Coptic language, anAfro-Asiatic language that was spoken inEgypt from about the 2nd centuryce and that represents the final stage of the ancientEgyptian language. In contrast to earlier stages of Egyptian, which usedhieroglyphic writing,hieratic script, ordemotic script, Coptic was written in theGreek alphabet, supplemented by seven letters borrowed from demotic writing. Coptic also replaced the religious terms and expressions of earlier Egyptian with words borrowed from Greek.

Coptic is usually divided by scholars into sixdialects, four of which were spoken inUpper Egypt and two in Lower Egypt; these differ from one another chiefly in their sound systems. TheFayyūmicdialect of Upper Egypt, spoken along theNile River valley chiefly on the west bank, survived until the 8th century.Asyūṭic, or Sub-Akhmīmic, spoken aroundAsyūṭ, flourished in the 4th century. In it are preserved a text of theGospel According to John and of theActs of the Apostles, as well as a number ofGnostic documents.Akhmīmic was spoken in and around the Upper Egyptian city ofAkhmīm.Sahidic (from Arabic, aṣ-Ṣaʿīd [Upper Egypt]) was originally thedialect spoken around Thebes; after the 5th century it was the standard Coptic of all of Upper Egypt. It is one of the best-documented and well-known dialects.

The dialects ofLower Egypt wereBashmūric, about which little is known (only a few glosses in the dialect are extant), andBohairic (from Arabic, al-Buḥayrah), originally spoken in the western part of Lower Egypt including the cities of Alexandria andMemphis. Bohairic has been used for religious purposes since the 11th century by all Coptic Christians. The latest Coptic texts date from the 14th century.

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