(CE:A19a-A27b)AKHMIMIC. The Akhmimic dialect (siglum A), along with the

Sahidic (S) and the various vernaculars of the Lycopolitan dialectgroup (L), is one of the Upper Egyptian DIALECTS of Coptic. Itsrange of distribution extends from Aswan to Akhmim (Coptic sminor ,min; Arabic, ’A mîm; Greek, Panos or Panopolis). Thebes isconsidered the point of origin as well as the center of the Akhmimic-speaking region (Kahle, 1954, pp. 197-203; Vergote, 1973, Vol 1a,p.4). However, according to the former view of Kasser (1982a), theproto-Sahidic dialect (a reconstructed entity, symbol *pS, very likeDIALECT P) also began to develop in Thebes after havinginfiltrated from the north as early as the second half of the thirdcentury A.D. As a result, in the fourth century A and S were inconcurrent use in the Upper Thebaid. While Akhmimic had notbeen uniformly standardized, it became a medium of writing as earlyas the fourth century and reached its zenith in the fourth and fifthcenturies. Beginning in the fifth century, it was gradually displacedby the Upper Egyptian koine (S), although for its part A (besides L?)both influenced S—as seen in the Nag Hammadi texts andShenute—in the fourth and fifth centuries and left traces innonliterary texts from Thebes dating from the seventh and eighthcenturies. These observations imply that even after being displacedby S, A was still in use as a spoken language.

1. General Characteristics

The dialectical features typical of A may be sumarized incontradistinction to S (if necessary also to P; cf. Kasser, 1960) andto the group of dialects included under L (i.e., L4 = Manichaeantexts; L5 = London Gospel of John, ed. Thompson, 1924, as well asthe Dublin fragment of the Gospel of John and the Geneva fragmentof the Acta Pauli, the latter two being unpublished; L6 = NagHammadi texts of codices I, X, and XI, as well as the HeidelbergActa Pauli, ed. Carl Schmidt, 1904, 1909).

The textual citation below refer to editions and studies of thedocuments noted in the bibliography as follows: APocSoph =

Steindorff, 1899; I Clem. = Schmidt, 1908; I Clem.(R) = Rösch,1910 (pp. 1-87); Elias = Steindorff, 1899; EpAp. = Schmidt, 1919;Ex. = Lacau. 1911 (pp. 45-64); Herm. = Lefort, 1952 (pp. 1-18); Jn.= Rösch, 1910 (pp. 119-60); MinProph. (Minor Prophets) = Till1927b (for Obadiah 1-13; Amos 1:1-2:11; 6:3-10; 7:10-16;Habakkuk 1:7-2:2, 2:11-3:19; Haggai; Hosea; Joel 1:1-14, 2:19-3:21; Jonah 4:2-11; Malachi 1:1-7, 2:9-3:24; Micah 2:11-5:8, 6:1-7:20; Nahum 1:1-3:8, 3:14-19; Zephaniah; Zechariah 1:6-4:5, 7:14-14:21); MinProph (Minor Prophets) = Malinine, 1950 (for Obadiah13:21; Amos 8:11-9:15; Habakkuk 1:1-7, 2:2-17 (sic); Joel 1:14-2:19; Jonah 1:1-4:2; Micah 1:1-2:11, 5:8-6:1; Nahum 3:8-14;Zechariah 1:1-6, 4:6-7:14); Luke = Lefort, 1953; Ost. = Till 1931(text A); Prv.=Böhlig, 1958; Sir. = Lacau, 1911 (pp.64-67); P(Papyrus Bodmer VI) = Kasser, 1960.

1.1 Grapheme Inventory. Beyond S and L, A ads thealphabetic symbol |, the postpalatal spirant /x/ (or h, [x2]from the Egyptian or h); in P, the symbol for this is q.

1.2 Phonetic Characteristics.1.2.1. A, L /a/, S /o/ in a closed stressed syllable before a

nonlaryngeal sound, e.g., A, L can, S con, brother.1.2.2. A, L /e/, S /a/ in a closed stressed syllable, e.g., A, L ren; S

ran, name.1.2.3. A /I:/; S /e/ before a laryngeal in the medial and final

position, e.g., A mieise, mise, S m//se, L m/se, crowd; Aouieibe, S, L ou//b, priest; A ri, S, L r/, sun; A ou|i, S, Lous/, night.

