Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bohairic Grammar
Bohairic Grammar
Bohairic Grammar
Annette Imhausen
Contents
0. Introduction
1. Alphabet
2. Pronouns
3. Nouns
4. The Article
5. The Genitive
6. The Adjective
7. Numerals
8. Non-verbal Sentences
9. The Verb
12. Prepositions
14. Questions
20. Negatives
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0. Introduction (Shisha-Halevy, p. 53-60)
Bohairic is a major dialect of Coptic, also called “Memphitic”, “the northern dialect”, or
“dialect of Lower Egypt” in earlier terminology. It was the first dialect that Western
scholarship became aquainted with, but has since been superseded by Sahidic as far as
research and tuition are concerned.
Originally the northern local dialect of the western Delta (Buhaira) and Wadi el-Natrun,
Bohairic spread dramatically (beginning after, and as an indirect result of the Arab
Conquest of Egypt) eastward and southward. In the eighth and ninth centuries it broke
the monopoly of Sahidic, and by the eleventh century had largely completed the process
of becoming virtually the sole dialect of Coptic.
Extant Bohairic sources include on the one hand of manuscripts later than the ninth
century with scriptural, homiletic, hermeneutic, hagiographical and liturgical texts, and,
on the other, a much smaller collection of fourth and fifth century fragments, all
biblical. The largest single document of this kind published to date is Papyrus Bodmer
III, containing the Gospel of John.
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1. Alphabet (Mallon, p. 9-10, Shisha-Halevy, p. 54)
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j
{ Ù
Aspiration
Probably the most striking feature of Bohairic is the consonant aspiration in words of
native Egyptian stock. The aspirated allophone1 (y, v, ,) occurs before and in contact
with a sonorant (any of /b/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /w/, and /j/) in initial clusters and elsewhere
(e.g. ,lom, crown; aymou, immortal; vmenrit, the beloved) or “spontaneously” as the
onset of a stressed syllable (”stress” similar to “sonority”).
1
In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. A phone is
a sound that has a definite shape as a sound wave, while a phoneme is a basic group of sounds that can
distinguish words (i.e. changing one phoneme in a word can produce another word); speakers of a
particular language perceive a phoneme as a single distinctive sound in that language. Thus an allophone
is a phone considered as a member of one phoneme.
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2. Pronouns (Mallon, p.32-44)
Suffix Pronouns
singular plural
1 -i, -t 1 -n
2m -k 2 -ten
f Ø or -i
3m -f 3 -ou
f -c
Independent Pronouns
singular plural
1 anok 1 anon
2m nyok 2 nywten
f nyo
3m nyof 3 nywou
f nyoc
singular plural
1 hw 1 hwn
2m hwk 2 hwten
f hwi
3m hwf 3 hwou
f
hwc
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singular plural
1 mmauat 1 mmauaten
2m mmauatk 2 mmauaten-y/nou
f mmaua]
3m mmauatf 3 mmauatou
f mmauatc
4. rw ‘even, self’
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Possessive Article ‘that/those belonging to’
singular plural
m va- na-
f ya-
Possessive Pronoun
singular plural
m f
1S vwi ywi noui
2Sm vwk ywk nouk
2Sf vw yw nou
3Sm vwf ywf nouf
3Sf vwc ywc nouc
1 Pl vwn ywn noun
2 Pl vwten ywten nouten
3 Pl vwou ywou nouou
Possessive Adjective
singular plural
m f
1S pa- ta- na-
2Sm pek- tek- nek-
2Sf pe- te- ne-
3Sm pef- tef- nef-
3Sf pec- tec- nec-
1 Pl pen- ten- nen-
2 Pl peten- teten- neten-
3 Pl pou- tou- nou-
Demonstrative Pronoun
1. ‘this, these’
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a) attached to a following noun
singular plural
m pai- nai-
f tai-
b)
singular plural
m vai nai
f yai
2. ‘that, those’
a)
singular plural
m v/ n/
f y/
b) To render ‘that/those day/s’ the following construction is used: The noun is prefixed
by the definite article and followed by the phrase ett/, etemmau, which is formed
by the relative et- and the adverb t/, mmau ‘there’.
