Login
Login

Coptic script

{{short description|Script used for writing the Coptic language}}

{{Infobox Writing system

| name = Coptic script

| type = Alphabet

| languages = Coptic, Blemmyan, Nubian languages

| sample = Coptic-render.svg

| time = 2nd century A.D.[https://bigenc.ru/linguistics/text/2095533 Coptic alphabet]/Great Russian Encyclopedia to present (in Coptic liturgy)

| fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs

| fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic

| fam3 = Phoenician alphabet

| fam4 = Greek script augmented by Demotic

| children = Old Nubian

| unicode = {{ublist |class=nowrap |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2C80.pdf U+2C80–U+2CFF] {{smaller|Coptic}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0370.pdf U+0370–U+03FF] {{smaller|Greek and Coptic}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U102E0.pdf U+102E0–U+102FF] {{smaller|Coptic Epact Numbers}}}}

| iso15924 = Copt

}}

{{Contains special characters|Coptic}}

The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language, the most recent development of Egyptian. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the uncial Greek alphabet, augmented by letters borrowed from the Egyptian Demotic. It was the first alphabetic script used for the Egyptian language. There are several Coptic alphabets, as the script varies greatly among the various dialects and eras of the Coptic language.

History

File:Coptic_alphabet.jpg

{{Copts}}

{{alphabet}}

The Coptic script has a long history going back to the Ptolemaic Kingdom, when the Greek alphabet was used to transcribe Demotic texts, with the aim of recording the correct pronunciation of Demotic. As early as the sixth century BC and as late as the second century AD, an entire series of pre-Christian religious texts were written in what scholars term Old Coptic, Egyptian language texts written in the Greek alphabet.

In contrast to Old Coptic, seven additional Coptic letters were derived from Demotic, and many of these (though not all) are used in “true” form of Coptic writing. Coptic texts are associated with Christianity, Gnosticism, and Manichaeism.

With the spread of early Christianity in Egypt, knowledge of Egyptian hieroglyphs was lost by the late third century, as well as Demotic script slightly later, making way for a writing system more closely associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church. By the fourth century, the Coptic script was "standardized", particularly for the Sahidic dialect. (There are a number of differences between the alphabets as used in the various dialects in Coptic).

Coptic is not generally used today except by the members of the Coptic Orthodox Church to write their religious texts. All the Gnostic codices found at Nag Hammadi used the Coptic script.

The Old Nubian alphabet—used to write Old Nubian, a Nilo-Saharan language—is an uncial variant of the Coptic script, with additional characters borrowed from the Greek and Meroitic scripts.

Form

The Coptic script was the first Egyptian writing system to indicate vowels, making Coptic documents invaluable for the interpretation of earlier Egyptian texts. Some Egyptian syllables had sonorants but no vowels; in Sahidic, these were written in Coptic with a line above the entire syllable. Various scribal schools made limited use of diacritics: some used an apostrophe as a word divider and to mark clitics, a function of determinatives in logographic Egyptian; others used diereses over {{coptic|ⲓ}} and {{coptic|ⲩ}} to show that these started a new syllable, others a circumflex over any vowel for the same purpose.Ritner, Robert Kriech. 1996. "The Coptic Alphabet". In The World's Writing Systems, edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 1994:287–290.

The Coptic script's glyphs are largely based on the Greek alphabet, another help in interpreting older Egyptian texts,Campbell, George L. "Coptic." Compendium of the World's Writing Systems. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Biddles LTD, 1991. 415. with 24 letters of Greek origin; 6 or 7 more were retained from Demotic, depending on the dialect (6 in Sahidic, another each in Bohairic and Akhmimic). In addition to the alphabetic letters, the letter ϯ stood for the syllable {{IPA|/ti/}} or {{IPA|/di/}}.

