Coptic language facts for kids

The Coptic language is the final stage of the ancient Egyptian language. It is a direct descendant of the language used in ancient Egypt, which was written with hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts.

The Coptic alphabet is based on the Greek alphabet, with a few extra letters. These extra letters come from the older demotic script. Coptic was a living language, spoken every day, from about 200 AD to 1100 AD. Today, it is still used as the special church language (liturgical language) of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

What is Coptic?

Coptic belongs to a big group of languages called Afro-Asiatic. It is part of the Egyptian language family. The Coptic language is written using the Coptic alphabet.

Where Was Coptic Spoken?

Coptic was mainly spoken in Egypt. It did not spread much outside of Egypt, except for some monasteries in Nubia.

A few Coptic words found their way into Greek. From Greek, some of these words then went into other European languages. But most Egyptian words in European languages came directly from ancient Egyptian, not Coptic.

Is Coptic an Official Language?

Coptic is an extinct language, meaning it is no longer spoken by people every day. So, it does not have any official status. However, one of its dialects, called Bohairic, is still used today. It is the special language for church services in the Coptic Orthodox Church. They use it along with Arabic and Greek.

Different Ways of Speaking Coptic

Coptic had several regional dialects. These dialects were used all over Egypt, from the Mediterranean coast down to Nubia. They were also spoken in the western oases.

Here are the main dialects of Coptic:

Sahidic Coptic

Sahidic was the most common dialect for writing. Most Coptic texts we know today are in Sahidic. It was the leading dialect before the time of Islam. Sahidic probably started in the area around al-Ashmunayn. Around 300 AD, people started writing literature in it, including parts of the Bible. By the 6th century, its spelling became standard. It was very important for the Coptic Orthodox Church throughout Egypt. Most writers who wrote in Coptic used this dialect.

Bohairic Coptic

The Bohairic dialect likely came from the western Nile delta. The oldest Bohairic writings are from the 4th century AD. But most texts are from the 9th century and later. This might be because old texts did not survive well in the wet northern parts of Egypt.

Akhmimic Coptic

Akhmimic was spoken around the town of Akhmim. It was popular in the 4th and 5th centuries, then it died out. Akhmimic is the oldest-sounding of the Coptic dialects.

Lycopolitan Coptic

Lycopolitan is similar to Akhmimic in when and where it was used. However, writings in Lycopolitan are mostly found near Asyut. The main differences between these two dialects are mostly in how they are written.

Fayyumic Coptic

Fayyumic was mainly used in the Fayyum region, west of the Nile valley. We have texts from this dialect from the 3rd to the 10th centuries.

Oxyrhynchite Coptic

Oxyrhynchite was spoken in Middle Egypt, near Oxyrhynchus. It has some similarities with Fayyumic. Texts in this dialect are found from the 4th and 5th centuries.

Coptic Words

Most of the words in Coptic come from the ancient Egyptian language. They are most similar to the demotic stage of Egyptian. About one-third of Coptic words come from Greek. Some Coptic texts even have parts that are almost entirely made of Greek words. But remember, most Coptic texts are direct translations of Greek writings.

How Coptic is Written

Coptic uses a writing system that mostly comes from the Greek alphabet. It also has some extra letters that came from Demotic. The number and shape of these demotic letters can change depending on the Coptic dialect. Some Greek letters in the Coptic alphabet were only used for words that originally came from Greek.

History of Coptic

Coptic was first used a lot by Christians in the late 2nd century. It helped translate texts from Greek to Egyptian. After a time of persecution in the late 3rd century, the monastic movement grew very strong. These large groups of monks were mostly Egyptian. This created a need for their leaders to write rules in their own Egyptian language.

Coptic truly became a great literary language when Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite appeared. Saint Shenouda changed the language from just a tool for instructions to monks. He made it a rich literary language used for monks, church leaders, regular people, and even government officials. His talent and knowledge of Greek helped him make Coptic writing very high quality. Scholars are still amazed by his writings today.

Coptic During the Early Arabic Period (7th to 10th Century AD)

By the mid-7th century, Egypt came under the rule of Arab leaders. They eventually tried to make the Copts learn Arabic to keep their government jobs. This slowly reduced the number of Coptic readers. Families felt pressure to learn Arabic to keep their jobs. This meant they slowly stopped teaching their children literary Coptic.

During this time, some Arabic words entered the Coptic language. But Arabic was not used in the Church yet. There are no Coptic-Arabic writings from this period. Coptic also remained the spoken language of farmers and probably the church leaders.

Coptic Versus Arabic (11th to 14th Century AD)

Around the 11th century, the good relationship between Egypt's rulers and the Church changed. A ruler named Hakem b'Amr Allah became harsh. Christians faced difficult times. Their churches were sometimes closed, and their language was forbidden.

During this period, Coptic writing in the Church, its last stronghold, declined. This also weakened the Church, which in turn weakened the language even more.

Coptic Declines as a Spoken Language (to 17th Century AD)

After the 14th century, the Church became less strong. The Ottoman Empire taking over Egypt in the early 16th century seemed to speed up this decline. Fewer Coptic books were made. This suggests that Coptic books were not used as much in church. While Coptic was still required for church services, it was used less and less. This shows that Arabic had replaced Coptic as the main spoken language among the Copts.

Revival of Coptic in the 19th Century AD

In the mid-19th century, Pope Cyril IV of Alexandria started a movement to educate church leaders and new generations. Bringing Coptic back was seen as important for this movement. So, Coptic language classes were offered in all the schools he built.

Pope Cyril IV did not rule for long. But he had started the work for the movement to continue. In the last part of that century, the effort to revive the Coptic language grew stronger.

Dedicated people spread the language among many people. They printed many Coptic service books for the first time. Before this, these books only existed as handwritten copies. This helped bring Coptic back into use in church services. Many grammar books and a better dictionary were also created. A new college for church leaders also helped spread the Coptic revival.

Coptic in the 20th Century

Coptic continued to grow in the Church and among educated groups in the early 20th century. Coptic schools, started by Pope Cyril VI and others, kept doing their important work. The college for church leaders also continued the tradition of the 19th-century Coptic revival.

With the revolution of 1952, the Arabic language became even more important in Egypt. This affected the new educated groups among the Copts. When members of these groups served the Church, they brought a new focus on Arabic in sermons. This unintentionally weakened the Coptic revival process.

Images for kids

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  Fragment of a Coptic book

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  Stone with Coptic inscription

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  8th-century Coptic manuscript of Luke

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  Fifth–sixth century Coptic liturgic inscription from Upper Egypt.

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  Page from 19th-century Coptic-language grammar

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  Papyrus Bodmer VI (“Dialect P”) has the most letters of all Coptic alphabets, with 35 unique letters.

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  Sandstone stela with Coptic text. It shows the names Phoibammon and Abraham. From Egypt, at The British Museum, London.

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  Coptic and Arabic inscriptions in an Old Cairo church

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  Pottery shard with 5 lines in Coptic Sahidic. From the 6th century AD, found in Thebes, Egypt. Now at The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma copto para niños