Conjugation of Some Coptic Tenses “Person” is a grammatical category referring to the number and gender of the participants in a situation. Speakers use the 1 st person pronouns when referring to themselves or a group including themselves; as “I and We”. The 2 nd person pronoun refers to a person(s) being addressed. A 3 rd person pronoun refers to other people, animals, things etc. The following demonstrates the grammatical “Persons” both singular and plural. 1st person singular 1st person plural I, Me We, Us 2nd person singular 2nd person plural You (Thou) You (Thou) 3rd person singular 3rd person plural He, She, It, Him, Her They, Them, It Coptic (ancient Egyptian) has a more sophisticated and extensive use of the three persons of speech, that permeate the entire language. In fact the three persons in Coptic speech is the blue print for the grammar throughout the language. Each persons of speech in Coptic has a distinct alphabetic representation used in grammatical modification throughout the language as follows; 1 The “Three Persons” of the Personal Pronouns in Coptic are represented by the Coptic letters; 1st person singular 1st person plural I, Me We, Us Coptic Coptic i + nnn 2nd person singular 2nd person plural You (Thou) You (Thou) Coptic Coptic k = you (thou) feminine tetN = you (thou) ttt = you (thou) masculine 3rd person singular 3rd person plural He, She, It, Him, Her They, Them Coptic Coptic f = he, him ououou,ou ,,, se = they, them sss = she, her 2 The blue print for grammatical conjugation of verbs and formation of the tenses are based on additions to the basic Coptic letters representing the three persons in the parts of speech; I, me, you, he, she it, they, or them ( i, +, n, k, t, tetN, f, s, ou, se) . For example if we have a Coptic verb “to see” ( nau ), certain letters of the Coptic “Three Persons” would be prefixed to the verb to conjugate the verb as follows; + -“see” = I-“see” = +. nau f-“see” = he-“sees” = f. nau s-“see” = she-“sees” = s. nau Even the Coptic personal pronouns will have corresponding Coptic letters designating one of the three grammatical “Persons” attached to them. 3 Coptic Personal Pronouns of the Three “Persons” 1st single 1st plural anok , anog , anK , ano nnn, We anG , I naiaiai , to Me nan , to Us 2nd single 2nd plural Nto kkk, Nt KKK, to Thee (you NtwtN , N tetN , ,masc.) To Ye (you) Nto , to Thee (you fem.) nak , to Thee (you masc,) Thnou , thutN , To Ye or To You ne , to Thee (you fem.) 3rd single 3rd plural Nto fff, He Nto ououou , They, Them Nto sss, She Nauauau , To them Na fff, To Him Na sss, To Her 4 Examples of Coptic conjugation using “ nnnaunauauau = to see, look at” as an example 1st Present 1st person singular 1st person plural + nau tN nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural k nau tetN nau te nau tR nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural f nau se nau s nau sou nau I am seeing, I see These are pronoun prefixes. The First Present usually describes action, activity, or process in progress at the time of speaking. In this case it is equivalent to the English progressive present (I am…verb). The exception is those English verbs that do not use this form, such as; think, know, see, hear, understand, wish, hope, believe. These words use the simple present as; +.nau = I see, +.eime = I understand 5 Relative of the Present I 1st person singular 1st person plural e+ nau etN nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural etK nau etetN nau ete 3rd person singular 3rd person plural etF nau etou nau etS nau Who/which The relative form of the First Present uses the relative pronoun et, ete (who/which). tpolis etou ouwx NxhtS = the city in which they are settling Nšaje e+e+e+ sxai Mmoou = the words which I am writing pšhre etF nakaaf Nswf = the child whom he will leave behind nentolh etF nataau nan = the commandments which he will give to us prwme etK šine Nswf = the man whom you are seeking 6 The relative pronoun et, ete (who/which) can stand alone when it is the subject of a relative clause as follows; prwme etetet rine = the man who is weeping net swtM eee našaje = those who hear my words Matoi etetet naamaxte Mmof = the soldiers who will seize him Nrwme etetet naeine M pxat = the men who will bring the silver 7 Second Present = Circumstantial 1st person singular 1st person plural ei nau eN nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural ek nau etetN nau er 3rd person singular 3rd person plural ef nau eu nau es nau It is that I am seeing The circumstantial is found only in subordinate clauses. eieiei axerat xaxtM perpe, ainau eunoqx M mhhše standing near the temple, I saw a great crowd auxe e prwme efefef xmoos xN tagora they found the man sitting in the marketplace annau eroou eueueu mooše xi texih we saw them walking on the road 8 Perfect Tense I 1st person singular 1st person plural ai nau an nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural ak nau aretN nau are nau atetN nau ar nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural af nau au nau a nau are nau as nau ars nau are nau a nau I saw The Coptic 1 st Perfect corresponds to the English, preterit (simple past tense; I went, I came, I ran, I wept, I sat down, etc.). If the Coptic context requires it, the English perfect, i.e. “I have written” suffices. 