1.2.4. A, (L5) /u:/, S, L /o:/ in a long final position or before alaryngeal, e.g., A, (L5) kou, S, L4, (L5) kw, L6 kwe, to place

(<Egyptian ); A, (L5) [ou, S, L4 (L5) [w, to remain(<demotic g3, g‘ < gr); A prou, S, L4, L5 prw, winter; A, (L5), L6jou; S, L4, L5 jw, to say.

1.2.5. */ew/ in stressed final syllables: A /o/, L /eu/, S /au/, e.g.,A, L4 (ManiH=Manichaean Homilies) no, L neu, S nau, to see; A,

L4 (ManiH) etmmo, L etmmeu, S etmmau, that (literally,which is there).

1.2.6.1. Typical of certain A texts (but not orthographicallystandardized throughout in A), insertion of a nasal bfore /t/ following/u:/ in open stressed syllables: A in I Clem. Herm., Prov. (minority),Jn. (minority) mounte, S, L, etc., and elsewher in A moute, tocall; A in I Clem., Herm., Prov. (majority) nounte, S, L, etc., andelsewhere in A noute, God.

1.2.6.2. In contrast, the inserted nasal (sonant) is missing in A,L4, L5 (L6 oscillating) in the posttonic syllable: /mt/, A |amt, L4,L5 samt, L6 samnt, S somnt, three; A, L4, L5 hamt, L6hamnt, S homnt, copper; A, L4, L6 camt†, S comnt†, to bestretched.

1.2.7. Anaptyctic vowel [ ] as well as /e/ is written as e at theend of a word following a closed syllable of the pattern /voicelessconsonant + voiced consonant or son(or)ant/, by which A and L4form a group distinct from L5, L6, e.g., A, L4 cwtme, S, (L4), L5,L6 cwtm, to hear; A, L4 tahme†, S tahm†, to be invited(versus S, A, L tahme, to invite you [f.]), A |tartre, Lstartr, S stortr, to be amazed. Naturally, te consonant canalso be /’/, e.g., A ouaabe†, L4 ouabe †, S, L5, L6 ouaab †, tobe holy (<w‘b). Note that while the representation in spelling of theanaptyctic vowel e in the configuration /consonant + son(or)ant/—not /laryngeal + son(or)ant/—is not standardized in L4, the spellingwith e predominates by far. Consistent spelling occurs only incaune, to know (also P cooune). The anaptyctic vowel noted hereby / / is phonemically relevant according to Hintze (1980).

1.3 Morphological Features.1.3.1. Second present tense in A, B(!) af-, S, L ef- (in

affirmative sentences, it is homophonic with the circumstantialverbal prefix).

1.3.2. Imperfect: A B(!) naf- (pe), S, L nef- (pe).1.3.3. Second perfect: A naf-, S, L ntaf.

1.3.4. In the “etah group” (see 3.2.1.1), the relative morphemeof the perfect remains invariably etah- if the subject of therelative clause is identical to the antecedent in the main clause.

1.3.5. Homophony exists between the subject pronoun of theconjunctive tense and that of the first present, except the form of thefirst-person singular: first present S, A, L ]-; conjunctive A ta-, S,L (n)ta-.

1.3.6. Causative prefix A te-, S, L5, L6 tre- (in L4 the prefixis not standardized, te- occurring alongside tre-).

1.3.7. The qualitative form t- causative verbs in A almostentirely ends in -aeit.

1.3.8. The negation of the nominal sentence and the bipartiteconjugation pattern in A is realized without n, i.e., only with en (S n... an): A (L) efcwtme en, S enfcwtm an, while he doesnot hear; A etcwtme en, S ete nfcwtm an, who does nothear.

1.3.9. Definite article in A, including those preceding doubleconsonants and expressions of time, are p-, t-, n- and (without e).