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Several nouns exist in two genders with a different sense in each form:
]-ave the head pi-ave the boss
]-b/t the side pi-b/t the palm
]-joi the wall pi-joi the boat
Similarly designations of fruits are masculine if they refer to the fruits themselves, and
feminine if the fruit tree is referred to:
pi-aloli the grape ]-aloli the vine
pi-kente the fig ]-ehe the fig tree
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Derivation of nouns
Several endings can be attached to a root to form a noun: -e, -i, -w, -f, -c
1. –e (masculine) and –/ (fem)
• form adjectives,
• an a or e usually appears after the first consonant
• examples: safe, fem. saf/ ‘deserted’ from swf ‘to devastate’;
neste “hard” from nsot ‘to be hard’
2. –i
• forms feminine nouns
• examples: ouobsi “whiteness” from ouobs “white”;
/pi “number” from wp “to count”;
hl/ji “mildness” from hloj “become mild”
3. –w
• forms feminine nouns
• example: hebcw “garment” from hwbc “to dress”
4. –f
• forms masculine nouns
• example: nahbef “yoke” from noheb “to yoke”
• the same f is used in suffix forms with verbs to employ them in an
abstract sense, without indication of a person, e.g. p-twnf “the action of
getting up”
5. –c
• forms feminine nouns
• examples: ywoutc “reunion” from ywou] “reunite”;
cormec “error” from cwrem “to err”
Plural Forms
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The majority of nouns have the same form in both singular and plural, the number being
indicated by the article. Nevertheless there is a number of nouns showing special plural
form. In earlier Egyptian, the endings of the plural were w for the masculine and wt for
the feminine. From the former, the Coptic masculine plural ending ou is derived, from
the latter the feminine plural in oui.
Compound Nouns
Many compound nouns can be formed by attaching prefixes to either nouns or verbs.
The prefix can be either a noun, verb or a particle.
a) compound nouns formed with nouns
This is restricted to nouns that exist in a short form which can be used as a prefix.
examples (more examples can be found in Mallon, p. 58-59):
• ma-n- “place of”:
manswpi “abode”, “dwelling”;
manvwt “refuge”;
mansai “orient”;
• rem- “ man from/of”:
remnhwb “worker”;
remnk/mi “Egyptian”;
rem]voinik/ “Phoenician”;
remrako] “man from Alexandria”;
• ham- / am- “worker of”:
hamse / amse “carpenter”
• can- to indicate a profession
cankap “ropemaker” from kap “rope”
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fai-sini “messenger”
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4. The Article (Mallon, p. 26-31)
The Definite Article
Singular Plural
weak strong
masc. p- / v- pi-
ni- nen-
fem. t- / y- ]-
The definite article singular has two forms in Bohairic, a weak form (p- / v- and t- /
y-) and a strong form (pi- and }-). Before b, l, m, n, and r, and sometimes before i
and ou the weak form appears as v- and y-.
There is a subtle difference in meaning between weak and strong form. The weak form
determines less precisely, it is often used before generic or abstract nouns. The strong
form indicates a specific individual.
Examples:
v-nou] God pi-nou] the god
v-r/ the sun pi-r/ nte ]-meym/i the sun of justice
The plural article nen- is often used before a compound noun, e.g. nen-s/ri mpicl
“the sons of Israel”. ni- can always be used.
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5. The Genitive (Mallon, p. 69-71)
The genitive expression of two elements is formed with the two particles n- (m- before
b, m, p, v and ') and nte-. Contrary to Sahidic, n- is used in the undetermined
genitive expression, and nte- in its determined form.
