Coptic alphabet

Coptic

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