Lesson 1

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:

There are some pairs of nouns where a formal relationship exists between the masculine and the feminine form:

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:

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

These are attached directly to the noun, as in

The plural article appears as ⲙ̅ before ⲡ and ⲙ (cf. Intro., p. xvi):

Before nouns beginning with a vowel the plural article appears as either ⲛ̅ or ⲛ:

Before initial stroked consonants there are several possibilities:

The fuller forms ⲡⲉ-, ⲧⲉ-, ⲛⲉ- are used regularly before nouns beginning with two consonants:

Note that ⲟⲩ and (ⲉ)ⲓ have a consonantal value (w and y respectively) in certain initial situations:

The fuller forms are also used with certain nouns denoting periods of time:

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 ⲙⲛ̅ (with) is used as the conjunction "and" in joining two nouns:

A definite noun followed by a prepositional phrase or local adverb (e.g. ⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲩ there) constitutes a full predication (sentence) in Coptic:

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.