Learntospeak1

Lesson 1
The Alphabet
The Coptic letters are:-
alpha, beeta, gamma, delta, ai, sow, zeeta, eeta, teeta, iota, kappa, lolla, mi, ni, ksi, o, pi, ro, sima, tau, ipsilon, fi, ki, psi, omega, shy, fy, khy, hori, djanja, cheema, ti, oo, jinkim.
We shall use the following letters or double letters for them in the Latin order

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

N.B. :

In this transliteration of the Coptic Alphabet some Latin capital letters are used to represent some Coptic letters which have no written equivalent in the Latin alphabet.

The pronunciation here is simplified for daily use in conversation. It depends mainly on ancient pronunciation.

The ecclesiastic pronunciation will occasionally be shown, for those who wish to know it.

The pronunciation of the Latin letters used in this transliteration is as Latin letters are pronounced in English, unless otherwise indicated.

Read the Coptic words as you read English, except the letters " u, w, x , q, j , ou & ` " & sometimes "a" & "e", as will be shown later.

Alpha
" a "

Pronounce it as the French letter "a", & as "a" in the English word " car ".
Historically it was pronounced sometimes as a short vowel, sometimes as a long one , sometimes as a front "a" , sometimes as a back one. So it is left to the speaker to prefer any of these, if needed, e.g. in poetry.
e.g.: aha : " yes " : pronounced : a-ha

The letter "ai"
"e"

Pronounce this letter as the letter " e " in the English words "end" & "pen"
e.g. : hemsi " sit ". (Here the "e" is short because it is followed by 2 consonants ).

The djinkim
" ` "

It looks like the English apostrophe " ` ".
When it comes on top of a consonant, it is pronounced like the English letter "e" in words like " end " & " pen ".
e.g. : `k, `f, `s, `n, `m, `p, `F, `t, `x.
Those are pronounced as follows (in the same order):-
ek, ef, es, en, em, ep, ef, et, et, esh.

The First Present Tense
(Affirmative)

ti-ti : I give
`k-ti : you give ( adressing a singular male )
te-ti : you give ( adressing a singular female )
`f-ti : he gives
`s-ti : she gives
ten-ti : we give
teten-ti : you give ( plural : addressing more than one person )
se-ti : they give
Markos ti : Markos gives
pi-son ti : the brother gives
This tense refers to something happening at the present moment.

The First Present Tense
(negative)

ti-ti an : I do not give
`k-ti an : you do not give ( addressing a singular male )
te-ti an : you do not give ( addressing a singular female )
`f-ti an: he does not gives
`s-ti an: she does not gives
ten-ti an: we do not give
teten-ti an: you do not give ( plural : addressing more than one person )
se-ti an: they do not give
Markos ti an : Markos does not give.
pison ti an : the brother does not give

Lesson 2
The letter "u" (ypsilon)
This letter is pronounced as the letter "w" in the English language, e.g. nau " time " can be pronounced as the English word " now ".

The letter "ou " (oo)

This letter has 2 ways of pronunciation:-
It is pronounced also as the letter "w" . This occurs if it follows or precedes a vowel.
e.g. : ouon " there is " : is pronounced as the English word " won ".
ouai "one" ( masculine ) is pronounced as the name of the English letter " Y ". / oui "one" ( feminine ) is pronounced as the English word " we ".
The Coptic letter ou is usually pronounced as the letters "oo " in the English word " moon ". This occurs if it is adjacent to a consonant. e.g. moun " to continue " is pronounced like the English word " moon ".

The letter "w" (omega)

This letter is pronounced as the letters " oa " in the English word " loan " . It is a long " o ".
e.g. swr " to spread " is pronounced as the English word " soar ".
rwou " mouths, doors " is pronounced as the first part of the English word " rowing " with pronouncing the " w " & stopping, i.e. not pronouncing " -ing ". ( The ecclesiastic pronunciation is : ro-oo, i.e. 2 syllables).

The first Future Tense (Affirmative)

ti-na-ti : I shall give
`k-na-ti : you will give ( addressing a singular male )
te-ra-ti : you will give ( addressing a singular female )
`f-na-ti : he will give
`s-na-ti : she will give
ten-na-ti : we shall give
teten-na-ti : you will give ( plural : addressing more than one person )
se-na-ti : they will give
pi-son nati : the brother will give
ouon ou-son na-ti : a brother will give. (If the subject has an indefinite article we put ouon before the subject).
Literally : "there is a brother (who) will give".
This tense refers simply to something which will happen in the future.