1 aiaiai nau eunoqx M mhhše = I saw a great crowd aaa.prwme bwk = the man went, prwme afafaf bwk = the man went, tesxime asasas bwk = the woman went Used with pronoun subject Nqi , afafaf bwk Nqi prwme = the man went asasas bwk Nqi tesxime = the woman went. 1 Lambdin, T.O, Introduction to Sahidic Coptic, Mercer University Press, 1998 Macon Ga 31207 9 Used with e, afafaf bwk e pekro = he went to the shore auauau pwt e tekklhsia = they ran to the church auauau ale e pjoi = they got on (into) the ship Negative Perfect Mpi MpN Mpek MpetN Mpe (r) Mpef Mpou Mpes Use; af.ouom.f Mpef .ouom.f he ate it he did not eat it 10 Perfect Tense II 1st person singular 1st person plural Ntai nau Ntan nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural Ntak nau NtatetN nau Ntare nau Ntar nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural Ntaf nau Ntas nau Ntau nau Ntare nau Which I saw The Relative of the First Perfect is the Perfect II with or without “e”. Also note the following eeentaientai .swtM which I heard, entan .swtM eeentakentak .swtM entatetN .swtM eeentareentare .swtM eeentafentaf .swtM entau .swtM eeentasentas .swtM 11 Imperfect 1st person singular 1st person plural nei nau nen nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural nG nau neretN nau nere nnnaunauauau nereten nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural nf nau neu nau nef nere neef nau nes nau nere nau I was seeing The Imperfect is used to describe an action, activity, or process as in progress in past time. It also conveys habitual or recurring activity in the past as; “they used to…, they would…” The Imperfect may take pe , after the verb. prwme ete nef mooše xi texih the man who was walking on the road phi ete neu kwt Mmof the house which they were building phi e neu kwt Mmof the house which they were building 12 Pluperfect… Tattam 84 1st person singular 1st person plural ne ai nau …. pe ne an nau …. pe 2nd person singular 2nd person plural ne ak nau …. pe ne aretN nau …. pe ne are nau …. pe ne atetN nau …. pe ne ar nau …. pe 3rd person singular 3rd person plural ne af nau …. pe ne au nau …. pe ne a nau …. pe ne are nau …. pe ne as nau …. pe ne a nau …. pe ne are I had seen… Formed by adding the auxiliary verb ne …pe , to the prefix of the Perfect definite. Translates “I had...seen” (Tattam 63) 13 Future Imperfect (Tattam 64) Future Imperfect 1st person singular 1st person plural nei na nau …. pe nen na nau …. pe 2nd person singular 2nd person plural nek na nau …. pe neretN nau …. na pe nG na nau …. pe 3rd person singular 3rd person plural nef na nau …. pe neu na nau …. pe nes na nau …. pe nere na nau …. pe nere na nau …. pe I would or should have seen. This is formed by the prefixes of the imperfect tense and the signs of the future definite. 14 Future Tense Indefinite 1st person singular 1st person plural +na nau tNna nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural kna nau tetna nau tena nau tera nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural fna nau sena nau sna nau I will see, I’m going to see, I shall see sena moux N raše Nqi nen2uyh you will fill with joy visa vi our souls (our souls will fill with joy) +na xwp xM pjaeie I will hide in the desert Ntetna eime an e nefparabolh You (pl) will know not his parables 15 Future Tense Indefinite 1st person singular 1st person plural eina nau enna nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural ekna nau etetna nau erena nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural efna nau euna nau esna nau 16 Future Tense 1st person singular 1st person plural eie nau ene nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural eke nau eretene nau 3rd person singular 3rd person plural efe nau eue nau ese nau ere nau I will see, Negative Future III Nna Nnen Nnek NnetN Nne Nnef Nnes Use; efeouomf Nnef ouom he will eat it he will not eat it 17 Second Future Indefinite (Tattam 77) 1st person singular 1st person plural ta nau tarN nau 2nd person singular 2nd person plural tare nau taretN nau tarek nau tera 3rd person singular 3rd person plural taref nau tarou nau tares nau I shall see/ So as to see According to Lambdin the future conjunctive is basically a result clause, especially after an imperative; swteM eroi tarek R.sabe Listen to me and you will become wise (so as to be wise) nim pentafnau erof taref šaje erof Who has seen him so as to be able to describe him.