Lesson 4: Personal Pronouns; Nominal Tripartite Sentences II
Personal Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of a noun. We briefly introduced pronouns with the Demonstrative Pronouns in a previous lesson. In this lesson, we will examine the Personal Pronouns (i.e. pronouns that describe or take the place of a person).
| Coptic | English | Person | Number |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | I | 1st | Singular |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲛ | We/Us | 1st | Plural |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ | You (m.) | 2nd | Singular |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟ | You (f.) | 2nd | Singular |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲧⲉⲛ | You (pl.) or Y'all | 2nd | Plural |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ | He | 3rd | Singular |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲥ | She | 3rd | Singular |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲟⲩ | Them | 3rd | Plural |
Examples
| <Definite Subject> | ⲡⲉ/ⲧⲉ/ⲛⲉ | <Definite Object> | Translation |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | ⲡⲉ | ⲡⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ | I am the man |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | ⲧⲉ | ϯ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ | I am the woman |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲛ | ⲛⲉ | ⲛⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ | We are the men |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟ | ⲧⲉ | ϯϣⲟⲩⲣⲏ | You are the censer |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲥ | ⲧⲉ | ϯ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ | She is the woman |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | ⲡⲉ | ⲡⲓⲕⲟⲩϫⲓ | I am the "small person" or "young person" |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲥ | ⲧⲉ | ϯⲟⲩⲣⲱ | She is the queen |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ | ⲡⲉ | ̀ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ | You are God |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ | ⲡⲉ | ⲡⲁⲛⲟⲩϯ | You are my God |
Nominal Tripartite Sentences
Copula
A nominal sentence is a sentence that consists of a subject and a complement without a linking verb. In English, this would look something like: "Very interesting, those books!" The verb is implied to be "be" (i.e. "Those books 'are' very interesting."). The nominal sentences we will form in this section look very similar where in English they would use the verb "be." However, in Coptic, in place of a conjugated verb, there is a copula.
A copula is a connecting word, in particular a form of the verb "be" connecting a subject and a complement. In English, an example would be "You smell nice." Instead of "Your smell is nice" which uses the "is" conjugation of the verb "be," "smell" acts as a copula.
In Coptic, there are three copular verbs.
| Masculine (am/is) | Feminine (am/is) | Plural (are) |
| ⲡⲉ | ⲧⲉ | ⲛⲉ |
In this section, we will study a couple forms of a tripartite sentence. In a future lesson, we will look at bipartite sentences. Tripartite sentences have three components:
- Subject
- Copula
- Predicate
It can take on several forms depending on whether the predicate is definite or indefinite. The rules for choosing the gender and number of the copula are as follows:
- When both the subject and object are nouns and agree in gender and number with each other, the copula will also agree in gender and number with them.
- If there is a disagreement in gender or number, then the copula in the masculine form (ⲡⲉ) is used.
- If the subject is a pronoun in the 1st or 2nd person (i.e. ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ̀ⲛⲑⲟ ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲧⲉⲛ) then the masculine singular form (ⲡⲉ) is used regardless of the gender and number of the object.
In a sentence, the subject is who or what the sentence is about (and more specifically, the noun or pronoun that performs the verb in the sentence); the predicate gives more information about the subject. For example, in English:
- "The man is a teacher" - the subject is "the man" and the verb here is "is" so the (indefinite) predicate is "a teacher."
- "The teacher is a man" - the subject is "the teacher" and the (indefinite) predicate is "a man."
- "The teacher is the man" - the subject is "the teacher" and the (definite) predicate is "the man."
- "This man is a teacher" - the subject is "This man", the verb is "is" and the (indefinite) predicate is "a teacher."
- "This man is my teacher" - the subject is "This man", the verb is "is" and the (definite) predicate is "my teacher."
Definite Predicate
There are several forms of a nominal tripartite sentence. In a previous lesson, we explored the first form which can be used when both the subject and the object are definite (e.g. nouns with a definite article, nouns with a possessive article, nouns with a demonstrative article). We also stated that a pronoun can take the place of a noun, and we observed examples where the demonstrative pronouns, and later on the personal pronouns, did so.
That form was:
<Definite Subject> <Copula> <Definite Object>
<Definite Object> <Copula> <Definite Subject>
In the last lesson, we stated that the Definite Noun (whether Object or Subject) could be a noun with a definite article, a noun with a demonstrative article, a noun with a personal pronoun, or a demonstrative pronoun. We can expand this to include the personal pronouns we learned in this lesson (as well as other pronouns in the future).
Indefinite Predicate
There are two forms of nominal tripartite sentences when the object is indefinite. These forms are translated to English in the same way as the ones with a definite object.