n- is used
• if the preceding noun is undetermined, i.e. without article;
examples: ou,lom nnoub “a crown of gold”; ou,lol nhat “a necklace of
silver”;
• after the prepositional expressions m-v-r/] “like”, m-p-emyo “in the presence
of”, qa-t-h/“opposite of”, hi-t-h/ “before”;
examples: mpemyo mp{oic “in the presence of the Lord”; mvr/]
noucaray/ou “like a storm”
• after suffixed forms of certain nouns (see Mallon, §55);
example: qajwou nnikalamvo “in front of the hills”
• if the preceding noun is determined by the article nen-;
example: nenbal mp{oic “the eyes of the lord”
nte- is used
• between two names;
example: maria nte iakwboc “Mary, (mother) of Jacob”
• if the preceding noun is determined by the strong article pi, ], ni;
example: ]ho] nte p[oic “the fear of the Lord”
• if the preceding noun has the undetermined article ou- or han-, and the
following noun has a definite or indefinite article;
examples: ouss/n nte pwnq “the tree of life”; ou,lom nte hanhmot “a
crown of grace”; hanrompi nte pwnq “(some) years of life”;
• if the two elements of the genitive construction are separated;
example: niecwou etcwrem nte p/i mpicra/l “the stray sheep of the
house of Israel”
Notes:
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• If the preceding noun is determined by the weak article either n- or nte- can be
used;
• If the preceding noun is followed by several elements, the genitive particle is
used only once;
examples: mpemyo mp{oic nem nirwmi “before the Lord and men”;
hanahwr nnoub hi hat “treasures of gold and silver”
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6. The Adjective (Mallon, p. 71-76)
Apart from a few “real” adjectives, their function is mostly filled by the following
constructions:
• Linked by n- (attribute), sometimes the “adjective” precedes the noun in this
construction (nis](great), noj (great), kouji (small), houit (first), qae (last),
m/s (numerous) always precede the noun they modify).
Examples: ourwmi ncabe “ a wise man”, ]nis] mbaki “the great city”
• e= (undetermined antecedent) or et- (determined antecedent) fo1llowed by
the qualitative of a verb.
Examples: pipneuma eyouab “ the holy spirit”, oupneuma efouab “a holy
spirit”
Note that a word followed by niben is considered determined and will be
followed by et.
Comparative
The comparative is usually expressed by the following preposition e-, ero=. It can also
be expressed by:
• ehote- (before a noun)
• ehote e-, ehote nte- before a verb
• ehote ero=, ehotero= with the suffix pronoun
Examples: enaaf e iwann/c “taller than John”; eieoubas ehote ou,iwn “I will
become whiter than snow”; fjor ehoteroi “he is stronger than I”
If the object of a comparison is not expressed, n-houo is used: fcotp nhouo “more
selected”.
Superlative
The absolute superlative is expressed by emasw or mmasw “very”, e.g. ounis]
nrasi emasw “a very great joy”. The superlative in relation to something else is
expressed by qen- or ebol oute-, e.g. v/ etoi nkouji qen y/nou “ the one who
is the smallest among you”.
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7. Numbers (Mallon, p. 76-84; Till §23)
Numbers are written by letters with a single overbar (up to 999) or two overbars (from
1000 on).
m f
number
symbolic number word symbolic number word
1 a ouai oui
2 b cnau b] cnou]
3 g somt g] som]
4 d ftwou
5 e ]ou ]e
6 6 coou coou
7 z sasf z] sasfi
8 / sm/n /] sm/ni
9 y 'it y] 'i]
10 i m/t i] m/]
20 k jwt k] jw]
30 l mab
40 m hme
50 n taiou
60 x ce
70 o sfe
80 p qamne
90 f picteoui
100 r se
200 c s/i
1000 so
10,000 yba
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• The most common construction (as in Sahidic) is Numeral– n – Noun (singular),
examples: ]-m/t-cnau mmay/t/c “the twelve disciples”, ]-m/] mbaki
“the ten cities”, pi-ftouy/ou “the four winds”
• However, the numeral 2 normally follows the noun with no particle intervening,
examples: pi-tebt b “the two fish”; tai-entol/ b] “these two laws”
• The numeral agrees in gender with the noun, which is always treated as singular.
• Distributive/apportioning numbers are formed by double use of a cardinal
number, example: cnau cnau “two by two”
• Ordinal numbers are formed by prefixing mah- to the cardinal number. They
can be used before or after the noun, and are attached using n-.
• Fractions: ½ vasi from vws (Egyptian psS) to divide or joc, jec- (from
Egyptian gs). Fractions other than ½ are formed with the prefix re (Egyptian rA),
e.g. resomt 1/3, rem/t 1/10.
Dates
The year begins August 25, and consists of 12 month (abot) of 30 days. These are
followed by 5 additional days (6 in a leap year), which form the small months
(pikouji nabot).
