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The Coptic language is a universal language used in Coptic churches in every country. It descends from Ancient Egyptian and uses the Coptic alphabet , a script descended from the Greek alphabet with added characters derived from the Demotic script .
The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language, the most recent development of Egyptian.The repertoire of glyphs is based on the uncial Greek alphabet, augmented by letters borrowed from the Egyptian Demotic.
Coptic has no native speakers today, [6] although it remains in daily use as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church and of the Coptic Catholic Church. [5] Innovations in grammar and phonology and the influx of Greek loanwords distinguish Coptic from earlier periods of the Egyptian language.
There have been many Coptic versions of the Bible, including some of the earliest translations into any language. Several different versions were made in the ancient world, with different editions of the Old and New Testament in five of the dialects of Coptic : Bohairic (northern), Fayyumic , Sahidic (southern), Akhmimic and Mesokemic (middle).
Since the term "Coptic" can have, besides a linguistic sense, an ethnic sense (referring to Copts) and a religious sense (Coptic Christianity), there is the propensity for ambiguity in the term "Coptic literature". [1] Coptic literature is usually defined as that in the Coptic language.
Copts have historically spoken the Coptic language, a direct descendant of the Demotic Egyptian that was spoken in late antiquity. Following the Muslim conquest, the treatment of the Coptic Christians who refused to convert ranged from relative tolerance to open persecution.
Coptic Christians lost their majority status in Egypt after the 14th century and the spread of Islam in the entirety of North Africa. Today, Copts form a major ethno-religious group whose origins date back to the ancient Egyptians. [6] [1] The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. [7]
The prime example of this is the phrase it uses that the name of the Father is the Son, which is to be understood in the esoteric manner that the Son is the name, rather than as meaning that Son was a name for the Father. [9] Unlike the canonical gospels, this gospel does not contain an account of Jesus' life or teaching.