As the Coptic script is simply a typeface of the Greek alphabet,{{Cite web|url=http://www.ancientscripts.com/coptic.html|title=Coptic|website=Ancient Scripts|access-date=2 December 2017}} with a few added letters, it can be used to write Greek without any transliteration schemes. Latin equivalents would include the Icelandic alphabet (which likewise has added letters), or the Fraktur alphabet (which has distinctive forms). While initially unified with the Greek alphabet by Unicode, a proposal was later accepted to separate it, with the proposal noting that Coptic is never written using modern Greek letter-forms (unlike German, which may be written with Fraktur or Roman Antiqua letter-forms), and that the Coptic letter-forms have closer mutual legibility with the Greek-based letters incorporated into the separately encoded Cyrillic alphabet than with the forms used in modern Greek. Because Coptic lowercases are usually small-caps forms of the capitals, a Greek would have little trouble reading Coptic letters, but Copts would struggle more with many of the Greek letters.{{cite web|title=L2/02-205 N2444: Coptic supplementation in the BMP|date=2002-05-08|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|first2=Kamal|last2=Mansour|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02205-n2444-coptic.pdf}}For example: The composer's name "Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich" is Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович in Cyrillic, and Ⲇⲙⲏⲧⲣⲓⲓ Ⲇⲙⲏⲧⲣⲓⲉⲃⲓϭ Ϣⲟⲥⲧⲁⲕⲟⲃⲓϭ in Coptic.

Letters

These are the letters that are used for writing the Coptic language. Coptic did not originally have case distinctions—they are a modern convention, as is the case with other classical languages like Latin.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin: 10pt;"

! Uppercase (image)

! Lowercase (image)

! Uppercase (unicode)

! Lowercase (unicode)

! Numeric value

! Greek {{Abbr|equiv.|equivalent}}

! {{Abbr|Latin translit.|Latin transliteration}}{{Citation needed|reason=What specific transliteration(s) is/are being used here?|date=August 2024}}

! Sahidic {{Abbr|pron.|pronunciation}}{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypten |url=https://www.peust.de/ortsnamen_original.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401025916/https://www.peust.de/ortsnamen_original.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2025 |access-date=6 April 2025 |website=peust.de}}

! Bohairic {{Abbr|pron.|pronunciation}}

! Late Coptic {{Abbr|pron.|pronunciation}}[https://copticsounds.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/thepronunciationofcopticinthechurchofegypt.pdf Before the Greco-Bohairic reforms of the mid 19th century.]

! Greco-Bohairic {{Abbr|pron.|hover over IPA symbol for when pronunciation is used, if no message appears when hovering: pronounced such always}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.suscopts.org/deacons/coptic/FT-Coptic%20Language-Lectures.pdf|title=The Coptic Language|website=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲁ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲁ}}

| 1|| Α, α

| A, a

| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|a}}

| {{IPAslink|æ}}, {{IPAslink|ɑ}}

| {{IPAslink|ä}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲃ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲃ}}
{{coptic|Ⲃ}} seemed to have retained a {{IPAblink|β}} intervocalically in Late Coptic.

| 2|| Β, β || B, b

| {{IPAslink|β}}

| {{IPAslink|β}}
(final {{IPAblink|b}})

| {{IPAslink|w}}
(final {{IPAblink|b}})

| {{IPAslink|v}}, ({{IPAslink|b}} often before a consonant or in a name)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲅ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲅ}}

| 3|| Γ, γ

| G, g

| {{IPAslink|k}}
(marked Greek words)

|—

| {{IPAslink|g}}, ( {{IPAslink|ɣ}} before ⲁ, ⲟ, or ⲱ)

| {{IPAslink|ɣ}}, {{IPAslink|g}} (before {{IPAslink|e̞}} or {{IPAslink|i}}), {{IPAslink|ŋ}} (before {{IPAslink|g}} or {{IPAslink|k}})

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲇ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲇ}}

| 4|| Δ, δ || D, d

| {{IPAslink|t}}
(marked Greek words)

|—

| {{IPAslink|d}}
(marked Greek words)

| {{IPAslink|ð}}, ({{IPAslink|d}} in a name)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲉ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲉ}}

| 5|| Ε, ε || E, e

| {{IPAslink|ɛ}}, {{IPAslink|ə}}
({{Coptic|ⲉⲓ}} = {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|j}})

| {{IPAslink|ɛ}}, {{IPAslink|ə}}
({{Coptic|ⲓⲉ}} = {{IPAslink|e}})

| {{IPAslink|æ}}, {{IPAslink|ɑ}}
({{Coptic|ⲓⲉ}} = {{IPAslink|e}})

| {{IPAslink|e̞}}

class=skin-invert

!File:Coptic Sou.svg

!{{coptic|1=Ⲋ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲋ}}

| 6|| ϛ
Ϛ, ϛ*
({{GrGl|Digamma cursive 07}}, {{GrGl|Digamma cursive 04}})||(none)

| colspan="4" |

(none)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲍ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲍ}}

| 7|| Ζ, ζ || Z, z

| {{IPAslink|s}}
(marked Greek words)

|—

| {{IPAslink|z}}
(marked Greek words)

| {{IPAslink|z}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲏ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲏ}}

| 8|| Η, η || Ē ē

| {{IPAslink|e}}

| {{IPAslink|e}}

| {{IPAslink|æ}}, {{IPAslink|ɑ}}, {{IPAslink|ɪ}}

| {{IPAslink|iː}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲑ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲑ}}

| 9|| Θ, θ || Th, th

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|t}}{{IPA link|h}}{{IPA|/}}

| {{IPAslink|tʰ}}

| {{IPAslink|t}}

| {{IPAslink|θ}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲓ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲓ}}

| 10|| Ι, ι || I, i / J, j

| {{IPAslink|iː}}, {{IPAslink|j}}

| {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|j}}, {{IPAslink|ə}}
({{Coptic|ⲓⲉ}} = {{IPAslink|e}})

| {{IPAslink|ɪ}}, {{IPAslink|j}}
({{Coptic|ⲓⲉ}} = {{IPAslink|e}})

| {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|j}} (before vowels), {{IPAslink|ɪ}} (after vowels to form diphthongs)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲕ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲕ}}

| 20|| Κ, κ || C, c

| {{IPAslink|k}}

| {{IPAslink|k}}

| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|k}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲗ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲗ}}

| 30|| Λ, λ || L, l

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|l}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲙ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲙ}}

| 40|| Μ, μ || M, m

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|m}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲛ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲛ}}

| 50|| Ν, ν || N, n

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|n}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲝ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲝ}}

| 60|| Ξ, ξ || X, x

| colspan="2" |

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|k}}{{IPA link|s}}{{IPA|/}}
(only in Greek loanwords)

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|k}}{{IPA link|s}}{{IPA|/}}, {{IPA|[}}{{IPA link|e̞}}{{IPA link|k}}{{IPA link|s}}{{IPA|]}} (usually following a consonant, or sometimes when starting a word)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲟ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲟ}}

| 70|| Ο, ο || O, o

| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|ɔ}} ({{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} = {{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|w}})

| {{IPAslink|o}} ({{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} = {{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|w}})

| {{IPAslink|o̞}} ({{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} = {{IPAslink|u}})

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲡ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲡ}}

| 80|| Π, π || P, p

| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|p}}

| {{IPAslink|b}}

| {{IPAslink|p}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲣ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲣ}}

| 100|| Ρ, ρ || R, r

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|ɾ}}~{{IPAslink|r}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲥ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲥ}}

| 200|| Σ, σ, ς || S, s

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|s}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲧ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲧ}}

| 300|| Τ, τ || T, t

| {{IPAslink|t}}

| {{IPAslink|t}}

| {{IPAslink|d}}
(final {{IPAblink|t}})

| {{IPAslink|t}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲩ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲩ}}

| 400|| Υ, υ || U, u

| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|w}} ({{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} = {{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|w}})

| {{IPAslink|ɪ}}, {{IPAslink|w}} ({{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} = {{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|w}})

| {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|w}} (between "{{Coptic|ⲟ}}" and another vowel except "{{Coptic|ⲱ}}"), {{IPAslink|v}} (after {{IPAslink|ɑ}} ({{Coptic|ⲁ}} or {{IPAslink|e̞}} ({{Coptic|ⲉ}})), {{IPAslink|u}} (digraph "{{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}}")

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲫ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲫ}}

| 500|| Φ, φ || Ph, ph

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|p}}{{IPA link|h}}{{IPA|/}}

| {{IPAslink|pʰ}}

| {{IPAslink|b}}~{{IPAslink|f}}

| {{IPAslink|f}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲭ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲭ}}

| 600|| Χ, χ || Ch, ch

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|k}}{{IPA link|h}}{{IPA|/}}

| {{IPAslink|kʰ}}

| {{IPAslink|k}}

| {{IPAslink|k}} (if the word is Coptic in origin), {{IPAslink|x}} (if the word is Greek in origin), {{IPAslink|ç}} (if the word is Greek in origin but before {{IPAslink|e̞}} or {{IPAslink|i}})

