Back to Coptic

Anthony the Great, Pachomius the Great, Shenoute
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Shenoute
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Back to Coptic

Post by Shenoute »

I'm back to Coptic after a long interruption. I've spent the last couple of weeks getting back into things, mainly by reading Mark, as well as large parts of Luke and Acts. I'll probably be reading some OT books over the next few days (with Exodus, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Kings and Ecclesiastes being the most likely candidates).

If somebody is interesting in conducting a Latin/Greek/Coptic reading group about these texts or any other (the Apophthegmata Patrum or the Life of St. Anthony, for instance), let me know!

big_anemone
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by big_anemone »

Thanks for posting the update. My very rusty Coptic isn't up to being in a reading group until I do a run through Lambdin at least, but I'll enjoy reading about your adventures. Out of curiosity, are you reading everything on the Coptic Scriptorium website, or do you have other resources?

Shenoute
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by Shenoute »

I hope you'll find time for Coptic in the future!

No, I don't use Scriptorium for my reading. It is certainly a convenient resource but, as I said in this thread, there's a couple of things I don't especially like. Basically:
- for OT books, not every witness is there (Josh. 10,26-36, published in Kasser (1963) is missing for instance)
- no sources (for instance, between Josh. 2,14-15, you go without notice from a 7th c. manuscript in rather standard Sahidic to an older text in less standard Sahidic)
- they ditched editorial markings, so you don't know what part of the text is a restoration by the editor for instance
- quite a few typos/errors in the (admittedly few) texts I have sampled.

I get that they are building an annotated corpus for linguistic research purposes though, not online editions. And I guess the analytic view can be very helpful.

tico
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by tico »

Hi there.
I'd like to ask you a little, but important (for me) question. When you read these Coptic texts, you have to frequently stop and search the word meanings in a lexicon or you can read them easily?
The reason for my question is: we have texts like LLPSI or Athenaze that prepare you for, let's say, a kind of fluent and extensive reading in Latin and Greek, but we can't find this kind of material for Coptic, can we?
I did some basic Coptic many many years ago. What I learned then is now gone, but I'd like to come back to Coptic and really learn it. The problem is: where could we find good materials like LLPSI or a good way to get a confident knowledge of both grammar and vocabulary?
Finally: I would be glad to find a group for learning Coptic. Any candidates to start it? But we would need someone who has a good grasp of the language to conduct it. I know there are recent videos of a nice guy who teaches the whole Lambdin. The problem is: there is way too much English and just a little time is reserved for Coptic. And Lambdin means small disconnected sentences, not long adapted texts for beginners, which would be, at least for me, better for getting grammar and vocabulary.
As we say, just my two cents.
Thanks,
Tico

Shenoute
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by Shenoute »

Hi tico,
tico wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:33 pmWhen you read these Coptic texts, you have to frequently stop and search the word meanings in a lexicon or you can read them easily?
Both! :D I still look up words more often than I'd like too but not enough to really prevent me from reading a lot and with decent ease. It also depends a lot on the text or the section of the text.
tico wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:33 pmThe reason for my question is: we have texts like LLPSI or Athenaze that prepare you for, let's say, a kind of fluent and extensive reading in Latin and Greek, but we can't find this kind of material for Coptic, can we?
(...) The problem is: where could we find good materials like LLPSI or a good way to get a confident knowledge of both grammar and vocabulary?
I don't think there's anything like LLPSI or easy/intermediate readers, like there is for Latin.
In my mind though, the need for these is less acute in Coptic since I think the language is simpler than Latin/Greek as far as morphology and syntax are concerned. Still, I agree that this would be a nice addition for two reasons:
- learning vocab
- sustaining the student's interest better than isolated sentences à la Lambdin/Layton.
tico wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:33 pmFinally: I would be glad to find a group for learning Coptic. Any candidates to start it? But we would need someone who has a good grasp of the language to conduct it.
I hope you'll find some way to make it work. I know Glyphstudy has a regular Lambdin group study but no idea where they're at now.
I wouldn't mind acting as some kind of helper here if people start working through Lambdin (or Layton).

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mahasacham
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by mahasacham »

I would love to start a reading group. I finished Lambdin a year ago and i am in active reading mode.

I am almost done translating the gospel of Thomas back into ancient Greek. This has really solidified my Coptic and my Greek.

My next project will be a translation of Plato's account of Atlantis into Coptic since the account is narrated by an Egyptian priest.

Shenoute
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by Shenoute »

Interesting!

As for the reading group, I was thinking of something quite relaxed. Basically, reading at a rather leisurely pace and trying to post some reading notes in dedicated threads as we go. We could go through a text existing in both Greek and Coptic (maybe Latin too), so that it could be of interest to people not knowing Coptic.
But these are just rough ideas, let me know how you envision things.

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mahasacham
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by mahasacham »

Yes the idea of reading something with a Greek equivalent would be great.

Maybe one of the gospels to start with.

There does exist a section of Plato's republic in Sahidic Coptic from the nag hamadi discovery.... Maybe once we get more comfortable with Coptic.

As for the format of the group. Should we do zoom video conference or just do private readings and compare notes?

We could record the sessions and put them on YouTube.

Shenoute
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by Shenoute »

I realise that it may somewhat hamper exchanges but right now I'm more in favor of private reading, posting notes and discussing things here.

Ok for one of the Gospels. I read Mark and large parts of Luke recently so I'd be more interested in going through John or Matthew.

What kind of periodicity do you think would make it work best? One chapter a week? Ten/Twenty verses? Or maybe it would be more flexible/practical to have one thread per chapter and create the next thread when we feel we're done with the current chapter?

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mahasacham
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by mahasacham »

Private reading works for me. Anything to keep the Coptic forum running.

Also if it's okey, I would prefer the Gospel of John.

I like the idea of one thread per chapter so we can check in periodically.

Shenoute
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Re: Back to Coptic

Post by Shenoute »

John it is, then!

I'll create the first thread later.

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