The Future Present Tense
(negative)

ti-na-ti an : I shall not give
`k-na-ti an : you will not give ( addressing a singular male)
te-ra-ti an : you will not give ( addressing a singular female)
`f-na-ti an: he will not give
`s-na-ti an: she will not give
ten-na-ti an: we will not give
teten-na-ti an: you will not give ( plural )
se-na-ti an: they will not givepison na-ti an : the brother will not give
`mmon son na-ti : no brother will give
N.B. In addressing a female we say terati instead of tenati : "you will give" ( adressing a singular female )

Vocabulary

pi-son " the brother " / pi "the" (definite article masc. sing. ) ou-son " a brother " / ou : " a " ( indefinite article singular).
aha : "yes" / `mmon : "no"
mon : "no" (borrowed from the Sahidic dialect, to apply the ule of the least effort, in which languages develop).

Verbs

nahti : " to believe " / kati : " to understand "
hemsi : "to sit down" / swtem " to hear " / nau : "to see " / erhyts : "to begin " / moun : " to continue " /
tamo : "to tell" / hw : "to stop"
nyou :" to be coming " ( pronounced in English : niyyoo)
(The Coptic diphthong "-you" is pronounced like Engl. "iyyoo")
mei " to love, to like " (pronounced as the Engl. word "may")
swoun "to know" (In ecclesiastic pronunciation it can be pronounced as Engl. : "so-woon" or "so-oon" )
Question & answers in the First Present tense
`Knahti? "Do you believe?" ( addressing a singular male)
aha, tinahti. "Yes, I believe"
`mmon ,tinahti an " No, I do not believe"

Exercise

Answer the following questions in by "yes" & by "no":-
tihemsi? "Am I sitting?" / `fswtem? "Does he hear?" / `snau? : " Does she see?"/ tetenswoun? "Do you know? (plural)
tekati ? " Do you understand?" (addressing a singular female)
semei? "Do they love?"
Markos nyou? " Is Mark coming? ".

Question & answers in the First Future tense

`fna-erhyts ? " Will he begin?"/
aha , `fnaerhyts : " Yes, he will begin ". /
`mmon, `fnaerhyts an " No ,he will not begin ".
Answer the following questions by "yes" & "no":-
`knatamo? "Will you tell?" / `snahw "Will she stop?"

te-ra-ti " you will give (singular feminine) is used instead of te-na-ti , as an exception of the rule of using na to form the future in this tense. Probably the Copts did this to avoid any confusion with tennati "we shall give".

For asking if something happens the interrogative phrase can be the same as the statement phrase, without putting an interrogative word, i.e., in the same way of Egypt`s colloquial Arabic. But we have 2 interrogative particles which mean the Arabic word " hal?". But they are usually not used, depending on the tone of the voice to differentiate between a question & a statement. So :

`fnahti can mean "He believes" or "Does he believe?"
The interrogative particles are the Coptic" an " & the Greek loan word "my" ( pronounced as the English word "me"). So we can ask the same question thus : an `fkati? or my `fkati ? " Does he understand?".
The dash "-" is sometimes added in these lessons to help in dividing the word in syllables for learning pronunciation easily , e.g. ti-na-ti = tinati

Lesson 3
The letter " x " (shy)
The name of this letter is pronounced like the English word " shy ".
We borrowed the Latin letter "x" to use it for the Coptic letter "shy". This is pronounced as the English sound "sh".
e.g. : "ax" which means" what" is pronounced as the English word "ash ", or as the first part of the English word "usher". ( long or short).
" ouwx " = " to want " is pronounced as the English word " wash ". e.g. ti-ouwx : " I want ".

The letter "q" (Khy)

(N.B. The "y " in the name of this letter is pronounced like the "y" in the English words " shy " & " sky ".)
We borrowed the Latin letter " q " to use it for the Coptic letter "khy".
It is pronounced as the Arabic letter referred to by the letters " kh " in English, & as " ch " in German " auch ".
Those who cannot pronounce it as "kh" because the sound of "kh" is not present in the English language, can pronounce it as " k" .
e.g. " qen " which means " is " is pronounced as English pronunciation of " khen " or " khain ".(short or long)
N.B.."j" can be pronounced as English "j" or better as "dj".

