Lesson 4: Negative Nominal Sentence Construction

Indefinite Pronoun -ⲕⲉ-

An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not refer to any person, place, or thing in particular. Some examples of indefinite pronouns in English are: "anything" - "something" - "anyone" - "anywhere" - "someone" - "somewhere" - etc. The infix -ⲕⲉ- is a noninflectional word element that is inserted between the noun prefix and the noun. It expresses the meaning "other" and can be used with definite or indefinite articles, demonstrative articles and possessive articles.

ⲡⲓⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲓ	the other man	Definite Article (m.)
ⲛⲓⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲓ	the other men	Definite Article (f.)
ϯⲕⲉ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ	the other woman	Definite Article (pl.)
ⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲓ*	another man	Indefinite Article (s.)
ϩⲁⲛⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲓ	some other men	Indefinite Article (pl.)
ⲡⲁⲓⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲓ	this other man	Demonstrative Article (m.)
ⲡⲁⲕⲉⲣⲱⲙⲓ	my other man	Possessive Article (1s.)

*Note that for the singular indefinite noun, the singular indefinite article ⲟⲩ is dropped. However, in the case of the plural, the plural indefinite article ϩⲁⲛ is kept.

Nominal Sentences: Negative Construction

All of the nominal sentences we have taken so far are of positive construction (e.g. "This man is my father"). Negating the sentence (e.g. "This man is not my father") is achieved by placing the particle ̀ⲛ (sometimes ̀ⲙ) before the object and ⲁⲛ before the copula. Below, we will discuss negating both types of bipartite sentences, and all four types of tripartite sentences that we have taken thus far.

When do we use ̀ⲛ versus ̀ⲙ? ̀ⲙ is used when the following letter is: ⲙ ⲡ ⲃ ⲫ ⲯ

<Object> <Copula>

ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ ⲡⲉ	he is my father
̀ⲙⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ	he is not my father
ⲟⲩⲉⲡⲓⲥⲕⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ	he is a bishop
̀ⲛⲟⲩⲉⲡⲓⲥⲕⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ	he is not a bishop

<Subject><Object>

This sentence type cannot be negated. To negate it, you will need a copula which will make it a tripartite sentence.

<Definite Subject> <Copula> <Definite Object>

ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ	this man is my father
ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ̀ⲙⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ	this man is not my father
ⲫⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ	this is the man
ⲫⲁⲓ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ̀ⲙⲡⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ	this is not the man

<Definite Object> <Copula> <Definite Subject>

ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ	my father is this man
̀ⲙⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ	my father is not this man

<Definite Subject> <Indefinite Object> <Copula>

ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲩ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϧ ⲧⲉ	my mother is a teacher
ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲩ ̀ⲛⲟⲩⲥⲁϧ ⲁⲛ ⲧⲉ	my mother is not a teacher

<Indefinite Object> <Copula> <Definite Subject>

ⲟⲩ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ ⲧⲉ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ	I am a woman
̀ⲛⲟⲩ̀ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ ⲁⲛ ⲧⲉ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ	I am not a woman

Application

Application 1: 

This is an excerpt from the Orthodox Creed. 

ⲟⲩⲟⲩⲱⲓⲛⲓ ̀ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲟⲩⲱⲓⲛⲓ: ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩϯ ̀ⲛⲧⲁ̀ⲫⲙⲏⲓ ̀ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩϯ ̀ⲛⲧⲁ̀ⲫⲙⲏⲓ. ⲟⲩⲙⲓⲥⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲟⲩⲑⲁⲙⲓⲟ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ: ⲟⲩ̀ⲟⲙⲟⲟⲩⲥⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ ⲛⲉⲙ ̀ⲫⲓⲱⲧ

light of light; true God of true God; begotten not created, of one essence with the Father

1. ⲟⲩⲙⲓⲥⲓ ⲡⲉ - he is begotten
   
   
2. ⲟⲩⲑⲁⲙⲓⲟ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ - he is not created
   
   
3. ⲟⲩ̀ⲟⲙⲟⲟⲩⲥⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ ⲛⲉⲙ ̀ⲫⲓⲱⲧ - he is one essence with the father

Exercises

Exercise 1: Translate to Coptic

Translate the following into Coptic:

1. 
   

Exercise 2: Translate to English

Translate the following phrases into English:

1. 
   

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