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲯ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲯ}}

| 700|| Ψ, ψ || Ps, ps

| colspan="2" |

| {{IPA|[}}{{IPA link|b}}{{IPA link|s}}{{IPA|]}}
(only in Greek loanwords)

| {{IPA|[}}{{IPA link|p}}{{IPA link|s}}{{IPA|]}}, {{IPA|[}}{{IPA link|e̞}}{{IPA link|p}}{{IPA link|s}}{{IPA|]}} (usually following a consonant)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⲱ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⲱ}}

| 800|| Ω, ω || Ō, ō

| {{IPAslink|o}}

| {{IPAslink|o}}

| {{IPAslink|oː}}

| {{IPAslink|o̞ː}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϣ}}

!{{coptic|1=ϣ}}

|—|| (none) || Ŝ, ŝ / Sh, sh

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|ʃ}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϥ}}

!{{coptic|1=ϥ}}

| 90||ϙ
(numerical value)|| F, f

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|f}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϧ (Ⳉ)}}

!{{coptic|1=ϧ (ⳉ)}}
Akhmimic dialect uses the letter {{coptic|Ⳉ}} {{coptic|ⳉ}} for {{IPAslink|x}}. No name is recorded.

|—|| (none) || Ĥ, ĥ / Ch, ch

| NA

| colspan="3" | {{IPAslink|x}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϩ}}

!{{coptic|1=ϩ}}

|—|| (none) || H, h

| colspan="4" | {{IPAslink|h}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϫ}}

!{{coptic|1=ϫ}}
{{coptic|Ϫ}} and {{coptic|ϭ}} seemed to have merged in Late Coptic into one phoneme, {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, with {{IPAblink|ɟ}} intervocalically.

|—|| (none) || Ĝ, ĝ / Dj, dj

| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}

| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}

| {{IPAslink|ɟ}}

| {{IPAslink|g}}, {{IPAslink|dʒ}} (before {{IPAslink|e̞}} or {{IPAslink|i}})

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϭ}}

!{{coptic|1=ϭ}}

|—||(none)

| Ĉ, ĉ / Tj, tj

| {{IPAslink|kʲ}}

| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃʰ}}

| {{IPAslink|ʃ}}

| {{IPAslink|tʃ}}, {{IPA|[}}{{IPA link|e̞}}{{IPA link|tʃ}}{{IPA|]}} (usually following a consonant)

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ϯ}}

!{{coptic|1=ϯ}}
When part of the digraph {{coptic|ϯⲉ}}, it is pronounced {{IPA|[de]}} in Bohairic.

|—|| Τι, τι || Ti, ti

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|t}}{{IPA link|i}}{{IPA|/}}

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|t}}i{{IPA|/}}

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|d}}{{IPA link|i}}{{IPA|/}}

| {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|t}}{{IPA link|i}}{{IPA|/}}

class=skin-invert

!class=skin-invert

!{{coptic|1=Ⳁ}}

!{{coptic|1=ⳁ}}

| 900

|Ϡ,ϡ
(numerical value)

|—

|—

|—

|—

|—

{{Reflist|group=note}}

= Letters derived from Demotic =

In Old Coptic, there were a large number of Demotic Egyptian characters, including some logograms. This was reduced to seven such characters, used for sounds not covered by the Greek alphabet (plus their modern lowercase forms):

class="wikitable"
-

! Hieroglyph

!  

! Hieratic

!  

! Demotic

!  

! Coptic

! {{Abbr|Translit.|Transliteration}}

! Late Coptic {{Abbr|pron.|Pronunciation}}

SA\→File:Hieratic M8 Prisse - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-š.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϣ}}{{center|š}}{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
f\→File:Hieratic I9 Takelothis - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-f.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϥ}}{{center|f}}{{IPAslink|f}}
M12\→File:Hieratic M12 Prisse - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-ẖ.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϧ}}{{center|x}}{{IPAslink|x}}
F18\:Y1\→File:Hieratic Y1-ABK Takelothis - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-ḥ-2.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϩ}}{{center|h}}{{IPAslink|h}}
U29\→File:Hieratic U28 Golen - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-ḏ-2.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϫ}}{{center|j}}{{IPAslink|ɟ}}
k\→File:Hieratic V31A Elephantine - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-k.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϭ}}{{center|c}}{{IPAslink|ʃ}}
D37\:t\→File:Hieratic D37 PRylands 2 - Möller.png→File:Demotic-character-ḏj.png

| →

{{coptic|1=Ϯ}}{{center|di}}{{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|d}}{{IPA link|i}}{{IPA|/}}

