liturgical purposes, although most of them understand little or nothing of these texts. The
role of Coptic among modern Christian Egyptians is thus comparable to the role of Latin
in the Catholic church.
2.1.6 Synopsis
preferred spoken
language
written language
preferred for per-
sonal correspon-
dence and lower
administration
written language
preferred for
higher admini-
stration
written language
preferred for
religious texts
3ioo—i3oobc
probably vari-
eties close to
Old and Middle
Egyptian
Old and Middle
Egyptian
Old and Middle
Egyptian
Old and Middle
Egyptian
i3oo-5oobc
probably vari-
eties close to
Late Egyptian
Late Egyptian
basically Late
Egyptian
Neo-Middle
Egyptian
500BC—50AD
Demotic
Demotic
Aramaic, Greek,
Demotic
Neo-Middle
Egyptian
50-250AD
Demotic
Greek
Greek
Neo-Middle
Egyptian
250—700AD
Coptic
Coptic, Greek
Greek
Coptic, Greek
700AD-1400AD
(Christians)
Coptic, vernacu-
lar Arabic
Coptic, standard
Arabic
standard Arabic
Coptic, Greek
1400-
i70o(?)ad
(Christians)
vernacular Ara-
bic, late vari-
eties of Coptic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
Coptic, Greek,
standard Arabic
today
(Christians)
vernacular
Arabic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
Coptic, Greek,
standard Arabic
700AD—today
(Muslims)
vernacular
Arabic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
2.2
Late Coptic
Coptic finally became extinct as a spoken language but continues to be used as a liturgi-
cal language of the Coptic church until the present day. Even when Coptic was no longer
in productive written use, it still experienced major phonetic developments (DST §§ 3.3.8
and 5.5.6). On the records about late pronunciation traditions Kg* appendix 7.
3o
role of Coptic among modern Christian Egyptians is thus comparable to the role of Latin
in the Catholic church.
2.1.6 Synopsis
preferred spoken
language
written language
preferred for per-
sonal correspon-
dence and lower
administration
written language
preferred for
higher admini-
stration
written language
preferred for
religious texts
3ioo—i3oobc
probably vari-
eties close to
Old and Middle
Egyptian
Old and Middle
Egyptian
Old and Middle
Egyptian
Old and Middle
Egyptian
i3oo-5oobc
probably vari-
eties close to
Late Egyptian
Late Egyptian
basically Late
Egyptian
Neo-Middle
Egyptian
500BC—50AD
Demotic
Demotic
Aramaic, Greek,
Demotic
Neo-Middle
Egyptian
50-250AD
Demotic
Greek
Greek
Neo-Middle
Egyptian
250—700AD
Coptic
Coptic, Greek
Greek
Coptic, Greek
700AD-1400AD
(Christians)
Coptic, vernacu-
lar Arabic
Coptic, standard
Arabic
standard Arabic
Coptic, Greek
1400-
i70o(?)ad
(Christians)
vernacular Ara-
bic, late vari-
eties of Coptic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
Coptic, Greek,
standard Arabic
today
(Christians)
vernacular
Arabic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
Coptic, Greek,
standard Arabic
700AD—today
(Muslims)
vernacular
Arabic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
standard Arabic
2.2
Late Coptic
Coptic finally became extinct as a spoken language but continues to be used as a liturgi-
cal language of the Coptic church until the present day. Even when Coptic was no longer
in productive written use, it still experienced major phonetic developments (DST §§ 3.3.8
and 5.5.6). On the records about late pronunciation traditions Kg* appendix 7.
3o