Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics

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Coptic Loanwords
(2,997 words)

1. Coptic substratum

If substratal influence is understood as “imperfect group learning during a process of language shift” (Thomason and Kaufman 1988:38), it has to be dealt with separately from ‘loanwords’ which are simply ‘borrowings’ (Thomason and Kaufman 1988:20ff.). On the phonological level, there is no evidence for Coptic substratal influence. It is true that in all Egyptian Arabic dialects the interdentals have merged with plosives, a phenomenon to be observed on a large geographical s…

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Peter Behnstedt, “Coptic Loanwords”, in: Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Managing Editors Online Edition: Lutz Edzard, Rudolf de Jong. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_COM_0071>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004177024, 20090831



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