Lesson 4: Near Demonstratives

Demonstratives

Demonstratives refer to the English "this" and "that." The demonstrative "this" is called the near demonstrative since it refers to objects that are nearby (e.g. "this book") whereas "that" is called the far demonstrative since it refers to objects that are far away (e.g. "that book").

In Coptic, the near demonstratives can be denoted as an article attached to the noun, or as a pronoun.

Demonstrative Articles

Masculine (this)	Feminine (this)	Plural (these)
ⲡⲁⲓ-	ⲧⲁⲓ-	ⲛⲁⲓ-

Demonstrative Pronouns

Masculine (this)	Feminine (this)	Plural (these)
ⲫⲁⲓ	ⲑⲁⲓ	ⲛⲁⲓ

The Demonstrative Pronouns 

NearNegating Demonstrative Interrogative Clauses

In Coptic, questions are denoted by inflection in speech. There is an interrogative particle ⲙⲏ which is used to aid beginners. Starting a near demonstrative pronoun clause with ⲙⲏ (or ending it with an inflection) makes it into a question.

For example:
ⲫⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ means "this is the man" or "is this the man?" depending on the inflection
ⲙⲏ ⲫⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ specifies the question: "is this the man?"

 

Application

Application 1: 

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ⲫⲁⲓ ⲟⲛ ⲡⲉ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲙⲉⲑⲙⲏⲓ

This is also true

1. ⲫⲁⲓ -

Exercises

Exercise 1: Translate to Coptic

Translate the following into Coptic:

1. This man and this woman
2. This brother and this sister
3. This boy and this girl
4. This father and this mother
5. The father and these sons
6. These brothers and sisters
7. These fathers and mothers
8. These women and men
9. These boys and girls
10. These kings and queens

Exercise 2: Translate to English

Translate the following phrases into English: