The pronunciation of the Coptic language in the liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria according to the Greco-Bohairic and Old Bohairic pronunciation standards is investigated, together with the sociolinguistic narratives constructed by two Coptic communities surrounding the use of either standard. Field recordings of the liturgy as recited according to both standards are analyzed in order to describe the phonology of the standards, and interviews with users of both standards are analyzed in order to describe the language attitudes of the users of the language. Points of similarity and difference between the narratives constructed by users of the Greco-Bohairic and the Old Bohairic standards are investigated, and the relevance and application of this data to the question of Coptic language revival is explored.
","abstract_html":"<p>The pronunciation of the Coptic language in the liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria according to the Greco-Bohairic and Old Bohairic pronunciation standards is investigated, together with the sociolinguistic narratives constructed by two Coptic communities surrounding the use of either standard. Field recordings of the liturgy as recited according to both standards are analyzed in order to describe the phonology of the standards, and interviews with users of both standards are analyzed in order to describe the language attitudes of the users of the language. Points of similarity and difference between the narratives constructed by users of the Greco-Bohairic and the Old Bohairic standards are investigated, and the relevance and application of this data to the question of Coptic language revival is explored.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Toomey, Jeremy"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Linguistics","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Department of Linguistics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Koops, Chris","Jacobson, Holly","Shin, Naomi"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:25:53Z","subjects":["Linguistics","Sociolinguistics","Coptic","Bohairic","Linguistic authenticity","Language revitalization"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/36","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Koops, Chris","Jacobson, Holly","Shin, Naomi"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Toomey, Jeremy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Linguistics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis","Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Linguistics"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Linguistics","Sociolinguistics","Coptic","Bohairic","Linguistic authenticity","Language revitalization"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/36"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The pronunciation of the Coptic language in the liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria according to the Greco-Bohairic and Old Bohairic pronunciation standards is investigated, together with the sociolinguistic narratives constructed by two Coptic communities surrounding the use of either standard. Field recordings of the liturgy as recited according to both standards are analyzed in order to describe the phonology of the standards, and interviews with users of both standards are analyzed in order to describe the language attitudes of the users of the language. Points of similarity and difference between the narratives constructed by users of the Greco-Bohairic and the Old Bohairic standards are investigated, and the relevance and application of this data to the question of Coptic language revival is explored.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Modern Spoken Coptic and Community Negotiation of Linguistic Authenticity"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Koops, Chris","Jacobson, Holly","Shin, Naomi"],"dc:creator":["Toomey, Jeremy"],"dc:date.available":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The pronunciation of the Coptic language in the liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria according to the Greco-Bohairic and Old Bohairic pronunciation standards is investigated, together with the sociolinguistic narratives constructed by two Coptic communities surrounding the use of either standard. Field recordings of the liturgy as recited according to both standards are analyzed in order to describe the phonology of the standards, and interviews with users of both standards are analyzed in order to describe the language attitudes of the users of the language. Points of similarity and difference between the narratives constructed by users of the Greco-Bohairic and the Old Bohairic standards are investigated, and the relevance and application of this data to the question of Coptic language revival is explored.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/36"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Linguistics","Sociolinguistics","Coptic","Bohairic","Linguistic authenticity","Language revitalization"],"dc:title":["Modern Spoken Coptic and Community Negotiation of Linguistic Authenticity"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Linguistics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis","Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Linguistics"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:25:53Z"}