A Concise Coptic-English Lexicon, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

Richard Smith (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature; 2 edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884140393
• ISBN-13: 978-0884140399
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very serviceable glossary, January 3, 2007

By 

Paul Stevenson "Linguist" (Duhok, Iraq) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Concise Coptic-English Lexicon, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

Richard Smith did the world of Coptic studies a great service when he compiled his short lexicon. It has every word you are likely to encounter in an introductory Coptic course and it is MUCH easier to use than W. E. Crum's enormous tome (A Coptic Dictionary - but every serious Coptic student must have this in any case). Smith has a number of cross-references for irregular forms that Crum lacks. Thomas Lambdin's textbook (Introduction to Sahidic Coptic) has by far the best listing of irregular forms, but Smith is useful enough for most purposes. I have only felt it necessary to write two irregular forms in my own copy: (1) Osh (omicron shai) is a variant of ashai (alpha shai alpha iota-with-trema), and (2) Tenou (tau epsilon nu omicron upsilon) 'now' (see ounou). These are forms that you cannot readily locate by just looking for the usual triconsonantal root.

One defect shared by both Smith and Crum is that they scrupulously avoid listing any Greek loans, of which Coptic has many, regardless of whether the Greek word is used in Coptic as in Classical or Koine. A case that came up during my introductory course in the fall was "helleen" (hori epsilon lambda lambda eta nu). One might suppose that this meant 'Hellene', i.e., 'Greek'. However, in the context in which it occurred and in Coptic generally, according to my professor, the meaning is actually 'pagan', i.e., non-Christian. You can find this meaning in the glossary of Coptic Greek at the end of Bentley Layton's magnificent reference grammar (A Coptic Grammar with Chrestomathy and Glossary: Sahidic Dialect). Lambdin also has a brief glossary of Coptic Greek, though like Layton's, the vocabulary only covers the passages in his chrestomathy.

So far, the best aid I am aware of for this gap in Coptic lexicography is Hans Forster's Coptic-German (Worterbuch Der Griechischen Worter in Den Koptischen Dokumentarischen Texten (Dictionary of the Greek Words in the Coptic Documentary Texts); Amazon has the best price I can find in the U.S., but at nearly $300, it is a work that most students will only consult in a library). This does a very thorough job of giving the variant spellings and the meanings of a vast quantity of Greek words, though it only covers documentary texts (commercial and administrative documents) and not literary documents (such as Scripture and theological writings).

After this, you have to go to Liddell & Scott's tome (A Greek-English Lexicon, Ninth Edition with a Revised Supplement) and hope you can glean the intended sense from the sometimes lengthy list of senses given. A difficult case in point came up with the word "schema" (sigma chi eta mu alpha). It happens that a very frequent meaning found in Coptic is 'monk's habit'. You can find this in Lambdin, but in Liddell & Scott you have to look down a long list of meanings, and even then the closest you will come is 4. b. "dress, equipment".

In conclusion, if you plan to study Sahidic Coptic, be sure to get this little volume. You may be able to wait to consult Crum in a library, but you will definitely want Smith at home, in your backpack and at your desk in class.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A handy, practical Coptic resource, April 3, 2008

By 

S. Landers (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Concise Coptic-English Lexicon, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I have found this Coptic dictionary to be very useful in many ways. It is handy, practical, and reasonably thorough for its size. And easier on the eyes than Crum's thanks to a more modern typeface.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very useful tool, August 9, 2007

By 

Judy (Lavington, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Concise Coptic-English Lexicon, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

As the other reviewers have said, this is no replacement for Crum's Coptic Dictionary, but it has a number of great features, one being that you can carry it with you wherever you go. I like the fact that it uses the same style of Coptic font that modern Sahidic Coptic texts use. I also like the fact that, unlike Lambdin's grammar, it uses Coptic alphabetical order, which often makes finding words easier. It also apparently includes words that are not found in Crum because they only came to light in the Nag Hammadi library, which wasn't found until after the last edition of Crum was printed. I say "apparently" because I haven't yet found any such words, but I haven't gone looking, either. It's certainly adequate for the beginner Coptic student and useful for the scholar who is simply trying to get the gist of a piece of Coptic. Crum is obviously better for finer nuances. Definitely worth the money.