1.3.10. The second-person feminine singular possessive articlesin A, B are pe-, te-, ne-, S pou-, tou-, nou-.

1.3.11. The third-person plural possessive articles in A, B arepou-, tou-, nou-, S peu-, teu-, neu-.

1.4 Lexical Features (Akhmimic Isoglosses).1.4.1. Significant function words:1.4.1.1. A aou, S, L auw, and..4.1.2. Directional preposition to or toward (<Egyptian r) A, L

a-, S e-, including the adverbs containing the formative a/e, A, Labal, P abol, S ebol, out of; A a|oun, L ahoun, Paqoun, S ehoun, B eqoun, into.

1.4.1.3. Negative imperative A mn-, S (L) mpr.1.4.1.4. Lexical and functional distinction between conditional

particles formed from -pe and -je: A ei|pe, |pe, if (in the sense“supposing if it true that”) is to be differentiated from ei|je, |je,if (in the sense “as if it were”), the equivalent of esje in S. This

distinction is found only in L6 of those texts belonging to the Lgroup: eispe as opposed to eisje (Funk, 1985).

1.4.2. A number of nominal and verbal lexemes specific for A(cf. Till, 1928,pp. 276-78; Kasser, 1979a). While the vocabulary ofAkhmimic has been treated throughout in Crum (1939), Kasser(1964), Westendorf (1977), a fully documented lexicon ofAkhmimic has not yet been compiled.

1.5 Syntactic Features.1.5.1. Connecting objects.1.5.1.1. Nonreduction of the stressed vowel of the infinitive

occurs also when the object is attached directly to it. In such cases,the infinitive retains the form of the status absolutus. In the bipartiteconjugation pattern this construction is possible only with objectsnot modified by a determinative (Shisha-Halevy, 1976).

1.5.1.2. There is a tendency toward placing a pronominalindirect object (dative) before the direct object (accusative) withoutan accusative particle, in the case of ], to give; kto, to bring back;and jpo, to bring forth, which then take the respective forms tene= accusative, kte ne= accusative, and jpe ne= accusative.

1.5.2. As in L, the affirmative final clause following je is almostalways the second future (S third future, or futurum energicum).

As is apparent in sections 1-5 above, not all of the describedfeatures are exclusively characteristic of A. Further, it is the totality(or, if not all features appear in a given text, the combination ofsufficient individual features within a text) that assigns a documentto the Akhmimic dialect.

The following sections will include a discussion of the phonemicinventory (2) and the conjugation system (3) of A, out of which thecriteria for group classification (4) of Akhmimic texts will bederived. At the end (5), problems associated with a number of textstraditionally assigned to A will be treated.

2. The Phonemic Inventory of Akhmimic

As is traditional, consonants and vowels will be treatedseparately in this inventory.

2.1 Consonants2.1.1. Consonantal phonemes and graphemes are shown in Table

1. The eighteen consonantal phonemes of A correspond to seventeengraphemes. The laryngeal stop /’/ does not have its own sign but isexpressed, or may be recognized, by the following:

graphic vowel doubling (or “breaking” of vowels) (e.g., kaa=f,to place him)

syllabic structure /voiceless consonant + voiced consonant + /(cf. 1.2.7: ouaabe†, ouabe†, i.e., /wa’b( )/)

vowel narrowing / / > /i:/ (r/, ri; cf. 1.2.3), / / > /u:/ (kw, kou;cf. 1.2.4)

the postconsonantal first person singular suffix pronoun(kaa=t, to place me, i.e., /ka’t/)

The phonetic articulation of / / b is disputed; Vergote assigns itto the bilabial category, but see his Grammaire copte (1973, Vol 1a,sec. 28).g And d appear only in Greek loanwords. The replacement of k

by g in the unstressed syllable ng (e.g., S mounk, moung, to form)is foreign to A. Except in Greek loanwords, z is not represented inA, since anz/be (or variously anc/be), school, is not attested inAkhmimic.v, y, and , are, as in S and L, monographic characters of the

phoneme combinations /p + h/, /t + h/, and /k + h/. Only in Bohairicdo aspirants corresponding to /p/, /t/, /k/ occur. The symbols ' andx represent the phonemic combination /p+ s/ and /k + s/, e.g. 'ic,nine, and texe (S ta[ce, takce), footprint. The graphemes (o)uand (e)i also serve to indicate those vowels, [u:] and [i:], which arehomorganic with the voiced spirants.