Month names
1. Ax.t ywout Thoth 3. pr.t vamenwy Pharmenoth
2. Ax.t paopi Paophi 4. pr.t varmouyi Pharmuti
3. Ax.t aywr Hathyr 1. Smw pa,wn, pasonc Pachon
4. Ax.t,oiak Choiakh 2. Smw pawni Payni
1. pr.t twbi Tybi 3. Smw ep/p Epiphi
2. pr.t me,ir Mechir 4. Smw mecwr/ Mesore
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8. Non-verbal sentences (Till, §35-37; Mallon, p. 180-186, Chaine (1955), p. 11-
58)
Non-verbal sentences are sentences which do not contain a finite verb. The subject can
be a noun or pronoun, the predicate can be a noun, pronoun or adverb. Two types of
non-verbal sences can be distinguished according to their predicate:
Non-verbal sentences are usually statements in present tense. However they can be
transformed into circumstantial clauses (using the converter e-) or into statements of the
past (using the converter ne-)
The predicate can be a noun, pronoun or another element which serves as a noun.
Depending on the predicate, the construction of a nominal sentence varies.
Direct juxtaposition.
The relative form, taken as a noun (“the one who…”) can be used with
the definite article or without article, but never with the indefinite article.
examples: ncok petjw 'mmos “You are the one who says it.”
ncok etjw 'mvai “You are the one who says this.”
ncwten gar an netnasaji “Because you are not those who will
speak.”
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nim (who?) and the indefinite article xli (nothing) can be used in non-
verbal sentences.
examples: ncok nim “Who are you?”
anok xli “I am nothing.”
The subject is always determined by the definite article, and the predicate
has either the definite or indefinite article.
The auxiliary (copula) pe, te, ne is used. It is often placed after the
predicate.
If subject and predicate agree in number and gender, the copula will, too.
If they don’t agree, pe is used.
examples:
pisaji 'nte pistauros oumetsoj pe “The language of the cross is
foolishness” (S: pisaji (m), P: oumetsoj (f), copula: pe)
pimisi ebol qen tsarx ousarx pe “The child of the flesh is flesh”
(S: pimisi (m), P: ousarx (f), copula: pe)
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pwnx ne vouwini pe 'nnirwmi “The life was the light of (the) men.”
(S: pwnx (m), P: ouwini (m), copula: pe)
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B Non Verbal Sentences with Adverbial Predicate
The subject can be nominal or pronominal. In either case the subject directly precedes
the adverbial predicate. For present meaning the prefixes of the 1st present, 2nd present
or circumstantial are used.
examples:
1st present:
'v'+ neman “God is with us.”
+qen paiwt “I am in my father.”
2nd present:
au'mvrh+ 'nniaggelos “They are like angels.”
paoujai nem pawou auqen panou+ “My salvation and my glory are in my God.”
If the subject has the indefinite article, it must be introduced by the auxiliary ouon
(positive) or 'mmon (negative).
example:
ouon oumhs 'mmonh qen phi 'mpaiwt “There is a multitude of places in the house of
my father.”
To achieve past meaning in a sentence with adverbial predicate, the prefixes of the
imperfect (imperfect converter na-) are used.
example:
nafnemwou 'nje comas “Thomas was with them.”
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9. The Verb (Mallon, p. 85-156)
There are two basic forms of the verb in Coptic:
A The Infinitive
B The Qualitative
A The Infinitive
The infinitive always indicates action. The action can effect another object (direct
object), or the subject itself. The infinitive of verbs expressing a quality indicates the
process of acquiring that quality.
The infinitive of transitive verbs (e.g. swnt ‘to create’) can appear in three forms:
a) the absolute form: swnt, which is used before ojects introduced by n-/mmo=.
example: afswnt mpirwmi “He created man.”
b) the construct form: sent-, used before a nominal object, which is directly
following.
example: afsent pirwmi “He created man.”
c) the pronominal form: sont=, used before a suffix pronoun.
example: afsontf “He created him.”
The use of the construct and pronominal form is restricted to specific tenses.
B The Qualitative
The qualitative describes a state or condition, which usually indicates the result of the
action described by the infinitive. Qualitatives of transitive verbs often have a passive
meaning.
Examples: bwl “to release” has the qualitative bhl “to be released”
qisi “to adore” has the qualitative qosi “to be adored”
The use of the qualitative is restricted to the following tenses: 1st and 2nd present,
imperfect and circumstantial.
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Verbal Classes
Mallon distinguishes between simple verbs, caustaive verbs and composed verbs.
• 2 radical verbs
• verbs with 2nd geminating radical
• 3 radical verbs
• verbs with a 3rd weak radical
• 4 radical verbs
• 5 radical verbs
• verbs with a 3rd geminating radical
• verbs with 4th weak radical
For a detailed account of these and their vocalizsation see Mallon, p.90-102.
