The Coptic Language

Coptic is the language of the Copts, the indigenous Egyptian Christians which represents the final stage of the ancient the Egyptian language. It is in use in the liturgical services of the Coptic Church.

The Coptic Alphabet

The present 32 letters of the Coptic Alphabet are derived from two sources; The first 25 letters are modified from the Greek alphabet (table 1); it should be remembered that the origin of these Greek letters can be traced back to the old Egyptian letters. Whereas the last 7 letters are a modification from Demotic letters (table 2).

Shape Letter Pronunciation
Alpha

A

father or fan
Veeta B In beginning of the word
V In the middle or the end of the word
boy
Victor
Ghamma

G
Gh
NG if there are two consecutive <>Ⲅ

Gone
England
Delta

TH
D in names

then
David
Ei

E

pen, or as rain
Soo Only used as the numeral 6 sow
Zeeta Z zebra
Eeta EE meet
Theeta Th
T
think
Iota I
Y
imagine
yet
Kappa K cook
Lamda L look
Mei M mother
Nei N Nancy
Eksee X box
O O (short) not
Pee P Peter
Ro R room
Seema S see
Tav T
D if preceded by the letter <>Ⲛ
take
Epsilon V if follows an <>Ⲁ or <>Ⲉ
U if follows the letter <>Ⲟ
Y in all other cases
Van
Loop
Hymn
Fei Ffan
Kai K
Sh
Kh

kin
shawl
Arabic خ (kh)

Epsee PS (both are pronounced)
O O (Long) throw
Ϣ ϣ Shai Sh shake
Ϥ ϥ Fai F fan
Ϧ ϧ Khai Kh Arabic خ (kh)
Ϩ ϩ Horee H house
Ϭ ϭ Cheema Ch church
Ϯ ϯ Tee Tee tee
Ϫ ϫ Janja G
J
go
joy
̀ Jinkim Splits word in syllables if over a vowel
E if followed by a consonant
Coptic Fonts and How-to type in Coptic