Coptic Alphabet

A visual guide to the Coptic alphabet. Each letter is presented with its form, name, and pronunciation to support both recognition and learning.

32 entries: the first 25 come from Greek, the last 7 from Demotic, an older Egyptian script.

• 01Alphaa as in fatherHistorical: like a in fatherFrom Greek
• 02Veetav; b at the end of a word or before a consonantHistorical: originally b but nowadays pronounced vFrom Greek
• 03Gammag as in go; gh or n depending on the next letterHistorical: hard g as in goFrom Greek
• 04Deltath as in the; d in namesHistorical: dFrom Greek
• 05Eie as in tenHistorical: short e, as in letFrom Greek
• 06soonot a letter — the number 6A number, not a letter
• 07Zeetaz as in zebraHistorical: zFrom Greek
• 08Eetaee as in deepHistorical: probably like a in hateFrom Greek
• 09Theetath as in think; t before ϣ, ⲧ, ⲙ or ⲥHistorical: th as in thinFrom Greek
• 10Iotai; y at the start of a word (ⲓⲱⲧ yoat)Historical: like i in machineFrom Greek
• 11Kappak as in skinHistorical: kFrom Greek
• 12LavlalHistorical: lFrom Greek
• 13MeimHistorical: mFrom Greek
• 14NeinHistorical: nFrom Greek
• 15Ekseex (k + s)Historical: a combination of k and s, rare in CopticFrom Greek
• 16Oo as in shopHistorical: short o, as in dogFrom Greek
• 17Peep as in spinHistorical: pFrom Greek
• 18Ror as in roadHistorical: rFrom Greek
• 19Seemas as in seeHistorical: s as in seeFrom Greek
• 20Tavt as in stopHistorical: tFrom Greek
• 21Epsilonv after ⲁ or ⲉ; i in Greek words; with ⲟ, oo as in foodHistorical: appears with other vowels, such as ⲟⲩ, like oo of foodFrom Greek
• 22Feif, like ph in telephoneHistorical: combination of p and hFrom Greek
• 23Keik; sh or kh in Greek wordsHistorical: combination of k and hFrom Greek
• 24Epseeps (p + s)Historical: combination of p and sFrom Greek
• 25OOo as in boatHistorical: long o, like o in hopeFrom Greek
• 26Shaysh as in shipHistorical: sh as in shallFrom Demotic
• 27FayfHistorical: fFrom Demotic
• 28Khaykh, like ch in lochHistorical: like ch in Scottish loch; Arabic kha خFrom Demotic
• 29Horih as in hopeHistorical: emphatic h; Arabic ha حFrom Demotic
• 30Gangag as in good; j as in judge before e, i, eeHistorical: j as in judgeFrom Demotic
• 31Chimach as in churchHistorical: ch as in churchFrom Demotic
• 32Titee (t + i)Historical: the normal way to write the sounds t and i togetherFrom Demotic

Sources: Nabil Mattar, A Study in Bohairic Coptic (1990), pp. 6–16 (letters and Bohairic pronunciation). Historical pronunciation: Ahmad Abdel-Hamid Youssef, From Pharaoh’s Lips (2003), pp. 15–17.