Coptic for All

Level 2: Lesson 1

Indefinite articles

Intro

Coptic nouns need to be attached to either a definite or an indefinite article, this is somewhat similar to articles “a”, “some” and “the” in English language. However, Coptic articles are written in the beginning of each word with no space between them. In this lesson we will learn about the indefinite articles.

Singular nouns
ⲟⲩ

The indefinite article for singular nouns is ⲟⲩ – Examples:
+ ⲟⲩⲙⲁⲩ – a mother
+ ⲟⲩⲣⲁⲛ – a name
+ ⲟⲩϫⲱⲙ – a book
+ ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲓ – a man

Plural nouns
ϩⲁⲛ

The indefinite article for plural nouns is ϩⲁⲛ
In Coptic, the spelling of plural words is often similar to their singular form, in this case we can tell if a word is singular or plural using the article attached to it – examples:
+ ⲟⲩⲙⲁⲩ – a mother   
   ϩⲁⲛⲙⲁⲩ – mothers
+ ⲟⲩⲣⲁⲛ – a name   
   ϩⲁⲛⲣⲁⲛ – names
+ ⲟⲩϫⲱⲙ – a book   
   ϩⲁⲛϫⲱⲙ – some books
+ ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲓ – a man   
   ϩⲁⲛⲣⲱⲙⲓ – some men

Irregular plural nouns

On the other hand some Coptic words have different spelling in the plural form – examples:
+ ⲟⲩⲥⲟⲛ – a brother   
   ϩⲁⲛⲥ̀ⲛⲏⲟⲩ – brothers
+ ⲟⲩⲁⲗⲟⲩ – a child   
   ϩⲁⲛⲁⲗⲱⲟⲩⲓ – children
+ ⲟⲩⲓⲱⲧ – a father   
   ϩⲁⲛⲓⲟϯ – fathers
+ ⲟⲩⲥ̀ϩⲏⲙⲓ – a woman  
   ϩⲁⲛϩⲓⲟⲙⲓ – women

Exercise

Exercise

Test

Lesson 1 test

In order to complete the test you need to answer All the questions. When you are done click the “finish” button in the final slide 

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