (also spelled ⲙ̄ⲙⲛ̄-). In general, an indefinite article is deleted (omitted) in negation in Coptic:
| ⲙⲛ̄-ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ϩⲓ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ. |
| There is no monk on the road. |
| ⲙⲛ̄-ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ. |
| There is no man in the house. |
ⲟⲩⲛ̄- and ⲙⲛ̄- are not used before definite nouns.
The sentence ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ is negated by adding ⲁⲛ:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ ⲁⲛ. |
| The man is not in the house. |
2.3 The genitive (or possessive) relationship between two nouns is expressed by the preposition ⲛ̄ (of):
| ⲡⲏⲓ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| the house of the man |
| the man's house |
| ⲧϣⲉⲉⲣⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ |
| the woman's daughter |
If the first noun is indefinite, however, the preposition ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ is used instead of ⲛ̄:
| ⲟⲩϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ |
| a book of the monk |
| ⲟⲩϩⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ |
| a servant of the king |
3.1 Relative clauses. As we shall see in subsequent lessons, relative clauses in Coptic exhibit a variety of forms, depending on the type of predication involved. In the present lesson we shall consider only those relative clauses associated with sentences with adverbial predicates. Note the transformation
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ. |
| The man is in the house. |
| → |
| (ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ) ⲉⲧ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ |
| (the man) who is in the house |
The relative pronoun ⲉⲧ functions here as the subject of the relative clause; it is not inflected for number or gender:
| ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ϩⲓ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ |
| the woman who is on the road |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲉⲧ ϩⲛ̄ ⲑⲉⲛⲉⲉⲧⲉ |
| the monks who are in the monastery |
Negation is with ⲁⲛ:
| ⲛ̄ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲉⲧ ϩⲛ̄ ⲑⲉⲛⲉⲉⲧⲉ ⲁⲛ. |
Relative clauses cannot be used to modify an indefinite noun. This is an important general rule of Coptic.
Any relative clause may be substantivized, i.e. converted to the status of a noun, by prefixing the appropriate form of the definite article:
| ⲡⲉⲧ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ |
| the one who (he who, that which) is in the house |
| ⲧⲉⲧ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ |
| the one (f.) who is with the boy |
| ⲛⲉⲧ ϩⲓ ⲡϫⲟⲓ |
| those who (those things which) are on the ship |
Such constructions may refer to persons or things, depending on the context.
The relative clause ⲉⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ, who (which) is there, is used to express the further demonstrative "that":
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ |
| that man |
| ⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ⲉⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ |
| those ships |
3.2 Greek nouns. The typical Coptic text contains a large number of Greek loanwords. Greek masculine and feminine nouns retain their gender; Greek neuter nouns are treated as masculine:
| ὁ ἄγγελος | ⲡⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ | the angel |
| ἡ ἐπιστολή | ⲧⲉⲡⲓⲥⲧⲟⲗⲏ | the letter |
| ἡ ψυχή | ⲧⲉⲯⲩⲭⲏ | the soul |
| τὸ πνεῦμα | ⲡⲉⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ | the spirit |
| τὸ δῶρον | ⲡⲇⲱⲣⲟⲛ | the gift |
Greek nouns appear in the nominative singular form of Greek and are usually not inflected in any way. Occasionally, however, a Coptic plural ending is added to a Greek noun:
| ⲛ̄ⲉⲡⲓⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲟⲩⲉ |
| the letters |
| ⲛⲉⲯⲩⲭⲟⲟⲩⲉ |
| the souls |
The Greek noun ἡ θάλασσα (the sea) was borrowed as ⲧ.ϩⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ, i.e. ⲑ was taken as the definite article plus ϩ. Thus, "a sea" is ⲟⲩϩⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ.
Initial χ, φ, θ, ψ, ξ of Greek nouns are considered two consonants in attaching the definite article (cf. Intro., p. x).
| ⲧⲉ.ⲭⲱⲣⲁ |
| the country |
| ⲡⲉ.ⲫⲓⲗⲟⲥⲟⲫⲟⲥ |
| the philosopher |
| ⲧⲉ.ⲯⲩⲭⲏ |
| the soul |
| ⲧⲉ.ⲑⲩⲥⲓⲁ |
| the offering |
4.1 Pronominal possession is indicated by inserting a bound form of the appropriate pronoun between the definite article and the noun so modified. It is best to learn the forms, i.e. the article plus the pronoun, as a unit:
| masc. sing. noun | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| sg. | 1 com. | ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ | my father |
| 2 masc. | ⲡⲉⲕⲉⲓⲱⲧ | your father | |
| 2 fem. | ⲡⲟⲩⲉⲓⲱⲧ | your father | |
| 3 masc. | ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲱⲧ | his father | |
| 3 fem. | ⲡⲉⲥⲉⲓⲱⲧ | her father | |
| pl. | 1 com. | ⲡⲉⲛⲉⲓⲱⲧ | our father |
| 2 com. | ⲡⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲉⲓⲱⲧ | your father | |
| 3 com. | ⲡⲉⲩⲉⲓⲱⲧ | their father | |
| fem. sing. noun | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| sg. | 1 com. | ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲁⲩ | my mother |
| 2 masc. | ⲧⲉⲕⲙⲁⲁⲩ | your mother | |
| 2 fem. | ⲧⲟⲩⲙⲁⲁⲩ | your mother | |
| 3 masc. | ⲧⲉϥⲙⲁⲁⲩ | his mother | |
| 3 fem. | ⲧⲉⲥⲙⲁⲁⲩ | her mother | |
| pl. | 1 com. | ⲧⲉⲛⲙⲁⲁⲩ | our mother |
| 2 com. | ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲙⲁⲁⲩ | your mother | |
| 3 com. | ⲧⲉⲩⲙⲁⲁⲩ | their mother | |
| plural noun (my brothers, etc.) | ||
|---|---|---|
| sg. | 1 com. | ⲛⲁⲥⲛⲏⲩ |
| 2 masc. | ⲛⲉⲕⲥⲛⲏⲩ | |
| 2 fem. | ⲛⲟⲩⲥⲛⲏⲩ | |
| 3 masc. | ⲛⲉϥⲥⲛⲏⲩ | |
| 3 fem. | ⲛⲉⲥⲥⲛⲏⲩ | |
| pl. | 1 com. | ⲛⲉⲛⲥⲛⲏⲩ |
| 2 com. | ⲛⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲛⲏⲩ | |
| 3 com. | ⲛⲉⲩⲥⲛⲏⲩ | |
Note that there is a gender distinction in the second and third persons of the singular but not of the plural. This is characteristic of all pronominal paradigms in Coptic. The term "common" (com.) refers to forms or categories where no gender distinction is made.
4.2 The nearer demonstrative "this" is expressed by the forms
| masc. sing. | ⲡⲉⲓ- |
| fem. sing. | ⲧⲉⲓ- |
| com. pl. | ⲛⲉⲓ- |
prefixed directly to the noun:
| ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ | this man |
| ⲧⲉⲓⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ | this woman |
| ⲛⲉⲓⲥⲛⲏⲩ | these brothers |
After a noun with a demonstrative adjective the genitive is usually expressed by ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ, as in
| ⲡⲉⲓϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲥⲟⲛ |
| this book of my brother('s) |
4.3 The pronominal element -ⲕⲉ- inserted between the article and the noun expresses "other":
| ⲡⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ | the other man |
| ⲛ̄ⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ | the other men |
The indefinite article is omitted in the singular but not in the plural:
| ⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ | another man |
| ϩⲉⲛⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ | (some) other men |
-ⲕⲉ- may also be used after demonstrative or possessive prefixes:
| ⲡⲉⲓⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| this other man |
| ⲡⲁⲕⲉϫⲟⲓ |
| my other ship |
-ⲕⲉ- is not inflected for number or gender in this usage.
5.1 Sentences with nominal predicates. A second type of non-verbal sentence is illustrated by
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ. |
| He (It) is my father. |
| ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲁⲩ ⲧⲉ. |
| She (It) is my mother. |
| ⲛⲁⲥⲛⲏⲩ ⲛⲉ. |
| They are (It is) my brothers. |
| ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲡⲉ. |
| He (It) is a man. |
| ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲧⲉ. |
| She (It) is a woman. |
| ϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ⲛⲉ. |
| They are (It is) ships. |
The pronominal subject is expressed by ⲡⲉ (m.s.), ⲧⲉ (f.s.), and ⲛⲉ (pl.), the choice of which depends usually on the gender and number of the predicate noun. Simple two-member sentences like the above are relatively rare except in response to such questions as "Who is that?" "What are these?" where an answer giving the predicate alone is sufficient, the subject being understood from the context. Modifiers of the predicate, such as a genitive phrase, may optionally stand after the pronominal subject.
| ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲟⲩⲏⲏⲃ. |
| He is the son of the priest. |
A nominal subject may be added to the basic predication, producing a three-member sentence in which ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ are reduced virtually to the status of a copula. If the predicate is indefinite, the order is almost always predicate + ⲡⲉ, the subject being placed before or after the whole unit:
| ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ. |
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ. |
| My father is a teacher. |
If the subject and predicate are both definite, the normal position of ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ is between them:
| ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲛⲥⲁϩ. |
| This man is our teacher. |
Identification of subject and predicate in this case can be made only on a contextual basis. The rarer order, ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲡⲉⲛⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ, places as emphasis on the real subject: "As for this man, he is our teacher."
In the event that there is a disagreement in the number or gender of subject and predicate, the copula ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ usually assumes the number and gender of the noun immediately preceding it.
All of the preceding sentences are negated by placing ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄) before the predicate and ⲁⲛ before the ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ:
| ⲙ̄ ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ. |
| It is not my father. |
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ. |
| My father is not a teacher. |
| ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲛⲥⲁϩ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ. |
| This man is not our teacher. |
Note that in the case where both subject and predicate are definite, the nominal element negated is, by definition, the predicate.
Sentences with nominal predicates are converted to the status of relative clauses with ⲉⲧⲉ. For the moment we shall restrict ourselves to those clauses where ⲉⲧⲉ functions as the subject of the relative clause:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ |
| the man who is a teacher |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ |
| the man who is not a teacher |
The phrase ⲉⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ is frequently used to introduce explanatory material, much like English "namely, i.e., that is to say":
| ⲡⲉⲛⲥⲱⲧⲏⲣ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲓ̄ⲥ̄ ⲡⲉⲭ̄ⲥ̄ |
| our savior, i.e. Jesus Christ |
5.2 The nearer demonstrative pronouns (this, these) are ⲡⲁⲓ (m.s.), ⲧⲁⲓ (f.s.), and ⲛⲁⲓ (pl.). They are frequently employed as subjects in sentences with nominal predicates:
| ⲛⲁⲓ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲉϥϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| These are his words. |
| ⲡⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁϫⲟⲓ. |
| This is my ship. |
| ⲧⲁⲓ ⲟⲩϩⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲧⲉ. |
| ⲟⲩϩⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲧⲉ ⲧⲁⲓ. |
| This is a maidservant. |
6.1 The independent personal pronouns.
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | I |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ | you (m.s.) |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟ | you (f.s.) |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟϥ | he, it (m.) |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲥ | she, it (f.) |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲛ | we |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲱⲧⲛ̄ | you (c.pl.) |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲟⲩ | they (c.pl.) |
These pronouns occur frequently in sentences with ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ. When used as predicates in a two-member sentence, they are invariably followed by ⲡⲉ:
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ. | It is I. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ. | It is she. |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ⲡⲉ. | It is we. |
In three-member sentences they may appear in ordinary subject or predicate positions:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲭ̄ⲥ̄. |
| He is the Christ. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟϥ ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲡⲉ. |
| He is a god. |
| ⲛⲉϥϩⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲛⲉ ⲁⲛⲟⲛ. |
| We are his servants. |
In sentences with an indefinite nominal predicate a special construction without ⲡⲉ is used with the pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person; negation is with ⲁⲛ alone:
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲟⲩϩⲁⲙϣⲉ (ⲁⲛ). |
| I am (not) a carpenter. |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ϩⲉⲛⲟⲩⲏⲏⲃ. |
| We are priests. |
In this construction a reduced proclitic form of the pronoun is very often used:
| ⲁⲛⲅ̄- | I |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄- | you (m.s.) |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ- | you (f.s.) |
| ⲁⲛ- | we |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄- | you (c.pl.) |
as in
| ⲁⲛⲅ̄-ⲟⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ (ⲁⲛ). |
| I am (not) an angel. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄-ⲟⲩϩⲁⲙϣⲉ. |
| You are a carpenter. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄-ϩⲉⲛⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ. |
| You are pupils. |
A 3rd person masc. form ⲛ̄ⲧϥ̄- also occurs, but is very rare. The reduced forms of the 1st and 2nd person pronouns may also be used with a definite predicate, but this construction is rather infrequent:
| ⲁⲛⲅ̄-ⲑⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲙ̄ ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ. |
| I am the handmaiden of the Lord. |
6.2 The interrogative pronouns.
| ⲛⲓⲙ | who? |
| ⲁϣ | what? |
| ⲟⲩ | what? |
These pronouns are used in sentences with ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ:
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ? |
| Who is it? |
| ⲁϣ ⲡⲉ? |
| What is it? |
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ? |
| Who is this man? |
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲁⲛ? |
| What is your name? (note idiom) |
| ⲟⲩ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓ? |
| What is this? |
| ⲟⲩ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲁⲓ? |
| What are these? |
The interrogative pronoun normally stands first. The choice of number and gender for the copula depends on the understood or expressed subject. The pronoun ⲟⲩ is also found with the indefinite article:
| ⲟⲩⲟⲩ ⲡⲉ? |
| What is it? (lit.: It is a what?) |
| ϩⲉⲛⲟⲩ ⲛⲉ? |
| What are they? (lit.: They are whats?) |
When the subject is a personal pronoun of the 1st or 2nd person, it may be placed before ⲛⲓⲙ or ⲟⲩ in normal or proclitic form:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄-ⲛⲓⲙ? |
| Who are you? |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ ⲟⲩⲟⲩ? |
| What are you? |
The personal pronoun may be repeated for emphasis:
| ⲁⲛⲅ̄-ⲛⲓⲙ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ? |
| Who am I? |
Note that ⲛⲓⲙ may also be used in ordinary genitive constructions:
| ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲓⲙ? |
| Whose son? |
7.1 The First Perfect. Verbal inflection in Coptic is commonly, but not solely, of the form: verbal prefix + subject (noun/pronoun) + verb. The infinitive is the main lexical form of the verb and may occur in all of the verbal conjugations. Its uses and further modifications will be dealt with in subsequent lessons. The conjugation known as the First Perfect is the narrative past tense par excellence and corresponds to the English preterite (simple past: I wrote, I wept, I sat down) or, if the context demands, the English perfect (I have written):
| ⲁⲓⲃⲱⲕ | I went |
| ⲁⲕⲃⲱⲕ | you (m.s.) went |
| ⲁⲣⲃⲱⲕ | you (f.s.) went |
| ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ | he went |
| ⲁⲥⲃⲱⲕ | she went |
| ⲁⲛⲃⲱⲕ | we went |
| ⲁⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲃⲱⲕ | you (c.pl.) went |
| ⲁⲩⲃⲱⲕ | they went |
The pronominal elements are for the most part familiar from the possessive prefixes of Lesson 4. In the 1st person singular ⲓ is normal for most of the verbal system (contrast the -ⲁ- of ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ). The pronominal element of the 2nd person feminine exhibits much variation and should be noted carefully for each conjugation introduced: ⲁⲣⲉⲃⲱⲕ and ⲁⲃⲱⲕ are also attested in the First Perfect.
If the subject is nominal, the verbal prefix is ⲁ-:
| ⲁ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲃⲱⲕ |
| the man went |
There are two other ways in which nominal subjects may be used in a verbal phrase: (1) they may stand before the verbal unit, which in the First Perfect still requires a pronoun as well:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ |
| the man went |
| ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲥⲃⲱⲕ |
| the woman went |
or (2) they may stand after the verbal unit, again with a pronominal subject, introduced by the element ⲛ̄ϭⲓ:
| ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲛ̄ϭⲓ ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| the man went |
| ⲁⲥⲃⲱⲕ ⲛ̄ϭⲓ ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ |
| the woman went |
All three constructions are common and differ only in the emphasis accorded the subject. When the verbal prefix is followed by the indefinite article, the resulting ⲁ-ⲟⲩ... may be spelled ⲁⲩ..., as in
| ⲁ-ⲟⲩϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲃⲱⲕ |
| ⲁⲩϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲃⲱⲕ |
| a monk went |
7.2 The prepositions ⲉ, ϣⲁ, ⲉϫⲛ̄ are frequent after verbs of motion.
ⲉ indicates motion to or toward a place or person, less commonly motion onto or into:
| ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲟ. |
| He went to the shore. |
| ⲁⲩⲡⲱⲧ ⲉ ⲧⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ. |
| They ran to the church. |
| ⲁⲩⲁⲗⲉ ⲉ ⲡϫⲟⲓ. |
| They got on (or into) the ship. |
Otherwise the preposition ⲉ is very frequent in a general referential sense: "to, for, in regard to," with many other nuances that will be noted in passing.
ϣⲁ indicates motion to, up to; it is used more frequently with persons than places:
| ⲁϥⲡⲱⲧ ϣⲁ ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲱⲧ. |
| He ran to his father. |
| ⲁⲛⲃⲱⲕ ϣⲁ ⲡⲉⲡⲓⲥⲕⲟⲡⲟⲥ. |
| We went to the bishop. |
ⲉϫⲛ̄ indicates motion onto, on:
| ⲁϥⲁⲗⲉ ⲉϫⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲱ. |
| He got on the donkey. |
| ⲁⲥϩⲉ ⲉϫⲙ̄ ⲡⲕⲁϩ. |
| She fell on the ground. |
ⲉϫⲛ̄ properly denotes motion onto, while ϩⲓϫⲛ̄ denotes static location; the two are sometimes interchanged. The same contrast exists with the less frequent pair ϩⲓⲣⲛ̄ (at the entrance of) and ⲉⲣⲛ̄ (to the entrance of).
Several of the prepositions we have already introduced also occur freely with verbs of motion. For example ϩⲓ, ϩⲓϫⲛ̄ (on or along a surface), ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ (behind, after), ⲙⲛ̄ (along with), ϩⲛ̄ (within a circumscribed area), ⲛ̄ⲛⲁϩⲣⲛ̄ (into the presence of), ϩⲁϩⲧⲛ̄ (up to, near). The preposition ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ often has the sense of English "after" in "to go after," i.e. to go to fetch, or "to run after," i.e. to try to overtake. The reader should give particular attention to the use of prepositions with verbs, since these combinations are sometimes quite idiomatic and unpredictable.
8.1 Directional adverbs. Coptic possesses a set of directional adverbs which correspond very closely to English adverbs of the type "up, down, in, out, over, along, etc." As with their English counterparts, the directional meanings found with verbs of motion are for all practical purposes the basic meanings (e.g. to go up, to sink down, to run in), but extended uses are equally common (e.g. to shut up, to quiet down, to think over). The Coptic directional adverbs consist formally of the preposition ⲉ plus a noun, with or without the definite article. Most of the nouns in question are seldom met outside of these particular expressions and will be considered in more detail in a later lesson. Because these adverbs are so frequent, we shall follow the practice of other editors and write them as single units. The following eight are the most important:
| ⲉⲃⲟⲗ | out, away |
| ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ | in |
| ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ | up, down |
| ⲉⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ | down |
| ⲉⲑⲏ | forward, ahead |
| ⲉⲡⲁϩⲟⲩ | back, rearward |
| ⲉⲧⲡⲉ | upward |
| ⲉⲡϣⲱⲓ | upward |
The adverbs may be used alone, as in
| ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. | He went away. |
| ⲁϥⲉⲓ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ. | He came in. |
| ⲁϥⲡⲱⲧ ⲉⲡⲁϩⲟⲩ. | He ran back. |
But they very frequently combine with a simple preposition to form a compound prepositional phrase. Among the most frequent of these are
| ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉ | out to, away to |
| ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̄ | out of, out from in, away from; (rarely) out into |
| ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗ | same as preceding |
| ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓ | away from on, out from on, away from at |
| ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̄ | (1) away from (a person); (2) through, out through (a place); (3) through the agency of (a person or thing) |
| ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉ | to, into, toward |
| ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ ⲉ | up to, down to |
| ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ ⲉϫⲛ̄ | up onto, down upon |
| ⲉⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ ⲉ | down to, down into, down onto, down on |
| ⲉⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ ⲉϫⲛ̄ | down onto, down on |
| ⲉⲡⲁϩⲟⲩ ⲉ | back to |
| ⲉⲑⲏ ⲉ | ahead to, forward to |
The meaning of most such compounds when used with verbs of motion is generally self-evident, but caution is in order when dealing with their use with other verbs. The dictionary should always be consulted to check on idiomatic and unpredictable meanings.
