Loanwords pass through various processes eg phonetic assimilation, grammatical assimilation, semantic assimilation.These could be complete or partial. Throughout these stages, loanwords become fully integrated into the borrowing language and become part of the lexicon and even part of the grammar in case of ⲅⲁⲣ, ⲙⲉⲛ, ⲇⲉ in Coptic.In other words, loanwords are no less Coptic than a word of Demotic etymology.
Prioritisation of words of Demotic etymology over any other etymology is called 'linguistic purism'. The process of elimination of other words is sometimes labelled linguistic purge.
The hazards of purism are:1. Linguistic discrimination
Purism looks at any other use of the language as less 'pure' and hence linguistic purists in Coptic might favour writings of Claudius Labib, despite being a pidgin over St Shenouda Archmandrite just because the latter had more Greek loanwords. It creates a barrier to reading the Coptic Bible, Psalmody, and other liturgical books. Hence, the linguistic purge in Coptic language reduces the language to a nationalistic tool.
2. Stifling of Language Evolution Purism attempts to freeze language in an idealized, often non-existent, "pure" state, resisting natural change, borrowing, and adaptation, which are normal processes of a living language. This resistance can make the language seem obsolete or out of touch with modern needs, such as a lack of words for new technologies or concepts.
3. Impracticality and Ineffectivenes Attempts to enforce purist rules in everyday use often fail because Coptic language has been generally liberal in its approach to making use of other loanwords.
Rigid prescriptivism can lag behind the actual vernacular language, making the prescribed rules difficult to follow and leading to an "useless pedantry".
4.Reduction of Linguistic ResourcesCerny etymological dictionary lists thousands of loanwords, attempting to discriminate against these words that passed through hundreds of years of assimilation and were frequently used in manuscripts leads to a poorer impoverished language that lacks its nuanced meanings and diversity of expression.
Many students of Claudius Labib and Pisenti Rizkalla reported a sense of alienation when moving from reading the texts produced by Labib to Coptic manuscripts written when Coptic was a native living language.
The reasons are that they are not familiar with about half of the vocabulary and grammatical particles and they learned obscure words that they would rarely encounter.
Hence, they end up learning a pidgin form of the language rather than the language itself.
Some learners even do not bother to read proper Coptic texts in the fervour of revival and purism effectively depriving themselves from the sources that make Coptic language the language that we know.
I understand that some people attack Coptic language of being too Hellenised or calling it a Greek dialect or something equally misinformed. I do not believe that the response is to impoverish the language and rip it apart to silence those who do not understand the language in the first place.
If it was not for loanwords, it would be the Greek alphabet, or ancestors who had Greek and Latin names eg Anthony, Athanasius etc. or the Greek corpus written by Alexandrian fathers eg Origen etc. or that Hieroglyphic is redundant and awkward to write etc.
I think the best way forward is to be proud of the language as it is, enjoy its richness and history.
Each word (loanword or another) has history that is to be studied and celebrated. These tell us a story about our ancestors. This is to be heard and understood rather than a process of rewriting history by being prescriptive in the language approach
I understand that some may find it hard to come to terms as to why Copts used Greek names for common words eg ϩⲉⲃⲇⲟⲙⲁⲥ, ϯⲡⲁⲣⲁⲥⲕⲉⲩⲏ, ⲡⲓⲥⲁⲃⲃⲁⲧⲟⲛ, ϯⲕⲩⲣⲓⲁⲕⲏ this is not a sign of lack of these words or concepts. It is just a word used.
Loanwords do not necessarily reflect a lack of a concept, the reasons are diverse. Loanwords were not strictly for technical terms they were also for concepts that were deeply embedded in Egyptian culture egϩⲓⲣⲏⲛⲏ, ⲁⲅⲁⲡⲏ, ⲁⲅⲁⲑⲟⲥ, ⲧⲉⲗⲓⲟⲥ, ⲇⲓⲕⲉⲟⲥ, ⲕⲁⲗⲱⲥ, ⲁⲗⲏⲑⲓⲁ, ⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ, ⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲉⲓⲁ, ⲡⲣⲉⲥⲃⲓⲁ, ⲁⲛⲁⲥⲧⲁⲥⲓⲁ, ⲅⲁⲣ, ⲙⲏⲡⲱⲥ, ⲙⲏⲡⲟⲧⲉ, ⲙⲁⲗⲗⲟⲛ, ⲁⲗⲗⲁ
It would be very difficult to argue that Copts lacked the concept of justice peace, love, goodness, virginity, chastity and had to borrow these terms. It is a process that's far more complicated diverse and richer than the mere, assumption that a loanword is a symptom of deficiency, that's a fallacy.
