Editing Coptic language (section)

=== Vowels ===
There are some differences of opinion among Coptic language scholars on the correct phonetic interpretation of the writing system of Coptic. Differences centre on how to interpret the pairs of letters {{Coptic|ⲉ/ⲏ}} and {{Coptic|ⲟ/ⲱ}}. In the [[Attic Greek|Attic dialect]] of [[Ancient Greek]] in the 5th century BC, the first member of each pair is a short closed vowel {{IPA|/e, o/}}, and the second member is a long open vowel {{IPA|/ɛː, ɔː/}}. In some interpretations of Coptic phonology,{{sfn|Plumley|1948}} it is assumed that the length difference is primary, with {{Coptic|ⲉ/ⲏ}} {{IPA|/e, eː/}} and {{Coptic|ⲟ/ⲱ}} is {{IPA|/o, oː/}}. Other scholars{{sfn|Greenberg|1990}} argue for a different analysis in which {{Coptic|ⲉ/ⲏ}} and {{Coptic|ⲟ/ⲱ}} are interpreted as {{IPA|/e, ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/o, ɔ/}}.

These two charts show the two theories of Coptic vowel phonology:

{{columns-start}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+[[Monophthong]] phonemes<br />(length theory)
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|iː}}
|
| {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|eː}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|e}}
|
| {{IPA link|oː}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|
| {{IPA link|ə}}
|
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɑ}}
|}
{{column}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+[[Monophthong]] phonemes<br />(vowel quality theory)
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|iː}}
| 
| {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| 
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
| {{IPA link|ɔ}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɑ}}
|}
{{columns-end}}

Dialects vary in their realisation. The difference between {{IPAblink|o}} and {{IPAblink|u}} seems to be allophonic. Evidence is not sufficient to demonstrate that these are distinct vowels, and if they are, the difference has a very low [[functional load]]. For dialects that use orthographic {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲉⲓ}}}} for a single vowel, there appears to be no phonetic difference from {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲓ}}}}.

Double orthographic vowels are presumed here to be long, but there is considerable debate as to whether these double vowels represent long vowels or [[glottal stop]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dahlgren |first1=Sonja |title=The system of Coptic vowel reduction: Evidence from L2 Greek usage |journal=Italian Journal of Linguistics |date=May 2022 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=211–228 |doi=10.26346/1120-2726-155}}</ref>

{{columns-start}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Bohairic vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉⲓ}} {{IPAslink|i}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} {{IPAslink|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲏ}} {{IPAslink|e}}
| {{Coptic|ⲱ}} {{IPAslink|o}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛ}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟ}} {{IPAslink|ɔ}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan=2| {{Coptic|ⲁ}} {{IPAslink|a}}
|}
{{column}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Sahidic vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉⲓ}} {{IPAslink|i}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} {{IPAslink|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲏ}} {{IPAslink|e}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲏⲏ}} {{IPAslink|eː}}
| {{Coptic|ⲱ}} {{IPAslink|o}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲱⲱ}} {{IPAslink|oː}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛ}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲉⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛː}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟ}} {{IPAslink|ɔ}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲟⲟ}} {{IPAslink|ɔː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan=2| {{Coptic|ⲁ}} {{IPAslink|a}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲁⲁ}} {{IPAslink|aː}}
|}
{{column}}
{| class='wikitable' style="text-align: center"
|+Lycopolitan vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉⲓ}} {{IPAslink|i}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} {{IPAslink|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲏ}} {{IPAslink|e}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲏⲏ}} {{IPAslink|eː}}
| {{Coptic|ⲱ}} {{IPAslink|o}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲱⲱ}} {{IPAslink|oː}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛ}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲉⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛː}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟⲟ}} {{IPAslink|ɔː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan=2| {{Coptic|ⲁ}} {{IPAslink|a}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲁⲁ}} {{IPAslink|aː}}
|}
{{column}}
{| class='wikitable' style="text-align: center"
|+Akhmimic vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉⲓ}} {{IPAslink|i}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲓⲉⲓ}} {{IPAslink|iː}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟⲩ}} {{IPAslink|u}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲟⲩⲟⲩ}} {{IPAslink|uː}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲏ}} {{IPAslink|e}}
| {{Coptic|ⲱ}} {{IPAslink|o}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{Coptic|ⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛ}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲉⲉ}} {{IPAslink|ɛː}}
| {{Coptic|ⲟⲟ}} {{IPAslink|ɔː}}{{efn|Frequent spelling of this vowel as {{Coptic|ⲱⲱ}} indicates that it is in [[free variation]] with {{IPAblink|[oː]}}.}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|colspan=2| {{Coptic|ⲁ}} {{IPAslink|a}} &nbsp; {{Coptic|ⲁⲁ}} {{IPAslink|aː}}
|}
{{notelist}}
{{columns-end}}

There is no length distinction in final stressed position, but only those vowels that occur long appear there: {{angbr|{{Coptic|(ⲉ)ⲓ, ⲉ, ⲁ, ⲟ~ⲱ, ⲟⲩ}}}}.

In Sahidic, the letter {{Coptic|ⲉ}} was used for short {{IPAslink|e}} before back fricatives, and also for unstressed schwa {{IPAslink|ə}}. It's possible there was also a distinction between short {{IPAslink|ɛ}} and {{IPAslink|a}}, but if so the functional load was extremely low.

Bohairic did not have long vowels. {{IPAslink|i}} was only written {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲓ}}}}. As above, it's possible that {{IPAslink|u}} and {{IPAslink|o}} were distinct vowels rather than just allophones.

In Late Coptic (that is, Late Bohairic), the vowels were reduced to those found in Egyptian Arabic, {{IPA|/a, i, u/}}.{{dubious|date=May 2021|reason=Egyptian Arabic has more than these vowel values, only Literary Arabic based transliterations prefer to stick to these that are the conventional vowels of Classical Arabic}} {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲱ, ⲟ}}}} became {{IPAslink|u}}, {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲉ}}}} became {{IPAslink|æ}}, and {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲏ}}}} became either {{IPAslink|ɪ}} or {{IPAslink|æ}}. It is difficult to explain {{angbr|{{Coptic|ⲏ}}}}. However, it generally became {{IPAslink|æ}} in stressed monosyllables, {{IPAslink|ɪ}} in unstressed monosyllables, and in polysyllables, {{IPAslink|æ}} when followed by {{IPAslink|i}}, and {{IPAslink|ɪ}} when not.

There were no doubled orthographic vowels in Mesokemic. Some representative correspondences with Sahidic are:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Sahidic stressed vowels
|{{Coptic|ⲁ}}||{{Coptic|ⲁⲁ, ⲉⲉ}}||{{Coptic|ⲏ}}||{{Coptic|ⲟ}}||{{Coptic|ⲱ}}||{{Coptic|ⲱⲱ}}
|-
!Mesokemic equivalent
|{{Coptic|ⲉ}}||{{Coptic|ⲏ}}||{{Coptic|ⲏ}}||{{Coptic|ⲁ}}||{{Coptic|ⲟ}}||{{Coptic|ⲱ}}
|}

It is not clear if these correspondences reflect distinct pronunciations in Mesokemic, or if they are an imitation of the long Greek vowels {{angbr|η, ω}}.