8.2 Clauses containing a First Perfect may be coordinated with the conjunction ⲁⲩⲱ (and) or follow one another with no conjunction (termed "asyndeton"):
| ⲁϥϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| ⲁϥϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ, ⲁϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| He sat down and wept. |
8.3 Many infinitives are used as masculine singular nouns. This usage will be noted without further comment in the lesson vocabularies from now on ("as n.m.:"). For the infinitives in Vocabulary 7 note the nouns ⲡⲉ.ϣⲗⲏⲗ prayer, ⲡ.ⲡⲱⲧ flight, and ⲡ.ⲣⲓⲙⲉ weeping.
Note: Only the less predictable combinations of verb and prepositional phrase will be given in the lesson vocabularies. Other combinations in the exercises should be self-evident from the meanings of the individual words involved.
9.1 Prepositions with pronominal suffixes. A pronominal object of a preposition is expressed by means of a suffixed form of the pronoun. The preposition itself assumes a prepronominal form which must be learned with each preposition. For example, the preposition ⲉ becomes ⲉⲣⲟ⸗ before pronominal suffixes. The mark ⸗ is a convention used in Coptic grammars to indicate any form to which a pronominal suffix is to be added. The prepronominal forms of the prepositions introduced thus far are as follows:
| ⲛ̄ | ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗ |
| ϩⲛ̄ | ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧ⸗ |
| ϩⲁ | ϩⲁⲣⲟ⸗ |
| ϩⲓ | ϩⲓⲱ(ⲱ)⸗ |
| ⲙⲛ̄ | ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁ⸗ |
| ϣⲁ | ϣⲁⲣⲟ⸗ |
| ⲉ | ⲉⲣⲟ⸗ |
| ϩⲓϫⲛ̄ | ϩⲓϫⲱ⸗ |
| ⲉϫⲛ̄ | ⲉϫⲱ⸗ |
| ϩⲓⲧⲛ̄ | ϩⲓⲧⲟⲟⲧ⸗ |
| ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ | ⲛ̄ⲥⲱ⸗ |
| ϩⲓⲣⲛ̄ | ϩⲓⲣⲱ⸗ |
| ⲉⲣⲛ̄ | ⲉⲣⲱ⸗ |
| ⲛⲁϩⲣⲛ̄ | ⲛⲁϩⲣⲁ⸗ |
| ϩⲁϩⲧⲛ̄ | ϩⲁϩⲧⲏ⸗ |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲉ | ⲟⲩⲃⲏ⸗ |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲉ | ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧ⸗ |
Because the variety exhibited by the prepronominal forms is at first puzzling, the following comments may be of some help:
The nouns contained in these expressions will be dealt with in a later lesson.
Typical inflections of these prepositions are as follows:
| ⲉⲣⲟⲓ | to me |
| ⲉⲣⲟⲕ | to you (m.s.) |
| ⲉⲣⲟ | to you (f.s.) |
| ⲉⲣⲟϥ | to him |
| ⲉⲣⲟⲥ | to her |
| ⲉⲣⲟⲛ | to us |
| ⲉⲣⲱⲧⲛ̄ | to you (pl.) |
| ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ | to them |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲓ | with me |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲕ | etc. |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲉ | |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ | |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲥ | |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲛ | |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲏⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧ | in me |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧⲕ̄ | etc. |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧⲉ | |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧϥ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧⲥ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧⲟⲩ |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲏⲓ | against me |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲏⲕ | etc. |
| [ⲟⲩⲃⲏⲧⲉ] | |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲏϥ | |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲏⲥ | |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲏⲛ | |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲉ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲟⲩⲃⲏⲩ |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧ | because of me |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲕ̄ | etc. |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲉ | |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧϥ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲥ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲉ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲟⲩ |
The prepronominal form of ϩⲓ appears as both ϩⲓⲱ⸗ and ϩⲓⲱⲱ⸗; typical forms are
| ϩⲓⲱⲱⲧ | on me |
| ϩⲓⲱⲱⲕ, ϩⲓⲱⲕ | etc. |
| ϩⲓⲱⲱⲧⲉ | |
| ϩⲓⲱⲱϥ, ϩⲓⲱϥ | |
| ϩⲓⲱⲱⲥ, ϩⲓⲱⲥ | |
| ϩⲓⲱⲱⲛ, ϩⲓⲱⲛ | |
| ϩⲓ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ϩⲓⲱⲟⲩ |
The following details on the forms of suffixed pronouns in general should be noted for future reference:
Translate the following prepositional phrases. Replace the nominal object with the appropriate pronominal suffix. E.g. ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲡⲉⲓϩⲱⲃ → ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧϥ̄.
10.1 The Direct Object. The direct object of a transitive verb is usually introduced with the preposition ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄, ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗):
| ⲁϥⲕⲱⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲏⲓ. |
| He built a house. |
| ⲁϥⲕⲱⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ. |
| He built it. |
Many verbs, especially those denoting perception, employ ⲉ:
| ⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲡⲉϥϩⲣⲟⲟⲩ. |
| We heard his voice. |
| ⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉⲣⲟϥ. |
| We heard it. |
Occasionally other prepositions assume this function, as for example ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ in
| ⲁϥϣⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ ⲧⲉϥⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ. |
| He looked for his wife. |
| ⲁϥϣⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲥ. |
| He looked for her. |
The appropriate preposition for each transitive verb will be given in the lesson vocabularies when a verb is introduced.
10.2 The Indirect Object (Dative). An indirect object, if present, is introduced with the preposition ⲛ̄ (ⲛⲁ⸗, inflected like ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁ⸗ in §9.1):
| ⲁⲓϯ ⲙ̄ ⲡϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ. |
| I gave the book to the man. |
| ⲁⲓϯ ⲛⲁϥ ⲙ̄ ⲡϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ. |
| I gave him the book. |
| ⲁⲓϯ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ ⲛⲁϥ. |
| I gave it to him. |
It is unfortunate that the prenominal forms of the most frequent direct and indirect object markers are the same (ⲛ̄, ⲙ̄ before ⲡ and ⲙ). In general the direct object precedes the indirect object unless the direct object is nominal and the indirect object is pronominal. In the latter case either order is correct, but there is a preference for placing the indirect object first. The preposition ⲉ (ⲉⲣⲟ⸗) also often marks what Greek and English regard as an indirect object (dative).
10.3 The Negative of the First Perfect. The negative forms of the First Perfect are not formally related to the positive forms:
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲓⲃⲱⲕ | I did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲕⲃⲱⲕ | you (m.s.) did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲃⲱⲕ | you (f.s.) did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥⲃⲱⲕ | he did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲥⲃⲱⲕ | she did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲛⲃⲱⲕ | we did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲃⲱⲕ | you (pl.) did not go |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲟⲩⲃⲱⲕ | they did not go |
With a nominal subject: ⲙ̄ⲡⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲃⲱⲕ the man did not go.
Variant spellings such as ⲙ̄ⲡⲕ̄-, ⲙ̄ⲡϥ̄-, and ⲙ̄ⲡⲛ̄- are not uncommon.
10.4 As noted in Lesson 9, many prepositions consist of a simple preposition compounded with a noun. The nouns occurring in these expressions belong to a special group which take pronominal suffixes to indicate possession. We shall deal with the more important of these individually in later lessons, but for the moment note ⲧⲟⲟⲧ⸗, the pre-suffixal form of ⲧⲱⲣⲉ (hand). The absolute form ⲧⲱⲣⲉ survives only in the special meanings "handle, tool, spade" and in some compound verbal expressions (see Glossary); in the sense of "hand" it has been replaced by ϭⲓϫ. Prepositions compounded with ⲧⲟⲟⲧ⸗, such as ϩⲓⲧⲟⲟⲧ⸗, ⲉⲧⲟⲟⲧ⸗, ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲟⲧ⸗, often employ a construction with an anticipatory pronominal object before the real nominal object, the latter being introduced by the particle ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄):
| ϩⲓⲧⲟⲟⲧϥ̄ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ |
| by (through the agency of) the king |
| ⲉⲧⲟⲟⲧⲟⲩ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉϥⲥⲛⲏⲩ |
| to (into the hands of) his brothers |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲟⲧⲥ̄ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉϥⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ |
| from (from the hand of) his wife |
This same construction is also occasionally found with the other prepositions introduced thus far.
11.1 The Forms of the Infinitive. The nominal or pronominal object of many transitive verbs may be suffixed directly to the infinitive without the use of a prepositional object marker, as in
| ⲁⲓϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ. | → |
| ⲁⲓϭⲛ̄-ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ. | |
| I found my father. |
| ⲁⲓϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ. | → |
| ⲁⲓϭⲛ̄ⲧϥ̄. | |
| I found him. |
Infinitives that allow this construction have three distinct forms: (1) the normal (absolute) dictionary form (ϭⲓⲛⲉ), (2) the prenominal form (ϭⲛ̄-; note the conventional use of the single hyphen), and (3) the prepronominal form (ϭⲛ̄ⲧ⸗). For infinitives of some patterns these three forms are more or less predictable; for others there is much irregularity. We shall deal with the most important patterns individually in subsequent lessons. The forms of the pronouns to be suffixed to a given infinitive are very much the same as those suffixed to the prepronominal forms of the prepositions as given in §9.1. Other examples will be given as required.
11.2 Infinitives of the pattern ϫⲓ (i.e. consonant + ⲓ). Infinitives of this pattern show some irregularities, but three of these verbs (ϥⲓ, ϯ, ϫⲓ) are especially frequent and their forms should be learned:
| ϯ | ϯ- | ⲧⲁⲁ⸗ | to give |
| ϫⲓ | ϫⲓ- | ϫⲓⲧ⸗ | to take |
| ϥⲓ | ϥⲓ- | ϥⲓⲧ⸗ | to raise, carry |
| ϣⲓ | ϣⲓ- | ϣⲓⲧ⸗ | to measure |
The verbs ⲥⲓ (to become sated) and ⲉⲓ (to come) are intransitive and do not take direct objects. ϥⲓ, ϣⲓ, and ⲥⲓ may also be spelled as ϥⲉⲓ, ϣⲉⲓ, and ⲥⲉⲓ; the spelling ⲧⲉⲓ for ϯ is rare.
Object pronouns are attached to these verbs as follows:
| ϫⲓⲧ |
| ϫⲓⲧⲕ̄ |
| ϫⲓⲧⲉ |
| ϫⲓⲧϥ̄ |
| ϫⲓⲧⲥ̄ |
| ϫⲓⲧⲛ̄ |
| ϫⲓ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ |
| ϫⲓⲧⲟⲩ |
| ⲧⲁⲁⲧ |
| ⲧⲁⲁⲕ |
| ⲧⲁⲁⲧⲉ |
| ⲧⲁⲁϥ |
| ⲧⲁⲁⲥ |
| ⲧⲁⲁⲛ |
| ϯ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲁⲩ |
Note that ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ (2nd pers. pl.) is attached to the prenominal form of the infinitive; the prepronominal form is also found: ϫⲓⲧ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄.
12.1 The relative form of the First Perfect. When the First Perfect is used in relative clauses, it combines with the relative pronoun into a single unit.
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | which I heard |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | etc. |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲛⲧⲁ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
These forms are very frequently spelled with ⲛ̄ for initial ⲉⲛ-, as ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓ-, ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕ-, etc.
The relative pronoun ⲉⲛⲧ- of the preceding paradigm and ⲉⲧ, which was introduced in §3.1, cannot be preceded directly by prepositions or direct object markers. The real syntactic function of the relative pronoun within the relative clause must be expressed by a resumptive pronoun. The general construction is most clearly understood by "Copticizing" a few English examples:
| the man who went → |
| the man who he went |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ |
| the man whom I saw → |
| the man who I saw him |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ |
| the man to whom I gave the money → |
| the man who I gave the money to him |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓϯ-ⲡϩⲁⲧ ⲛⲁϥ |
| the boat into which we climbed → |
| the boat which we climbed into it |
| ⲡϫⲟⲓ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲛⲁⲗⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ |
| the sound which they heard → |
| the sound which they heard it |
| ⲡⲉϩⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉⲣⲟϥ |
This use of resumptive pronouns is required in Coptic in all but a few instances which will be mentioned later on. Similar constructions with ⲉⲧ will be treated in Lesson 19.
When a relative clause contains more than one verb, the relative pronoun need not be repeated:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ |
| the man who arose and left |
12.2 The relative pronoun has the form ⲉⲧⲉ before the negative First Perfect:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥⲡⲱⲧ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ |
| the man who did not flee |
| ⲛ̄ϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲟⲩ |
| the books which he did not find |
12.3 As mentioned in §3.1, all relative clauses in Coptic may be substantivized by prefixing the appropriate form of the definite article. Resumptive pronouns are required. Study the following examples carefully:
| the one who (or: he who) went |
| ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ |
| the one (m.) whom they sent |
| ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ |
| the one (m.) to whom I gave the money |
| ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓϯ-ⲡϩⲁⲧ ⲛⲁϥ |
| that (m.) which I took from you |
| ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓϫⲓⲧϥ̄ ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲟⲧⲕ̄ |
| those who took it (m.) |
| ⲛⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩϫⲓⲧϥ̄ |
| the one (f.) whom they entrusted to us |
| ⲧⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩⲧⲁⲁⲥ ⲉⲧⲟⲟⲧⲛ̄ |
12.4 Infinitives (cont.). With the exception of the verbs treated in §9.2, monosyllabic infinitives of the pattern consonant + vowel are relatively uncommon and do not constitute any sort of unified class. Some of these verbs are very important, however, and their forms should be learned:
| ⲥⲱ | ⲥⲉ- | ⲥⲟⲟ⸗ | to drink |
| ⲕⲱ | ⲕⲁ- | ⲕⲁⲁ⸗ | to put, place |
| ⲉⲓⲱ | ⲉⲓⲁ- | ⲉⲓⲁⲁ⸗ | to wash |
| ϫⲱ | ϫⲉ- | ϫⲟⲟ⸗ | to say |
| ⲙⲉ | ⲙⲉⲣⲉ- | ⲙⲉⲣⲓⲧ⸗ | to love |
Some verbs of this type are intransitive and do not take direct objects: e.g. ⲙⲟⲩ (to die), ⲛⲁ (to pity), ϣⲁ (to rise: of the sun etc.), ϩⲉ (to fall), ϭⲱ (to remain).
12.5 When introducing a direct quotation, the verb ϫⲱ requires a "dummy" object (it: ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ, -ⲥ) followed by the conjunction ϫⲉ, as in
| ⲁϥϫⲟⲟⲥ ϫⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ. |
| He said, "I have not seen him." |
With this particular verb the alternate object form ϫⲱ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ is not permitted in the First Perfect. ϫⲱ may, of course, have a real direct object otherwise:
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲓϫⲉ-ⲛⲁⲓ. |
| I did not say these things. |
13.1 The Temporal. A special conjugation is used to express a subordinate temporal clause (English "when" with a simple past or pluperfect verb), as in
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ, ⲁⲓⲡⲱⲧ ϣⲁⲣⲟϥ. |
| When I saw him, I ran to him. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉϥϫⲱⲕ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥϩⲱⲃ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ, ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. |
| When he had completed his work, he left. |
The full inflection of this form, called the Temporal Conjugation, is as follows:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | when I heard |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | etc. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲟⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| when the man heard |
Alternate spellings, such as ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲓ-, ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲕ̄-, ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣϥ̄-, are common.
The Temporal is negated by prefixing -ⲧⲙ̄- to the infinitive:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲧⲙ̄ϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ |
| when I did not find him |
With a nominal subject, -ⲧⲙ̄- usually remains with the verbal prefix:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲧⲙ̄-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲟⲩⲱϣⲃ̄ |
| when the man did not answer |
A Temporal clause usually stands before the main clause, but occurrences after the main clause are not rare:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲛⲉϥϣⲁϫⲉ, ⲁⲓⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| ⲁⲓⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲛⲉϥϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| I wept when I heard his words. |
When a Temporal clause is continued with a second verb, the Temporal prefix is not repeated and the First Perfect is used:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲡⲉϥϩⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ⲡⲉϥϩⲟ... |
| when I heard his voice and saw his face... |
13.2 Relative clauses with ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ. Contrast the two sentences:
| ⲁ-ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲕⲁⲁⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| My father left me there. |
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲕⲁⲁⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| It was my father who left me there. |
The second sentence, known in English as a type of cleft sentence ("it was ... that/who ..."), singles out the subject ("my father and no one else") as the actor, while the first sentence merely describes a past action with no special emphasis. The Coptic correspondent of the English cleft sentence employs ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ followed by the relative form of the verb. ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ usually combine with the relative form to produce ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓ-, ⲛⲉⲛⲧⲁⲕ-, etc.:
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲕⲁⲁⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
This form should not be confused with the nominalized relative ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ etc., which consists of the definite article plus the relative form (see §12.3). Contrast
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲕⲁⲁⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| It was my father who left me there. |
| ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲕⲁⲁⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| My father is the one who left me there. |
The second sentence is a normal ⲡⲉ sentence: ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ is the subject, ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲕⲁⲁⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ is the predicate.
The cleft sentence with ⲡⲉ is a favorite one with the interrogative pronouns:
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲕ? |
| Who sent you? |
| Who was it that sent you? |
| ⲟⲩ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲕⲧⲁⲁϥ ⲛⲁⲩ? |
| What did you give to them? |
| What was it that you gave to them? |
Note that in this case the English cleft sentence pattern ("who was it that") is slightly different from the one given above.
13.3 The preposition ⲉ is used before an infinitive to express purpose:
| ⲁⲓⲉⲓ ⲉ ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲕ. |
| I have come to speak with you. |
The subject of the infinitive in this construction is usually the same as that of the main verb, but some laxness occurs, as in
| ⲁϥⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ ⲉ ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲕ. |
| He sent me to speak with you. |
13.4 Coptic has no real passive conjugations. The passive is expressed by using the 3rd pers. pl. of the active form in an indefinite sense:
| ⲁⲩⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ ϣⲁⲣⲟⲕ. |
| I have been sent to you. |
That such expressions are to be taken in a passive sense is most evident (1) when there is no clear reference for the pronoun "they", or (2) when an agent is added, usually with ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̄, as in
| ⲁⲩⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓⲧⲙ̄ ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ. |
| I have been sent by the king. |
13.5 Infinitives (continued). Transitive infinitives of the pattern ⲕⲱⲧ have the following forms:
| ⲕⲱⲧ | ⲕⲉⲧ- | ⲕⲟⲧ⸗ | to build |
| ϫⲱⲕ | ϫⲉⲕ- | ϫⲟⲕ⸗ | to complete |
| ϩⲱⲡ | ϩⲉⲡ- | ϩⲟⲡ⸗ | to hide, to conceal |
| ⲱⲡ | ⲉⲡ- | ⲟⲡ⸗ | to count |
Transitive verbs of this pattern are quite common.
14.1 The Second Perfect. As we shall see in subsequent lessons, each "first" tense in Coptic has a counterpart called a second tense, the use of which places a special emphasis on some element of the sentence other than the verb, usually an adverbial phrase. Contrast the following:
First Perfect:
| ⲁ-ⲡⲁⲓ ϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲕ̄. |
| This happened because of you. |
Second Perfect:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ-ⲡⲁⲓ ϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲕ̄. |
| It was because of you that this happened. |
As our translation indicates, the English cleft sentence is a handy way to render Coptic sentences with second tense verbal forms. Except for the special uses taken up below, the use of a second tense is not obligatory but depends on what the writer chooses to emphasize.
The Second Perfect has the same inflectional forms as the Relative of the First Perfect, but usually without the initial ⲉ: ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, etc.