Most verbs in Coptic are conjugated by placing the subject, nominal or pronominal,
before the verbal stem. A few verbs employ a different method, by which the nominal
or pronominal subject follows the verbal stem. When the subject is a pronoun, the suffix
pronouns are used.
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In the same sense the rarer ouon mmo= (mmon mmo=) and ouon ero= (mmon
ero=) are used.
ouon nte- (and its negative mmon nte-) exist in a full form and an abbreviated
form:
full forms:
ouon nthi (mmon nthi), ouon ntak (mmon ntak) etc., before noun: ouon
nte- (mmon nte-)
abbreviated forms:
Singular
1 ouon+ mmon+
2m ouontek mmontek
2f ouonte mmonte
3m ouontef mmontef
3f ouontes mmontes
Plural
1 (ouonten) mmonten
2 ouonteten mmonteten
3 ouontou mmontou
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The Prefix conjugation
The pattern normally adopted is verbal prefix – subject – verb. Exceptions to this rule
are the 1st Present and the 1st Future tenses. With the 1st Present the subject is attached
directly to the verb, while with the 1st Future, the pattern is subject – na – verb.
The Tenses
1st Present
Singular Plural
1 +- 1 ten-
2m k- / ,- 2 teten-
2f te-
3m f- 3 se-
3f s-
Imperfect
Singular Plural
1 nai- 1 nan-
2m nak- 2 nareten-
2f nare-
3m naf- 3 nau-
3f nas-
positive
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Singular Plural
1 ai- 1 an-
2m ak- 2 ateten-
2f are-
3m af- 3 au-
3f as-
Nominal subject: a-
negative
Singular Plural
1 8mpi- 1 8mpen-
2m 8mpek- 2 8mpeten-
2f 8mpe-
3m 8mpef- 3 8mpou-
3f 8mpes-
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Aorist / Habitude / Praesns Consuetudinis
positive
Singular Plural
1 sai- 1 san-
2m sak- 2 sareten-
2f sare-
3m saf- 3 sau-
3f sas-
negative
Singular Plural
1 8mpai- 1 8mpan-
2m 8mpak- 2 8mpareten-
2f 8mpare-
3m 8mpaf- 3 8mpau-
3f 8mpas-
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First Future
Singular Plural
1 +na- 1 tenna-
2m ,na- 2 tetenna-
2f tera-
3m fna- 3 sena-
3f sna-
Singular Plural
1 naina- 1 nanna-
2m na,na- 2 naretenna-
2f narena-
3m nafna- 3 nauna-
3f nasna-
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Third Future
positive
Singular Plural
1 eie- 1 ene-
2m eke- 2 eretene-
2f ere-
3m efe- 3 eue-
3f ese-
negative
Singular Plural
1 8nna- 1 8nnen-
2m 8nnek- 2 8nneten-
2f 8nne-
3m 8nnef- 3 8nnou-
3f 8nnes-
This tense has a much stronger future sense than the 1st Future. It is also regularly
employed after je or jekas, normally to introduce a final clause.
-31-
Optative / Jussive
positive
Singular Plural
1 mari- 1 maren-
2m (marek-) 2 (mareten-)
2f (mare-)
3m maref- 3 marou-
3f mares-
negative
Singular Plural
1 8mpencri- 1 8mpencren-
2m (8mpencrek-) 2 (8mpencreten-)
2f (8mpencre-)
3m 8mpencref- 3 8mpencrou-
3f 8mpencres-
-32-
Until
Singular Plural
1 sa+- 1 saten-
2m satek- 2 sateten-
2f sate-
3m satef- 3 satou-
3f sates-
Singular Plural
1 8mpa+- 1 8mpaten-
2m 8mpatek- 2 8mpateten-
2f 8mpate-
3m 8mpatef- 3 8mpatou-
3f 8mpates-
-33-
Conjunctive
positive
Singular Plural
1 8nta- 1 8nten-
2m 8ntek- 2 8nteten-
2f 8nte-
3f 8ntes-
negative
Singular Plural
1 8ntastem- 1 8ntenstem-
2m 8ntekstem- 2 8ntetenstem-
2f 8ntestem-
3m 8ntefstem- 3 8ntoustem-
3f 8ntesstem-
-34-
Conditional
positive
Singular Plural
1 aisan- 1 ansan-
2m aksan- 2 aretensan-
2f aresan-
3m afsan- 3 ausan-
3f assan-
negative
Singular Plural
1 aistem- 1 anstem-
2m akstem- 2 aretenstem-
2f arestem-
3m afstem- 3 austem-
3f asstem-
-35-
Second Tenses
Second Present
Many (but not all!) forms of the 2nd present look like those of the 1st perfect.
