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 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 This sentence type cannot be negated. To negate it, you will need a copula which will make it a tripartite sentence. 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 ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ my father is this man ̀ⲙⲡⲁⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲱⲧ my father is not this man ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲩ ⲟⲩⲥⲁϧ ⲧⲉ my mother is a teacher ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲩ ̀ⲛⲟⲩⲥⲁϧ ⲁⲛ ⲧⲉ my mother is not a teacher 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 ⲟⲩⲙⲓⲥⲓ ⲡⲉ - he is begotten ⲟⲩⲑⲁⲙⲓⲟ ⲁⲛ ⲡⲉ - he is not created ⲟⲩ̀ⲟⲙⲟⲟⲩⲥⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ ⲛⲉⲙ ̀ⲫⲓⲱⲧ - he is one essence with the father Exercises Exercise 1: Translate to Coptic Translate the following into Coptic: Exercise 2: Translate to English Translate the following phrases into English: 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