Note that in causative verbs such as jpio, to cause to beashamed (< dj- pj), j may be interpreted in A as biphonemic /t +

/; compare S, L jpo, A t|po, P t po, to bring forth(< dj- pr).

TABLE 1. Consonants of AkhmimicBILABIAL LABIO-

DENTALDENTAL PRE-PALATAL POST-

PALATALLARYNGEAL

Voiceless stops /p/p /t/ t / /,/c/j,[ /k/ k /’/ e.g.,aaVoicelessspirants

/f/ f /s/ c / / s /x/ | /h/ h

Voiced spirants /w/ (o)u / / b /j/ (e)iNasals /m/ m /n/ nLateral/vibrants

/l/l,/r/r

BASED ON: Vergote, 1973, Vol 1a, pp. 13, 15.

2.1.2. Phonetic alterations of consonants.2.1.2.1. Assimilation: n before p > mp is not standardized, e.g.,

n-p appears side by side with m-p (|n p/ei as well as |m p/ei[not in EpAp.], en pe side by side with em pe [rare, I Clem.]); nbefore m > mm (rare), tmmouh, and we fill (Prov. 13:1); s before

> , cse appears side by side with sse, it is fitting.2.1.2.2. Dissimilation: mm > nm, mma= (status pronominalis of

n-) A (standard) versus nma= (EpAp.); mp > np: npe (negativefirst perfect) A (standard) versus npe (EpAp.)

2.1.2.3. Partial depalatalization: k’ /c/ before s > ks, S, L nou[c,A noukc, to be wroth; S fo[c, A fakc, leap; S to[c, A ta[c,seat.

2.1.2.4 Metathesis: pwhc side by side with pwch, to bite; w|cside by side with wc|, to reap.

2.2 Vowels.2.2.1 The vocalic phoneme inventory. A new and

comprehensive system of Coptic vowel phonemes, especiallymodified for the separate dialects, has been proposed by Vergote(1973, Vol. 1a, sec. 60-65, A sec. 62). According to the phonemicsystem developed by Satzinger (1979),vocalic phonemes appearalways as carriers of the stressed syllable. “All vocalic articulationoutside of the stressed syllable may be explained as consonantalphonemes or as anaptyctic vowels which emerge according tospecific rules” (ibid p. 344). While Satzinger’s system has theadvantage of greater clarity, it ignores morphophonological

connections. The result is that all morphemes that in the co-text donot function as the main stressed syllables remain unconsidered. Thefollowing summary relies on Vergote’s analysis but does not treatall possible phonetic articulations. [ ] as an anaptyctic vowel inclosed syllables, with or without a sonorant, is not considered aphoneme (otherwise Hintze, 1980; cf. 1.2.7).

2.2.1.1. Short vowels:/a/ a: bate, abomination; can, brother. Articulated before

laryngeals and in stressed final position as [ ] (o), as in |o,thousand; teko, to destroy; |oop†, to be; ooh, moon; butouaabe†, to be holy.

/e/ e: pese, half; ren, name. Articulated as [ ] before asonorant concluding a syllable or before continuant, as in blje,shard, pottery; cbbe, to circumcise; tcto, to bring back.

/ / e: in unstressed initial, medial, and final sounds, but not asan anaptyctic vowel: eau, glory; [ec/[, rwme, man, as opposedto |wtbe /x t ( )/, to kill; tahme† /tahm /, to call you (fem.Sing), as opposed to tahme† /tah ( )/ to be invited.

2.2.1.2. Long vowels:/ / i, ei: eine, to bring; mice, to bear; ji, to receive./ / /: k/me, Egypt; b/k†, going; n/tne, to you (pl.); /rp,

wine. Articulated before laryngeals and at the ends of words as [i:]:mie, truth; ou|i, night; /h p/ h/p†, to be hidden, as opposed to/k ’/ kei†, to be laid.