When phrases containing interrogative pronouns or adverbs are placed after the verb, a second tense is regularly used, but exceptions are not rare:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩ? |
| Why did you send him? |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥⲉⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲓⲉⲡⲓⲥⲧⲟⲗⲏ ⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ? |
| To whom did he bring this letter? |
But if the interrogative phrase is placed first, as is usually the case with ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩ, the first tense is used:
| ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩ ⲁⲕⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ? |
14.2 Further remarks on interrogative pronouns and adverbs. The interrogative pronouns ⲛⲓⲙ (who?) and ⲟⲩ (what?) may be used as subjects or objects of verbs and as objects of prepositions. When they are used as the subject of a verb, the verb is normally in the second tense form:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ-ⲟⲩ ϣⲱⲡⲉ? |
| What happened? |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ-ⲛⲓⲙ ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ? |
| Who went in? |
Examples of object usage, again regularly with the second tense:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ? |
| Whom did you see? |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕⲧⲁⲁϥ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲓⲙ? |
| To whom did you give it? |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥⲕⲁ-ⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ? |
| What did he put there? |
The construction introduced in §13.2 is used much more frequently than the preceding:
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ? |
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲕⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ? |
The interrogative adverbs ⲧⲱⲛ (where?), ⲉ ⲧⲱⲛ (whither?), ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲧⲱⲛ (whence?), and ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲩ (or ⲧⲛⲁⲩ, when?) occur regularly in post-verbal position with a second tense:
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ-ⲡⲉⲕⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉ ⲧⲱⲛ? |
| Where did your father go? |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩ ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲩ? |
| When did they die? |
14.3 Infinitives (continued). In infinitives of the type ⲕⲱⲧ the ⲱ is modified to ⲟⲩ when the initial consonant is ⲙ or ⲛ:
| ⲙⲟⲩⲣ | ⲙⲉⲣ- | ⲙⲟⲣ⸗ | to bind |
| ⲙⲟⲩⲛ | — | — | to remain |
The ⲟ of the presuffixal form is regularly replaced by ⲁ before stem final ϩ and (usually) ϣ:
| ⲟⲩⲱϩ | ⲟⲩⲉϩ- | ⲟⲩⲁϩ⸗ | to put, place |
| ⲟⲩⲱϣ | ⲟⲩⲉϣ- | ⲟⲩⲁϣ⸗ | to want, desire |
| ⲙⲟⲩϩ | ⲙⲉϩ- | ⲙⲁϩ⸗ | to fill |
15.1 Adjectives. Although there is some debate over the existence of adjectives as a grammatical category in Coptic, it is nevertheless convenient to retain the designation for the words treated in this lesson. Most attributive adjectives may either precede or follow the noun they modify, joined to the noun with a linking particle ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄). The noun and adjective form a close unit; any article, possessive adjective, or demonstrative stands before the whole unit:
| ⲟⲩⲛⲟϭ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ |
| ⲟⲩⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲟϭ |
| a large city |
| ⲡⲁⲙⲉⲣⲓⲧ ⲛ̄ ϣⲏⲣⲉ |
| ⲡⲁϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲉⲣⲓⲧ |
| my beloved son |
| ⲡⲥⲁⲃⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲥⲁⲃⲉ |
| the wise man |
These examples represent the normal attributive adjective construction. There are, however, some restrictions on certain special groups of adjectives:
Some adjectives have distinct feminine and plural forms; e.g.
| masc. | fem. | pl. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⲕⲁⲙⲉ | ⲕⲁⲙⲏ | — | black |
| ϩⲁⲉ | ϩⲁⲏ | ϩⲁⲉⲉⲩ(ⲉ) | last |
| ⲥⲁⲃⲉ | ⲥⲁⲃⲏ | ⲥⲁⲃⲉⲉⲩ(ⲉ) | wise |
| ϭⲁⲗⲉ | — | ϭⲁⲗⲉⲉⲩ(ⲉ) | lame |
| ⲙⲉⲣⲓⲧ | — | ⲙⲉⲣⲁⲧⲉ | beloved |
| ϣⲟⲣⲡ̄ | ϣⲟⲣⲡⲉ | — | first |
| ϩⲟⲩⲉⲓⲧ | ϩⲟⲩⲉⲓⲧⲉ | ϩⲟⲩⲁⲧⲉ | first |
| ϣⲙ̄ⲙⲟ | ϣⲙ̄ⲙⲱ | ϣⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ | alien, foreign |
The plurals in -ⲉⲉⲩⲉ also occur as -ⲉⲉⲩ. The fem. forms are used with sing. and plural fem. nouns. The plural forms occur mainly in substantivized usage:
| ⲛ̄ⲥⲁⲃⲉⲉⲩⲉ |
| the wise |
| ⲛ̄ϩⲟⲩⲁⲧⲉ |
| the elders, prominent persons (e.g. of a city) |
Greek adjectives may appear (1) in the Gk. masc. sing. form with nouns of either gender or number:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲥ |
| the good man |
| ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲥ |
| the good woman |
or (2) in the Gk. fem. sing. form if the modified noun refers to a female person:
| ⲧⲉⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲅⲁⲑⲏ |
| the good woman |
or (3) in the Gk. neuter form with nouns of either gender if they denote non-humans:
| ⲧⲉⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲗⲉⲓⲟⲛ |
| the perfect spirit |
Greek substantivized neuter adjectives are treated as masculine in Coptic:
| ⲡⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲛ |
| good, that which is good (τὸ ἀγαθόν) |
A noun may be modified by more than one adjective, with various orders:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ϩⲏⲕⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲇⲓⲕⲁⲓⲟⲥ |
| the righteous poor man |
| ⲡⲛⲟϭ ⲛ̄ ⲣ̄ⲣⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲇⲓⲕⲁⲓⲟⲥ |
| the great (and) righteous king |
All Coptic adjectives may be substantivized ("one who is..., that which is...") by prefixing the appropriate form of the article:
| ⲡⲉⲃⲓⲏⲛ |
| the poor man |
| ⲛⲉⲃⲓⲏⲛ |
| the poor (people) |
| ⲡⲉⲓϩⲏⲕⲉ |
| this poor man |
| ⲧⲉⲓϩⲏⲕⲉ |
| this poor woman |
| ⲟⲩⲥⲁⲃⲉ |
| a wise man |
| ϩⲉⲛⲥⲁⲃⲉⲉⲩⲉ |
| wise men |
When the first noun in a genitive construction is followed by an adjectival phrase, ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ may optionally be used instead of ⲛ̄ for the genitive:
| ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲛ̄ ϭⲁⲗⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| the man's crippled child |
15.2 Adjectives as predicates are treated exactly like noun predicates. Note the obligatory use of the indefinite article:
| ⲟⲩⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ. |
| He is good. |
| ⲛ̄ ϩⲉⲛⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲥ ⲁⲛ ⲛⲉ. |
| They are not good. |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲟⲩⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ. |
| The man is good. |
| ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ϩⲉⲛⲇⲓⲕⲁⲓⲟⲥ ⲛⲉ. |
| The men are just. |
| ⲟⲩⲛⲟϭ ⲧⲉ ⲧⲉⲓⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ. |
| This city is large. |
15.3 The cardinal numbers from one to five are
| masc. | fem. | |
|---|---|---|
| one | ⲟⲩⲁ | ⲟⲩⲉⲓ |
| two | ⲥⲛⲁⲩ | ⲥⲛ̄ⲧⲉ |
| three | ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ | ϣⲟⲙⲧⲉ |
| four | ϥⲧⲟⲟⲩ | ϥⲧⲟⲉ, ϥⲧⲟ |
| five | ϯⲟⲩ | ϯⲉ, ϯ |
The numbers from three upward stand before the noun with the adjectival ⲛ̄. The noun is in the singular form, as is the definite article when present:
| ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ ⲛ̄ ϫⲟⲓ |
| three ships |
| ⲡϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲣ̄ⲣⲟ |
| the three kings |
| ⲧⲉⲓϣⲟⲙⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲟⲙⲡⲉ |
| these three years |
Note the absence of the indefinite article in the indefinite expressions.
The number one is construed in the same way, but the linking ⲛ̄ may be omitted:
| (ⲡ)ⲟⲩⲁ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| (ⲡ)ⲟⲩⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| (the) one man |
The number two follows its noun, which is likewise in the singular; no ⲛ̄ is used:
| (ⲡ)ⲥⲟⲛ ⲥⲛⲁⲩ |
| (the) two brothers |
| (ⲧ)ⲥⲱⲛⲉ ⲥⲛ̄ⲧⲉ |
| (the) two sisters |
And the numbers given in the lesson.
16.1 The interrogative pronouns ⲁϣ, ⲟⲩ, and ⲛⲓⲙ may be used adjectivally. This usage is most frequent in certain fixed expressions, the most important of which are
ⲁϣ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲓⲛⲉ (of) what sort? This phrase is used attributively, as in
| ⲟⲩⲁϣ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ ϫⲟⲓ? |
| What sort of ship? |
or predicatively (note obligatory use of indefinite article):
| ⲟⲩⲁϣ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲓⲛⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲱⲙⲉ? |
| Of what sort is this man? |
ⲁϣ ⲛ̄ ϩⲉ (of) what sort? ⲛ̄ ⲁϣ ⲛ̄ ϩⲉ in what way? how?
| ⲟⲩⲁϣ ⲛ̄ ϩⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁⲉⲓⲛ? |
| Of what sort is this sign? |
| ⲛ̄ ⲁϣ ⲛ̄ ϩⲉ ⲁⲕϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ? |
| How did you find him? |
Similar use of ⲟⲩ and ⲛⲓⲙ is rarer, e.g. ⲛⲓⲙ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ? what man? ⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲓⲛⲉ what sort? In special contexts these same or similar expressions may have an indefinite value: ⲛⲓⲙ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ such and such a person, ⲁϣ ⲛ̄ ϯⲙⲉ some village or other, ⲟⲩ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲟⲩ this and that.
16.2 "Each, every" is expressed by ⲛⲓⲙ (not the same word as ⲛⲓⲙ who?) placed after a singular noun with no article: ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ every man, everyone; ϩⲱⲃ ⲛⲓⲙ everything; ϯⲙⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ every village. Pronominal resumption is usually in the plural:
| ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ |
| everything which we heard |
| ϩⲱⲃ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲟⲛⲏⲣⲟⲛ ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲉⲓⲣⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲟⲩ |
| every evil thing that he did |
But resumption in the singular is not rare.
16.3 The indefinite pronouns are ⲟⲩⲟⲛ anyone; ⲗⲁⲁⲩ anyone, anything. These are most frequent in negative contexts as "no one, nothing":
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ⲟⲩⲟⲛ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| I saw no one there. |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥϯ-ⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲛⲁⲓ. |
| He gave me nothing. |
ⲗⲁⲁⲩ also appears with the indefinite article: ⲟⲩⲗⲁⲁⲩ.
ⲗⲁⲁⲩ is often used adjectively:
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉ-ⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ. |
| No man saw me. |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲓϣⲉⲡ-ⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ ϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲟⲧϥ̄. |
| I received no book from him. |
When (ⲟⲩ)ⲗⲁⲁⲩ or phrases beginning with (ⲟⲩ)ⲗⲁⲁⲩ are direct objects of transitive verbs (i.e. object with ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗), the use of the prenominal form of the infinitive is obligatory in the First Perfect and its negative. Thus ⲙ̄ⲡⲓϣⲱⲡ ⲛ̄ ⲗⲁⲁⲩ... is not permitted in the sentence above.
As a nominal predicate ⲗⲁⲁⲩ means "nothing", even when no negative is formally involved. The indefinite article is obligatory:
| ⲁⲛⲅ̄-ⲟⲩⲗⲁⲁⲩ. |
| I am nothing. |
| ϩⲉⲛⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲉⲩⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ. |
| Their gods are nothing. |
ⲛ̄ ⲗⲁⲁⲩ or ⲗⲁⲁⲩ alone may be used adverbially in the sense "(not) at all":
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲓϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ (ⲛ̄) ⲗⲁⲁⲩ. |
| I didn't speak with him at all. |
Note also the expression ⲟⲩⲟⲛ ⲛⲓⲙ everyone, everybody.
16.4 "All, the whole (of)" is expressed by ⲧⲏⲣ⸗ used in apposition to a preceding noun or pronoun. A resumptive suffix is required:
| ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ |
| all the men (lit. the men, all of them) |
| ⲡⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⲧⲏⲣϥ̄ |
| the whole world, all the world |
| ⲁⲩⲉⲓ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ. |
| They all came in. |
The pronominal suffixes are the same as those used on prepositions and infinitives; the 2nd pers. pl. form is ⲧⲏⲣⲧⲛ̄. The 3rd pers. pl. ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ may also be used for 2nd pers. pl. reference.
16.5 The numbers from six to ten:
| masc. | fem. | |
|---|---|---|
| six | ⲥⲟⲟⲩ | ⲥⲟ, ⲥⲟⲉ |
| seven | ⲥⲁϣϥ̄ | ⲥⲁϣϥⲉ |
| eight | ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ | ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛⲉ |
| nine | ⲯⲓⲧ, ⲯⲓⲥ | ⲯⲓⲧⲉ, ⲯⲓⲥⲉ |
| ten | ⲙⲏⲧ | ⲙⲏⲧⲉ |
They are used like the numbers three to five in §15.3.
Partitive expressions with numbers employ the preposition ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗):
| ⲟⲩⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| one of the men |
| ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲟⲩ |
| three of them |
| ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ |
| three of the ships |
The number "one", ⲟⲩⲁ (f. ⲟⲩⲉⲓ) is also used as an indefinite pronoun: a certain one, a certain man (or woman), as in
| ⲁ-ⲟⲩⲁ ⲃⲱⲕ ϣⲁ ⲡⲁⲣⲭⲓⲉⲡⲓⲥⲕⲟⲡⲟⲥ. |
| A certain man went to the archbishop. |
And the words and expressions treated in the lesson.
17.1 The Imperative of most verbs is the same as the Infinitive, with no indication of number or gender:
| ⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲓ. |
| Walk behind me. |
| ⲙⲉⲣ-ⲡϫⲟⲓ ⲉ ⲡⲱⲛⲉ. |
| Tie the boat to the rock. |
| ⲙⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ. |
| Love the Lord. |
| ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲛⲁϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| Listen to my words. |
Negation is with the prefix ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄-:
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ. |
| Don't speak with them. |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉ ⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ. |
| Do not go to the city. |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ⲛ̄ⲕⲟⲧⲕ̄ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ. |
| Do not lie down here. |
A few verbs have special Imperative forms with prefixed ⲁ-:
| ⲛⲁⲩ: | ⲁⲛⲁⲩ | look, see |
| ⲟⲩⲱⲛ: | ⲁⲩⲱⲛ | open |
| ϫⲱ: | ⲁϫⲓ-, ⲁϫⲓ⸗ | say, speak |
| ⲉⲓⲛⲉ: | ⲁⲛⲓ-, ⲁⲛⲓ⸗ | bring |
| ⲉⲓⲣⲉ: | ⲁⲣⲓⲣⲉ, ⲁⲣⲓ-, ⲁⲣⲓ⸗ | do, make |
The verb ⲙⲁ, ⲙⲁ-, ⲙⲁⲧ⸗ (or ⲙⲏⲉⲓ⸗) is used as the imperative of ϯ, but ϯ may also be used. The imperative of ⲉⲓ (to come) is expressed by ⲁⲙⲟⲩ, which has distinct feminine and plural forms: f. ⲁⲙⲏ, pl. ⲁⲙⲏⲉⲓⲧⲛ̄.
17.2 The vocative is expressed by using a noun with the definite article or a possessive prefix: ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ O king! ⲡⲁϣⲏⲣⲉ O my son! The Greek vocative particle ⲱ (Gk. ὦ) may also be used, but not before a designation of God.
17.3 Infinitives of the type ⲙⲓⲥⲉ, with stressed vowel -ⲓ- and final unstressed -ⲉ, have the following prenominal and presuffixal forms:
| ⲙⲓⲥⲉ | ⲙⲉⲥ(ⲧ̄)- | ⲙⲁⲥⲧ⸗ | to bear (a child) |
| ⲉⲓϣⲉ | ⲉϣⲧ̄- | ⲁϣⲧ⸗ | to hang up, suspend |
The prenominal forms of many of these verbs occur with or without the final -ⲧ. Several important verbs of this type have irregularities:
| ⲉⲓⲣⲉ | ⲣ̄- | ⲁⲁ⸗ | to do, make |
| ⲉⲓⲛⲉ | ⲛ̄- | ⲛ̄ⲧ⸗ | to bring |
| ϣⲓⲛⲉ | ϣⲛ̄- | ϣⲛ̄ⲧ⸗ | to seek, inquire |
| ϭⲓⲛⲉ | ϭⲛ̄- | ϭⲛ̄ⲧ⸗ | to find |
The final ⲛ̄ of ⲛ̄-, ϣⲛ̄-, and ϭⲛ̄- may be assimilated to ⲙ̄ before a following ⲡ or ⲙ. Note that in ⲛ̄ⲧ⸗, ϣⲛ̄ⲧ⸗ and ϭⲛ̄ⲧ⸗ the syllabic ⲛ̄ is the stressed vowel of the word. ⲣ̄- is often written as ⲉⲣ-. Suffixes are added to these forms regularly: ϭⲛ̄ⲧ, ϭⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄, ϭⲛ̄ⲧⲉ, ϭⲛ̄ⲧϥ̄, ϭⲛ̄ⲧⲥ̄, ϭⲛ̄ⲧⲛ̄, ϭⲛ̄-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄, ϭⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲩ. ⲁⲁ⸗ is inflected like ⲧⲁⲁ⸗ in §11.2.
17.4 There is a certain ambiguity surrounding the terms transitive and intransitive in classifying Coptic verbs. The strictest definition of a transitive verb requires (1) that its direct object be marked with the "preposition" ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗) and (2) that the general equivalence ⲕⲱⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ = ⲕⲟⲧϥ̄ be attested for the verb, i.e. that the verb possess prenominal and presuffixal forms. A less strict definition would require a transitive verb to satisfy either, but not necessariy both, of the above criteria. This is approximately the position adopted by W. E. Crum in his Coptic Dictionary, the standard lexical work in the field. Verbs not satisfying either of these criteria are labeled intransitive or are left unlabeled.
In the present work the designation transitive is extended to include verbs having prenominal and presuffixal forms that correspond exactly in meaning to the infinitive with ⲉ or ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ (e.g. ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ, ϣⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ). Thus ⲥⲟⲧⲙⲉϥ = ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉⲣⲟϥ and ϣⲛ̄ⲧϥ̄ = ϣⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲱϥ are taken as fully equivalent to the criterion ⲕⲱⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ = ⲕⲟⲧϥ̄ above. A verb like ⲁⲙⲁϩⲧⲉ (to seize) is considered transitive because its direct object is marked by ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗, even though it does not have prenominal or presuffixal forms. It seems reasonable, therefore, to extend the designation transitive even further and to include verbs like ⲛⲁⲩ and ⲉⲓⲙⲉ (to understand), both of which normally have an object with ⲉ, but neither of which has prenominal or presuffixal forms. In other words, as long as there is no lexical contrast requiring the preposition ⲉ to have the semantic force of a true preposition (for, in regard to), we have generally labeled verbs with ⲉ-objects as transitive in the glossary of this work. Some subjectiveness remains, however, and one can sympathize with W. E. Crum in his desire to drop the terms transitive and intransitive altogether (op. cit., p. vii).
ⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ vb. tr. to call (ⲉ), summon, name. Note the constructions:
| ⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ϫⲉ ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ. |
| They named him John. |
| ⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉ ⲡⲉϥⲣⲁⲛ ϫⲉ ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ. |
| They called his name John. |
| ⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲣⲁⲛ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲱⲧ. |
| They named him after his father. |
18.1 The First Present (Pres. I):
| ϯⲣⲓⲙⲉ | I am weeping |
| ⲕⲣⲓⲙⲉ | you (m.s.) are weeping |
| ⲧⲉⲣⲓⲙⲉ | you (f.s.) are weeping |
| ϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ | he is weeping |
| ⲥⲣⲓⲙⲉ | she is weeping |
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲣⲓⲙⲉ | we are weeping |
| ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲣⲓⲙⲉ | you (pl.) are weeping |
| ⲥⲉⲣⲓⲙⲉ | they are weeping |
With nominal subject:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| The man is weeping. |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| A man is weeping. |
The prefix of the 2nd pers. fem. sing. also appears as ⲧⲉⲣ- or ⲧⲣ̄-. ⲟⲩⲛ̄ must be used to introduce an indefinite nominal subject.
The First Present usually describes action, activity, or process in progress at the time of speaking. It is therefore equivalent to the English progressive present (am weeping, am writing, etc.) except in those English verbs that do not normally use this form (e.g. think, know, see, hear, understand, wish, hope, believe), where its equivalent is the simple present: ϯⲉⲓⲙⲉ I understand, ϯⲛⲁⲩ I see, etc.
The First Present is negated with ⲛ̄ before the subject pronoun and ⲁⲛ after the verb: ⲛ̄ϯⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ I am not weeping. The second pers. ⲛ̄ⲕⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ usually appears as ⲛⲅ̄ⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ, with ⲅ for ⲕ by assimilation to the preceding ⲛ̄ and with a shift of the supralinear stroke: ⲛ̄ⲅⲣⲓⲙⲉ to ⲛⲅ̄ⲣⲓⲙⲉ (i.e. from əng- to nəg-). A similar shift of the stroke occurs in the 3rd pers. sing.: ⲛϥ̄ⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ, ⲛⲥ̄ⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ. ⲛ̄ is optional before a nominal subject: (ⲙ̄) ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ. An indefinite subject requires the negation ⲙⲛ̄; no ⲁⲛ is used: ⲙⲛ̄-(ⲟⲩ)ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲣⲓⲙⲉ no man (or no one) is weeping. As in the negative of predications of existence, the indefinite article is usually omitted if the negation is felt as general rather than particular.
The infinitives ⲃⲱⲕ and ⲉⲓ are not used in the First Present.
