Coptic English Dictionary - Adeeb Makar - Saint Mina Coptic ...

INTRODUCTION
The Coptic language was the spoken language o f Egypt until
about the tenth Century AD when it was gradually replaced by Arabic. It
is described by Professor Rodolphe Kasser of the University of Geneva,
Switzerland as "one o f the most beautiful, most cleverly structured and
most musical in the world".
There are two major dialects in the Coptic language; namely the
Sahidic dialect and the Bohairic dialect. The Sahidic dialect is the one
studied in the major Coptology centers, and it is the language of most
Coptic manuscripts available at the present time. The Bohairic dialect is
the one used in the Coptic Church Liturgy, and it is also the dialect used
by the few families who use Coptic as their daily conversational
language.
Few dictionaries exist for the Coptic language. An extensive
standard Coptic English dictionary was compiled by the English
Professor Walter Crum in 1939. This dictionary includes Bohairic and
Saiidic dialects. Other dictionaries include the Coptic - Arabic dictionary
of Mr. Akladius Labib, published in 1895, and the Coptic - Arabic
dictionary o f Moawwad D. Abdel-Noor published in 1999.
The present dictionary represent a simple Bohairic Coptic -
English dictionary along with the traditional pronunciation of the Coptic
words. This pronunciation is the one currently used in the Coptic Liturgy
as well as by the few families who use Coptic as their daily
conversational language.
Minor variations exist in the pronunciation o f some words. In
such cases, the major variations are listed following such words.
Pronunciation o f words o f Greek, Hebrew, Latin or Aramaic origins
follows "the Coptic" pronunciation and not "the original language"
pronunciation.
I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to those who
helped in the collection and the review of this dictionary. Special thanks
are due to H.G. Bishop Demetrius o f Mallawi, Egypt, Rev. Father Pigol
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