DOI Artikel:
Crum, Walter E.: Progress of Egyptology: coptic studies
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11503#0080
68
Progress of Egyptology.
translations. The emendations proposed are, however, for the most part
improvements.
Two more works have appeared from the pen of Professor Labib of
the Clerical College at Cairo, whose Ccptic-Arabic Grammar — now, we
are glad to see, in its second edition—was spoken of in the Eeport for
1894-95. The first of the new works is a small eh mentary ''Reading
Book " (as it is called in English on the cover),16 which consists of tables
of syllables and words, phrases giving employment to verbs, tables and
exercises on the numerals (where it may be noticed that Senhfir is not
rightly represented by Siounhor), passages, such as the Lord's Prayer,
for learning by heart, dialogues in a quite Ollendorfian style, and, finally,
"European" (i.e. French) phrases transcribed into Arabic letters with
Coptic translations. The Coptic equivalents in this last section are for
the most part sufficiently arbitrary, and we doubt whether the object at
which the writer presumably aims—the revival of a colloquial Coptic
—can be attained, or indeed is to be desired. A movement in that
direction seems curiously at variance with the tendencies expressed by the
writer of the excellent article—we believe him to be M. Simaika—on the
actual aims of enlightened Copts of to-day in the Contemporary.*1
Professor Labib's other work is the first volume of a Coptic-Arabic
Dictionary, extending to the letter K.n There is, says the author, no
dictionary available for native students, the Sullum of Ibn 'As-al never
having been printed (except indeed by Kirclier), and the present work is
therefore a natural sequel to the author's Grammar. Its composition has
been slow and the book appears to be exhaustive. Indeed the number
of words it contains is one of its demerits; for beyond the material
offered by older works—including for instance the lists collected by
Goodwin, which the author accepts without question, though sometimes
suggesting different etymologies, &c.—Professor Labib has included a
large number of Greek words, gathered apparently from the Sullams, i.e.
ultimately from the Bible and liturgical books, though he does not seem
always to be aware of their foreign origin (e.g. herzelia is given as Sa'idic,
kasouli as Bohairic). The every-day use of the ecclesiastical books is, no
doubt, an excuse for such a system in a work designed for the Egyptian
public at large. All the dialects, even the Achmimic, are represented.
The words are arranged in the European fashion, the sequence of the
internal vowels being regarded as well as that of the consonants.
Of the numerous Coptic tombstones scattered throughout the museums
no comprehensive publication yet exists. MM. Uevillout and Bouriant
have edited a good number, and M. B. Turaef has recently added an
Progress of Egyptology.
translations. The emendations proposed are, however, for the most part
improvements.
Two more works have appeared from the pen of Professor Labib of
the Clerical College at Cairo, whose Ccptic-Arabic Grammar — now, we
are glad to see, in its second edition—was spoken of in the Eeport for
1894-95. The first of the new works is a small eh mentary ''Reading
Book " (as it is called in English on the cover),16 which consists of tables
of syllables and words, phrases giving employment to verbs, tables and
exercises on the numerals (where it may be noticed that Senhfir is not
rightly represented by Siounhor), passages, such as the Lord's Prayer,
for learning by heart, dialogues in a quite Ollendorfian style, and, finally,
"European" (i.e. French) phrases transcribed into Arabic letters with
Coptic translations. The Coptic equivalents in this last section are for
the most part sufficiently arbitrary, and we doubt whether the object at
which the writer presumably aims—the revival of a colloquial Coptic
—can be attained, or indeed is to be desired. A movement in that
direction seems curiously at variance with the tendencies expressed by the
writer of the excellent article—we believe him to be M. Simaika—on the
actual aims of enlightened Copts of to-day in the Contemporary.*1
Professor Labib's other work is the first volume of a Coptic-Arabic
Dictionary, extending to the letter K.n There is, says the author, no
dictionary available for native students, the Sullum of Ibn 'As-al never
having been printed (except indeed by Kirclier), and the present work is
therefore a natural sequel to the author's Grammar. Its composition has
been slow and the book appears to be exhaustive. Indeed the number
of words it contains is one of its demerits; for beyond the material
offered by older works—including for instance the lists collected by
Goodwin, which the author accepts without question, though sometimes
suggesting different etymologies, &c.—Professor Labib has included a
large number of Greek words, gathered apparently from the Sullams, i.e.
ultimately from the Bible and liturgical books, though he does not seem
always to be aware of their foreign origin (e.g. herzelia is given as Sa'idic,
kasouli as Bohairic). The every-day use of the ecclesiastical books is, no
doubt, an excuse for such a system in a work designed for the Egyptian
public at large. All the dialects, even the Achmimic, are represented.
The words are arranged in the European fashion, the sequence of the
internal vowels being regarded as well as that of the consonants.
Of the numerous Coptic tombstones scattered throughout the museums
no comprehensive publication yet exists. MM. Uevillout and Bouriant
have edited a good number, and M. B. Turaef has recently added an