The first Perfect Tense
(affirmative)

ai-kati: " I understood" , " I have understood"
ak-kati "You understood" , " You have understood"(m)
are-kati "You understood"," you have understood"(f)
af-kati "he understood" , " he has understood"
as-kati "she understood " ,"she has understood"
an-kati "we understood"," we have understood"
ateten-kati "you understood", " you have understood"(pl)
au-kati "they understood", " they have understood"
a pison kati "The brother understood"," ..has understood"
pison afkati "The brother understood"," ..has understood"

The first Perfect Tense
(negtative)

`mpi-kati : " I did not understand "
`mpek-kati : " you did not understand " (singular masc.)
`mpe-kati : "you did not understand " (singular feminine)
`mpef-kati : " he did not understand "
`mpes-kati : " she did not understand "
`mpen-kati : " we did not understand "
`mpeten-kati : " you did not understand " (plural).
`mpou-kati : " they did not understand "
`mpe pison kati : "the brother did not understand "

Exercises

akkati " Did you understand?" (singular masculine)
arekati? "Did you understand?" (singular feminine)
atetenkati? "Did you understand?" (plural)
aha , aikati "yes, I understood"
`mmon, `mpikati "no, I did not understand"

The definite article "pi"

This article means "the", but it is only used for the singular masculine words. (= French ' le ' ),
e.g. pi-son "the brother".
N.B. :-
1)"pi" can be abbreviated to "`p" e.g. `pson "the brother"
2) In Cptic texts the abbreviated definite article " `p " is changed to " `F " if the defined word begins by one of the followingletters " b, i, l, m, n, ou, r ".
Yet, one can neglect this rule for the purpose of simplification.

The definite article "ti"

This article means "the", but it is only used for the singular feminine words. (= French 'la'),
e.g. ti-swni "the sister"
N.B. :-
"ti " can be abbreviated to "`t" e.g. `tswni "the sister"

The letter "ou"
"ou"

Pronounce it as "oo " in English " moon " (long) , or better as " u " in English " put " ( short ).
a : alpha : as in French " a " , & as " a " in English " car " or " man " (onecan pronounce it as a back or front " a " ) or as " u " in English " cut " or " a " in " amuse " ( one can pronounce it short or long ).
e.g. aha " yes "
b : beta : b : e.g. ab " insect ".
g : gamma : hard g : This letter is found only in words o of Greek origin. e.g. agios " saint "
d : delta : d : This letter is found only in words o of Greek origin. e.g. doksa " glory "
e : ai: e.g. pen " our " : pronounced as English "pen "
( one can pronounce it short or long )
6 : sow : ( the name of this figure is pronounced as the syllable " sow " in the English word " sowing " ). This figure represens a Coptic letter which stopped to be used as a letter . It became used only as the numeral 6, in the Coptic & Greek languages.
z : zeeta : z : This letter is found only in words o of Greek origin.
y : eeta : as in English " ee " in " meet ".
e.g. hyt " heart " : pronounced as English " heat ".
t : theeta or teeta : t : e.g. Tai " this ". Taf " spitting "
i : iota : as English " i " in " pin "
k : kappa : as English " k "
l : lolla or lavla : as English " l "
m : mi : as English " m "
n : ni : as English " n "
ks : xi : as English " x "
o : o : as English " o "
p : pi : as English " p "
r : ro : as English " r "
s : seema : as English " s "
t : ta-w : as English " t "
u : eepsilon : as English " w '
f : fi : as English " f "
k : ki : as English " k "
ps : psi : as English " ps "
w : omega : as English " oa " , i.e. long " o " .
x : shy : as English " sh "
f : fy : as English " f "
q : khy " as English " kh "
h : hori " as English "h "
j : djanja : as English " g " in " George ".
tx : cheema : as English " ch "
ti : ti : as English " ti "
ou : as English " u" in "put"
` : djinkim : as English " e " in " end "
`i : " to come " : ( pronounced like the name of the English letter "e" ). / hemsi : " to sit ".