Singular Plural
1 ai- 1 an-
2m ak- 2 areten-
2f are-
3m af- 3 au-
3f as-
Second Future
Singular Plural
1 aina- 1 anna-
2m a,na- 2 aretenna-
2f arena-
3m afna- 3 auna-
3f asna-
-36-
Second Perfect
The forms of the 2nd perfect resemble those of the relative perfect.
Singular Plural
1 etai- 1 etan-
2m etak- 2 etareten-
2f etare-
3m etaf- 3 etau-
3f etas-
-37-
Circumstantial Tenses (“Umstandssatz”)
Circumstantial Future
Singular Plural
1 eina- 1 enna-
2m e,na- 2 eretenna-
2f erena-
3m efna- 3 euna-
3f esna-
Circumstantial Present
The circumstantial present is used in subordinate clauses which are set in the same time
as the main clause. It may also function as a relative clause.
Singular Plural
1 ei- 1 en-
2m ek- 2 ereten-
2f ere-
3m ef- 3 eu-
3f es-
Circumstantial Perfect
The circumstantial perfect is used in subordinate clauses which are set before the time
of the main clause.
-38-
Singular Plural
1 eai- 1 ean-
2m eak- 2 eateten-
2f eare-
3m eaf- 3 eau-
3f eas-
Converters (summary)
The prefix ne- / na- is used to shift the tense “back”, i.e. convert present into past,
perfect into pluperfect.
Imperative
• For most verbs, the infinitive is used as imperative (singular and plural),
example: mosi 8nswi “follow me!”
-39-
ajw, aje-, ajo= “say!”
• Other imperatives:
amou, fem. amh, pl. amwini “come!”
auis “give!”
moi, ma-, mhi= “give” is used as imperative of +.
mo, fem. me, pl. mwini “take!”
• The imperative is negated by 8mper- placed before the simple infinitive and by
placing 8mpen- before the causative infinitive.
examples: 8mpererxo+ “don’t be afraid”
8mpencre-xli emi “don’t let anybody know”
-40-
10. The Infinitive (Mallon, p. 125-131, Till, p. 67-69)
The simple infinitive indicates the action without explicit reference to the subject. It can
be used in several functions:
If the subject needs to be expressed, i.e. in case of a change of the subject, the causative
infinitive is used. The causative prefixes are as follows:
Singular Plural
1 cri- 1 cren-
2m crek- 2 creten-
2f cre-
3m cref- 3 crou-
3f cres-
Uses:
• The causative infinitive can be used in the same ways as the simple infinitive.
-41-
• After the preposition e- (and similar constructions) it is used (not with causative
meaning) to indicate a change of subject.
Bohairic has another form to nominalize the infinitive using jin with eithe simple or
causative infinitive.
example: epjinkost “to my funeral”
To express “to be able to”, the verb s- is placed before the simple or causative
infinitive.
example: sbwl “to be able to explain”, screbwl “to be able to cause to explain”
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11. The Passive (Mallon, p. 137, Till, p. 64)
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12. Prepositions (Mallon, p. 157-165, Till, p. 33-36)
Bohairic has simple and compound prepositions. They are used before nouns (or
independent pronouns) in their ‘nominal state’ or before suffix pronouns in their
‘pronominal state’. A detailed discussion of the prepositions listed below can be found
in Mallon.
Simple prepositions
Compound prepositions
Most compound prepositions are formed by a simple preposition and the name of parts
of the body: jw= “head”, xr= “face”, tot= “hand”, rat= “foot”, couw= “chest”.
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• para “next to”
• ,wris “without”
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13. The Verbal Sentence (Mallon, p. 174-180, Till, p. 73)
Word order
A nominal subject can also be placed after the verb (which then has the respective
pronoun after the verbal prefix) introduced by 8nje.