= Numerals =

Coptic numerals are an alphabetic numeral system in which numbers are indicated with letters of the alphabet, such as {{coptic|1=ⲫ}} for 500.{{cite web | url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode9.0.0/ch07.pdf#G20251 | date=July 2016 | title=Section 7.3: Coptic, Numerical Use of Letters | work=The Unicode Standard | publisher=The Unicode Consortium}}

The numerical value of the letters is based on Greek numerals. Sometimes numerical use is distinguished from text with a continuous overline above the letters, as with Greek and Cyrillic numerals.

Unicode

{{Main | Greek and Coptic | Coptic (Unicode block) | Coptic Epact Numbers| l1 = Greek and Coptic (Unicode block) | l3 = Coptic Epact Numbers (Unicode block)}}

In Unicode, most Coptic letters formerly shared codepoints with similar Greek letters, but a disunification was accepted for version 4.1, which appeared in 2005. The new Coptic block is U+2C80 to U+2CFF. Most fonts contained in mainstream operating systems use a distinctive Byzantine style for this block. The Greek block includes seven Coptic letters (U+03E2–U+03EF highlighted below) derived from Demotic, and these need to be included in any complete implementation of Coptic.

{{Unicode chart Greek and Coptic|coptic=}}

{{Unicode chart Coptic}}

{{Unicode chart Coptic Epact Numbers}}

Diacritics and punctuation

These are also included in the Unicode specification.

= Punctuation =

  • Latin alphabet punctuation (comma, period, question mark, semicolon, colon, hyphen) uses the regular Unicode codepoints for punctuation
  • Dicolon: standard colon U+003A
  • Middle dot: U+00B7
  • En dash: U+2013
  • Em dash: U+2014
  • Slanted double hyphen: U+2E17

= Combining diacritics =

These are codepoints applied after that of the character they modify.

  • Combining overstroke: U+0305 (= supralinear stroke)
  • Combining character-joining overstroke (from middle of one character to middle of the next): U+035E
  • Combining dot under a letter: U+0323
  • Combining dot over a letter: U+0307
  • Combining acute accent: U+0301
  • Combining grave accent: U+0300
  • Combining circumflex accent (caret shaped): U+0302
  • Combining circumflex (curved shape) or inverted breve above: U+0311
  • Combining circumflex as wide inverted breve above joining two letters: U+0361
  • Combining diaeresis: U+0308

=Macrons and overlines=

Coptic uses {{unichar|0304|COMBINING MACRON|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}} to indicate syllabic consonants, for example {{coptic|1=ⲛ̄}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04130-n2744-coptic.pdf|title=Revision of the Coptic block under ballot for the BMP of the UCS|date=2004-04-20|publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2}}

Coptic abbreviations use {{unichar|0305|COMBINING OVERLINE|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}} to draw a continuous line across the remaining letters of an abbreviated word.{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2007/07085r-n3222r-coptic-adds.pdf|title=N3222R: Proposal to add additional characters for Coptic and Latin to the UCS|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|author-link1=Michael Everson|first2=Stephen|last2=Emmel|first3=Antti|last3=Marjanen|first4=Ismo|last4=Dunderberg|first5=John|last5=Baines|first6=Susana|last6=Pedro|first7=António|last7=Emiliano|publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2|date=2007-05-12}}{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode10.0.0/ch07.pdf#G24556|date=July 2017|title=Section 7.3: Coptic, Supralineation|work=The Unicode Standard|publisher=The Unicode Consortium}} It extends from the left edge of the first letter to the right edge of the last letter. For example, {{coptic|1=ⲡ̅ⲛ̅ⲁ̅}}, a common abbreviation for {{coptic|1=ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ}} 'spirit'.

A different kind of overline uses {{unichar|FE24|COMBINING MACRON LEFT HALF|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}}, {{unichar|FE26|COMBINING CONJOINING MACRON|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}}, and {{unichar|FE25|COMBINING MACRON RIGHT HALF|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}} to distinguish the spelling of certain common words or to highlight proper names of divinities and heroes.

