ⲭⲏⲙⲓ gender

[ⲡⲓⲙⲟⲩⲓ]

Dear All,

I've a quick question. What is the gender of the proper noun ⲭⲏⲙⲓ? I saw it described as masculine in the dictionaries (e.g., [1] and [2]). However, should not it be a feminine one? as it used to have the feminine 't' before (during the middle stage) the late Egyptian language and Demotic stages as: km.t?

Also, I saw Admin's reply to an old post here, where he used: ⲉⲥⲉⲱⲛϧ ⲛϫⲉ ⲭⲏⲙⲓ for long live Egypt. Does that mean it is a feminine noun? or it can be both?

Best,
ⲡⲓⲙⲟⲩⲓ

[1] https://corpling.uis.georgetown.edu/coptic-dictionary/entry.cgi?entry=199&super=83
[2] Crum:

[Admin]

Hi ⲡⲓⲙⲟⲩⲓ,
It could be a mistake from me for using  ⲉⲥⲉ.
Personally I rarely see the word ⲭⲏⲙⲓ on it's own. Usually Ⲡⲓⲕⲁϩⲓ ˋⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ (Literally land of black/black land).
Since ⲕⲁϩⲓ is masculine, I suppose that's why ⲭⲏⲙⲓ is also assumed to be the same.

Also thanks for the dictionary link, it's amazing. Please post it in Coptic resource section so other people can learn about it as well

[ⲡⲓⲙⲟⲩⲓ]

Thanks Admin for the quick reply.

Indeed, I too thought so.

The point is, I was trying to use ⲭⲏⲙⲓ as a subject in a sentence. I wanted to write something like "Egypt celebrates ...." while writing an article [1] on the wikipedia Coptic project. I translated it to ϣⲁϥⲉⲣϣⲁⲓ `ⲙⲡⲁⲓϣⲁⲓ ⲛϫⲉ ⲭⲏⲙⲓ. May be I should just change it to the "The Egyptians celebrate ....".

As for the dictionary link, it is a very useful one, indeed. I will be posting about it in the resources section.

Regards,
ⲡⲓⲙⲟⲩⲓ

[1] https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/cop/%CF%AC%E2%B2%B1%E2%B2%99_%E2%B2%9B%E2%B2%9B%E2%B2%93%E2%B2%A5%E2%B2%93%E2%B2%99_(%CF%A3%E2%B2%81%E2%B2%93)

[Admin]

Yes, I think Egyptians celebrate is the safest option.
Otherwise I think it would still be Ⲡⲓⲕⲁϩⲓ ˋⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ celebrate.
unless someone can find any coptic text that use the word ⲭⲏⲙⲓ alone.

[bashandy]

According to Assulam Akkabir by Ibn Kabbar. The colour Black is masculine ⲡⲓⲭⲏⲙⲓ . According to Egyptian mythology the God of land is masculine.I'd agree with admin it's safer to use 'the land of Egypt' ⲡⲕⲁϩⲓ ⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ

[Anaksunamun]

In the old language “km.t” was feminine. But, I have noticed this with some words, where the gender changes by the time of the Coptic language, so it’s not unusual to see this happening. You can see this change by the time of the Demotic Script being used because “km.t” is then spelled “kmy”. I’d equate this to the Ancient Egyptian language being a “regressive” language, in the sense that the words and grammar (unfortunately) were corrupted through time due to unstable politics affecting the society in those points of times between and during the various dynasties. These are signs of a living language dying, there were many Greek historians who literally wrote about the Egyptian language claiming that “the people were forgetting their own language”...  and still to this day there are examples of languages that go through this “regression”, some languages that come to mind would be the Hawaiian language, and the Native American languages of the United States and in South America.