Editing Coptic language (section)

== Writing system ==
{{main|Coptic script}}
[[File:Papyrus Bodmer VI fol. 16.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bodmer Papyri#Coptic|Papyrus Bodmer VI]] ("Dialect P") possesses the richest of all Coptic alphabets, with 35 unique [[grapheme]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dialect P (or Proto-Theban)|url=https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/1984/rec/1|website=Claremont Colleges Digital Library|publisher=Macmillan|via=Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion}}</ref>]]

Coptic uses a writing system almost wholly derived from the [[Greek alphabet]], with the addition of a number of letters that have their origins in [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic Egyptian]]. This is comparable to the Latin-based [[Icelandic orthography|Icelandic alphabet]], which includes the runic letter [[thorn (letter)|thorn]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Coptic Alphabet |url=https://www.suscopts.org/deacons/coptic/coptic_alphabet.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513065527/http://www.suscopts.org/deacons/coptic/coptic_alphabet.pdf |archive-date=2006-05-13 |url-status=live |website=www.suscopts.org}}</ref> There is some variation in the number and forms of these signs depending on the dialect. Some of the letters in the Coptic alphabet that are of Greek origin were normally reserved for Greek words. Old Coptic texts used several graphemes that were not retained in the literary Coptic orthography of later centuries.

In Sahidic, [[syllable]] boundaries may have been marked by a supralinear stroke ⟨◌̄⟩, or the stroke may have tied letters together in one word, since Coptic texts did not otherwise indicate word divisions. Some scribal traditions use a [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] over the letters {{Coptic|ⲓ}} and {{Coptic|ⲩ}} at the beginning of a word or to mark a diphthong. Bohairic uses a superposed point or small stroke known as {{Coptic|ϫⲓⲛⲕⲓⲙ}} ({{Transliteration|cop|jinkim}}, "movement"). When ''jinkim'' is placed over a vowel it is pronounced independently, and when it is placed over a consonant a short {{Coptic|ⲉ}} precedes it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coptic Lesson 5:The Rule of the JINKIM |url=https://www.suscopts.org/deacons/coptic/lesson5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621225841/https://www.suscopts.org/deacons/coptic/lesson5.pdf |archive-date=Jun 21, 2022 |website=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States}}</ref>
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