The Coptic Language 2014 Level for graduates, pre-servants and servants Conditions of the competition for this level: 1) 2) 3) 4) The student should know the characters of the Coptic alphabet and their names and sounds The student should know the verse in Coptic language and also the words and meanings. The student should know the inflection of verbs and be able to read well Marking: 60 marks theory and 40 marks practical. Important notes for the exam The Coptic alphabet is comprised of 32 letters, 24 consonants, 7 vowels and the letter number six (6) The Jinkim is drawn as such:- • or ` or ´ if it is on a consonant it is pronounced as the letter e . If it is on a vowel the letter is pronounced separate and its duration is shorter. The vowels are :  is only used as the  THE COPTIC ALPHABET Capital Letters Small Letters                     No. of Sounds Sound/s 1 a (arm) 2 b (big), v (volt)   Examples  3      2                                bal ,eye   nyb ,master  gh (Ghobrial), `agapi ,love g (good), `agioc, holy n (note) `aggeloc,angel    Daniyl ,Daniel    `ave ,head th (that), d (David)  Name of Letter & meaning  diakwn deacon  1 ai (dare) `ebiw none none ^ `ntebt , 6 fish  1 z (zoo) anzyb ,school  1 ee (bee) yi ,house  2 th (thin), t (tip) `s;yn ,shirt  honey ;elyl , rejoice                                                 1. the first sound when it comes after the letter o is "oo" as in (pool, cool), example: ouai one. 2. the second sound is when 1 i (ill) ial ,mirror  1 k (keep) kas ,pen/pencil  1 l (long) lac ,tongue  1 m (moon) molh ,candle  1 n (noon) neh ,oil 1 ks (mix) xour ,ring  1 o (odd) omi ,soil/mud  1 p (peace) paiwt,my father  1 r (room) ran , name  2 s (see), z (zoo) `cmou ,bless  1 t (tip) totc ,chair  3 v (volt), i (sit), oo (zoo) `cnau ,two in (video, vote), example: 3.    a or e comes before the letter u then it produces the sound "V" as `cnau two the third sound is when the letter u falls between two consonants or a jinkim is placed on it then it produces the sound "I" being the vowel as in (sit, hit,pin), example: kurie         lord ve heaven 1 f or ph (pharmacy) 3 k (keen), kh (Mikhaeel), sh (sheep) `,rwm ,fire   1. the first sound is as the Coptic letter k or k in English when the word is pure Coptic (that is ancient Egyptian), example: `,rwm fire 2. the second sound is as the sound sh in English or s in Coptic if the word is a loan word from the Greek Language – when the letter , is followed by any of the following letters: e-y-i-u example: ,ere hail/greetings 3. the third sound is as the Coptic letter q if the word is a loan word from the Greek Language – when the letter , is followed by any of the following letters: a-o-w or a consonant, example: `,rictoc Christ Capital Letters        Small Letters                      No. of Sounds Sound/s Examples Name of Letter 1 ps (psalm) the letter "p" is not silent "almoc ,psalm 1 au (awe) wik , bread  1 sh (sheep) somt ,three  1 f (fat) fwi ,hair  1 kh (Mikhaeel) qotqet,search  1 h (hot) ho ,face  2 g (good), j (jar) jerjer ,play  & meaning  jwbi ,paper        1 ch (church)[oic ,lord  1 tee (tea) ]pi, taste  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Distinguishing between Coptic and Greek loan words: 1) letters usually found in the Greek loan words: g.d.z.x. ' example: `a gioc holy 2) exceptions where these letters are found in pure Coptic words, example: 'it no.9, anzyb school. 3) letters only found in pure Coptic letters: s.f.q.h.j.[ examples: sai feast, 4) the letter neh oil. h is found only in pure Coptic words but sometimes the letter is added to the words borrowed from the Greek language, example: hiryny peace.  1) The definite article singular masculine pi v p pi v p ni nen singular feminine ] y t or or or ] y t General use. Specific use. Specific use. used for any word in general. used for words that begin with the one or the following:- b used for words not beginning with : b i l m n o r i l m n o r meaning "the" Plural for both masculine and feminine. General use. meaning "the" Plural for both masculine and feminine. Specific use. when a noun is followed by another noun. ]mau the mother `;mau the mother pikahi the earth/ground `pkahi the earth/ground pirwmi the man `vrwmi the man EXAMPLES: ]jom the power `tjom the power Nenjwm `n]ek`klyci`a the books of the church piaggeloc the angel 2) The indefinite article ou meaning "A" derived from the word ouai meaning one han meaning "some" or makes the word plural. EXAMPLES: oujwm a book hanjwm books (or) some books more examples: pi`pneuma the spirit `psyri the son piwik the bread ]rompi the year `tve the heaven `pouro the king nivyou`i the heavens `vran the name ]sau the cat oukas a pen hankas pens outotc a chair ouiwt a father hancwni sisters hantotc chairs note: The specific and general articles can be used