Coptic alphabet

Origin

The Coptic alphabet is variant of the Greek alphabet containing a number of extra letters for sounds not found in Greek. The extra letters come from the Demotic form of the Egyptian script. The Coptic alphabet came into being during the 3rd century BC after the Greek conquest of Egypt and the subsequent spread of Christianity.

The name 'Coptic' derives from the Greek word for Egyptian: Aigyptioi which became Qibt in Arabic and then was Latinised to become Copt

Used to write

Coptic, a member of the Egyptian branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family and a descendant of the Ancient Egyptian language. Coptic was an official language in Egypt until around the 13th Century AD, when it was replaced by Arabic. Nowadays Coptic Christians all speak Arabic as their every day language, but use Coptic in their religious ceremonies.

Coptic alphabet

Notes

veeta = [b] at the beginning of a word, [v] elsewhere.
ghamma = [ŋ] after a double seema, [g] elsewhere.
delta = [d] in names, [ð] elsewhere.
tav = [d] after nei, [t] elsewhere.
epsilon = [v] after alpha or ei, [u] after short o, [ɪ] elsewhere.
jinkim splits words into separate syllables when attached to the letter ei and followed by a consonant

Source: http://www.copticchurch.net/coptic_fonts/alphabet.html

Numerals

Sample

Coptic sample

Links

About the Copts and the Coptic language
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/coptic/introduction.html

The Coptic Studies Corner
http://www.stshenouda.com

Coptic lessons
http://www.stshenouda.com/coptlang/cptlsn1w.htm
http://heh.pl/&pj

Free Coptic fonts
http://www.copticchurch.net/coptic_fonts/
http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/coptic.html
http://www.stshenouda.com/coptsoft.htm
http://heh.pl/&pk
http://greekfonts.teilar.gr

Masters Degree in Coptic Studies at Macquarie University
http://www.coptic.org.au/modules/coptic_studies/

Coptic Orthodox Church Network
http://www.copticchurch.net

ALPHABETUM is a Unicode font specifically designed for ancient languages that includes Coptic and many other ancient scripts
http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/~jmag0042/alphabet.html

Other Ancient Egyptian scripts

Hieroglyphs, Hieratic, Demotic, Coptic

Other alphabets

Armenian, Avestan, Bassa (Vah), Beitha Kukju, Coptic, Cyrillic, Elbsan, Etruscan, Georgian (Asomtavruli & Nuskha-khucuri), Georgian (Mkhedruli), Glagolitic, Gothic, Greek, Hungarian Runes, Irish, Kayah Li, Korean, Latin, Lycian, Lydian, Manchu, Meroïtic, Mongolian, N'Ko, Ogham, Old Church Slavonic, Oirat Clear Script, Old Italic, Old Permic, Orkhon, Pollard Miao, Runic, Santali, Somali, Sutton SignWriting, Tai Dam, Thaana, Uyghur

> Helnan Palestine
> Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza

> Sheraton Montazah
> Movenpick Aswan

Alexandria Hotels from DirectRooms.com