With the sole exception of ⲟⲩⲱϣ (to wish, love), the prenominal and presuffixal forms of the infinitive cannot be used in the First Present. Certain compound verbs are an exception to this rule and will be considered in a later lesson.
The pronominal prefixes of the First Present and its negative are also used before adverbial predicates:
| ϯϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ. |
| I am in the house. |
| ⲛ̄ⲥⲉϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ ⲁⲛ. |
| They are not in the house. |
18.2 The First Future (Fut. I) is formed by prefixing ⲛⲁ- to the Infinitive. Inflection is exactly like that of the First Present, including its negative:
| ϯⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ, ⲕⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ... | |
| Neg. | ⲛ̄ϯⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ, ⲛⲅ̄ⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ... |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ | |
| Neg. | (ⲙ̄) ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲁⲛ |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ | |
| Neg. | ⲙⲛ̄-ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲣⲓⲙⲉ |
The First Future corresponds to the English simple future (I shall write, I shall go) or to the intended (planned) future (I am going to write, going to go). The 2nd pers. pl. commonly appears as ⲧⲉⲧⲛⲁ- for expected ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲁ-.
18.3 The term intransitive as applied to Coptic verbs requires a further comment (cf. §17.4). Coptic has many intransitive verbs, such as verbs of motion (ⲉⲓ, ⲃⲱⲕ, ⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ) and verbs denoting activities involving no direct object (ⲣⲓⲙⲉ, ⲛ̄ⲕⲟⲧⲕ̄, etc.), whose classification is not problematic. But the intransitive use of verbs that are also transitive requires some attention. In certain situations any transitive verb may be used intransitively: the object may be omitted because it is understood from the context, or the speaker may wish to predicate the action of the verb without reference to any particular object (e.g. we plowed all day as opposed to we plowed the field). This usage is as commonplace in Coptic as it is in English and will not be noted in the vocabularies or final glossary. There is another type of intransitive usage, however, that is quite different. Compare the following:
| (1) | ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉϥϫⲱⲕ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉϥϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ |
| when he had completed his days |
| (2) | ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲛⲉϥϩⲟⲟⲩ ϫⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ |
| when his days were completed |
(1) is the normal active transitive use of ϫⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ; (2) involves a change in voice from active to passive (or medio-passive, as a more general term). For speakers of English this medio-passive usage offers no problem since many English verbs have the same ambiguity: he closed the door vs. the door closed; he burned the paper vs. the paper burned. In the vocabularies and final glossary the designation intr. before the meaning of a verb whose transitive meaning is given first will always refer to this medio-passive usage. Of the transitive verbs introduced up to this point, the following have important medio-passive uses:
18.4 Infinitives of the type ⲕⲱⲧⲉ (to turn), with stressed -ⲱ- and final unstressed -ⲉ, have the same prenominal and presuffixal forms as the type ⲕⲱⲧ:
| ⲕⲱⲧⲉ | ⲕⲉⲧ- | ⲕⲟⲧ⸗ | to turn |
ⲛⲟⲩϫⲉ (to throw), with -ⲟⲩ- for -ⲱ- because of initial ⲛ (cf. p. xvi) also belongs to this type; the infinitive ⲛⲟⲩϫ mentioned in Voc. 14 is a less frequent variant. Infinitives with -ⲱⲱ- and final -ⲉ have similar forms:
| ϣⲱⲱϭⲉ | ϣⲉⲉϭⲉ- | ϣⲟⲟϭ⸗ | to strike, wound |
18.5 Greek verbs occur frequently in Coptic texts. These have a single fixed infinitive form resembling the Greek imperative form and are inflected like any other Coptic verb. Examples:
| ⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ | πιστεύω | to believe (ⲉ) |
| ⲉⲡⲓⲧⲓⲙⲁ | ἐπιτιμάω | to rebuke (ⲛⲁ⸗) |
| ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲁⲍⲉ | πειράζω | to tempt (ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗) |
| ⲛⲏⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ | νηστεύω | to fast |
| ⲁⲣⲭⲓ | ἄρχω | to begin (+ ⲛ̄ + Inf.: to begin to do something) |
And the Greek verbs in §18.5 above.
19.1 The relative forms of the First Present and First Future employ the relative pronoun ⲉⲧ, ⲉⲧⲉ. When the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative clause, no further pronominal subject element is required:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲣⲓⲙⲉ |
| the man who is weeping |
| ⲛⲉⲧ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲛⲁϣⲁϫⲉ |
| those who hear my words |
| ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲧⲟⲓ ⲉⲧ ⲛⲁⲁⲙⲁϩⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ |
| the soldiers who will seize him |
| ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲛⲁⲉⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ ⲡϩⲁⲧ |
| the men who will bring the silver |
When the relative pronoun is not the subject of the relative clause, a subject noun or pronoun and resumptive pronouns are required; the relative pronoun combines with the various subject elements as follows:
| ⲉϯ | who/which I... |
| ⲉⲧⲕ̄ | who/which you... |
| ⲉⲧⲉ(ⲣ) | etc. |
| ⲉⲧϥ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲥ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲟⲩ | (note this form) |
With nominal subject:
| ⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| who/which the man... |
Study the following examples carefully:
| ⲛ̄ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉϯⲥϩⲁⲓ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲟⲩ |
| the words which I am writing |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲕ̄ϣⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲱϥ |
| the man whom you are seeking |
| ⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲟⲩⲱϩ ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧⲥ̄ |
| the city in which they are settling |
| ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲉⲧϥ̄ⲛⲁⲕⲁⲁϥ ⲛ̄ⲥⲱϥ |
| the child whom he will leave behind |
| ⲛⲉⲛⲧⲟⲗⲏ ⲉⲧϥ̄ⲛⲁⲧⲁⲁⲩ ⲛⲁⲛ |
| the commandments which he will give to us |
| ⲡϩⲁⲧ ⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲉⲕⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲛⲁⲧⲁⲁϥ ⲉⲧⲟⲟⲧⲕ̄ |
| the money which your father will entrust to you |
When the verb of the relative clause is negative Pres. I or Fut. I, the relative pronoun is ⲉⲧⲉ and subject as well as resumptive pronouns must be expressed in all constructions:
| ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲛⲁⲓ ⲁⲛ |
| the men who do not heed me |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛϥ̄ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ ⲛⲁⲓ ⲁⲛ |
| the man who will not heed me |
| ⲛ̄ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲛ̄ⲉⲓⲙⲉ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲁⲛ |
| the words which we do not understand |
| ⲛⲉⲧⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲁⲙⲁϩⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲁⲛ |
| the villages which they will not seize |
19.2 The direct object of a transitive verb may be used in a reflexive sense:
| ⲁⲓⲛⲟϫⲧ̄ ⲉⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ ⲉ ⲡⲕⲁϩ. |
| I threw myself to the ground. |
| ⲁϥⲉⲓⲁⲁϥ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲉⲣⲟ. |
| He washed himself in the water of the river. |
Some verbs have special meanings in the reflexive, e.g.
ⲕⲟⲧ⸗ (1) to return, go back (to: ⲉⲡⲁϩⲟⲩ ⲉ, ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉ, ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϣⲁ, ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉ, ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ ⲉ); (2) to repeat an action, usually coordinated, as in
| ⲁϥⲕⲟⲧϥ̄ ⲁϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| He wept again. |
or with ⲉ + Inf., as in
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲛⲕⲟⲧⲛ̄ ⲉ ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟⲥ. |
| We did not see her again. |
The verb ⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ occurs optionally with reflexive suffixes: ⲁϥⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛϥ̄ = ⲁϥⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ (he arose). After stem-final -ⲛ the 2nd pers. masc. sing. suffix -ⲕ often appears as -ⲅ: ⲁⲕⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛⲅ̄ you arose.
The reflexive verb ⲁϩⲉⲣⲁⲧ⸗, to stand, is actually a compound of ⲁϩⲉ (a form of the verb ⲱϩⲉ, to stand) and the preposition ⲉⲣⲁⲧ⸗ to or at the foot/feet of. ⲉⲣⲁⲧ⸗ itself consists of the prep. ⲉ and the noun ⲣⲁⲧ⸗ foot, which belongs to that small group of nouns that may take pronominal suffixes in a possessive sense: ⲣⲁⲧ my foot, ⲣⲁⲧⲕ̄ your foot, etc.
19.3 Infinitives of the type ⲥⲱⲧⲡ̄, to choose, constitute the largest class of verbs in Coptic and have the following prenominal and presuffixal forms:
| ⲥⲱⲧⲡ̄ | ⲥⲉⲧⲡ̄- | ⲥⲟⲧⲡ⸗ |
When the final consonant of the infinitive is a blmnr consonant, the presuffixal form is usually written with -ⲉ- before the suffixes -ⲧ, -ⲕ, -ϥ, -ⲥ: ⲥⲟⲧⲙⲉϥ, ⲥⲟⲧⲙⲉⲧ, ⲥⲟⲧⲙⲉⲕ, etc. When the final consonant is -ϩ, spelling alternates between -ϩ and -ⲁϩ in the unbound form: ⲟⲩⲱⲛⲁϩ or ⲟⲩⲱⲛϩ̄.
When the second consonant of the Infinitive is ϩ (more rarely ϣ), the presuffixal form may have -ⲁ- instead of -ⲟ-:
| ⲟⲩⲱϩⲙ̄ | ⲟⲩⲉϩⲙ̄- | ⲟⲩⲁϩⲙ⸗ | to repeat |
| ⲧⲱϩⲙ̄ | ⲧⲉϩⲙ̄- | ⲧⲁϩⲙ⸗ | to invite |
When the infinitive begins with ⲙ or ⲛ, -ⲱ- is replaced with -ⲟⲩ-:
| ⲙⲟⲩⲟⲩⲧ | ⲙⲉⲩⲧ- | ⲙⲟⲟⲩⲧ⸗ | to kill |
| ⲛⲟⲩϩⲙ̄ | ⲛⲉϩⲙ̄- | ⲛⲁϩⲙ⸗ | to rescue |
20.1 The Inflected (Causative) Infinitive.
| ⲧⲣⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | that I hear |
| ⲧⲣⲉⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | that you hear |
| ⲧⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | etc. |
| ⲧⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲧⲣⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲧⲣⲉⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲧⲣⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ⲧⲣⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲧⲣⲉⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| that the man hear |
Negation is with ⲧⲙ̄- placed either before the whole expression or before the infinitive: ⲧⲙ̄ⲧⲣⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ or ⲧⲣⲁⲧⲙ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ that I not hear.
The Inflected Infinitive is used in the following ways:
As a complementary infinitive, with ⲉ, after appropriate verbs of wishing or commanding when the subject of the infinitive is different from that of the main verb. Contrast
| ϯⲟⲩⲱϣ ⲉ ϭⲱ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ. |
| I want to remain here. |
| ϯⲟⲩⲱϣ ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲕϭⲱ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ. |
| I want you to remain here. |
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲟⲩⲱϣ ⲉⲧⲙ̄ⲧⲣⲉⲕⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. |
| We want you not to go away. |
It is not incorrect, however, to say ϯⲟⲩⲱϣ ⲉⲧⲣⲁϭⲱ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ, with no change in subject.
Like the ordinary infinitive with ⲉ, the Inflected Infinitive is used in a wide range of result or purpose expressions, often corresponding to English "for... to..."
| ⲁ-ⲡⲉⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓϣ ϫⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲛⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. |
| The time arrived (lit. was fulfilled) for us to leave. |
| ⲁϥϯ ⲛⲁϥ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲝⲟⲩⲥⲓⲁ ⲉⲧⲣⲉϥⲛⲟⲩϫⲉ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛ̄ ϩⲉⲛⲡⲛ̄ⲁ̄ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲕⲁⲑⲁⲣⲧⲟⲛ. |
| He gave him the power (for him) to cast out unclean spirits. |
Because of the frequent use of the Inflected Infinitive with ⲉ, we shall spell this as a single unit, as in the preceding examples.
With the preposition ϩⲛ̄ + the definite article ⲡ- the Inflected Inf. has the force of a temporal clause with "while, as":
| ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲧⲣⲉϥⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ |
| while/as he was walking |
| ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲧⲣⲉ-ⲡⲟⲩⲏⲏⲃ ϣⲗⲏⲗ |
| as the priest was praying |
The tense of such "clauses" depends on the context. They occur frequently after introductory ⲁⲥϣⲱⲡⲉ:
| ⲁⲥϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲇⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲧⲣⲉϥϣⲙ̄ϣⲉ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲣⲡⲉ... |
| It happened, however, as he was serving in the temple, that... |
After the preposition ⲙⲛ̄ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ and without an article the Inflected Inf. is equivalent to a temporal clause with "after":
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ ⲧⲣⲁⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ |
| after I saw them, ... |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ ⲧⲣⲉ-ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ |
| after his father left, ... |
20.2 Impersonal Expressions. The impersonal use of ⲁⲥϣⲱⲡⲉ was introduced in Vocabulary 9. There are several other impersonal expressions, some verbal, some anomalous, which occur frequently:
ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄ it is necessary (neg. ⲛ̄ ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄ ⲁⲛ), followed by the Inflected Inf. The subject of the infinitive may be anticipated with the preposition ⲉ; an untranslatable ⲡⲉ often co-occurs with ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄.
| ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄ (ⲡⲉ) ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲛⲡⲱⲧ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. |
| It is necessary that we flee. |
| ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄ (ⲡⲉ) ⲉⲣⲟⲓ ⲉⲧⲣⲁϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲕ. |
| It is necessary that I speak with you. |
ⲟⲩⲛ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ it is possible; neg.: ⲙⲛ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ it is not possible. The subject of a following infinitive may be introduced with ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗, with the Inflected Inf., or both:
| ⲙⲛ̄-ϣϭⲟⲙ ⲉ ⲉⲓⲙⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲉϥϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| It is not possible to understand his words. |
| ⲙⲛ̄-ϣϭⲟⲙ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲛ ⲉ ⲉⲓⲙⲉ. |
| ⲙⲛ̄-ϣϭⲟⲙ (ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲛ) ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲛⲉⲓⲙⲉ. |
| It is not possible for us to understand. |
ϣϣⲉ (or ⲥϣⲉ) it is appropriate, proper, fitting; neg.: ⲛ̄ ϣϣⲉ ⲁⲛ or ⲙⲉϣϣⲉ. The subject of the infinitive may be anticipated with prep. ⲉ.
| ϣϣⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲉ ⲃⲱⲕ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ. |
| It is proper for him to enter. |
| ⲛ̄ ϣϣⲉ ⲉⲣⲱⲧⲛ̄ ⲁⲛ ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ϭⲱ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ. |
| It is not proper for you to remain here. |
The relative forms ⲡⲉⲧⲉ ϣϣⲉ, ⲛⲉⲧⲉ ϣϣⲉ, what is proper (neg.: ⲡⲉⲧⲉ/ⲛⲉⲧⲉ ⲙⲉϣϣⲉ) are often used as substantives.
ⲣ̄-ⲁⲛⲁ⸗ to please, used impersonally with subject ⲥ- and an object suffix, or with a personal subject and a reflexive suffix. The suffix on ⲁⲛⲁ⸗ is required; a nominal object is anticipated by a suffix and introduced with ⲛ̄.
Study the following examples:
| ⲁⲥⲣ̄-ⲁⲛⲁϥ ⲉⲧⲣⲉϥⲉⲓ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ. |
| It pleased him to come (i.e. he came willingly) into this world. |
| ⲁⲥⲣ̄-ⲁⲛⲁϥ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲙⲏⲏϣⲉ ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲩⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ⲡⲁⲓ. |
| It pleased the crowd (for them) to see this. |
| ⲁⲓⲣ̄-ⲁⲛⲁⲓ ⲉⲧⲣⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲛⲉⲕϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| It pleased me to hear your words. |
Note also the partially synonymous verb ⲣ̄-ϩⲛⲁ⸗ to be willing, desire, which is used only with a personal subject and reflexive suffix:
| ⲁⲓⲣ̄-ϩⲛⲁⲓ ⲉⲧⲣⲁⲥϩⲁⲓ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲓϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| I wanted to write to you (about) these things. |
ⲣ̄-ϩⲛⲁ⸗ is not used in the First Present; ⲣ̄-ⲁⲛⲁ⸗ has no such restriction.
20.3 The verb ⲡⲉϫⲉ-, ⲡⲉϫⲁ⸗, followed by its subject, is equivalent to ϫⲱ in the First Perfect, but is used only to report speech, with ϫⲉ:
| ⲡⲉϫⲉ-ⲡϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ϫⲉ... |
| The old man said, "... |
| ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ⲛⲁⲓ ϫⲉ... |
| He said to me, "... |
20.4 Infinitives of the types ⲥⲟⲗⲥⲗ̄, to console, and ϣⲧⲟⲣⲧⲣ̄, to disturb, have the following prenominal and presuffixal forms:
| ⲥⲟⲗⲥⲗ̄ | ⲥⲗ̄ⲥⲗ̄- | ⲥⲗ̄ⲥⲱⲗ⸗ |
| ϣⲧⲟⲣⲧⲣ̄ | ϣⲧⲣ̄ⲧⲣ̄- | ϣⲧⲣ̄ⲧⲱⲣ⸗ |
With the exceptions of the infinitives treated below in Lesson 26, the remaining types of transitive infinitives do not constitute regular classes of any significant size. The following verbs of minor types have occurred in the lessons up to this point:
| ϣⲙ̄ϣⲉ | ϣⲙ̄ϣⲉ- | ϣⲙ̄ϣⲏⲧ⸗ | to serve |
| ⲥϩⲁⲓ | ⲥⲉϩ- | ⲥϩⲁⲓ⸗ | to write |
| ⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ̄ | ⲥⲟⲩⲛ̄- | ⲥⲟⲩⲱⲛ⸗ | to know |
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ | ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲩ- | ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ⸗ | to send |
When the presuffixal form of the infinitive ends in a diphthong, as in ⲥϩⲁⲓ⸗ and ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ⸗, the object suffix of the 3rd pers. pl. regularly appears as -ⲥⲟⲩ: ⲥϩⲁⲓⲥⲟⲩ to write them, ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩⲥⲟⲩ to send them. The -ⲥ- of this form sometimes appears also before other suffixes, e.g. ⲥϩⲁⲓⲥϥ̄ to write it.
And the impersonal expressions ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄, ϣϣⲉ, ⲟⲩⲛ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ, ⲙⲛ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ.
21.1 The Imperfect.
| ⲛⲉⲓⲕⲱⲧ | I was building |
| ⲛⲉⲕⲕⲱⲧ | you were building |
| ⲛⲉⲣⲉⲕⲱⲧ | etc. |
| ⲛⲉϥⲕⲱⲧ | |
| ⲛⲉⲥⲕⲱⲧ | |
| ⲛⲉⲛⲕⲱⲧ | |
| ⲛⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲕⲱⲧ | |
| ⲛⲉⲩⲕⲱⲧ |
| ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲕⲱⲧ |
| the man was building |
The Imperfect is optionally, but often, followed by an untranslatable ⲡⲉ: ⲛⲉⲓⲕⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ, ⲛⲉⲕⲕⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ, etc. Negation is with ⲁⲛ: ⲛⲉⲓⲕⲱⲧ ⲁⲛ (ⲡⲉ), ⲛⲉⲕⲕⲱⲧ ⲁⲛ (ⲡⲉ), etc.
The Imperfect is used to describe an action, activity, or process as in progress in past time and is normally the equivalent of the English past progressive unless idiom requires the simple past, e.g. ⲛⲉⲩⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ̄ they knew (not: they were knowing). It also often conveys the meaning of habitual or recurring activity in the past: they used to build, they would build.
Relative clauses containing an Imperfect are introduced with the relative pronoun ⲉⲧⲉ or, more frequently, with ⲉ- prefixed directly to the verbal form:
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛⲉϥⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ ϩⲓ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲛⲉϥⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ ϩⲓ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ |
| the man who was walking on the road |
| ⲡⲏⲓ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛⲉⲩⲕⲱⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ |
| ⲡⲏⲓ ⲉⲛⲉⲩⲕⲱⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ |
| the house which they were building |
Pronominal resumption of the subject is required. In general, the prenominal and suffixal (prepronominal) forms of the infinitive may not be used in the Imperfect.