For this the line begins in the middle of the first letter and continues to the middle of the last letter. A few examples: {{coptic|1=ⲣ︤ⲙ︥}}, {{coptic|1=ϥ︤ⲛ︦ⲧ︥}}, {{coptic|1=ⲡ︤ϩ︦ⲣ︦ⲃ︥}}.

Sometimes numerical use of letters is indicated with a continuous line above them using {{unichar|0305|COMBINING OVERLINE|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}} as in {{coptic|1=ⲁ͵ⲱ̅ⲡ̅ⲏ̅}} for 1,888 (where "{{coptic|1=ⲁ͵}}" is 1,000 and "{{coptic|1=ⲱ̅ⲡ̅ⲏ̅}}" is 888). Multiples of 1,000 can be indicated by a continuous double line above using {{unichar|033F|COMBINING DOUBLE OVERLINE|cwith=◌|use=script|use2=Copt}} as in {{coptic|1=ⲁ̿}} for 1,000.

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

  • Quaegebeur, Jan. 1982. "De la préhistoire de l'écriture copte." Orientalia lovaniensia analecta 13:125–136.
  • Kasser, Rodolphe. 1991. "Alphabet in Coptic, Greek". In The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by Aziz S. Atiya. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Volume 8. 30–32.
  • Kasser, Rodolphe. 1991. "Alphabets, Coptic". In The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by Aziz S. Atiya. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Volume 8. 32–41.
  • Kasser, Rodolphe. 1991. "Alphabets, Old Coptic". In The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by Aziz S. Atiya. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Volume 8. 41–45.
  • Wolfgang Kosack: Koptisches Handlexikon des Bohairischen. Koptisch – Deutsch – Arabisch. Verlag Christoph Brunner, Basel 2013, {{ISBN|978-3-9524018-9-7}}.

External links

{{Commons category|Coptic script}}

  • Michael Everson's [http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n2636.pdf Revised proposal to add the Coptic alphabet to the BMP of the UCS]
  • [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11062r-coptic-epact.pdf Final Proposal to Encode Coptic Epact Numbers in ISO/IEC 1064]
  • [http://copticsounds.wordpress.com/ Copticsounds – a resource for the study of Coptic phonology]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031614/http://yearsandmiles.com/articles/coptic-alphabet.htm Phonological overview of the Coptic alphabet in comparison to classical and modern Greek.]
  • [http://ucbclassics.dreamhosters.com/djm/coptic.html Coptic Unicode input]
  • Michael Everson's [http://www.evertype.com/fonts/coptic/ Antinoou: A standard font for Coptic] supported by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110201011732/http://rmcisadu.let.uniroma1.it/~iacs/ International Association for Coptic Studies].
  • [http://www.ifao.egnet.net/ Ifao N Copte] – A professional Coptic font for researchers, students and publishers has been developed by the French institute of oriental archeology (IFAO). Unicode, Mac and Windows compatible, this free font is available through downloading from the IFAO website ([http://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/outils/polices/ direct link]).
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100408075557/http://www.typographies.fr/ Coptic fonts]; Coptic fonts made by Laurent Bourcellier & Jonathan Perez, type designers
  • [http://sites.google.com/site/pisakho/Home {{coptic|ⲡⲓⲥⲁϧⲟ}}] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308023606/http://sites.google.com/site/pisakho/Home |date=2021-03-08 }}: Coptic [http://sites.google.com/site/pisakho/fonts font support] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125002154/http://sites.google.com/site/pisakho/fonts |date=2021-01-25 }} – how to install, use and manipulate Coptic ASCII and Unicode fonts
  • [http://st-takla.org/Download-Software-Free/Coptic_Downloads_Ta7mil___Christian_&_Coptic_Free-Fonts_01.html Download Free Coptic Fonts]
  • [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/coptic.htm The Coptic Alphabet] (omniglot.com)
  • [https://www.gnu.org/software/freefont/ GNU FreeFont] Coptic range in serif face

{{list of writing systems}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Coptic language

Copt

Category:Alphabets

Category:Writing systems of Africa

Category:Ancient Egyptian language

Category:Coptic Orthodox Church