Editing Coptic language

'''Coptic''' or '''Coptic Egyptian''' (Bohairic: <big>ϯⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ</big> ''timetremənkʰēmi'' and Sahidic: <big>ⲧⲙⲛ̄ⲧⲣⲙ̄ⲛ̄ⲕⲏⲙⲉ</big> ''tməntrəmənkēme'') is the latest stage of the [[Egyptian language]], a northern [[Afro-Asiatic language]] spoken in [[Egypt]] until at least the 17th century.<sup>[4]</sup> In the 2nd century BC, Egyptian began to be written in the [[Coptic alphabet]], which is an adaptation of the [[Greek alphabet]]<sup>[5]</sup>with the addition of six or seven signs from [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic Egyptian]] to represent Afro-Asiatic sounds that the [[Greek language]] did not have.<sup>[6]</sup>

Several distinct Coptic dialects are identified, the most prominent of which are ''Sahidic'', originating in parts of [[Upper Egypt]] and ''Bohairic'', originally from the western [[Nile Delta]] in [[Lower Egypt]].

Coptic and Demotic are grammatically closely related to [[Late Egyptian language|Late Egyptian]], which was written with [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]. Coptic flourished as a [[literary language]] from the 2nd to 13th centuries and its Bohairic dialect continues to be the [[liturgical language]] of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]]. It was supplanted by [[Egyptian Arabic]] as a [[spoken language]] toward the [[early modern period]], but [[language revitalisation]] efforts have been underway since the 19th century.

== References ==
* 4. Coptic Encyclopedia; http://cdm15831.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/cce/id/520
* 5. 
* 6. 

{{Donate}}