21.2 The Qualitative. Many verbs possess a second lexical form known as the qualitative. The qualitative describes a state or quality resulting from the action, activity, or process expressed by the Infinitive; it is most conveniently taken as equivalent to English "to be" plus an adjective. The qualitative of transitive verbs is passive from the English point of view. E.g.
| Inf. | ⲕⲱⲧ | to build | Q. | ⲕⲏⲧ | to be built (i.e. in a fully constructed state) |
| Inf. | ϩⲱⲡ | to hide | Q. | ϩⲏⲡ | to be hidden, secret |
The form of the qualitative is more or less predictable for verbs belonging to the main classes:
type
| ⲕⲱⲧ: | Q. | ⲕⲏⲧ |
| ⲙⲟⲩⲣ: | Q. | ⲙⲏⲣ |
| ⲏⲡ | to be reckoned, ascribed to (ⲉ) |
| ϫⲏⲕ (ⲉⲃⲟⲗ) | to be finished, done, perfect |
| ⲃⲏⲗ | to be loosened, undone, untied, dissolved |
| ϣⲏⲡ | to be received, acceptable |
| ⲙⲏϩ, ⲙⲉϩ | to be full |
| ⲟⲩⲏϩ | to live, dwell, be |
| ⲙⲏⲣ | to be bound |
| ⲧⲏⲙ | to be shut |
| ⲟⲩⲏⲛ | to be open |
type
| ⲕⲱⲧⲉ: | Q. | ⲕⲏⲧ |
| ⲛⲟⲩϫⲉ: | Q. | ⲛⲏϫ |
| ⲕⲏⲧ | to be turned, turning, circulating |
| ⲛⲏϫ | to be lying, reclining (esp. at table); to be |
type
| ⲙⲓⲥⲉ: | Q. | ⲙⲟⲥⲉ |
| ⲙⲟⲥⲉ | to be born |
| ϣⲟⲃⲉ | to be different, various |
type
| ⲥⲱⲧⲡ̄: | Q. | ⲥⲟⲧⲡ̄ |
| ⲡⲱϩⲧ̄: | Q. | ⲡⲁϩⲧ̄ |
| ⲟⲩⲟⲛϩ̄ | to be manifest, clear, plain |
| ϭⲟⲗⲡ̄ | to be known, revealed, clear |
| ⲣⲟⲕϩ̄ | to be burned, destroyed by fire |
| ⲡⲁϩⲧ̄ | to be prostrated, bowing |
type
| ⲥⲟⲗⲥⲗ̄: | Q. | ⲥⲗ̄ⲥⲱⲗ |
| ϣⲧⲟⲣⲧⲣ̄: | Q. | ϣⲧⲣ̄ⲧⲱⲣ |
| ⲥⲗ̄ⲥⲱⲗ | to be consoled |
| ϣⲧⲣ̄ⲧⲱⲣ | to be disturbed, upset |
Otherwise, there is some irregularity:
| ⲕⲱ: | Q. | ⲕⲏ | to be situated, lying; to be |
| ⲥϩⲁⲓ: | Q. | ⲥⲏϩ | to be in writing, written |
| ⲥⲓ: | Q. | ⲥⲏⲩ | to be sated, full |
Note that ⲕⲏ, ⲛⲏϫ, and ⲟⲩⲏϩ may all correspond to English "to be" when location or position is involved.
The qualitative is a verb and may stand in place of the Infinitive in the First Present and the Imperfect, together with their negative and relative forms. It is especially important to keep in mind that the qualitative does not express a passive action (cf. §13.4); it describes the state that the subject is (or was) in:
| ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲟ ⲧⲏⲙ ⲡⲉ. | The door was shut. |
| ⲛ̄ϯϣⲧⲣ̄ⲧⲱⲣ ⲁⲛ. | I am not disturbed. |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲏϫ ϩⲓ ⲡⲕⲁϩ. | The man is lying on the ground. |
| ⲛ̄ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲙⲏⲣ | the men who are bound |
The qualitative may not be used in any of the other conjugations introduced up to this point, including the various constructions with the Infinitive and Inflected Infinitive.
21.3 Prepositional phrases with ϩⲛ̄ + a noun with the indefinite article occur very frequently as adverbs:
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϫⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ | completely |
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϣⲥ̄ⲛⲉ | suddenly |
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϭⲉⲡⲏ | hurriedly |
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲙⲉ | truly |
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲣⲁϣⲉ | joyfully |
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϩⲓⲥⲉ | with difficulty, anxiously |
| ϩⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϣⲧⲟⲣⲧⲣ̄ | agitatedly |
For ϣⲥ̄ⲛⲉ, ⲙⲉ, and ϭⲉⲡⲏ see the Vocabulary below.
22.1 Possession is predicated by the use of ⲟⲩⲛ̄- and ⲙⲛ̄- compounded with the preposition ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ, ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ⸗. There are two sets of forms:
| (A) | (B) | |
|---|---|---|
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ϯ- | I have |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄- | you have |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲉ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲉ- | etc. |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧϥ̄- | |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲥ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲥ̄- | |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲛ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲛ̄- | |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲏⲧⲛ̄ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄- | |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲩ | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲩ- |
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| the man has |
And similarly for the negative: (A) ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓ I do not have; (B) ⲙⲛ̄ϯ-. Set (B) is actually a reduced proclitic form of (A). Both sets may be accompanied by an untranslatable ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ (there).
If the possessor is pronominal (i.e. suffixal), an immediately following object is unmarked:
| (A) ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ. |
| (B) ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧϥ̄-ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ. |
| He has a wife. |
But if some word intervenes (and this is possible only in set A), the object is marked with ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗).
| (A) ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ. |
| He has a wife. |
If the possessor is a noun, the object is usually not marked:
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ. |
| The man has a wife. |
Pronominal objects are used only with set (A) and are attached directly to the subject suffixes. These are generally limited to the third person forms:
| m.s. | -ϥ, -ⲥϥ̄ |
| f.s. | -ⲥ |
| ⲥ.pl. | -ⲥⲟⲩ |
as in ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓϥ̄, ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓⲥϥ̄ I have it (m.), ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕⲥ̄ you have it (f.), ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥⲥⲟⲩ he has them.
We have seen that the genitive is expressed with ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ after indefinite nouns (ⲟⲩϩⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ), nouns with demonstrative prefixes (ⲡⲉⲓϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲥⲟⲛ), and nouns with a following modifier (ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲛ̄ ϭⲁⲗⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ). ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ⸗ is used similarly when the possessor is pronominal:
| ⲟⲩϩⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓ |
| a servant of mine |
| ⲡⲉⲓϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕ |
| this book of yours |
| ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ ⲛ̄ ϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ |
| three sons of his |
ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ, ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ⸗ may be used predicatively:
| ⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩⲛⲟϭ ⲛ̄ ⲏⲓ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ. |
| He has a large house. |
| ⲡⲏⲓ ⲉⲧ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ |
| the house that belongs to him |
ϣⲟⲟⲡ ⲛⲁ⸗ is also sometimes used to predicate possession:
| ⲙⲛ̄-ϩⲁⲧ ϣⲟⲟⲡ ⲛⲁⲓ. |
| I have no money. |
The occasional use of ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗ to indicate possession should also be noted. We have already seen an instance of this in the idiom ⲟⲩⲛ̄-/ⲙⲛ̄-ϭⲟⲙ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗ lit., there is/is-not power in.
22.2 Possessive pronouns, corresponding to English mine, yours, his, hers, etc., are formed by adding the appropriate pronominal suffix to m.s. ⲡⲱ⸗, f.s. ⲧⲱ⸗, c.pl. ⲛⲟⲩ⸗; thus, ⲡⲱⲓ, ⲡⲱⲕ, ⲡⲱ, ⲡⲱϥ, ⲡⲱⲥ, ⲡⲱⲛ, ⲡⲱⲧⲛ̄, ⲡⲱⲟⲩ, and similarly for ⲧⲱ⸗ and ⲛⲟⲩ⸗. When used as predicates of ⲡⲉ- sentences, they serve to predicate possession:
| ⲛ̄ϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛⲟⲩϥ ⲛⲉ |
| the books which are his |
| ⲡⲱⲓ ⲡⲉ. |
| It is mine. |
| ⲡⲉⲓϫⲟⲓ ⲡⲱϥ ⲡⲉ. |
| This ship is his. |
| ⲛⲟⲩⲕ ⲛⲉ. |
| They are yours. |
| ⲧⲱⲕ ⲧⲉ. |
| It (f.) is yours. |
The proclitic pronouns ⲡⲁ-, ⲧⲁ-, and ⲛⲁ- are used to express "that of, that which pertains or belongs to". Number and gender are determined by an understood or expressed antecedent. The exact meaning must be gained from the context:
| ⲛⲁ-ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ |
| the affairs of my father |
| ⲛⲉϥϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲛⲁ-ⲡⲉϥⲥⲟⲛ |
| his children and those of his brother |
| ⲛⲁ-ⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ |
| the inhabitants of the city |
| ⲛⲁ-ⲧⲉⲓⲙⲓⲛⲉ |
| people of this sort |
22.3 The qualitative (continued). Many intransitive verbs of motion or position (e.g. ⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ, ⲁϩⲉⲣⲁⲧ⸗, ϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ) do not have a strong contrast in meaning between infinitive and qualitative, the process and state involved being about the same thing. ⲁϩⲉ and ϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ are in fact qualitative forms that have usurped the role of the infinitives ⲱϩⲉ and ϩⲙ̄ⲥⲉ for all practical purposes. But note the following:
| Inf. | Q. | |
|---|---|---|
| ⲃⲱⲕ | ⲃⲏⲕ | to be going, be on the way there |
| ⲉⲓ | ⲛⲏⲩ | to be coming, be on the way here, be about to come, be about to arrive |
| ⲡⲱⲧ | ⲡⲏⲧ | to be fleeing, running, in pursuit |
| ϩⲱⲛ | ϩⲏⲛ | to be near, nigh, at hand |
| ϭⲱ | ϭⲉⲉⲧ | to remain, wait, stay, be |
| ⲙⲟⲩⲛ | ⲙⲏⲛ | to be enduring, lasting, continual |
| ⲁⲗⲉ | ⲁⲗⲏⲩ | to be riding, mounted |
The infinitives ⲉⲓ and ⲃⲱⲕ may not be used in the First Present and Imperfect; only the qualitatives ⲛⲏⲩ and ⲃⲏⲕ appear in these conjugations. For the other verbs the qualitative is preferred, but the infinitive is also found. The future nuance of ⲛⲏⲩ is especially noteworthy.
There are many intransitive verbs for which the infinitive and qualitative bear a "becoming"/"being" relationship to each other:
| Inf. | ϣⲱⲡⲉ | to become, come into existence |
| Q. | ϣⲟⲟⲡ | to be, to exist |
| Inf. | ⲱⲱ | to become pregnant |
| Q. | ⲉⲉⲧ | to be pregnant |
Included among these are many verbs with -ⲟ- or -ⲁ- in the final stem syllable:
| Inf. | ⲛ̄ϣⲟⲧ | to become hard |
| Q. | ⲛⲁϣⲧ̄ | to be hard |
| Inf. | ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ | to become well |
| Q. | ⲟⲩⲟϫ | to be well |
| Inf. | ϩⲕⲟ | to become hungry |
| Q. | ϩⲕⲁⲉⲓⲧ | to be hungry |
| Inf. | ⲁⲓⲁⲓ | to increase |
| Q. | ⲟⲓ | to be great |
| Inf. | ⲟⲩⲟⲡ | to become holy |
| Q. | ⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ | to be holy |
23.1 The Circumstantial.
| ⲉⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | I, hearing |
| ⲉⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | you, hearing |
| ⲉⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | etc. |
| ⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| the man, hearing |
The Circumstantial is used only in subordinate clauses modifying either a particular element of the main clause or the main clause as a whole. Such clauses describe an activity or state existing simultaneously with the time designated by the verb of the main clause and do not, in themselves, have a tense. They correspond to various English constructions: nominative absolutes, participial modifiers, or temporal clauses with "as, while, when" and a progressive verb form. Typical uses in Coptic include
subject complement:
| ⲉⲓⲁϩⲉⲣⲁⲧ ϩⲁϩⲧⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲣⲡⲉ, ⲁⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲩⲛⲟϭ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲏⲏϣⲉ. |
| Standing near the temple, I saw a great crowd. |
object complement:
| ⲁⲩϩⲉ ⲉ ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉϥϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ ϩⲛ̄ ⲧⲁⲅⲟⲣⲁ. |
| They found the man sitting in the marketplace. |
| ⲁⲛⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲩⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ ϩⲓ ⲧⲉϩⲓⲏ. |
| We saw them walking on the road. |
complement to the entire main clause:
| ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲉⲛⲥⲁϩ ϫⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲓϣⲁϫⲉ, ⲁⲩⲛⲟϭ ⲛ̄ ϣⲡⲏⲣⲉ ϣⲱⲡⲉ. |
| As our teacher was saying these things, a great wonder occurred. |
If the context requires it, circumstantial clauses may also be translated as causal, concessive, or conditional clauses.
There are several important special uses of circumstantial clauses in Coptic:
They are regularly used as relative clauses to modify an indefinite antecedent. Contrast
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲉⲓⲙⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲁϣⲁϫⲉ |
| the man who understands my words |
| ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉϥⲉⲓⲙⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲁϣⲁϫⲉ |
| a man who understands my words |
Such indefinite antecedents include ⲗⲁⲁⲩ, ⲟⲩⲁ, ⲟⲩⲟⲛ, and ϩⲟⲉⲓⲛⲉ. Further examples will be found in the exercises.
Certain verbs are regularly followed by the Circumstantial of a complementary verb:
| ⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉⲩϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲩϣⲏ ⲧⲏⲣⲥ̄. |
| They continued talking the whole night. |
| ⲁⲥⲗⲟ ⲉⲥⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| She stopped crying. |
The Circumstantial of ϫⲱ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ ϫⲉ is regularly used to introduce direct quotation after appropriate verbs:
| ⲁϥⲟⲩⲱϣⲃ̄ ⲛⲁⲩ, ⲉϥϫⲱ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ ϫⲉ... |
| He answered them, saying... |
The Circumstantial is not negated. Instead, the circumstantial prefix ⲉ-, also called the circumstantial converter, is added to the negative of the First Present:
| ⲉ-ⲛϯⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲁⲛ |
| I, not hearing |
| ⲉ-ⲛⲅ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲁⲛ |
| you, not hearing |
After ⲉ- the syllabic pronunciation of ⲛ is given up; the stroke is not needed, but is sometimes retained.
23.2 Nouns as adjectives. In Coptic, as in English, a large number of nouns may do double duty as adjectives (cf. pencil sharpener, bookstore, brick wall, etc.). The order is reversed in Coptic, with the modifying noun second, preceded by the adjectival linking ⲛ̄ (ⲙ̄):
| ⲟⲩⲁⲡⲟⲧ ⲛ̄ ϩⲁⲧ |
| a silver cup |
| ⲟⲩⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ ϫⲁⲉⲓⲉ |
| a desert place |
| ⲡⲉϥⲥⲙⲟⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲥⲱⲙⲁ |
| his corporeal form (lit. body-form) |
| ⲟⲩⲉⲓⲉⲣⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲕⲱϩⲧ̄ |
| a fiery river |
Such items are very frequent, but not as freely formed as their English counterparts. In some cases two translations are possible: ⲟⲩⲁⲡⲟⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲏⲣⲡ̄ a wine cup or a cup of wine. Note that, as with adjectives, the construction differs from the genitive by the absence of an article on the second noun.
Several words form a large number of compounds whose meanings are more or less completely predictable. Among these are
ⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ (place of), as in
| ⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ ϣⲱⲡⲉ | dwelling place |
| ⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲱⲙ | eating place, refectory |
| ⲙⲁ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ | road, path |
| ⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲕⲁ-ⲟⲉⲓⲕ | pantry (place for putting bread) |
ⲥⲁ ⲛ̄ (seller of, vendor of, dealer in), as in
| ⲥⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲃ̄ⲧ | fish-monger |
| ⲥⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲁϥ | meat-seller |
| ⲥⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲏⲣⲡ̄ | wine-seller |
| ⲥⲁ ⲛ̄ ϩⲁⲧ | dealer in silver |
A glance through the final Glossary will provide dozens of further examples.
The nouns ⲣⲱⲙⲉ and ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ often occur redundantly in this construction; the order of the nouns may be reversed:
| ⲧⲉϥⲥⲱⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ |
| his sister (lit., woman-sister) |
| ⲡϩⲁⲙϣⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| the carpenter (lit., man-carpenter) |
| ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ϫⲁϫⲉ |
| the enemy (lit., enemy-man) |
Noun-noun modification does not always correspond exactly to English idiom, but little difficulty will be met in translating these constructions. Most of them will not be given separate listing in the vocabularies or Glossary.
24.1 The Second Present has exactly the same inflection as the Circumstantial. This ambiguity poses a serious difficulty for the reader of Sahidic Coptic which can be resolved only by a careful study of the context. The uses of the Second Present parallel those of the Second Perfect:
emphasis on an adverbial element:
| ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲛⲁⲓ ϣⲟⲟⲡ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲃⲉ. |
| It is because of my sins that these things happen to me. |
preceding various interrogative expressions:
| ⲉⲕϣⲓⲛⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ ⲛⲓⲙ? |
| Whom do you seek? |
| ⲉϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ ⲉ ⲟⲩ? |
| Why is he weeping? |
| ⲉϥⲧⲱⲛ? |
| Where is he? |
When ⲧⲱⲛ is used with a nominal subject, the usual idiom is ⲉϥⲧⲱⲛ N? Where is N?, without the expected ⲛ̄ϭⲓ:
| ⲉϥⲧⲱⲛ ⲡⲉⲕⲉⲓⲱⲧ? |
| Where is your father? |
The alternate construction (ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲉⲕⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲧⲱⲛ?) is less frequent.
Clauses containing second tense forms are negated with ⲁⲛ:
| ⲉⲓⲟⲩⲏϩ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ ⲁⲛ. |
| It is not here that I dwell. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲓⲁⲁⲥ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲁⲛ. |
| It is not for you that I did it. |
As may be seen from the translation, the negation applies to the adverbial element and is not a negation of the verb proper.
24.2 The Bipartite Conjugation (Present-Imperfect System). The First Present, its relative forms, the Circumstantial, the Second Present, and the Imperfect comprise a system:
| Pres. I | ϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Rel. Pres. I | ⲉⲧϥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲧ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ||
| Circumstantial | ⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Pres. II | ⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Imperfect | ⲛⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
Following the penetrating analysis of H. J. Polotsky (see Bibliography), Coptic scholars now refer to this system as the Bipartite Conjugation. This term arises from the fact that the base form, the First Present, consists only of subject + predicate, with no conjugational prefix. The remaining forms of the system consist of this bipartite nucleus preceded by a set of elements called converters: the relative converter ⲉⲧ/ⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉ, the circumstantial converter ⲉ/ⲉⲣⲉ, the second tense converter ⲉ/ⲉⲣⲉ, and the imperfect converter ⲛⲉ/ⲛⲉⲣⲉ. The term tripartite is applied to all other Coptic verbal conjugations, which consist of a verbal prefix + subject + predicate, e.g. the First Perfect ⲁ⸗ϥ-ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ⲁ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄. The First Future is a special case and will be treated in the following lesson.
The conjugations belonging to the Bipartite Conjugation may have three kinds of predicates: infinitives, qualitatives, or adverbial predicates (i.e. adverbs or prepositional phrases). In the tripartite conjugations only the infinitive may be used. The conjugations of the Bipartite Conjugation, as we have already seen, characterize an action as durative, continuing, or (less commonly) habitual. The following features of the Bipartite Conjugation are equally distinctive:
The Imperfect may be expanded into a subsystem of its own by the prefixation of the other converters:
| Imperfect | ⲛⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Imperfect Rel. | ⲉⲛⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ||
| Imperfect Circum. | ⲉ-ⲛⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉ-ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
These forms have all the characteristics of, and belong to, the Bipartite Conjugation. The relative forms have already been introduced. The circumstantial forms are used syntactically exactly like the Circumstantial (of Pres. I). The past tense of the action is explicitly marked, however, while in the Circumstantial it must be gained from the context. Second tense forms of the Imperfect may occur, but they are too rare for consideration here. All verbal forms containing the imperfect converter may be followed by ⲡⲉ.
