The meaning of ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ
The Coptic dictionary states that ϩⲁⲛⲁ- means time of (coptic-dictionary.org).
Etymologically
The term has its origin in Ancient Egyptian it was composed of ϩⲁ.ⲛⲁ.ⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ as mentioned in Zeitschr. f. Aegyptische Sprache Steindorf G.(1914) Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde (ZÄS; previously ZÄ) Leipzig, Volume 51 p.124
Mallon (1907) [1]split the word accurately ϩⲁ-ⲛⲁ-ⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ [1] Mallon, A. (1907). Grammaire copte : avec bibliographie, chrestomathie et vocabulaire. Beyrouth: Imprimerie catholique
Biblical Evidence
On inspecting the Bible and comparing ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ with its Sahidic counterpart it was ⲛ̅ϣⲱⲣⲡ psalm 142:8.τω πρωί in Greek, It's singular. There are about 63 examples in the Bible where ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ is singular.
(ⲕ︦ⲍ︦) ⲁϥϣⲟⲣⲡϥ ⲇⲉ ⲛ̀ϫⲉ ⲁⲃⲣⲁⲁⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ̀ ⲉ̀ⲡⲓⲙⲁ ⲉ̀ⲛⲁϥⲟϩⲓ ⲉ̀ⲣⲁⲧϥ ⲙ̀ⲙⲟϥ ⲙ̀ⲡⲉⲙ̀ⲑⲟ ⲙ̀ⲡϭ̅ⲥ̅. (27) ῎Ωρθρισεν δὲ Αβρααμ τὸ πρωὶ εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ εἱστήκει ἐναντίον κυρίου, Genesis 19:27 ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ: τω πρωί
(ⲓ︦ⲑ︦) ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ⲇⲉ ⲛⲱⲟⲩ ⲛ̀ϫⲉ ⲙⲱⲩ̀ⲥⲏⲥ ϫⲉ ⲙ̀ⲡⲉⲛⲑⲣⲉ ϩⲗⲓ ⲥⲱϫⲡ ⲉ̀ⲃⲟⲗ ⲙ̀ⲙⲟϥ ϣⲁ ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ (19) εἶπεν δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς αὐτούς Μηδεὶς καταλιπέτω ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πρωί. Ex 16:19
وَبَاكِرًا جِدًّا فِي أَوَّلِ الأُسْبُوعِ أَتَيْنَ إِلَى الْقَبْرِ إِذْ طَلَعَتِ الشَّمْسُ. (ⲃ︦) ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ ⲉ̀ⲙⲁϣⲱ ⲙ̀ⲫⲟⲩⲁⲓ ⲛ̀ⲛⲓⲥⲁⲃⲃⲁⲧⲟⲛ ⲁⲩⲓ̀ ⲉ̀ⲡⲓⲙϩⲁⲩ ⲉⲧⲁ ⲫⲣⲏ ϣⲁⲓ (ⲃ︦) ⲁⲩⲱ ϩⲧⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲙⲁⲧⲉ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲩⲁ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲥⲁⲃⲃⲁⲧⲟⲛ ⲁⲩⲉⲓ ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲡⲉⲙ̅ϩⲁⲟⲩ ⲉⲁ ⲡⲣⲏ ϣⲁ. )
καὶ λίαν πρωῒ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων ἔρχονται ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον ἀνατείλαντος τοῦ ἡλίου. This is Mk 16:2
This cannot refer to a plural it's a specific event on a specific time in a specific day.
In the above, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome went on a very particular Saturday to the Sepulchre and they find that the stone has been removed. Certainly, that only happened once.
Mark 1:35 Simon did not make it a daily practice to run after Jesus to tell him that they are all waiting for you.
Genesis 19:27 Lot's wife only got a one-time opportunity to turn into a pillar of salt.
Psalm 142 (143 in other versions) the word in question is בַבֹּ֨קֶר ׀ ḇab·bō·qer — as far as I understand this also refers to singular
Mark 16:2, Gen 19:27, Ex 16:9 and the Coptic dictionary as well as constructs like ⲙ̀ⲫⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ, ⲙ̀ⲫⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲣⲟⲩϩⲓ Ex 12:22, 12:46, 14:24, 16:7, 16:8, 16:19—24, 24:4, 36:3
Evidence from hagiographies
ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ ⲁϥⲙⲟⲩϯ ⲉⲧⲉϥϣⲉⲗⲉⲧ ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ⲛⲁⲥ ϫⲉϯϣⲓⲛⲓ ⲉⲣⲟ ⲱ ⲧⲁⲥⲱⲛⲓ ⲉⲑⲛⲁⲛⲉⲥ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲗⲅⲁⲣ ⲁⲩϩⲟⲛϩⲉⲛ ⲛⲏⲓ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲓⲧⲉⲛ ⲡ⳪̅ ⲉⲑⲣⲓϣⲉⲛⲏⲓ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲉⲣⲙⲟⲛⲁⲭⲟⲥ This is an excerpt from ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ ⲭⲁⲙⲏ where it seems like an event that occurs in a few seconds ⲁϥⲙⲟⲩϯ it would not make sense in this context to mean in the hours of the morning
Medieval Copto-Arabic Texts
Scala Magna by Ibn Kabar in the 13th century, stating ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ الصباح singular, not plural.
