Editing Egyptian language (section)

===Coptic===
{{main|Coptic language}}
[[Coptic language|Coptic]] is the name given to the late Egyptian vernacular when it was written in a Greek-based alphabet, the Coptic alphabet; it flourished from the time of [[Early Christianity|Early Christianity (c. 31/33–324)]], but Egyptian phrases written in the Greek alphabet first appeared during the [[Hellenistic period]] {{circa|3rd century BC}},{{sfn|Allen|2020|p=3}} with the first known Coptic text, still pagan ([[Old Coptic]]), from the 1st century AD.

Coptic survived into the medieval period, but by the 16th century was dwindling rapidly due to the persecution of Coptic Christians under the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]]. It probably survived in the Egyptian countryside as a spoken language for several centuries after that. Coptic survives as the liturgical language of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] and the [[Coptic Catholic Church]].