Example: afwrk 8nje p[ois “The Lord has assured.”
Speech
Both direct and indirect speech are introduced by the particle je.
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14. Questions (Mallon, p. 47-49, 189-192; Till, p. 78-81)
Interrogative pronouns
• ou “what” : things
• aqo= “why”
Singular Plural
1 aqoi 1 aqon
2m aqok 2 aqwten
2f aqo
3m aqof 3 aqwou
3f aqos
• cwn “where”
The double question is expressed using san to introduce the second alternative.
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Conditional sentences consist of two parts, the protasis (if clause) and the apodosis
(main clause). The protasis may be introduced by a conditional element (san, eswp,
isje). Sometimes the circumstantial present and the 3rd future can express the condition
(protasis).
Example: ncok de eknatwbx mase nak eqoun epektamion “But you, if you want to
pray, go into your room.
• eswp is often used with the circumstantial present, the 3rd future and the
subjunctive.
Example: eswp ekna8ini 8noudwron eqoun “if you bring a gift”
• san- is used with the auxiliary of the 2nd present (are-) to indicate a future
condition.
Example: aretensan+xo eroi anok de 8nnaswtem erwten “If you beg me, I
will not listen to you”
The protasis is often formed by e- and the imperfective nare- or the auxiliary ne-. The
main clause often uses the imperfectum futuri.
Examples:
• enak,h 8mpaima nare pason namou an pe. “If you had been here, my brother
would not be dead.”
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Example: asswpi eu,h qen tkoi aftwnf “It happened as they were in the
field, he arose.”
• qen pjinte
Example: swtem v+ e taproseu,h qen pjintatwbx “Listen, God, to my
request as I am praying.”
• verbal prefixes that are identical to those of the 2nd perfect/relatice perfect:
Singular Plural
1 etai- 1 etan-
2m etak- 2 etareten-
2f etare-
3m etaf- 3 etau-
3f etas-
• qen pjincre
Often used in narratives at the beginning of a sentence. Can also be
contemporaneous (rare).
Example: qen pjincre pison swtem enai afrasi emate “When the brother
had heard these things, he rejoiced very much.”
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17. Causal Clauses
Causal clauses can be introduced by je, ecbe- or ebol je followed by any tense or
non-verbal clause.
Examples:
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19. Relative Clauses (Mallon, p. 193-198)
Relative clauses hold an important place within Coptic grammar. Note that they can
only be used after a determined antecedent (otherwise a circumstantial clause is used).
B Antecedent = the direct or indirect object of the relative clause (i.e. ≠ subject of
the relative clause)
Example: The man, whom I saw walking down the street.
All relative clauses are introduced by a relative converter (et- or ete-) or the respective
relative prefix of the prefixconjugation (i.e. relative 1st present and relative 1st perfect).
et is used:
• before adverbial sentences
• before the 3rd future (rare)
• before adjective-verbs (i.e. naa= “to be great”, nane= “to be good”, nasw= “to
be numerous”, and nesw= “to be beautiful”) with a pronominal subject
• before exn(a)= “to wish”
ete is used
• before nouns
• before independent pronouns
• before negatives
• before adjective verbs with nominal subject
• before ouon “there is” and ouonte- “to have”
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20. Negatives
There are various possibilities to express a negative statement:
• using n…an, e.g. 1st and 2nd present, 1st and 2nd future, 2nd perfect or simple an,
e.g. imperfect, imerfectum future, 1st future
• using 8mper- or 8mpen- to negate imperatives (8mper- is placed before the simple
infinitive, 8mpen- before the causative infinitive)
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Overview verbal prefixes
nominal: nominal:
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Bibliography: Coptic (Bohairic or including Bohairic) Grammars
Marius Chaîne, La proposition nominale dans les dialectes Coptes. Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et
d’Orient 1955
Ignatius Guidi, Elementa Linguae Copticae. Brevi Chrestomathia et indice vocabulorum. Neapoli:
R. Ricciardi 1924
Nabil Mattar, A Study in Bohairic Coptic. Pasadena: Hope Publishing House 1990
Ariel Shisha-Halevy, s.v. Bohairic, in: Aziz S. Atiya (ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia, Vol. 8: 53-
60, New York: Macmillan
Walter Till, Koptische Dialektgrammatik. Mit Lesestücken und Wörterbuch. München: C.H.
Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung 1931
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