Many concepts and inventions have been introduced after the demise of Coptic and it ceasing to be a spoken language, and naturally Coptic has consequently been deficient in words expressing them. In no where is Coptic so deficient as in political vocabulary that encompasses all new socio-political developments since the Middle Ages.
There are no clear words in Coptic, for example, for state, government, democracy, parliament, politics, politicians, political representation, member of parliament, prime minster, president, sovereignty, civil socity, executive, judiciary, legilature, bill of rights, human rights, dignity, liberty, equality, nation, nationalism, socialism, capitalism, constitution, charter, regional autonomy, self-government, independence, liberation, emancipation, journalism, authority, etc.
Some are already there in Coptic but their understanding is either confused or there is no intellectual agreement as to their meaning. Some need to be developed, either through neologisms derived using Coptic roots or acquired from other languages, such as Greek and English.
Whatever the case, a Coptic political lexicon is urgently needed. Its importance does not only reside on modernising Coptic but in its educational value. A Copt who knows what is constitution, constitutionalusn, democracy, dictatorship, liberty, equality and dignity, for example, in his own language will surely be more politically astute and aware.
We shall therefore try in next articles to gradulally build a Coptic political lexicon.
A political lexicon in one’s own language can build a nation more than anything else can do.