This is Mk 16:2 translation to Arabic by Ibn El Assal who wrote Coptic grammar books in the 13th century he uses a singular form of translation of ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ سحر
Mk 13:35 ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ بالغداة as a singular as translated by Ibn El-Assal in the 13th century
Arabic translation of the Psalm
إِذَا ذَكَرْتُكَ عَلَى فِرَاشِي، فِي السُّهْدِ أَلْهَجُ بِكَ، This is probably a more accurate translation where ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ is translated as a singular السهد Anyway, Arabic is not really an appropriate measure of a text that was written centuries before this translation
la matinée ⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ vs. le matin ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ : Alexis Mallon differentiates both words in this manner
The word le matin is used to refer to the specific time of the day, La matinée in French refers to the morning as a duration of time or the course of the morning
Duration of time vs. Point in time
It’s an interesting distinction we don’t have a word for in English, but for “the whole morning”, course of the morning and similar.
This is why one can find ⲙ̀ⲫⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ, ⲙ̀ⲫⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̀ϩⲁⲛⲁⲣⲟⲩϩⲓ, ϩⲁⲛⲁⲙⲉⲣⲓ as there is no word called ⲁⲙⲉⲣⲓ. It seems that ϩⲁ.ⲛⲁ as prefixes are added to certain times of the day.
Modern dictionaries
ⲡⲓⲗⲉⲝⲓⲕⲟⲛ ⲛ̀ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲕⲗⲁⲩⲇⲓⲟⲥ ⲗⲁⲃⲓⲃ 1611 AM p. 58 ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ is translated as singular not plural
Grammatical explanation
In Middle Egyptian, no articles were needed. In Late Egyptian, almost all words got articles
But for a small number of 'high value words' like titles which stayed without the article
This confused people in early Coptic times and they thought the p in pr-aA was the article - it had to be. I think the same happened with ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ - it has to have an article, so it got rebracketed as ϩⲁⲛ-ⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ. Just like ⲡ-ⲟⲩⲣⲟ
I started pondering why the writer of BnF Copte 50 assumed so, and why Labib concluded that ⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ could be a word. I started scanning for patterns, and in the Coptic lexicon, I came across 5 words where ϩⲁⲛ seems to be part of the word, rather than a prefix. So, if the majority of words starting with ϩⲁⲛ— are actually a plural word with an indefinite article, it would be understandable why ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ would be prone to misparsing.
These are the only words that I found that start with ϩⲁⲛ as part of the root of the word.
ϩⲁⲛⲧⲟⲟⲩ refers to a chain of mountains ϩⲁⲛ—/ⲁⲛ— it's still a plural prefix with a different shade of meaning: ϩⲁⲛϫ, ϩⲁⲛⲕⲗⲉϥ, ϩⲁⲛⲧⲟⲩⲥ, ϩⲁⲛⲣⲟ, ϩⲁⲛⲁⲅⲛⲱⲥⲧⲏⲥ
Comparison to other counterparts
Tracing back where ⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ emerged and there's no evidence to its existence before Labib. In his dictionary he refers to it as morning and gives the example of ⲡⲓⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ Though the translation was singular My guess is that he thought ϩⲁⲛ in ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ must have been a plural indefinite article ϩⲁⲛ—
This was copied with the same example in AbdelNour's dictionary without stating that this was only in Labib. Comparing it to ϩⲁⲛⲁⲙⲉⲣⲓ, ϩⲁⲛⲁⲣⲟⲩϩⲓ where there are no known words starting with alpha for ⲙⲉⲣⲓ, ⲣⲟⲩϩⲓ it seems like a construct. Biblical examples describe a specific event in a specific time that happened only once eg Resurrection, Lot's wife etc.
Conclusion
to conclude, Ibn El Assal, translated ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ السحر as singular, and Ibn Kabar translated it as singular الصباح , both on the 13th century, and both seem to be competent in both Arabic and Coptic. Greek translation almost invariably is written as το πρωί a singular morning. Sahidic translates it ⲛ̀ϣⲱⲣⲡ Other Arabic translations, including BnF Copte 50 (1636 CE) الغداه . Other translations of the Bible translate it as السهد، السحر There's evidence from Steindorf (1914) showing the etymology of ϩⲁ.ⲛⲁ.ⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ Mallon (1907) translates it as le Matin, Crum (1939) confers, textual analysis shows that it refers to a singular specific time eg Mk 16:2 etc. referring to a singular event, ⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ is not a real word, it has never been attested in any text or any scholarly dictionary eg Crum or Cerny. Thus, the initial assumption that it refers to plural mornings represents misparsing. Whether ϩⲁⲛⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ refers to hours, this entails the existence of ⲁⲧⲟⲟⲩⲓ to mean an hour of the morning which also does not exist. As well the Arabic translation وقت الغدوات الغدوات in Arabic is plural which refers to the time between dawn and sunrise. تعريف و معنى غدوات في معجم المعاني الجامع - معجم عربي عربي غَداة: (اسم) الجمع : غَدَوات الغَدَاةُ : ما بين الفجر وطلوع الشمس Actually, الغدوات means mornings, not hours of the morning I conclude that the Arabic translation in this version which does not match other versions is inaccurate and that the translation is OK in BnF Copte 50 but the interpretation represents misparsing.
