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In the article "Two Coptic grammatical morphemes of unknown origin" Carsten Peust discusses the etymology of two Coptic morphemes whose origin has remained unclear until today. These are the n-prefix of the so-called adjective verbs and the particle ⲡⲉ, which often accompanies the preterite converter. It is suggested that both have arisen through a false segmentation of contexts in which their predecessors typically occurred. The use of these morphemes is a distinguishing criterion between Demotic and Neo-Egyptian Egyptian. [Extracted from the article]

Unlike the principal Coptic dialects Sahidic and Bohairic, in which the two verbs for "to sit" and "to stand" possess just a single form each, the Southern Coptic dialects (Akhmimic, Lycopolitan, dialect P) have preserved a formal distinction between the infinitive and the stative in both verbs. This information remains hidden in a few text editions, is not widely known and not reflected in current handbooks. The present paper traces the original morphological distinction for both verbs in the major textual witnesses of the South, as well as the progressive morphological collapse that lead to the uniform shapes of these verbs in the dominant dialects. Finally, an etymology is suggested for the puzzling Sahidic standard form ϩⲙⲟⲟⲥ "to sit". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]