Note that according to Vergote, / [ :] is an allophone of [i:]before and after sonorants ([er/[, n/tne).

/ / w: kwt, to build; pwt, to run; rwkh, to burn; thereto theallophone [u:] (ou) after /m/ and /n/ before laryngeals and whenfinal, as in mou(n)te, to call; nou(n)te, God; kou, to place;prou, winter; but mmwtne.

/ / ou: |oun, interior; coure, thorn; tounoueiet=(abal), to reveal (this last is different in Vergote, 1973, Vol. 1a,sec. 56).

2.2.1.3. Contraction vowel:/ew/ o, w only in final sounds after /m/ and /n/: mo, mw

mother; no, to see; mmo, there. The written variations mo, mw donot indicate the neutralization of a supposed opposition *o versus ,since in the A vocalic system [o] does not appear as a phoneme, butexists only as an allophone of /a/.

Note that w for o occurs occasionally as the final sound /-a’/ ofthe causative verb tasw, to increase (I Clem. 59:3, p. 77,9; Elias33:9).

2.2.2. Vocalic opposition dependent upon syllabic structure(long-short opposition).

/ /, /a/: /k t/ kwt, to build, /katf/ katf, to build it (masc.)./p rx/ pwr|, to spread out, /parxf/ par|ef, to spread it (masc.)out. /m nk/ mounk, to form, /mankf/ mankef, to form it (masc.)./m r/ mour, to bind, /marf/ marf, to bind it (masc.). Beforelaryngeals: /x p / |wpe, to become. /xo’p/ |oop†, to be.

Note that in the status nominalis, /a/ before a sonorant is reducedto [ ]: mr, to bind someone/something: pr|-, to spread outsomeone/something.

/ /, /a/: /nh t=/ nhout=, to trust, /nhat/ nhat†, trusting(there are no further examples).

/ /, /e/: /n t ( )/ n/tne, to you (pl.), /nek/ nek, to you (sing.masc.). /c r c/ [er/[, hunter, /c rec / [ere[e, hunters.

/ /, /e/: /m rit/ , beloved (one), /m ret / merete, belovedones). /m s / mice, to bear, /mestf/ mectf, to bear him. Before asonorant, / / disappears and the sonorant becomes sonant andsyllabic: /c n / [ine, to find, /c t f/ [ntef, to find him.

Vocalic opposition is summarized in Table 2.

(CE:A22)

3. The Conjugation System

The summary of the system is based on Polotsky (1960) andFunk (1981). Except in special instances (e.g. conjunctive), theform cited here is only the third-person masucline singular and thecorresponding prenominal form (nom. = before nominal subject).The entire paradigm is not attested in all conjugations.

Unless specifically mentioned, the form is affirmative (neg. =negative). Every basic tense (abbreviated hereafter to “basic”) isfollowed (if attested) by its satellites, after “And”: cir. =circumstantial, rel. = relative, pret. = preterite, II = second tense.Forms between brackets [ . . .] are reconstituted from very similarforms (zero = no verbal prefix, no particle, etc.)

3.1 Bipartite Pattern:3.1.1. Present (basic) f-, nom. zero. And circ. ef-, nom. e- or

ere- (cf Polotsky, 1960, sec. 55); rel. et- or etf- resp., nom.ete- or etere-; pret. naf- . . . (pe; also nef-, Ex. 1:5, byinfluence of S?), nom. na- (Jn. 12,2; na- see also second perfect)or nare . . . (pe); II af- (with je, ja@n/u, I Clem. 48:2), nom.a- or ar- or are- (cf. Polotsky 1960, sec. 55).

3.1.2. Future (basic) fna-, nom. zero . . . na-. And circ.efna-, nom. e- . . . na-; rel. etna- or etfna-, nom. ete-. ..na-; pret. nafna-. . .pe (in the apodosis of the hypothetical form= Irrealis); II afna-, nom. a-. . . na- or are-. . . na- (secondfeminine singular ara-, I Clem. 20:7, cf. Polotsky, 1960, sec. 59;second masculine singular also ekna-, EpAp. 23,4; with je,jafna-, first plural janna-, I Clem. 58:1; second masculinesingular also jekna-, Prv. 5:2; nom. ja. . . na-, Prv. 3:22, but jea-. . . na-, Prv. 3:10; nom. a(re)-. . . na-; cf. Polotsky, 1960,sec. 55).

