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Sahidic Coptic Course

servant33servant33
edited December 1969 in Personal Issues
So I was very excited to find that my university actually has a course on the Coptic language!!
That is Sahidic Coptic of course.
I bought the textbook, but looking through it, it looks pretty difficult and fairly different from the Bohairic Coptic that we use in the liturgy. I couldn't follow the Sahidic version of the Lord's Prayer, for example. I also missed the first semester of the course (since I didn't know it existed), but I'm planning to audit the second semester and will try to self study what I missed from the first semester.
So I have a few questions:
  Is it easy to learn Sahidic Coptic, having been exposed to all the Coptic in the liturgy, tasbeha, etc?
  Is it worthwhile to learn Sahidic Coptic in terms of better understanding Coptic hymns and songs in the church?
Let me know if you have any prior experience or any comments. Thanks!  ;)

Comments

  • andrew8345andrew8345
    What school do you go to? Who is your professor? I took a Sahidic Coptic course. . we used the Lambdin book.

    Merely being exposed to the coptic language in church doesn't make learning the language any easier. It does help for pronunciation though  :)

    I didn't find it extremely beneficial for liturgical worship. The vocab and grammar are different than Bohairic (which we use in church).

  • servant33servant33
    [quote author=Andrew link=topic=12619.msg148152#msg148152 date=1322629397]
    What school do you go to? Who is your professor? I took a Sahidic Coptic course. . we used the Lambdin book.

    Merely being exposed to the coptic language in church doesn't make learning the language any easier. It does help for pronunciation though  :)

    I didn't find it extremely beneficial for liturgical worship. The vocab and grammar are different than Bohairic (which we use in church).


    Yeah it is the Lambdin book!! I skimmed through it and it looks quite painful, especially since the coptic is not as elegantly typed as we have in the liturgy.

    Aw ok, so you wouldn't recommend it?

    I go to a school in the Southern US (if that fits where you went PM me and we can see if we are talking about the same school)
  • andrew8345andrew8345
    It's a good book though  :)

    If your intention is to take what you learn and apply it to the liturgical services, don't take the course. If you are taking this with a scholarly attitude and you may do research in the future, etc., than it will greatly help you.

    But I would put the effort into Bohairic if you want to learn the language to use in church. Trust me, I took the course under the false impression that I would finish it and be able to walk into tasbeha understanding every word I uttered. I put a lot of time and was stressed as a result.

    But since you are auditing the course you have nothing to lose. Check it out and see if you are interested.

    No, I did not go to school there. I didn't know Coptic was being taught in various regions within the U.S. That's great to hear :-)
  • andrew8345andrew8345
    BTW, is the professor Coptic?
  • servant33servant33
    Ok. Thanks a lot for your input Andrew! It definitely helps to hear from your own experience!

    Nope, not Coptic. From what I hear, the professor is not even Christian.
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    Sahidic Coptic is only hard at first. After a while you recognize the Bohairic equivalents quickly. It becomes easier. Of course, if you don't know any Bohairic Coptic, it doesn't help. I would say that study Sahidic Coptic if you want to expose yourself to non-liturgical texts like Gnostic letters, saint stories, legal texts, and maybe some biblical excerpts. If you want to learn or become more proficient in Bohairic for Church services, contact Hany Takla at St Shenouda Coptic Society. He teaches Sahidic and Bohairic at UCLA and he offers an online course in Bohairic. Take the online course.

    Most instructors in Coptic that teach in universities are not Coptic. I can only think of 2 (out of about 30).
    George
  • BiboboyBiboboy
    Agape,

    If what you need to learn is the liturgical Bohairic Coptic, there's always the easier and cheaper alternative, which is to follow along the Coptic lessons on CYC and are provided on youtube. Here's a playlist:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/copticheritage#grid/user/3ECFE32F94EBCE6C
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