Coptic

marina008

Hey everyone,

Anyone know a good site were I can learn coptic. I really love coptic, but yet I don't read it. I really want to learn the language.

Thanxs
God Bless you
Please pray for me

user00

There are many great Coptic resources available. Here is just one of them:
http://stshenoudajc.org/index.php/2007061270/Videos/Father-David-Bebawy-Coptic-Lesson-1.html

This is part 1. There are 4 parts.

marina008

thanxs user00 I'll try it out
God Bless You

epchois_nai_nan

You really should buy this book: http://www.learncoptic.com/

Its what taught me Coptic. Very easy to read, very effective way to learn.

PFM

meanz

epchois_nai_nan , is it a good book? i was thinking of buying it but i wasn't sure wether its easy or hard to read?

epchois_nai_nan

Well yeah, its what I used to teach myself and I found it very effective. If you're an independent learner it'll be perfect you, even if you're not it is very easy to read and makes all the concepts very simple. If nothing else its an excellent reference, but its actually designed for you to simply read a chapter everyday. I loved it, and I don't think I would know Coptic without it. If you come across any problems while reading it you could just PM anyone of the several people who know Coptic on this site and I'm sure they'd be glad to help.

Hope that helps,

PFM

sodr2

for those that know coptic...whats that one thing that the deacon says during the liturgy when he holds up a cross and says something like "estasi te meta vovo theo something something efangalio"?

epchois_nai_nan

Is this the one?

[coptic]Cta;yte meta vobou ;eou akocwmen tou agiw euaggeliou[/coptic]
Stathite meta phovo theo akosomen tou agio evangellio

It means "Stand up in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel", but its Greek, not Coptic.

PFM

sodr2

;D yea that one, sounds sick lol thanks

dont know how greek got into the coptic/egyptian liturgy tho  :-\

i mean greece is waaaaaaaay up there above egypt

epchois_nai_nan

Well Greek was the language that everybody spoke way back when the liturgy was written, a lot like English is today. All the scholars and officials spoke Greek as well as their native language.  The Greek we have in the liturgy is mostly there because it served to keep visitors who couldn't speak Coptic informed on what was going on. That's why most of deacon's responses are in Greek, they kind of summarise what the priest had just prayed.

Interesting isn't it  :)?

sodr2

Yeah, that's pretty cool...

But greek and coptic are like 99.9% the same, no? dont the words have the same meanings or what

ophadece

[coptic]`mmon eneh[/coptic]
Not at all
[coptic]oujai qen `P[C[/coptic]

epchois_nai_nan

[coptic]aha ovadece qen oume;myi pe. ]rem`n,ymi pe ]acpi `nte nirem`n<ymi `nar,aioc alla `c`cqyout qen nicmot `nte nimetoueinin `mvry] `nanon hwn san`cqai nihwc `nAraboc qen nicmot `nnimetAnglia `;renerboy;ia qa nyetemi `ews nicmot `nAraboc an. Ouontec hanmys `ncaji `mmetoueinin `nje ]rem`n,ymi alla qen oumys `nnianavora nicaji `nrem`n,ymi cenaa `ehote nicaji `mmetoueinin. `Ebyl vai ]rem`n,ymi `couot `e ]metouienin qen oujwk[/coptic]

Yeah ophadece is right. Coptic is Ancient Egyptian written in Greek letters, kind of like how we often write Arabic songs with English letters to help those who don't know how to read Arabic. It has borrowed a lot of Greek words, but in a typical prayer the Coptic words far outweight the Greek ones. Other than that, they are COMPLETELY different languages.

ophadece

[coptic]`mpa`sjemjom `ntamyini `mmof `mpainece[/coptic]
I couldn't express it that well
[coptic]oujai qen `P[C[/coptic]