in some words which have more than one meaning to distinguish between them. Examples: `viwt `viom the father the sea piiwt piiom the barley the press 3) Past tense – the first perfect Verb to see - nau ainau I saw `mpi aknau you saw - masculine `mpek arenau you saw- feminie `mpe afnau He saw `mpef acnau She saw `mpec annau We saw `mpen aretennau You saw - plural `mpeten aunau They saw `mpou I didn’t you didn’t - masculine You didn’t - feminie He didn’t She didn’t We didn’t You didn’t - plural They didn’t The sentence can be formed in many ways, as such: a Mari`a `enkot `nsorp Maria slept early ac`enkot `nsorp she slept early Mari`a ac`enkot `nsorp Maria slept early ac`enkot `nsorp `nje Mari`a she slept early [that is/meaning] Maria (the nominal subject can be placed after the verbal unit in addition to the pronominal subject, but in this case another element is required which is called `nje. ) `mpe Myna ouwm `mpitebt Mina did not eat the fish. 4) Present tense ]caji `kcaji I speak tecaji `fcaji `ccaji You speak tencaji We speak tetencaji cecaji You speak You speak He speak She speak They speak ` replaces `k if the verb starts with one of the following letters: b i l m n o r . , `k`slyl you pray. `,rimi you cry. `khwc you praise. `,ouwm you eat. Markoc `fjerjer nem pefcon Markos (he) plays with his brother. `fjerjer nem pefcon he plays with his brother. Markoc jerjer nem pefcon Markos plays with his brother. `fjerjer nem pefcon `nje Markoc he plays with his brother (that is) Markos he doesn’t write the lesson (he writes the lesson not) `f`cqai `mpiws an 5) Future tense – the first future ]na I will `cna She will `,na You will (masculine, singular) tenna We will tena/tera You will (feminie, singular) tetenna You will (plural) `fna He will cena They will ni`cnyou na hemci nemwten the brothers will sit with you cenahemci nemwten they will sit with you ni`cnyou cenahemci nemwten the brothers will sit with you cenahemci nemwten `nje ni`cnyou they will sit with you (that is) the brothers tennacaji qen ]ek`klyci`a an we will not speak in church 6) The personal pronouns `anok I `n;oc she `n;ok you (singular masculine) `anon we `n;o you (singular feminine) `n;wten you (plural) `n;of he `n;wou they 7) In Coptic, the Object must be introduced by a preposition. Words that indicate senses or perception or thought process employ `e. Words like see nau, hear cwtem, smell swlem, touch [oh,understand ka] and believe Example: I saw the priest we heard his voice I understand him nah]. ainau `e piouyb ancwtem `e pef`qrwou ]ka] `erof 8) The following is for studying and learning by heart (the Lord’s prayer) You are required to learn and know the meaning of the words and to apply the grammar studied. Qen `vran `m` Viwt nem ` Psyri nem In the name of the Father and the Son and Pi`pneuma `e;ouab ounou] `nouwt. `Amyn. the Holy Spirit one God. Amen. Ariten `nem`psa `njoc qen ousep`hmot je@ Make us worthy to say with thanks (that): Peniwt etqen nivyou`i Our Father who art in heaven mareftoubo `nje pekran hallowed be Your name marec`i `nje tekmetouro Your kingdom come petehnak marefswpi `m`vry] qen `tve nem Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. hijen pikahi penwik `nte rac] myif nan `mvoou ouoh ,a nyet`eron nan `ebol `m`vry] hwn `nten,w `ebol `nnyete ouon Give us today our morrow’s bread And for give us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us `ntan `erwou ouoh `mperenten `eqoun `epiracmoc alla And lead us not into temptation, nahmen `ebolha pipethwou but deliver us from evil qen Pi,rictoc Iycouc Pen[oic in Christ Jesus our Lord je ;wk te ]metouro nem ]jom for your is the kingdom the power nem pi`wou sa `eneh `amyn. and the glory forever amen. 9) The prayer of reconciliation from the devine liturgy of Saint Basil . You are required to learn the following in Coptic language and learn the meaning in reading and writing and note the grammar within it. `Vnou] pinis] pisa `eneh vy`etafkwt `mpirwmi `e`hryi `ejen ]metattako Ouoh `vmou `etaf`i `eqoun `epikocmoc @ hiten pi`v;onoc `nte pidi`aboloc akserswrf hiten piouwnh `ebol `nreftanqo @ `nte pekmonogenyc `nSyri Pen[oic ouoh Pennou] ouoh Pencwtyr Iycouc Pi,rictoc. Ouoh akmoh `mpikahi `ebolqen ]hiryny ]`ebolqen nivyou`i. O God, the Great, the Eternal, who formed man in incorruption; and death, which entered the world through the envy of the devil, you have destroyed by the life-giving manifestation of your only begotten Son, our Lord, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. You have filled the earth with the heavenly peace by which the host of angels glorify you, saying: :ai et`ere ]`ctrati`a `nte niaggeloc ]`wou nak `nqytc eujw `mmoc. Je ou`wou `m`Vnou] qen ny`et[oci nem ouhiryny hijen pikahi nem ou]ma] qen nirwmi. ‘Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will towards men.”