Coptic

Cop·tic

C0632100 (kŏp′tĭk)n. The Afro-Asiatic language of the Copts, which survives only as a liturgical language of the Coptic Church.adj. Of or relating to the Copts, the Coptic Church, or the Coptic language.

Coptic

(ˈkɒptɪk) n (Languages) an Afro-Asiatic language, written in the Greek alphabet but descended from ancient Egyptian. It was extinct as a spoken language by about 1600 ad but survives in the Coptic Churchadj1. (Languages) of or relating to this language2. (Christian Churches, other) of or relating to the Copts3. (Historical Terms) of or relating to the Copts4. (Peoples) of or relating to the Copts

Cop•tic

(ˈkɒp tɪk)

n. 1. an Afroasiatic language descended from ancient Egyptian, extinct as an everyday form of speech but surviving in the liturgy and literature of the Coptic Church. adj. 2. of or pertaining to Coptic or the Copts. [1670–80]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Coptic - the liturgical language of the Coptic Church used in Egypt and Ethiopia; written in the Greek alphabetEgyptian - the ancient and now extinct language of Egypt under the Pharaohs; written records date back to 3000 BC
Adj.	1.	Coptic - of or relating to the Copts or their church or language or art; "the distinctive Coptic art of 6th-century Christian Egypt"

Translations

коптский

Coptic

1. an Afro-Asiatic language, written in the Greek alphabet but descended from ancient Egyptian. It was extinct as a spoken language by about 1600 ad but survives in the Coptic Church 2. of or relating to this language

Coptic

the latest stage of Egyptian, spanning approximately 1,000 years, with an alphabetic writing system. In the llth and 12th centuries it was dying out and was replaced by Arabic. It has survived among Egyptian Christians as a religious language. The five main dialects are Sahidic (literary language of the fourth to llth centuries), Bohairic (used now by the Copts), Sub-Akhmimic, Akhmimic, and Fayumic.

Coptic possesses a well-developed analytical structure. The 23 consonants are voiceless (with and without aspiration) and resonants; only j is voiced. Voicing is replaced by nasal resonance. The basic vowels are ī, ě, ē, ǎ, ǒ, ō and ū Stress is dynamic. The vocabulary contains a considerable number of Greek elements.

REFERENCES

Elanskaia, A. I. Koptskii iazyk. Moscow, 1964.
Morenz, S. “Das Koptische.” In Handbuch der Orientalistik, section 1. Leiden, 1959. Pages 90–104.
Steindorff, G. Lehrbuch der koptischen Grammatik. Chicago, 1951.
Till, W. C. Koptische Grammatik (saidischer Dialekf), 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1966.
Nagel, P. Der Ursprung des Koptischen: Das Altertum, vol. 13, number 2. Berlin, 1967.

A. I. ELANSKAIA

Coptic

Cop·tic

Coptic

Cop•tic

Coptic

Coptic

Coptic

REFERENCES

Coptic

Words related to Coptic

noun the liturgical language of the Coptic Church used in Egypt and Ethiopia

Related Words