Lesson 8

8.1 Tripartite Construction: This sentence structure is the typical verbal sentence in Coptic. It is usually made up of three parts, a verbal prefix (tense marker), a subject (nominal or pronominal), and a verb.

8.1.1 First Perfect Tense:

8.1.1.1 Form: This is the best form of the narrative past tense. It corresponds to the English simple past, or in some cases, the perfect tense. It is conjugated with the eight different persons that we have encountered in previous lessons. The verb 'mosi' 'to walk' will be used as a example here, and it is conjugated as follows:

Person Singular Plural
1-mf a.i.mosi I walked a.n.mosi we walked
2-m a.k.mosi you (m) walked are.ten.mosi you (pl) walked
2-f are.mosi you (f) walked same
3-m a.f.mosi he walked a.u.mosi they walked
3-f a.c.mosi she walked same

8.1.1.2 Nominal Subject: The use of the nominal subject is dependent in large on the style of the literary writer. Three differnt forms are available in Coptic, as follows:

a pi.rwmi mosi the man walked
pi.rwmi a.f.mosi same
a.f.mosi nje pi.rwmi same

Note: 'nje' is used in verbal construction to move the nominal subject after the verb. It is frequently used in texts translated from the Greek.

8.2. Prepositions with Verbs of Motion: The prepositions 'e-, sa, ejen' are frequently used with verbs of motion, as follows:

8.2.1 e- indicates motion to or toward a place or a person:

a.f.mosi e.pef./i he walked to his house
a.f.vwt e.].ekkl/cia he ran to the church

8.2.2 sa indicates motion to or up to. It is more frequently used with persons than places:

a.f.vwt sa pef.iwt he ran to his father
a.n.se sa pi.epickopoc we went to the bishop

8.2.2 ejen indicates motion onto or on:

a.f.mosi ejen pi.mwou he walked upon the water

8.3 Vocabulary 8:

i vb. to come vwt vb. to run, flee
--- nca vb. to come after --- nca vb. to pursue
iw m. donkey se vb. to go
mosi vb. to walk sl/l vb. to pray
nje namely --- m. prayer
rimi vb. to weep hemci vb. to sit
hyo m. horse

Greek Nouns:

yronoc m. throne trapeza f. table

8.4 Exercises 8: Translate the following into English:

A 1. a ni.cn/ou se e.].polic 5. a nef.may/t/c vwt e.ke.ma
     
  2. pi.s/ri a.f.i e.pen./i 6. a.i.rimi ejen na.nobi
     
  3. a.f.mosi nje i/couc ejen

pi.,ro n.].yalacca

7. a.u.hemci e.].trapeza nje tef.chimi nem nef.seri
     
  4. a.u.i nca nou.s/ri    
       

E-Mail Address (Required):