3.2 Tripartite Pattern.3.2.1 Tenses with special negation (if not II). Independent

(sentence) conjugations.3.2.1.1 Perfect (basic) af- (second feminine singular ar-),

nom. a-; neg. mpf-, nom. mpe- (in EpAp. a dissimilative npf,

nom. npe-). And cir. eaf-, nom. ea-; neg. empf-; rel. etaf-or etah-, nom. eta- (to the etah-group belong EpAp.; Elias;Ex 2:14, :11; I Clem.; Jn.; and Ost.; nevertheless, the inflected formeta= also appears in these texts under identical syntacticconditions; pentaf-, Prv. 18:22 and ntaf-, Elias 22:11, are tobe considered as influenced by S); II naf-, nom. na- (Polotsky[1937 and 1944] is to be credited with the discovery of theAkhmimic second perfect; it is found with a derivative of the seconddegree only in the protasis of the hypothetical form = Irrealis,enaumahe, if they had gone, Prv. 2:20), also eaf- (I Clem. 31:3),[etaf-] (I Clem. 32:3, ne@ [e t/rou etauji eau aouaujice abal hitootou en / hitn nouhb/ouendikaiocun/ etaueue alla hitm pefouw|e, “Nowall of these are glorified and elevated, not through themselves northrough their works of righteousness which they did, but through hiswill”; cf. second perfect of B).

3.2.1.2 Completive (basic) (it is unknown whether the expectedaffirmative substitute *afouou ef- is simply not attested oractually does not exist in A; the passage cited in Crum, 1937, 373b,Hos. 13:2, is not pertinent: au(ou)ou, they perished, is a finite verbform in the first perfect; on the completive as a formal category,affirmative substitute S afouw ef-, has already . . ., neg.mpatf-, has not yet . . ., see Funk, 1981, pp. 191-94); neg.mpatf- (in EpAp. a dissimilative [npatf-], third pluralnpatou-), nom. mpate- (EpAp. [npate-] not attested). Andcirc. neg. empatf-, nom empate-.

3.2.1.3 Aorist (basic) |aref- (second plural) |aretetn-,Hg. 2:16), nom. |are-; neg. maf-, nom. mare- or ma- (cf.Polotsky, 1960, sec. 55). And circ. e|aref-, nom. e|are-; neg.emaf-; rel et|aref-, nom. et|are-; neg. etemaf- (Prv.14:23); pret. #ne|aref-$ third plural ne|arou-; II a|aref-(Elias 38:13), nom. a|are- (Prv. 11:10, 19:14, also e|are-, Prv.19:15 by influence of S?)

3.2.1.4 Futurum energicum (or third future) (basic) afa-, nom.a-; neg. nef- (also enef-, Sir. 22,19), nom. ne-; with je,jafa-, nom. ja-; neg. #jnnef-$ (e.g. third feminine singularjnnec-, Lk. 18:5), nom. jnne- (Elias, I Clem.).

3.2.1.5 Imperative e.g., eno, see! (Ex. 4:13; for imperative withpreformatives, see Till, 1928, sec. 147d); or infinitive; or ma + t-causative (no attestation among t-causative verbs of an imperativeconstructed simply from an infinitive); neg. mn- + infinitive; alsompwr a-, ApocSoph. 10,6. (this form is also common in L4 andL6 [Nag Hammadi]; mpwr hin/b, do not sleep (pl.), A Ost. A10, is highly questionable, probably an erroneous writing of mpwra-).

3.2.1.6 Causative imperative maref-, nom. mare-, absolutemaran (Mi 4:2); neg. mntf-, nom. mnte-.

3.2.2 Tenses with neg. tm(n)-. Subordinate (clause)conjugations.

3.2.2.1 Conjunctive (singular first, second masc./fem., thirdmasc./fem., plural first, second, third) ta-, k-, te-, f- (alsontf-, EpAp. 2,14); c-, tn-, tetn-, ce- (or cou-, EpAp. 6,7),nom. te-.