24.3 Numbers (continued). The 'teens are formed by prefixing ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ- to special forms of the units. ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ- is a proclitic form of ⲙⲏⲧ ten:
| 11 | m. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲩⲉ | f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓ |
| 12 | m. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲥⲛⲟⲟⲩⲥ | f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲥⲛⲟⲟⲩⲥ(ⲉ) |
| 13 | m. f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϣⲟⲙⲧⲉ | ||
| 14 | m. f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥⲧⲉ | ||
| 15 | m. f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲏ | ||
| 16 | m. f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲥⲉ | ||
| 17 | m. f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲥⲁϣϥ(ⲉ) | ||
| 18 | m. f. | ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϣⲙⲏⲛⲉ |
Construction is the same as that of the units:
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϣⲟⲙⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| thirteen men |
25.1 The relative, imperfect, circumstantial, and second tense converters may be used with the First Perfect, the First Future, existential and possessive predications, and copulative sentences with ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ. The relative forms for all of these have already been discussed. The second tense of the First Perfect, i.e. the Second Perfect, was introduced in Lesson 14. The second tense forms of existential, possessive, and copulative sentences are too rare for inclusion here.
| Neg. | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Perfect | ⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Perf. I Rel. | ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲧⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Perf. I Circum. | ⲉ-ⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉ-ⲙⲡⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Pluperfect | ⲛⲉ-ⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛⲉ-ⲙⲡⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ (ⲡⲉ) |
| Second Perfect | ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲁⲛ |
The imperfect of the First Perfect (ⲛⲉ-ⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄) corresponds to the English pluperfect: he had heard, he had written. The circumstantial of the First Perfect is used to describe an action as completed prior to the tense of the verb in the main clause.
| ⲉ-ⲁϥϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ, ⲁϥⲥϩⲁⲓ... |
| Having sat down, he wrote... |
| ⲁⲛϩⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲉ-ⲁϥⲙⲟⲩ. |
| We found him dead (lit., having died). |
| First Future | ϥⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Fut. I Rel. | ⲉⲧϥ̄ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Fut. I Circum. | ⲉϥⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Fut. I Imperfect | ⲛⲉϥⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| Second Future | ⲉϥⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
The circumstantial of the First Future describes an action as imminent, about to take place, with respect to the tense of the main clause:
| ⲉⲓⲛⲁⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ, ⲁϥⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ. |
| As I was about to leave, he summoned me. |
| ⲁⲛϩⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲉϥⲛⲁⲙⲟⲩ. |
| We found him on the point of death. |
The imperfect of the First Future describes an action as imminent in past time:
| ⲛⲉⲓⲛⲁⲁⲗⲉ ⲉ ⲡϫⲟⲓ (ⲡⲉ). |
| I was about to get on the ship. |
This form is commonly called the imperfectum futuri. The Second Future (ⲉϥⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄) has all the normal uses of a second tense form. Special uses of both these conjugations will be mentioned later on.
The First Future and its related system are formally an off-shoot of the Present System, with ⲛⲁ- inserted before the infinitive. It has no other characteristics of the Bipartite Conjugation, however: (1) it is not durative (except with certain aspectually neutral verbs, e.g. ⲣⲁϣⲉ); (2) only the Infinitive may occur in predicate position; (3) the prenominal and prepronominal forms of the Infinitive occur freely.
| Existential and Possessive | ⲟⲩⲛ̄-/ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ | ⲙⲛ̄-/ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ |
| Relative | ⲉⲧⲉ ⲟⲩⲛ̄-/ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ | ⲉⲧⲉ ⲙⲛ̄-/ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ |
| Circumstantial | ⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ̄-/ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ | ⲉ-ⲙⲛ̄-/ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ |
| Imperfect | ⲛⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ̄-/ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ | ⲛⲉ-ⲙⲛ̄-/ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ |
The circumstantial forms describe a state simultaneous to the tense of the main clause:
| ⲉ-ⲙⲛ̄-ⲟⲉⲓⲕ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ, ⲁⲛⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. |
| There being no food there, we left. |
| ⲁⲛϩⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲉ-ⲙⲛ̄-ϭⲟⲙ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ ⲉ ϣⲁϫⲉ. |
| We found him unable to speak. |
The imperfect forms simply place the state in past time:
| ⲛⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ̄- (or ⲛⲉⲩⲛ̄-) ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ (ⲡⲉ). |
| There was a man. |
| ⲛⲉⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ ϩⲁϩ ⲛ̄ ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ (ⲡⲉ). |
| He had many wives. |
Copulative sentences with ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ:
| Relative | ⲉⲧⲉ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ | ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ |
| Circumstantial | ⲉ-ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ | ⲉ-ⲛ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ |
| Imperfect | ⲛⲉ-ⲟⲩⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲉ |
The circumstantial and imperfect are used as above.
The circumstantial forms of all the subsystems listed above have a frequent use as relative clauses after indefinite antecedents:
| ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉ-ⲁϥⲕⲉⲧ-ⲟⲩⲏⲓ |
| a man who had built a house |
| ⲟⲩⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲉⲩⲛⲁϭⲟⲗⲡϥ̄ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ |
| a mystery which is about to be revealed |
| ⲟⲩⲭⲏⲣⲁ ⲉ-ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲥ ϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ |
| a widow who has no son |
| ⲟⲩϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲉ-ⲟⲩⲭⲏⲣⲁ ⲧⲉ ⲧⲉϥⲙⲁⲁⲩ |
| a boy whose mother is a widow |
The circumstantial converter ⲉⲣⲉ- is sometimes used improperly for ⲉ- before copulative sentences.
25.2 The Conjunctive.
| (ⲛ̄)ⲧⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲅⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲥⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
ⲛ̄ⲅ-, ⲛ̄ϥ-, and ⲛ̄ⲥ- also appear frequently as ⲛⲅ̄-, ⲛϥ̄-, ⲛⲥ̄-. The conjunctive is used to continue the force of a preceding verbal prefix. In a sense, it is no more than an inflected form of the conjunction "and". It is especially frequent after a First Future or an Imperative:
| ϯⲛⲁⲃⲱⲕ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ. |
| I shall go and speak with him. |
| ϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ ⲛ̄ⲅⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉ ⲧⲁⲥⲃⲱ. |
| Sit down and listen to my teaching. |
| ⲁⲛⲓ-ⲛ̄ϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲁⲩ ⲛⲁϥ. |
| Bring the books and give them to him. |
It may be used to continue the force of virtually any preceding verbal prefix except that of the affirmative First Perfect, but even this restriction does not hold in the relative forms. It is also used after an Inflected Infinitive, as in
| ϩⲁⲡⲥ̄ ⲉⲣⲟⲛ ⲉⲧⲣⲉⲛⲃⲱⲕ ⲛ̄ⲧⲛ̄ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ. |
| It is necessary that we go and speak with him. |
In many instances, especially where there is a change of subject, the Conjunctive clause has the meaning of a purpose or result clause:
| ⲁⲛⲓϥ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ. |
| Bring him to me so that I may see him. |
| ⲙⲁ ⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ⲥⲉⲟⲩⲱⲙ. |
| Give them (food) so that they may eat. |
This usage depends very much on the presence of an injunctive (imperative) force, implicit or explicit, in the first clause. For the conjunctive with Greek conjunctions, see Lesson 30.
The Conjunctive resembles the Tripartite Conjugation: only the Infinitive may be used as its verbal component. Negation is with -ⲧⲙ̄- before the Infinitive. If the Conjunctive continues a negative verb, however, the negation may carry over.
The following selection is from the Sayings of the Fathers. See p. 1.6 for a brief description of this text.
| ⲛⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲟⲩⲁ ϩⲛ̄ ⲕⲏⲙⲉ ⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲉϥⲥⲏϭ. ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥⲉⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ, ⲁϥⲕⲁⲁϥ ϩⲛ̄ ⲧⲣⲓ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲙⲁⲕⲁⲣⲓⲟⲥ, ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥⲕⲁⲁϥ ⲉϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ ϩⲁϩⲧⲙ̄ ⲡⲣⲟ, ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ ⲉ ⲡⲟⲩⲉ. ⲡϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲇⲉ ⲁϥϭⲱϣⲧ̄ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ, ⲁϥⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ⲡⲕⲟⲩⲓ ⲛ̄ ϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲉϥⲣⲓⲙⲉ, ⲁⲩⲱ ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ⲛⲁϥ ϫⲉ, "ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄ ⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ?" ⲛ̄ⲧⲟϥ ⲇⲉ ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ϫⲉ, "ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ. ⲁϥⲛ̄ⲧ, ⲁϥⲛⲟϫⲧ̄ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ, ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ." ⲡⲉϫⲉ-ⲡϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲛⲁϥ ϫⲉ, "ⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛⲅ̄ ⲛ̄ⲅⲡⲱⲧ ⲛ̄ⲅⲧⲁϩⲟϥ." ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲩⲛⲟⲩ ⲁϥⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ, ⲁϥⲧⲱⲟⲩⲛ, ⲁϥⲧⲁϩⲉ-ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲱⲧ, ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲓϩⲉ ⲁⲩⲃⲱⲕ ⲉ ⲡⲉⲩⲏⲓ ⲉⲩⲣⲁϣⲉ. |
| There was someone in Egypt who had a paralyzed son. And he brought him and set him in the cell of Apa Makarios, and he left him weeping near the door, and he went to a distance. The monk looked and saw the little boy weeping, and he said to him, "Who brought you here?" And he said, "It was my father. He brought me, he cast me away, and he went." The monk said to him, "Get up and run and catch up to him." And immediately, he became well, and he arose, he caught up to his father, and in this way they went to their house rejoicing. |
Note: The term ⲁⲡⲁ is a title of respect, ultimately from Aramaic ʾabbā, father. ⲙⲁⲕⲁⲣⲓⲟⲥ is a proper name.
26.1 Compound verbs. Coptic vocabulary is particularly rich in compound verbs. Most compound verbs consist of a simple infinitive in the prenominal form plus a nominal element, usually without an article, e.g. ϯ-ⲉⲟⲟⲩ to praise, ϫⲓ-ⲃⲁⲡⲧⲓⲥⲙⲁ to be baptized. Meanings are for the most part predictable from those of the components.
The verbs most frequently occurring in compounds are ϯ- to give, ϫⲓ- to take, ϥⲓ- to raise, carry, ϭⲛ̄- to find, ⲕⲁ- to put, and ⲣ̄- to do, make. Some examples:
Compounds with ⲣ̄- are the most frequent of all and fall into two groups. In the first group ⲣ̄- has its basic meaning "to do, make, perform":
ⲣ̄-X ⲛ̄ ⲣⲟⲙⲡⲉ (X is a number) has two meanings: (1) to reach the age of X; (2) to pass X years.
In the second group of ⲣ̄- compounds ⲣ̄- has the meaning "to become", e.g. ⲣ̄-ⲣ̄ⲣⲟ to become king (over: ⲉϫⲛ̄). The second element may be virtually any noun or adjective in the language, so that a complete catalogue is impossible. Qualitatives are uniformly ⲟ ⲛ̄, as in ⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲣ̄ⲣⲟ to be king. Further examples:
The distinction between these two groups is often blurred, however, with qualitatives of the ⲟ ⲛ̄ type being extended to the first group as well, e.g. ⲣ̄-ϣⲡⲏⲣⲉ to marvel, become amazed (at: ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗, ⲉ, ⲉⲧⲃⲉ, ⲉϫⲛ̄), to admire; Q ⲟ ⲛ̄ ϣⲡⲏⲣⲉ to be amazed.
Less frequently the nominal element of a compound verb has the definite article:
In the case of ⲣ̄-ⲡⲱⲃϣ̄, ⲣ̄-ⲡⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ, and many others of this type a pronominal object is expressed by a possessive prefix on the noun: ⲣ̄-ⲡⲉϥⲱⲃϣ̄ to forget him, ⲣ̄-ⲡⲉϥⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ to remember him.
Because compound verbs employ the prenominal form of the infinitive, the question arises concerning their occurrence in the Bipartite Conjugation, where the prenominal form is usually prohibited. In general, compound verbs are an exception to Jernstedt's Rule and may be used freely as they stand in the Bipartite Conjugation. Two types of compounds, however, do tend to follow Jernstedt's Rule:
the type ⲣ̄-ⲡⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ, with the definite article on the noun. In the Bipartite Conjugation the full form of the infinitive is used. Contrast
| ⲁⲓⲣ̄-ⲡⲉϥⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ. |
| I remembered him. |
| ϯⲉⲓⲣⲉ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ. |
| I remember him. |
many compounds whose nominal element is a part of the body. Contrast
| ⲁⲓϯ-ⲧⲟⲟⲧⲥ̄. |
| I helped her. |
| ϯϯ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲟⲟⲧⲥ̄. |
| I am helping her. |
26.2 The element ϣ-, ⲉϣ-, originally a full verb "to know, know how to", may be prefixed to any infinitive to express "can, be able". E.g.
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥϣⲃⲱⲕ. |
| He was not able to go. |
| ⲛ̄ϯⲛⲁϣϯ-ⲧⲟⲟⲧⲕ̄ ⲁⲛ. |
| I shall not be able to help you. |
It occurs redundantly and optionally in the compounds of ϭⲟⲙ: ⲟⲩⲛ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ, ⲙⲛ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ, ϭⲙ̄-(ϣ)ϭⲟⲙ.
26.3 Infinitives of the type ⲧⲁⲕⲟ. There is a fairly large group of verbs whose infinitives begin with ⲧ- and end in -ⲟ, e.g. ⲧⲁⲕⲟ ⲧⲁⲕⲉ- ⲧⲁⲕⲟ⸗ Q ⲧⲁⲕⲏⲩ to destroy. At an older stage of Egyptian these verbs were compound causatives with a form of ϯ (to give) plus a verbal form inflected by suffixation. Thus, the original construction involved two verbs (e.g. I caused that he pay a fine) which coalesced into a single verb with two objects (I caused him to pay a fine). Traces of the older construction survive in Sahidic, e.g. Luke 3:.4 ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ⲧⲧⲉ-ⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲟⲥⲉ Do not make anyone pay a fine (i.e. suffer a loss). ⲧⲧⲟ ⲧⲧⲉ- is the causative of ϯ itself. The lack of an object marker on the second object is characteristic of the construction, but the absence of an article in this particular example stems from its association with the compound verb ϯ-ⲟⲥⲉ to pay a fine, suffer a loss. In general, however, there is no need to take the older construction into account in Coptic, since most of these verbs are simply transitive. Some examples:
ⲧ + ϣ results in initial ϫ:
Sometimes the initial ⲧ- is lost, as in
A few verbs have retained a final -ⲥ or -ⲟⲩ (a frozen subject suffix):
The Imperative of these verbs may optionally have a prefixed ⲙⲁ-: ⲙⲁⲧⲁⲙⲟ, ⲙⲁⲧⲁⲗⲟ, etc. Cf. §17.1.
(The compound verbs given in 26.1, the prefix ϣ- in 26.2, and the verbs ⲧⲁⲙⲟ, ⲧⲁⲗⲟ, ⲧⲁⲛϩⲟ, ϫⲡⲟ, ϫⲡⲓⲟ, ⲕⲧⲟ, ϫⲟⲟⲩ, and ⲧⲟⲩⲛⲟⲥ in 26.3)
27.1 Negative adjective compounds. The prefix ⲁⲧ- is used to form negative adjectives from verbs and nouns:
| ⲁⲧⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ̄ | ignorant |
| ⲁⲧⲙⲟⲩ | immortal |
| ⲁⲑⲏⲧ | senseless, foolish |
| ⲁⲧⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | disobedient |
| ⲁⲧⲧⲁⲕⲟ | imperishable |
| ⲁⲧϭⲟⲙ | powerless, impotent |
| ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲱⲛϩ̄ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ | invisible |
This prefix was originally a negative relative pronoun; a trace of this older usage is found in the resumptive pronoun required in some expressions, e.g.
| ⲁⲧⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟ⸗ | unseeable, unseen |
| ⲁⲧϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲣⲟ⸗ | ineffable; without ⲉⲣⲟ⸗: speechless |
| ⲁⲧⲕⲓⲙ ⲉⲣⲟ⸗ | immovable |
The resumptive pronoun agrees with the modified noun:
| ⲟⲩⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲧϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ |
| an ineffable mystery |
| ⲟⲩϭⲟⲙ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲧⲕⲓⲙ ⲉⲣⲟⲥ |
| an immovable power |
Nearly all ⲁⲧ- adjectives freely compound with ⲣ̄- (Q ⲟ ⲛ̄), as in ⲣ̄-ⲁⲧⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ̄ to become/be ignorant, ⲣ̄-ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲱⲛϩ̄ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ to become/be invisible.
27.2 Compound nouns. The distinction between a compound noun and a noun + ⲛ̄ + noun phrase is somewhat arbitrary. As a working definition we shall assume (1) that the first noun of a true compound noun must be in a reduced form different from the free (unbound) form, if indeed the latter exists; (2) that the linking ⲛ̄ be absent or at least optional. The most productive compounding prefixes are ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ-, ⲣⲙ̄(ⲛ̄)-, ⲣⲉϥ-, and ϭⲓⲛ.
ⲣⲉϥ- forms agent or actor nouns; the second element is normally a simple or compound infinitive, but occasionally a qualitative:
| ⲣⲉϥⲣ̄-ⲛⲟⲃⲉ | sinner |
| ⲣⲉϥϣⲙ̄ϣⲉ | server, worshipper |
| ⲣⲉϥⲙⲟⲟⲩⲧ | dead person |
| ⲣⲉϥⲧⲁⲕⲟ | destroyer; perishable |
| ⲣⲉϥϫⲓⲟⲩⲉ | thief |
These may be used nominally or adjectivally, e.g.
| ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲉϥⲣ̄-ⲛⲟⲃⲉ |
| a sinful woman |
| ⲟⲩⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲉϥⲧⲁⲕⲟ |
| a destructive spirit |
| ⲧⲉⲓⲥⲁⲣⲝ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲉϥⲧⲁⲕⲟ |
| this perishable flesh |
and may be formed freely from virtually any appropriate verb in the language.
ⲣⲙ̄-, ⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄-, a reduced form of ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄, man of:
| ⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ⲕⲏⲙⲉ |
| an Egyptian |
| ⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧ |
| a wise, discerning person |
| ⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲍⲁⲣⲉⲑ |
| a person from Nazareth |
| ⲣⲙ̄ⲧⲱⲛ |
| a person from where? as in ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄-ϩⲉⲛⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ⲧⲱⲛ? Where are you from? |
ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ- is used to form feminine abstract nouns from adjectives or other nouns. Compounds in ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ- are extremely numerous; the following is a typical sampling:
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲩⲏⲏⲃ | priesthood |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲟ | kingdom, kingship; the spelling ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲣ̄ⲣⲟ is less frequent |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲥⲁⲃⲉ | wisdom |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲃⲣ̄ⲣⲉ | youth; newness |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧ | wisdom, prudence |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ | old age (of a man) |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϩⲗ̄ⲗⲱ | old age (of a woman) |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲛⲟϭ | greatness; seniority |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲙⲟⲛⲁⲭⲟⲥ | monkhood |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲧⲧⲁⲕⲟ | imperishability; incorruptibility |
ⲙⲛ̄ⲧ- is also used to designate languages:
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ⲕⲏⲙⲉ | Egyptian |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϩⲉⲃⲣⲁⲓⲟⲥ | Hebrew |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲩⲉⲉⲓⲉⲛⲓⲛ | Greek |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧϩⲣⲱⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥ | Latin |
ϭⲓⲛ- is used to form a feminine noun of action or gerund from any infinitive. The meaning ranges from concrete to abstract, e.g. ϭⲓⲛⲛⲁⲩ sight, vision; ϭⲓⲛⲟⲩⲱⲙ food (pl. ϭⲓⲛⲟⲩⲟⲟⲙ). These are so predictable in meaning that they have been systematically excluded from the Glossary unless they have acquired meanings not immediately obvious from that of the base verb.
Les frequent compounding prefixes are ⲁⲛ-, ⲉⲓⲉⲡ- (ⲉⲓⲟⲡⲉ), ⲉⲓⲉϩ- (ⲉⲓⲱϩⲉ), ⲣⲁ- ⲥϯ- (ⲥⲧⲟⲓ), ϣⲟⲩ- (ϣⲁⲩ), ϣⲃⲣ̄- (ϣⲃⲏⲣ), ϣⲛ̄- (ϣⲏⲣⲉ), ϣⲥ̄ⲛ̄- (ⲥⲁϣ), and ϩⲁⲙ-. The reader may check these out in the Glossary.
Nominalized relative clauses are sometimes taken as compound nouns, occurring with an extra article, e.g.
| (ⲡ)ⲡⲉⲧ ϣⲟⲩⲉⲓⲧ | vanity |
| (ⲡ)ⲡⲉⲑⲟⲟⲩ | evil |
| ⲟⲩⲡⲉⲧ ⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ | a saint |
A similar usage is found with ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̄, designating origin or affiliation (the def. art. appears as ⲡⲉ-, ⲧⲉ-, ⲛⲉ-):
| ⲟⲩⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̄ ⲧⲥⲩⲣⲓⲁ ⲡⲉ. |
| He is a Syrian. |
| ⲛⲉⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲏⲓ ⲛ̄ ⲇⲁⲩⲉⲓⲇ ⲛⲉ. |
| They are the ones from the house of David. |
27.3 There is a form of the verb known as the participium conjunctivum (proclitic participle) used only for forming compounds with a following nominal element:
| p. c. | ||
|---|---|---|
| ⲥⲱ | ⲥⲁⲩ-ⲏⲣⲡ̄ | wine-drinking, a wine-drinker |
| ⲟⲩⲱⲙ | ⲟⲩⲁⲙ-ⲣⲱⲙⲉ | man-eating |
| ϫⲓⲥⲉ | ϫⲁⲥⲓ-ϩⲏⲧ | arrogant |
| ⲙⲟⲟⲛⲉ | ⲙⲁⲛ-ⲉⲥⲟⲟⲩ | shepherd, tender of sheep |
It is uniformly vocalized with -ⲁ-. For most verbs the p. c. is rare or non-existent; a few verbs like the above account for most of the examples encountered. Note especially the compounds of ⲙⲉ: ⲙⲁⲓ- (one who loves):
| ⲙⲁⲓ-ⲉⲟⲟⲩ | desirous of fame or glory |
| ⲙⲁⲓ-ⲛⲟⲩⲃ, ⲙⲁⲓ-ϩⲁⲧ | desirous of wealth |
| ⲙⲁⲓ-ⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ | pious, God-loving |
| ⲙⲁⲓ-ⲣⲱⲙⲉ | kind, philanthropic |
| ⲙⲁⲓ-ⲟⲩⲱⲙ | gluttonous |
27.4 The Third Future and its negative:
| neg. | |
|---|---|
| ⲉⲓⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲕⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉϥⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲥⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲛⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲩⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲛ̄ⲛⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
The negative forms are also spelled as ⲉⲛⲛⲁ-, ⲉⲛⲛⲉⲕ- etc. The 1st pers. sing. also occurs as ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄.
