Hello Mark! We are excited to have you with us today. Please introduce yourself to our readers and feel free to tell us in what way you connect with languages.

Thank you for inviting me. I am Mark Bebawy and I am 21 years old. I study Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Besides my studies, I also work at the UvA where I give seminars in Computer Science. My parents are Egyptian, so I grew up with the Egyptian Arabic language. Furthermore, the church holds an important role in my life. Within the church, many parts of the liturgy use the Coptic language. Therefore, I would say that I have gained some knowledge in both the Egyptian Arabic and Coptic language.

Thank you! So, regarding the Coptic language... Are you able to speak it?

Unfortunately, I am not. Coptic is a dead language, so I do not speak it. I only know certain translations of words that occur in prayers during the church services.

Are you able to read it?

Yes, I can read it. So, the Coptic alphabet consists mostly of Greek letters. In addition, there are some letters added, so one could see the Coptic language as an extension of the Greek alphabet. During high school I followed Ancient Greek classes, and in the first year we learned the Greek alphabet. By that time, I was able to read the Greek alphabet. During the church services, we often pray in Coptic. These prayers were written in the Coptic language. I tried to read along and then I recognised the Greek and non-Greek letters. Eventually, I learned these non-Greek letters too, and therefore I can say that I can read Coptic nowadays.

That is quite interesting. Especially when you think about the fact that these Ancient Greek classes really contributed to your ability to read Coptic to some extent. Could you tell us something about your religion and about the church you are going to?

Certainly. I am a Christian and as you may already know, the three biggest movements within Christianity are the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches. I am part of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This church has its roots in Egypt and the head of the church is the pope of Alexandria. The Coptic Orthodox Church was founded by Saint Mark, who we consider to be the first Coptic Pope, who also wrote one of the four Gospels in the Bible. The current Pope (Tawadros II) is the 118th leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

So, do you go to the Coptic church here in the Netherlands? And if yes, I am also curious to know what kind of activities are taking place in your church.

Yes! There is a Coptic Church in Amsterdam-Noord which I go to (Heilige Maagd Maria Kathedraal). I believe that there are currently about fifteen Coptic Orthodox churches in the Netherlands, including a monastery. So, there are quite a lot of Egyptians in the Netherlands who also attend church. We use a mixture of Dutch, Coptic, and Egyptian Arabic during the church services. And, in addition to the services, we have activities such as bible studies and specific activities for children within the church. I also enjoy assisting with those activities. Moreover, we also have Sunday school classes. Language lessons are included during these classes, so Egyptian Arabic, as well as the Coptic language are taught. It is a very nice and welcoming community.

It surely sounds like a nice place. I find it interesting to hear that you use a mixture of Dutch, Coptic, and Egyptian Arabic there. Could you tell us something more about the Coptic and Egyptian Arabic language, and the similarities or differences between those languages?

Yes, of course. So, the Coptic language, as I said, is an extension of the Greek language. Coptic was spoken way back in Egypt when Alexandria was still a Greek city. Due to the influence of the Greek people, Coptic was spoken there until a few centuries ago.

Then the Arabs conquered Egypt and brought the Arabic language with them, which became Egypt’s main language as Egypt was becoming an Islamic country. And with that, the Coptic language was very quickly replaced by the Arabic language.

In conclusion you could say that Coptic and Egyptian Arabic are actually two completely different languages. They also have a completely different script because Egyptian Arabic just uses the Arabic script, so those are the ‘strange letters with dots’. On the contrary, Coptic is very similar to Greek, so again: we are dealing with two completely different languages.

And how does Egyptian Arabic actually differ from ordinary Arabic?

Much of it is mainly the pronunciation, but to some lesser extent also a bit of the vocabulary. In my experience, Arabic is really a more formal language, and Egyptian Arabic could perhaps be defined as a simplified version of the Arabic language. I do not speak Arabic, so I find it very difficult to understand Arabs. People who grew up in Egypt learn Arabic at school, because all the literature is written in (standardised) Arabic. I do not think that there exists specific Egyptian Arabic literature. The literature is all written in Arabic. I have only learned to speak Egyptian Arabic at home with my family, and in church with friends. Personally, I find Egyptian Arabic a lot easier than Arabic.

Interesting! So, if I understand you correctly, Egyptian Arabic is mainly a spoken language, whereas Egyptian texts or books are written in (standardised) Arabic, except for the religious writings which are written in Coptic?

Indeed. Religious writings are no longer only written in Coptic, in the sense that... the ordinary Coptic Christian cannot understand Coptic. If you give him a Coptic text, he has no idea what it says. It is only in combination with the Dutch or the Egyptian Arabic translation that we have with us during the prayers that I can understand the written text in Coptic. Coptic is really just a dead language, hence it is not spoken anywhere anymore. The way Coptic is used in our church is similar to the way Latin is used in the Catholic Church. Both Coptic and Latin are not spoken anywhere. We read those languages only in combination with their respective translations.

Thank you for the explanation. I like the comparison you make between Coptic and Latin. So, if someone wants to learn the Coptic language, what would be a good way to start? Do you have any tips, or do you know some methods one can use to learn the language?

Regarding Coptic, I would say to visit our church, since we also provide Coptic language lessons. I have also stumbled upon books to learn Coptic as a liturgical language (so they do cover the alphabet, grammar, and many translations, but mostly of words used in the liturgy and prayers of our church).

Sounds great! Do you have any advice for our readers who are perhaps familiarising themselves with Coptic for the very first time?

Yes, I really like Coptic music. Coptic music mostly refers to liturgical music, but apart from the liturgical aspect, I have always enjoyed the melodies of it. An interesting fact that I know is related to the service of Good Friday (the day we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus). There is a part in which we commemorate His burial. In this part we sing a hymn to the tune that apparently was used by the ancient Egyptians while they were mummifying and burying the Pharaohs. That is a nice Coptic fact and perhaps an easy way to get to know the Coptic language.