I am a little confused about Coptic Plural pronunciation, no information I've found is very direct with the letter "U" (I don't have Coptic letters so hopefully you know the letter I'm referring to).
For instance:
If "u" follows "o" it is pronounced like Spanish 'u' in "tu" :
àmou = ah-mu (come masc.)
If you have "oou" or "wou" it is then pronounced 'o-u' or 'oo-u', short vs long vowel.
àTooui = ah-toh-u-wee (morning)
Ńøwou = ehn-thoo-u (they/themselves)
Okay, so I think I understand those rules.
But what about these plurals :
ame (herd masc.) = amhu (herd pl.)
ampe (baker masc.) = amphu (bakers)
cabe (wiseman) = cabeeu (wisemen)
Hwe (thing) = Hbhue (things)
Hï (house) = Hou (houses) **I don't know how to pronounce neither of these words**
(I'm sorry about the Coptic letters not showing, hopefully you guys know what I'm spelling :/)
Are these considered dipthongs?!
I read somewhere that "au" is pronounced "av", like "mau = mav - mother) but I believe that is incorrect because the original Ancient Egyptian language didn't have the letter " v" afterall mau" comes from hieroglyphics "mwt" not through Greek borrowings. So I would think "au" is a dipthong pronounced "aw" something like in the English word "town".
Can anyone shed some light on these questions.