The Third Future is an emphatic or vivid future with a wide variety of nuances; in an independent clause it describes a future event as necessary, inevitable, or obligatory. The English translation will depend on the context: ⲉϥⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ he shall hear, he is to hear, he is bound to hear, he must inevitably hear, he will surely hear, and similarly for the negative. The 2nd person is often used in commands and prohibitions:
| ⲛ̄ⲛⲉⲕⲡⲉⲓⲣⲁⲍⲉ ⲉ ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ⲡⲉⲕⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ. |
| You shall not tempt the Lord your God. |
| ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛⲉϩⲁⲣⲉϩ ⲉ ⲛⲉⲓⲉⲛⲧⲟⲗⲏ. |
| You shall keep these commandments. |
One of the most frequent uses of the Third Future is to express purpose or result after the conjunctions ϫⲉ and ϫⲉⲕⲁ(ⲁ)ⲥ:
| ⲁⲓⲥϩⲁⲓ ⲛⲏⲧⲛ̄ ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛⲉⲥⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲛⲉⲛⲧⲁⲩϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ. |
| I have written to you so that you may know what has befallen me here. |
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩϥ̄ ⲉⲣⲱⲧⲛ̄ ϫⲉ ⲉϥⲉϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲏⲧⲛ̄. |
| We shall send him to you so that he may speak with you. |
The same type of clause may be used as an object clause instead of the Inflected Infinitive after verbs of commanding, exhorting, and the like:
| ⲁⲛⲥⲡ̄ⲥⲱⲡϥ̄ ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ ⲛ̄ⲛⲉϥϫⲟⲟⲥ ⲉ ⲗⲁⲁⲩ. |
| We entreated him not to tell it to anyone. |
It may occasionally replace the Inflected Infinitive in other situations:
| ⲛ̄ϯⲙ̄ⲡϣⲁ ⲁⲛ ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ ⲉⲓⲉⲉⲓ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ. |
| I am not worthy to enter. |
The Third Future is tripartite; only the infinitive may be used in the verbal slot. The Second Future is sometimes used instead of the Third Future after ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ and ϫⲉ.
(The adjectival and nominal compounds given in 27.1, 2.)
28.1 The Habitual and its negative.
| Neg. | |
|---|---|
| ϣⲁⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲣ(ⲉ)ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲙⲉⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
The Habitual (or praesens consuetudinis) describes an action or activity as characteristic or habitual. It may usually be translated by the English general present (I write, I work, etc.):
| ϣⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ϫⲉ ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ. |
| They call him John. |
| ϣⲁⲣⲉ-ⲧⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ ⲟⲩⲱϩ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡϩⲏⲧ ⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ⲇⲓⲕⲁⲓⲟⲥ. |
| Wisdom resides in the heart of the righteous. |
| ⲙⲉϥⲥⲉ-ⲏⲣⲡ̄. |
| He doesn't drink wine. |
The Habitual forms a regular system with the converters:
| Neg. | ||
|---|---|---|
| relative: | ⲉϣⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉⲧⲉ ⲙⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲧⲉ ϣⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ||
| circumstantial: | ⲉ-ϣⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲉ-ⲙⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| imperfect: | ⲛⲉ-ϣⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | ⲛⲉ-ⲙⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| second tense: | ⲉϣⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | — |
The Habitual is basically tenseless (hence the designation aorist in some grammars) and gains its translation value from the context. The imperfect converter makes a past tense explicit, e.g. ⲛⲉ-ϣⲁϥⲥϩⲁⲓ he used to write. Note that subject resumption is required in the relative form: ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉϣⲁϥⲣ̄-ⲡⲁⲓ the man who does thus. The Habitual belongs to the Tripartite Conjugation: only the Infinitive may be used in the verbal slot.
28.2 Emphasis. The typical non-emphatic word order in a verbal clause is
(verbal prefix) + subject + verb + object + adverbial elementsWe have seen that the conversion of the verbal prefix to a second tense form places a strong emphasis on the adverbial element, requiring in most cases a cleft sentence in the English translation. The use of the Coptic cleft sentence pattern, with ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ + a relative form is a further device for giving special prominence to a subject or object. A somewhat weaker emphasis is achieved by placing a specific element of the clause at the beginning. Such preposed elements are usually resumed pronominally within the clause unless they are simple adverbial phrases. This transformation, known also as fronting or topicalization, is very common in Coptic; examples abound on every page. The element preposed may be completely unmarked as such, but the Greek particle ⲇⲉ is ubiquitous in this function. Fronted personal pronouns are always in the independent form. E.g.
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲇⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ. |
| Me he did't find. |
| ⲡⲉϥϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲁⲩⲣⲁϩⲧϥ̄. |
| His son, however, they killed. |
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ ⲇⲉ ⲛ̄ϯⲛⲁϯ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲁⲛ ⲙ̄ ⲡϩⲁⲧ. |
| I will not give the money to you. |
The independent pronouns may be used appositionally to emphasize any suffixed pronoun, e.g. ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲧⲣⲁⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲇⲉ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ but when I heard; ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧⲕ̄ ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ for your sake. We have already mentioned the repetition in ⲛ̄ⲧⲕ̄-ⲛⲓⲙ ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ? Who are you? They may even stand before a relative clause, as in ⲡⲙⲁ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲉϯⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ the place which I am in.
The particles ⲉⲓⲥ and ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ add a certain vividness or immediacy to a following statement. If an element is topicalized, ⲉⲓⲥ generally occurs before nouns and ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ before pronouns.
| ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ ⲁⲛⲅ̄-ⲑⲙ̄ϩⲁⲗ ⲙ̄ ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ. |
| Behold, I am the maidservant of the Lord. |
| ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ ⲉⲕⲉϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲉⲕⲕⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲕ. |
| Behold, you shall remain (being) mute. (Cf. §30.11) |
| ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ ⲧⲉⲛⲁⲱ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉϫⲡⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϣⲏⲣⲉ. |
| Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. |
The translation "behold" is purely conventional, but it is difficult to find a better English equivalent. The forms ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲡⲉ, ⲉⲓⲥⲧⲉ, ⲉⲓⲥⲡⲉ, and ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ ⲉⲓⲥ also occur. ⲉⲓⲥ has several other functions:
with a following noun, as a complete predication:
| ⲉⲓⲥ ⲧⲉⲕⲥⲱⲛⲉ. |
| Here is your sister. |
as a "preposition" before temporal expressions, as in
| ⲉⲓⲥ ϣⲟⲙⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲟⲙⲡⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲛⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ. |
| We have not seen him for three years. |
28.3 Emphatic and intensive pronouns.
ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲁ⸗, ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲧ⸗, less frequently ⲟⲩⲁⲁ(ⲧ)⸗, is used in apposition to a preceding noun or pronoun: alone, sole, self, only. E.g.
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲁⲧ |
| I alone, I by myself, only I |
| ⲛⲁϥ ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲁϥ |
| to him alone, to him only |
| ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲁϥ |
| the king himself, the king alone |
ϩⲱⲱ⸗ (1 c.s. ϩⲱ or ϩⲱⲱⲧ, 2 f.s. ϩⲱⲱⲧⲉ, 2 c.pl. ϩⲱⲧ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄), similar to the preceding, but often with the added nuance of "also, too, moreover". E.g.
| ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ ⲇⲉ ϩⲱⲱⲕ, ⲡⲁϣⲏⲣⲉ, ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲣⲟⲕ ϫⲉ ⲡⲉⲡⲣⲟⲫⲏⲧⲏⲥ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲧ ϫⲟⲥⲉ. |
| And you, moreover, my son, will be called the prophet of the Most High. |
| ⲉⲓⲥ ⲉⲗⲓⲥⲁⲃⲉⲧ ⲧⲟⲩⲥⲩⲅⲅⲉⲛⲏⲥ ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲥ ϩⲱⲱⲥ ⲟⲛ ⲁⲥⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϣⲏⲣⲉ ϩⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲥⲙⲛ̄ⲧϩⲗ̄ⲗⲱ. |
| Behold, Elisabeth your kinsman has also conceived a child in her old age. |
The form ϩⲱⲱϥ also serves as an adverb/conjunction "however, on the other hand" without any pronominal force. ⲛ̄ⲧⲟϥ is used likewise.
ⲙ̄ⲙⲓⲛ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗, an intensive pronoun, used in apposition to a preceding pronoun, usually possessive or reflexive:
| ⲡⲁⲏⲓ ⲙ̄ⲙⲓⲛ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ |
| my own house |
| ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥϯⲙⲉ ⲙ̄ⲙⲓⲛ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ |
| in his own village |
28.4 The reciprocal pronoun "each other, one another" is expressed by possessive prefixes on -ⲉⲣⲏⲩ (fellow, companion), e.g.
| ⲁⲛⲙⲓϣⲉ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲛⲉⲣⲏⲩ. |
| We fought with one another. |
| ⲛⲉⲩϣⲁϫⲉ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲩⲉⲣⲏⲩ. |
| They were talking with each other. |
28.5 Further remarks on -ⲕⲉ-. In addition to the use of -ⲕⲉ- as an adjective "other, another" introduced in 4.3, -ⲕⲉ- may have a purely emphasizing function, e.g.
| ⲡⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ |
| the man too |
| the man as well |
Both uses are frequent, and the correct translation will depend on a careful examination of the context.
There is a related set of pronouns: m.s. ϭⲉ or ⲕⲉⲧ, f.s. ⲕⲉⲧⲉ, c.pl. ⲕⲟⲟⲩⲉ. These occur alone mostly in negative expressions, e.g. ⲙ̄ⲡⲓⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ϭⲉ I saw no one else. Otherwise the articles are added, as in ⲧⲕⲉⲧⲉ the other one (f.), ⲛ̄ⲕⲟⲟⲩⲉ the others, ϩⲉⲛⲕⲟⲟⲩⲉ some others. For the indefinite singular ⲕⲉⲟⲩⲁ and f. ⲕⲉⲟⲩⲉⲓ, another (one), are used.
28.6 Nouns with pronominal suffixes. It was noted earlier that there is a small group of nouns which take pronominal suffixes in a possessive sense. Among the more important of these are
28.7 The nouns underlying the directional adverbs of Lesson 8 are used in several other important adverbial and prepositional expressions. With ⲛ̄, ϩⲓ, and ⲥⲁ they form adverbs of static location: e.g. ⲛ̄ ⲃⲟⲗ outside, ϩⲓ ϩⲟⲩⲛ inside, ⲥⲁ-ⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ underneath, below. Each of these may be converted into a prepositional phrase by adding ⲛ̄, ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗: ϩⲓ ⲃⲟⲗ ⲛ̄ outside of, beyond; ⲥⲁ-ϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲛ̄ within, inside of. Nearly all the possible combinations occur: (ⲛ̄, ϩⲓ, ⲥⲁ) + (ⲃⲟⲗ, ϩⲟⲩⲛ, ϩⲣⲁⲓ up, ϩⲣⲁⲓ down, ⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ, ⲧⲡⲉ, ⲡⲁϩⲟⲩ, ⲡϣⲱⲓ) ± ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗ (sometimes also + ⲉ). Their meanings are usually obvious from the context. The noun ⲡ.ⲥⲁ in these expressions means "side, direction". It is the same ⲥⲁ we have in ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ and ⲙⲛ̄ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ. Note also the phrase (ⲛ̄) ⲥⲁ ⲥⲁ ⲛⲓⲙ on every side, everywhich way.
(ⲉⲓⲥ, ⲉⲓⲥ ϩⲏⲏⲧⲉ, ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲁ⸗, ϩⲱⲱ⸗, ⲙ̄ⲙⲓⲛ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟ⸗, ⲕⲁ-ⲣⲱ⸗, ⲧⲙ̄-ⲣⲱ⸗, ϩⲉⲛⲕⲟⲟⲩⲉ, ⲛ̄ⲕⲟⲟⲩⲉ, -ⲉⲣⲏⲩ from the lesson)
| ⲁ-ⲟⲩⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲛⲉⲓⲟⲧⲉ ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ ⲉ ⲙⲉϩ-ⲙⲟⲟⲩ. ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲧϣⲱⲧⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲟⲩⲏⲩ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲣⲓ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲧⲉ. ⲁϥⲣ̄-ⲡⲱⲃϣ̄ ⲇⲉ ⲉ ϫⲓ-ⲡⲛⲟⲩϩ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ. ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲣⲉϥⲉⲓ ⲇⲉ ⲉϫⲛ̄ ⲧϣⲱⲧⲉ, ⲁϥⲉⲓⲙⲉ ϫⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲛⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲛⲟⲩϩ. ⲁϥⲉⲓⲣⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩϣⲗⲏⲗ, ⲁϥⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉϥϫⲱ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ ϫⲉ, "ⲡϣⲏⲓ, ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉⲧ ϫⲱ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ ϫⲉ, 'ⲙⲟⲩϩ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲁⲅⲅⲓⲟⲛ ⲙ̄ ⲙⲟⲟⲩ.'" ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲩⲛⲟⲩ ⲁ-ⲡⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲓ ⲉⲡϣⲱⲓ, ⲁ-ⲡⲥⲟⲛ ⲙⲟⲩϩ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥϣⲟϣⲟⲩ, ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁ-ⲡⲙⲟⲟⲩ ϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ ⲟⲛ ⲉ ⲡⲉϥⲙⲁ. |
| One of our fathers sent his disciple to fetch water. But the well was very far from the cell. He forgot to bring the rope with him. And when he came upon the well, he realized that he had not brought the rope with him. He made a prayer and he called out, saying, "Oh cistern, it is my father who says to me, 'fill the bucket with water.'" And immediately, the water came upward, and the brother filled his jug, and the water settled again to its place. |
29.1 The Conditional and conditional clauses.
| ⲉⲓϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | if I hear |
| ⲉⲕϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | if you hear |
| ⲉⲣⲉϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | etc. |
| ⲉϥϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲥϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲛϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ⲉⲩϣⲁⲛⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲉⲣϣⲁⲛ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
Negation is with -ⲧⲙ̄-: ⲉϥϣⲁⲛⲧⲙ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ⲉⲣϣⲁⲛⲧⲙ̄-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄. ϣⲁⲛ may be omitted in the negative: ⲉϥⲧⲙ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ⲉⲣⲉⲧⲙ̄-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄. The Conditional occurs only in the protasis of conditional sentences. Only the Infinitive may occur in the verbal slot.
Conditional sentences in Coptic fall formally into two clearly defined groups: (1) real, and (2) contrary-to-fact. The protasis of real conditional sentences in present time has a variety of forms:
a clause with the Conditional:
| ⲉⲕϣⲁⲛⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲁⲓ |
| if you believe this |
ⲉϣⲱⲡⲉ (if) or ⲉϣϫⲉ (if) followed by the First Present, the Circumstantial, the Conditional, or any type of nonverbal predication:
| ⲉϣⲱⲡⲉ/ⲉϣϫⲉ | ⲕⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲁⲓ |
| " | ⲉⲕⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲁⲓ |
| " | ⲉⲕϣⲁⲛⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲁⲓ |
| if you believe this | |
| " | ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉϥⲉⲓⲱⲧ |
| if you are his father | |
| " | ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲕ ⲡϩⲁⲧ |
| if you have the money | |
| " | ⲛ̄ϯⲙ̄ⲡϣⲁ ⲁⲛ |
| if I am not worthy | |
the Circumstantial alone often serves as protasis:
| ⲉⲛⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ, ... |
| since we are here, ... |
The apodosis of such conditions may be any variety of verbal clause appropriate for the required sense (e.g. Fut. I, II, III; Habitual; Imperative). The apodosis may optionally be introduced with ⲉⲓⲉ (ⲉⲉⲓⲉ). For examples, see the exercises.
The protasis of contrary-to-fact conditions is in fact an Imperfect circumstantial clause, or, in the case of nonverbal clauses, a circumstantial of the clause with the imperfect converter:
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉϥⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲣ̄ⲣⲟ | if he were king |
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉ-ⲛ̄ⲧⲟϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ | if he were the king |
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉ-ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲛ ⲟⲩⲣ̄ⲣⲟ | if we had a king |
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ | if you were here |
In past time ⲉ-ⲛⲉ- is followed by the affirmative Second Perfect or negative First Perfect:
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉ-ⲛⲧⲁⲕϯ-ⲡϩⲁⲧ ⲛⲁⲓ |
| if you had given me the money |
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉ-ⲙⲡⲉⲕϫⲓ-ⲡϩⲁⲧ |
| if you had not taken the money |
If the clause is nonverbal, ⲉ-ⲛⲉ- alone is used. Thus, ⲉ-ⲛⲉⲕⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ means both "if you were here" and "if you had been here".
The conditional prefix ⲉ-ⲛⲉ- is not to be confused with the particle ⲉⲛⲉ which serves to introduce a question, e.g. ⲉⲛⲉ ⲁⲕⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ? Did you see him?
The apodosis of both tenses is in the imperfect of the Future:
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉⲕⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ, ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲁⲓ ⲛⲁϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲁⲛ. |
| If you believed, this would not happen. |
| ⲉ-ⲛⲉ-ⲛⲧⲁⲕⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ, ⲛⲉⲣⲉ-ⲡⲁⲓ ⲛⲁϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲁⲛ. |
| If you had believed, this would not have hapened. |
The Greek conjunctions ⲉⲓⲙⲏⲧⲓ (εἰ μή τι) and ⲕⲁⲛ (κἄν) are also used to introduce protases of both real and contrary-to-fact conditions.
ⲛ̄ⲥⲁⲃⲏⲗ ϫⲉ (except that, unless, if not) is often used to introduce the protasis of a contrary-to-fact condition; the clause usually contains a Pres. I, Perf. I, or nonverbal predication:
| ⲛ̄ⲥⲁⲃⲏⲗ ϫⲉ | ⲕⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ | if you did not believe |
| " | ⲁⲕⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ | if you had not believed |
| " | ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ | if you were not my father |
29.2 Inflected predicate adjectives. There is a small set of predicate adjectives inflected by means of pronominal suffixes or by proclisis to a nominal subject, e.g.
| ⲛⲉⲥⲉ-ⲧⲉϥⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ. | His wife is beautiful. |
| ⲛⲉⲥⲱⲥ. | She is beautiful. |
The more important of these are ⲛⲁⲁ- ⲛⲁⲁ⸗ great, ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩ- ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩ⸗ good, ⲛⲉⲥⲉ- ⲛⲉⲥⲱ⸗ beautiful, ⲛⲉⲥⲃⲱⲱ⸗ wise, ⲛⲁϣⲉ- ⲛⲁϣⲱ⸗ numerous, ⲛⲉϭⲱ⸗ ugly. When used in relative clauses, they are treated like the First Present: ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩϥ the good man, ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛⲉⲥⲉ-ⲧⲉϥⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ the man whose wife is beautiful. They may also be preceded by the imperfect and circumstantial converters: ⲛⲉ-ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩϥ (ⲡⲉ) he was good; ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉ-ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩϥ (ⲡⲉ) a good man. ⲛⲁⲓⲁⲧ⸗ (blessed is/are) belongs to this group, but a following nominal subject must be anticipated with a suffix: ⲛⲁⲓⲁⲧⲟⲩ ⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ⲣⲉϥⲣ̄-ⲉⲓⲣⲏⲛⲏ blessed are the peacemakers.
