The 24 Greek letters could not write every Egyptian sound. Coptic scribes filled the gaps with letters taken from the Demotic script, each one a simplified sign that had once been a hieroglyph.
Key idea
Sahidic Coptic adds six letters from Demotic: ϣ (sh), ϥ (f), ϩ (h), ϫ (a sound like the ch of "church"), ϭ (ky) and ϯ (ti). Bohairic, the northern dialect, adds a seventh, ϧ (kh, as in Scottish "loch").
Why it works
Greek had no letters for sh, f or a plain h, and these sounds are common in Egyptian. Rather than invent new shapes, scribes took the Demotic signs that already wrote them. You can still see the line of descent: the Coptic letter for f comes, through Demotic, from the horned viper hieroglyph, which wrote f.
| Letter | Name | Sound | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| ϣ | shai | sh | the hieroglyph of a pool with lotus flowers (šꜣ) |
| ϥ | fai | f | the horned viper (f) |
| ϧ | khai (Bohairic only) | kh | the lotus plant (ḫꜣ) |
| ϩ | hori | h | a Demotic sign group for h |
| ϫ | janja | like ch in "church" (written j or č) | the fire drill (ḏꜣ) |
| ϭ | qima | ky | the basket (k) |
| ϯ | ti | ti | the arm giving a loaf (dj) with the loaf (t) |
Worked example: Spot the letter
In ϣⲱⲡⲉ ("become"), which letter comes from Demotic, and what sound does it write?
- The first letter, ϣ, is not Greek: it is shai, from Demotic.
- It writes sh. The word is shōpe, from Egyptian ḫpr, "come into being".
Answer: ϣ, sh.
Worked example: ϣ or ω?
How do you tell ϣ (shai) from ⲱ (ō)?
- Both have a rounded, double-cup shape.
- ϣ has a tail below the line; ⲱ does not.
- Reading the wrong one changes the word: ϣⲱⲡⲉ is shōpe, with both letters side by side.
Answer: Look for the tail: ϣ has one.
The number of extra letters is itself a clue to a manuscript's dialect: Sahidic uses six, Bohairic seven (with ϧ), and the Akhmimic dialect has a letter of its own for kh, different from Bohairic's. The letter ϯ stands for a whole syllable, ti, because that combination is so common. In Sahidic it begins many sentences, as the prefix for "I": ϯⲥⲱⲧⲙ, "I hear".
Common mistake
Mistaking ϣ (sh) for the Greek omega ⲱ. Look for the tail.