The forms are:
<Definite Subject> <Indefinite Object> <Copula>
| <Definite Subject> | <Indefinite Object> | ⲡⲉ/ⲧⲉ/ⲛⲉ | Translation |
| ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ | ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲓ | ⲡⲉ | my father is a man |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲓ | ⲡⲉ | I am a man |
| ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | ⲟⲩ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ | ⲧⲉ | I am a woman |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲥ | ⲟⲩⲙⲁⲩ | ⲧⲉ | She is a mother |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲟⲩ | ϩⲁⲛϩⲓⲟⲙⲓ | ⲛⲉ | They are women |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ | ⲟⲩⲣⲉϥϯⲥⲃⲱ | ⲡⲉ | He is a teacher |
| ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ | ⲟⲩⲥⲏⲓⲛⲓ | ⲡⲉ | This man is a physician |
| ⲡⲁⲥⲟⲛ | ⲟⲩⲥⲏⲓⲛⲓ | ⲡⲉ | My brother is a physician |
| ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ | ⲟⲩⲡⲣⲉⲥⲃⲩⲧⲉⲣⲟⲥ | ⲡⲉ | My father is a presbyter (priest) |
<Indefinite Object> <Copula> <Definite Subject>
| <Indefinite Object> | ⲡⲉ/ⲧⲉ/ⲛⲉ | <Definite Subject> | Translation |
| ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲓ | ⲡⲉ | ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ | my father is a man |
| ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲓ | ⲡⲉ | ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | I am a man |
| ⲟⲩ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ | ⲧⲉ | ⲁⲛⲟⲕ | I am a woman |
Application
Application 1:
This is an excerpt from the Reconciliation Prayer of the Liturgy of St Gregory.
| ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲣⲉϥⲥⲁϩⲛⲓ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ̀ⲫⲣⲉϥϯ ̀ⲛⲛⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲛ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ | For you are the provider and the giver of all goodness |
Application 2:
This is an excerpt from the Diptych of the Liturgy of St Gregory.
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲡⲉ ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲡⲓⲛⲁⲏⲧ | For you are God the merciful |
Biblical Examples
| ⲧⲉϥϩⲉⲃⲥⲱ ⲟⲩ̀ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϧⲉⲛ ϩⲁⲛϥⲱⲓ ̀ⲛϭⲁⲙⲟⲩⲗ ⲧⲉ | His clothing is from camel hairs (Matthew 3:4) |
| ⲓⲱⲥⲏⲫ ⲇⲉ ⲡⲉⲥϩⲁⲓ ⲛⲉ ⲟⲩ̀ⲑⲙⲏⲓ ⲡⲉ | Joseph, her husband, was a righteous [person] (Matthew 1:19) |
| ⲟⲩ̀ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲉϥⲟⲩⲁⲃ ⲡⲉ | He is the one from a holy spirit (Matthew 1:20) |
| ⲟⲩ̀ⲙϩⲁⲩ ⲉϥⲟⲩⲏⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲧⲟⲩ̀ϣⲃⲱⲃⲓ | an open tomb is their throat (Psalms 13:4) |
| ⲛⲓϩⲁⲡ ̀ⲛⲧⲉ ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ ϩⲁⲛϩⲁⲡ ̀ⲙⲙⲏⲓ ⲛⲉ | The judgments of the Lord are true judgments (Psalms 18:9) |
| ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ ⲡⲉ ̀ⲡⲥⲱϯ ̀ⲛⲧⲉ ⲛⲉⲛⲛⲟⲃⲓ | He is the propitiation of our sins (1 John 2:2) |
Exercises
Exercise 1: Translate to Coptic
Translate the following into Coptic:
Exercise 2: Translate to English
Translate the following phrases into English:
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲁⲗⲟⲩ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ ⲟⲩⲁⲗⲟⲩ ⲡⲉ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲥ ⲧⲉ ϯ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲥ ⲟⲩ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ ⲧⲉ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲥⲟⲛ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟⲕ ⲟⲩⲥⲟⲛ ⲡⲉ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟ ⲧⲉ ϯⲥⲱⲛⲓ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲟ ⲟⲩⲥⲱⲛⲓ ⲧⲉ
- ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ϩⲁⲛ̀ⲥⲛⲏⲟⲩ ⲛⲉ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲧⲉⲛ ϩⲁⲛϣⲏⲣⲓ ⲛⲉ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲟⲩ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲓϩⲓⲟⲙⲓ
- ̀ⲛⲑⲱⲟⲩ ϩⲁⲛϩⲓⲟⲙⲓ ⲛⲉ
Exercise 3: Practice Text
Translate the following text:
| ⲱ ⲧⲉⲛⲙⲁⲩ ̀ⲧ̀ⲁⲅⲓ̀ⲁ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ ϯⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ ̀ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲉϣⲏⲣⲓ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ̀ⲛⲑⲟ ⲧⲉ ⲧⲉⲛⲙⲁⲩ. ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲓϣⲏⲣⲓ ̀ⲙⲡⲉϣⲏⲣⲓ ̀ⲙⲙⲉⲛⲣⲓⲧ. ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲛϭⲟⲓⲥ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ̀ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲉϥ̀ⲉⲃⲓⲁⲓⲕ. ̀ⲛⲑⲟϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲛⲓⲱⲧ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ̀ⲁⲛⲟⲛ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲉϥϣⲏⲣⲓ. |
Resources
- "A Study in Bohairic Coptic" by Nabil Matar; p162
- See Moawad Daoud Lesson 2
- See Sameh Younan page 59 in the PDF
- ACTS 2990 Introduction to the Coptic Language (Bohairic) with Hany Takla Lesson 3A