29.3 The comparison of both attributive and predicate adjectives is expressed by placing the preposition ⲉ before the item on which the comparison is based: ⲛⲟϭ ⲉ ⲡⲁⲓ greater than this, ⲥⲁⲃⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲉϥⲥⲛⲏⲩ wiser than his brothers. In addition to simple adjectives, both Coptic and Greek, the predicate adjectives of the preceding paragraph as well as appropriate qualitatives and other verbal constructions may be used in this construction. E.g.
| ⲛⲉϥⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲟϭ ⲉ ⲛⲉϥⲥⲛⲏⲩ. |
| He was more important than his brothers. |
| ϥϫⲟⲥⲉ ⲉ ⲡⲉϥϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ. |
| He is more exalted than his master. |
| ⲛⲉϥⲟ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲉ ⲡⲣⲏ. |
| It was brighter than the sun. |
| ⲛⲉⲥⲱⲥ ⲉ ⲧⲉⲥⲥⲱⲛⲉ. |
| She is more beautiful than her sister. |
A comparison may be strengthened by using ϩⲟⲩⲟ (more) in various combinations: ⲛ̄ ϩⲟⲩⲟ ⲉ, ⲉ ϩⲟⲩⲟ ⲉ, ⲉ ϩⲟⲩⲉ, all meaning "more than". ⲛ̄ ϩⲟⲩⲟ alone may express an absolute comparative: ⲡⲛⲟϭ ⲛ̄ ϩⲟⲩⲟ the greater.
The Greek preposition ⲡⲁⲣⲁ (or ⲙ̄ ⲡⲁⲣⲁ) may be used instead of ⲉ. Suffixes may be attached: ⲡⲁⲣⲟⲓ, ⲡⲁⲣⲟⲕ, ⲡⲁⲣⲟ etc.
29.4 Nouns with possessive suffixes (continued).
Other nouns used with pronominal suffixes are ⲁⲣⲏϫ⸗ end, ⲕⲟⲩⲛ̄(ⲧ)⸗ bosom, ⲣⲓⲛ(ⲧ)⸗ name, ⲥⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧ⸗ price, and ϣⲁⲁⲛⲧ⸗ nose. The Glossary may be consulted for these.
(ⲉϣⲱⲡⲉ, ⲉϣϫⲉ, ⲛ̄ⲥⲁⲃⲏⲗ ϫⲉ, ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩ-, ⲛⲉⲥⲉ-, ⲛⲁϣⲉ-, ⲛⲁⲓⲁⲧ⸗, ⲛ̄ ϩⲟⲩⲟ ⲉ, ϥⲓ-ϩⲣⲁ⸗, ϣⲛ̄-ϩⲧⲏ⸗ ⲉϫⲛ̄, ⲡⲉⲧ ϩⲓⲧⲟⲩⲱ⸗ from the lesson)
| ⲁϥϫⲟⲟⲥ ⲛ̄ϭⲓ ⲟⲩϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ϫⲉ "ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ϭⲛ̄-ⲁⲣⲓⲕⲉ ⲉ-ⲣⲱⲙⲉ, ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ϭⲛ̄-ⲁⲣⲓⲕⲉ ⲉⲣⲟⲕ ⲙⲁⲩⲁⲁⲕ ⲉⲕϫⲱ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ ϫⲉ 'ⲉⲣⲉ-ⲛⲁⲓ ϣⲟⲟⲡ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲓ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲃⲉ'." |
| A monk said, "In every temptation, don't find fault with man, but find fault with yourself alone, saying, 'It is because of my sins that these things are happening to me.'" |
| ⲁ-ⲟⲩⲁ ⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲃⲱⲕ ϣⲁ ⲕⲉϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϥⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ ϫⲉ, "ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲟ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲛ̄ ⲟⲩⲕⲟⲩⲓ ⲛ̄ ⲁⲣϣⲓⲛ". ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥⲧⲁⲙⲓⲟϥ. ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ϫⲉ, "ϩⲉⲣⲡ̄-ϩⲉⲛⲟⲉⲓⲕ ⲛⲁⲛ". ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥϩⲟⲣⲡⲟⲩ. ⲛ̄ⲧⲟⲟⲩ ⲇⲉ ⲁⲩⲙⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉⲩϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉ ⲛⲉⲡ̄ⲛ̄ⲓ̄ⲕⲟⲛ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲧⲏⲣϥ̄ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲧⲉⲩϣⲏ ⲧⲏⲣⲥ̄. |
| One of the monks went up to another monk and said to his disciple, "Prepare us a few lentils." And he prepared it. He said, "Moisten some loaves for us." And he moistened them. And they kept speaking of spiritual matters all day and all night. |
| ⲁⲩϫⲟⲟⲥ ⲛ̄ϭⲓ ⲛ̄ϩⲗ̄ⲗⲟ ϫⲉ, "ⲕⲁⲛ ⲛⲁⲙⲉ ⲉⲣϣⲁⲛ-ⲟⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲟⲩⲱⲛⲁϩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ, ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ϣⲟⲡϥ̄ ⲉⲣⲟⲕ, ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ⲑⲃ̄ⲃⲓⲟⲕ ⲛⲅ̄ϫⲟⲟⲥ ϫⲉ, 'ⲛ̄ϯⲙ̄ⲡϣⲁ ⲁⲛ ⲉ ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ⲡⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲉ-ⲁⲓⲱⲛϩ̄ ϩⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲃⲉ'." |
| The monks said, "Even if an angel truly appears to you, do not receive it (to yourself), but humble yourself and say, 'I am not worthy to see the angel, having lived in sins." |
30.1 The Injunctive (also called the Optative):
| ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | let me hear |
| ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | let him hear |
| ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | let her hear |
| ⲙⲁⲣⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | let us hear |
| ⲙⲁⲣⲟⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | let them hear |
| ⲙⲁⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | let the man hear |
The Injunctive occurs only in the 1st and 3rd persons in standard Sahidic. The 1st person corresponds to the cohortative, the 3rd person to the jussive; theoretically, the Imperative may be said to occupy the 2nd person position. The negative of the Injunctive is expressed by using the negative Imperative prefix ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄- with the corresponding form of the Inflected Infinitive: ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ⲧⲣⲉϥⲃⲱⲕ don't let him go, ⲙ̄ⲡⲣ̄ⲧⲣⲉⲩⲙⲟⲟⲩⲧϥ̄ don't let them kill him. The Injunctive is tripartite and is used only with the Infinitive. The free form of the 1st person, ⲙⲁⲣⲟⲛ, is used alone in the sense "Let's go.".
30.2 The Future Conjunctive of Result (also called the Finalis).
| — |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲉⲕⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲉⲥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲟⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲧⲁⲣⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
ⲛ̄ may occur optionally before all of these forms. For the 1st person sing. the simple Conjunctive ⲧⲁ- may be used.
The Future Conjunctive is basically a result clause; it is especially frequent after an Imperative, e.g.
| ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ ⲧⲁⲣⲉⲕⲣ̄-ⲥⲁⲃⲉ. |
| Listen to me and you will become wise (or: so as to become wise). |
Although the Conjunctive itself may occasionally have the value of a result/purpose clause after an Imperative, the Future Conjunctive always has this meaning. The nuance of the form can best be understood if it is viewed as the transformation of an underlying conditional sentence:
| ⲉⲕϣⲁⲛⲉⲓ ⲉⲉⲓⲉ ⲕⲛⲁⲛⲁⲩ. | → |
| ⲁⲙⲟⲩ ⲧⲁⲣⲉⲕⲛⲁⲩ. |
It may also occur after a question, e.g.
| ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲧⲁⲣⲉϥϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ? |
| Who has seen him so as to be able to describe him? |
If the question is rhetorical, as in this example, negation is generally implied: "No one has seen him so as...". If the question is real, the implication is "Tell me the answer so that...", as in
| ⲉϥⲧⲱⲛ ⲡⲉⲕⲥⲟⲛ ⲧⲁⲣⲛ̄ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛⲙ̄ⲙⲁϥ? |
| Where is your brother that we may speak with him? |
30.3 The Clause Conjugations. A distinction is made between sentence conjugations (Bipartite and Tripartite) and clause conjugations. The latter are so named because they correspond to a conjunction plus a clause in normal translation. To this category belong the Temporal, the Conjunctive, the Conditional, the Future Conjunctive of Result, and most uses of the Inflected Infinitive (ⲉⲧⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲧⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄, ⲙⲛ̄ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ ⲧⲣⲉϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄). Characteristic of this category is (1) negation with -ⲧⲙ̄-, and (2) the use of the Infinitive only.
A further clause conjugation is ϣⲁⲛⲧϥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ (until he hears):
| ϣⲁⲛϯⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | until I hear |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲕ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | until you hear |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | etc. |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧϥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ | |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲟⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ϣⲁⲛⲧⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| until the man hears |
Translation is regularly with "until", e.g.
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲁϭⲱ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲓⲙⲁ ϣⲁⲛⲧϥ̄ⲉⲓ. |
| We shall remain here until he comes. |
Similar in appearance to a clause conjugation is the form ϫⲓⲛ(ⲛ̄)ⲧⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ (from the time that he heard). This consists, however, of the conjunction ϫⲓⲛ followed by the Second Perfect. Even more frequent are the compound expressions with ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲑⲉ and ⲛ̄ ⲑⲉ (as, according as, just as), both of which are followed by relative constructions, e.g.
| ⲁⲩϩⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⲛ̄ ⲑⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥϫⲟⲟⲥ ⲛⲁⲩ. |
| They found it just as he had told them. |
| ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲑⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓⲁⲁⲥ ⲛⲏⲧⲛ̄, ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛⲉⲁⲁⲥ ϩⲱⲧ-ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄... |
| According as I have done to you, you too are to do... |
| ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲑⲉ ⲉⲧ ⲥⲏϩ ⲉⲧⲃⲏⲏⲧϥ̄ |
| as it is written concerning him |
| ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲑⲉ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲛⲁϣⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲥ |
| according as they would be able to hear (i.e. understand) |
The feminine resumptive -ⲥ in these constructions refers back to ⲑⲉ and should not be translated as a pronominal object. If a real pronominal object is required, the resumptive -ⲥ is omitted, e.g.
| ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲑⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ-ⲡⲁⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲟⲟⲩⲧ, ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ϩⲱ ϯϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲱⲧⲛ̄. |
| Just as my Father sent me, so I too am sending you. |
Other constructions with ⲑⲉ are treated similarly, e.g.
| ⲧⲁⲓ ⲧⲉ ⲑⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁ-ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ⲁⲁⲥ ⲛⲁⲓ. |
| Thus has the Lord acted for me. |
30.4 When the Inflected Infinitive is used instead of a simple Infinitive after a verbal prefix, it has the value of a causative (hence its alternate name, the Causative Infinitive):
| ⲁⲓⲧⲣⲉⲩⲉⲓ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ. |
| I caused them to enter. |
| ϯⲛⲁⲧⲣⲉⲕⲣⲓⲙⲉ. |
| I shall cause you to weep. |
30.5 The form ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧϥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ describes an action as expected but not yet done. It is conveniently translated as "he has not yet heard". The form is fully inflected:
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁϯⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲕ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲉⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧϥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲟⲩⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲉ-ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ |
It may occur in circumstantial clauses with the circumstantial converter ⲉ-; the resultant form appears ambiguously as ⲉ-ⲙⲡⲁⲧⲉ- or simply ⲙ̄ⲡⲁⲧⲉ-. In this usage it is best translated as an affirmative clause with "before":
| ⲧⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲧⲁϩⲟϥ ⲉ-ⲙⲡⲁⲧϥ̄ⲡⲱϩ ⲉ ⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ. |
| We shall overtake him before he reaches the city. |
With the imperfect converter ⲛⲉ-ⲙⲡⲁⲧϥ̄ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̄ corresponds to the pluperfect: he had not yet heard.
30.6 An untranslatable dative with ⲛⲁ⸗ or ⲉⲣⲟ⸗ occurs optionally with many verbs, especially in the Imperative. This reflexive dative is called the ethical dative, following standard terminology. E.g.
| ⲃⲱⲕ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲏⲓ. | Go home! |
| ⲥⲱ ⲛⲏⲧⲛ̄. | Drink! |
Verbs with which this occurs with some frequency are noted in the Glossary.
30.7 Higher numbers, ordinals, and fractions.
| 20 | ϫⲟⲩⲱⲧ (f. ϫⲟⲩⲱⲧⲉ) ϫⲟⲩⲧ- |
| 30 | ⲙⲁⲁⲃ (f. ⲙⲁⲁⲃⲉ) ⲙⲁⲃ- |
| 40 | ϩⲙⲉ |
| 50 | ⲧⲁⲓⲟⲩ |
| 60 | ⲥⲉ |
| 70 | ϣϥⲉ, ⲥϣ̄ϥⲉ, ϣⲃⲉ |
| 80 | ϩⲙⲉⲛⲉ, ϩⲙ̄ⲛⲉ- |
| 90 | ⲡⲥ̄ⲧⲁⲓⲟⲩ |
| 1.0</td> | ϣⲉ |
| 2.0</td> | ϣⲏⲧ |
| 1,.00 | ϣⲟ |
| 10.000 | ⲧⲃⲁ |
The tens combine with the forms of the units used in the 'teens (§24.3). The -ⲧ- of -ⲧⲏ (5) is not repeated after another -ⲧ-:
| ϫⲟⲩⲧⲟⲩⲉ | 21 |
| ϫⲟⲩⲧⲏ | 25 |
| ⲙⲁⲃⲯⲓⲧⲉ | 39 |
| ϣϥⲉⲧⲏ | 75 |
An intrusive -ⲧ- appears before -ⲁϥⲧⲉ (4) and -ⲁⲥⲉ (6):
| ⲙⲁⲃⲧⲁϥⲧⲉ | 34 |
| ⲥⲉⲧⲁⲥⲉ | 66 |
The numbers ϣⲉ 1.0, ϣⲟ 1,.00, and ⲧⲃⲁ 10.000 are masculine:
| ϣⲟ ⲥⲛⲁⲩ | 2,.00 |
| ϣⲟⲙⲛ̄ⲧ ⲛ̄ ϣⲟ | 3,.00 |
| ⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲥⲛⲟⲟⲩⲥ ⲛ̄ ⲧⲃⲁ | 1.0,0.0</td> |
Proclitic forms of the units are frequent here, e.g.
| ϣⲙ̄ⲧ-ϣⲟ | 3,.00 |
| ⲥⲉⲩ-ϣⲟ | 6,.00 |
Combinations of these higher numbers with tens and units vary in form, e.g.
| ϣⲉ ⲙⲁⲁⲃ = ϣⲉ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲙⲁⲁⲃ | 1.0</td> |
| ⲥⲉⲩ-ϣⲟ ⲁⲩⲱ ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ ⲛ̄ ϣⲉ | 6,.00 |
Ordinal numbers are formed from the cardinals with the prefix ⲙⲉϩ-. The ordinals are treated as adjectives before the noun with linking ⲛ̄. Gender distinctions are maintained:
| ⲡⲙⲉϩⲥⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ ϩⲟⲟⲩ | the second day |
| ⲧⲙⲉϩⲥⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲟⲙⲡⲉ | the second year |
For "first" the adjectives ϣⲟⲣⲡ̄ (f. ϣⲟⲣⲡⲉ) and ϩⲟⲩⲉⲓⲧ (f. ϩⲟⲩⲉⲓⲧⲉ) are used.
Fractional numbers worth noting are ⲧ.ⲡⲁϣⲉ (half) and ϭⲟⲥ, ϭⲓⲥ- (half). Other fractions are expressed by ⲣⲉ- prefixed to the denominator, as in ⲣⲉ-ⲙⲏⲧ one-tenth, or with ⲟⲩⲱⲛ (ⲟⲩⲛ̄-), as in ⲟⲩⲛ̄-ⲛ̄-ϥⲧⲟⲟⲩ a fourth.
30.8 The remote (or further) demonstrative pronouns (that) are m.s. ⲡⲏ, f.s. ⲧⲏ, and pl. ⲛⲏ. These occur much less frequently than ⲡⲁⲓ, ⲧⲁⲓ, ⲛⲁⲓ because of the preference for using phrases with ⲉⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ, such as ⲡⲉⲧ ⲙ̄ⲙⲁⲩ.
The prefixal forms ⲡⲓ-, ϯ-, and ⲛⲓ- are usually described as the reduced forms of ⲡⲏ, ⲧⲏ, and ⲛⲏ, parallel in usage to ⲡⲉⲓ-, ⲧⲉⲓ-, and ⲛⲉⲓ-. While such a formal relationship may exist, the use of ⲡⲓ-, ϯ-, and ⲛⲓ- in standard Sahidic is quite restricted. The form ⲡⲓ- occurs mainly in a few temporal and local adverbial expressions, such as ⲙ̄ ⲡⲓⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓϣ (at that time) and ⲡⲓⲥⲁ (that side, as opposed to this side). The form ⲛⲓ- occurs most frequently in expressions involving comparison with ⲛ̄ ⲑⲉ ⲛ̄ (like) or ⲣ̄-ⲑⲉ ⲛ̄ (to become like); it sometimes corresponds more closely to an English generic noun, e.g. ⲛ̄ ⲑⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲓϭⲣⲟⲟⲙⲡⲉ like doves, like a dove. It is also found in the expression ϣⲁ ⲛⲓⲉⲛⲉϩ. Elsewhere ⲡⲓ-, ϯ-, and ⲛⲓ- are frequent as scribal variants of ⲡⲉⲓ-, ⲧⲉⲓ-, ⲛⲉⲓ- or have the force of an emphatic article.
30.9 When it is necessary to express a durative or continuous process or state in the future, a periphrastic construction is employed using the Circumstantial. Contrast
| ⲕⲛⲁⲟⲩⲟⲡ | you will become holy |
| ⲕⲛⲁϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲉⲕⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ | you will be holy |
| ⲉⲕⲉⲕⲁ-ⲣⲱⲕ | you shall become silent |
| ⲉⲕⲉϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲉⲕⲕⲱ ⲛ̄ ⲣⲱⲕ | you shall remain silent |
The difference is sometimes slight, but not infrequently spelled out. The same construction occasionally appears with other tripartite conjugational forms. A full discussion of the aspectual problem involved here lies beyond the scope of this book.
30.10 Greek conjunctions, adverbs, and prepositions that occur frequently in Coptic (for reference only). The term postpositive means that the word in question must follow immediately after the first element of the sentence, as in ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲁϥⲃⲱⲕ.
30.11 Final remarks on Coptic conjunctions and particles.
ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ may mean "except" after a negative statement:
| ⲙ̄ⲡⲉ-ⲗⲁⲁⲩ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲧⲃ̄ⲃⲟ ⲛ̄ⲥⲁ ⲛⲁⲓⲙⲁⲛ ⲡⲥⲩⲣⲟⲥ. |
| None of them became cleansed except Naiman the Syrian. |
Certain temporal expressions may occur with a following relative clause without resumptive pronouns. These function virtually as compound conjunctions. E.g.
| ⲡⲉϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉ-ⲛⲁⲓ ⲛⲁϣⲱⲡⲉ |
| the day when this will happen |
| ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲉϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̄ⲧⲁϥϭⲱϣⲧ̄ |
| on the day when he looked |
| ⲡⲉⲛⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲉⲧ ϩⲛ̄ ⲙ̄ⲡⲏⲩⲉ, ⲙⲁⲣⲉ-ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲁⲛ ⲟⲩⲟⲡ. ⲧⲉⲕⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲣ̄ⲣⲟ ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲥⲉⲓ. ⲡⲉⲕⲟⲩⲱϣ ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲛ̄ ⲑⲉ ⲉⲧϥ̄ϩⲛ̄ ⲧⲡⲉ ⲛ̄ϥϣⲱⲡⲉ¹ ⲟⲛ ϩⲓϫⲙ̄ ⲡⲕⲁϩ. ⲡⲉⲛⲟⲉⲓⲕ ⲉⲧ ⲛⲏⲩ² ⲛⲅ̄ϯ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲟⲟⲩ, ⲛⲅ̄ⲕⲱ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲧ ⲉⲣⲟⲛ³ ⲛ̄ ⲑⲉ ϩⲱⲱⲛ ⲟⲛ ⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲕⲱ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲧⲉ ⲟⲩⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲛ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ, ⲛⲅ̄ⲧⲙ̄ϫⲓⲧⲛ̄ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉ ⲡⲉⲓⲣⲁⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ⲛⲅ̄ⲛⲁϩⲙⲛ̄⁴ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲓⲧⲟⲟⲧϥ̄ ⲙ̄ ⲡⲡⲟⲛⲏⲣⲟⲥ, ϫⲉ ⲧⲱⲕ ⲧⲉ ⲧϭⲟⲙ ⲙⲛ̄ ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ϣⲁ ⲛⲓⲉⲛⲉϩ. ϩⲁⲙⲏⲛ. |
| Our father who is in the heavens, may your name be hallowed. May your kingdom come. May your will happen as in heaven and happen also on the earth. Our bread which is coming, give to us today, and forgive us the things which are due from us, just as we ourselves also forgive the ones from whom we have things due, and do not take us into temptation, but save us from evil, for yours is the power and the glory forever. Amen. |