3.2.2.2. Future conjunctive taref- (second pluraltaretetn-) nom. tare-.

3.2.2.3. Temporal: Group I ntaref-, nom. ntare- (Jn.;Herm.; Prv.; ApocSoph. 11,2; Elias; EpAp. 3,14,19,10); Group IItaref-, nom. tare- (I Clem., x., EpAp., MinProph.).

3.2.2.4. Limitative (“until . . .”) satf- (first singular sa]-),nom. sate- (also sante-, ApocSoph. 18,5).

3.2.2.5. First conditional afsa- (also efsa-, I Clem.;second plural asatetn-, also I Clem., but once esatetn-, IClem. 63:2), nom. asa- (also esa-, I Clem.).

3.2.2.6. Second conditional #af-$ (only second plural atetn-,Zec. 6:15. The conjugation here referred to as second conditional isthat termed “simple” conditional by Funk [1981], p.197], in contrast

to his “expanded” conditional constructed with sa (S san). Thatthe “protatic” efcwtm belongs to the tripartite conjugation wasdiscovered by Shisha-Halevy, 1974. Affirmative forms arenotoriously rare in literary texts. The protatic afcwtme does notoccur in clause beginning with ei|pe and is only to be distinguishedfrom the second present when it may be defined by its syntacticbehavior as a (tripartite) subordinate conjugation. Neg. first singularaitm-, Mi. 3:8; second masculine aktmn-, EpAp. 40,12,14;third plural autm-,Ex. 4:8).

3.2.2.7. Causative infinitive -tf-, nom. -te- (second plural -tetetn-, Mal. 1,7, or -tetn-, Mal. 2:17; aptetn-, Prv.24:23; also -tretetn-; concerning the second plural, seePolotsky, 1960, sec. 56; unique in A third masculine singularatre#f-$, Lk. 12:49, influenced by L).

4. Categorization Within Standard Akhmimic

The Akhmimic literary texts exhibit a high degree ofstandardization. Disregarding sporadic deviations which may occurwithin the same texts, four criteria may be taken for an attempt atclassification:1. dissimilation m/m and m/p à n/m and n/p: (1.1.1) mmo, thereà nmo, EpAp. 12:13, 28:14, 29:7; (1.1.2) mma= à nma=,EpAp. 1:5, 13; 19:1, 12; 17:7; (1.2.1) mpe-, neg. perf. à npe-,EpAp. (mpou-, 25:3); (1.2.2) mpate-, neg. completive à*npate, EpAp. (npatou-, 36:4)

2. the uninflected relative form of the perfect etah- (as opposedto eta=)

3. The temporal conjugation tare- (as opposed to ntare-)4. The variant lexical appearance of the conditional particle “if (it

happens that . . .)” |pe, ei|peThe criterion noted first pertains only to EpAp. This phonetic featureis supplemented by the fact that the assimilation n/pàm/p veryrarely occurs at morpheme junctures in this text, the standard for a

morpheme juncture in EpAp. being the unassimilated form (hnp/ei, etc.).

The distribution of the remaining distinctive forms may berepresented in Table 3. Where etah- and eta=, tare- andntare-, occur simultaneously, the second form is to be consideredas unmarked.

A special group is constituted by I Clem., Ex., EpAp., moreover,is distinguished by dissimilation in its labial features. In I Clem., adistinction is still to be made between the conditional particle in OldTestament quotations and its form outside of such quotations (seefootnote to Table 3). At the opposite end of the spectrum isProverbs, which is the one Akhmimic text characterized only by theconditional particle |pe while lacking etah-, tare-, andei|pe. John and the Minor Prophets assume a middle position:ei|pe occurs in both, but John also employes etah- andntare-, while the text of the Minor Prophets uses eta= andtare-. The position of Ost., which employs etah- and ei|pe,remains uncertain because of the lack of a form of the temporal.The most strongly neutralized document is I Clem. (R) in which nodistinctive form (etah-, tare-, or |pe) appears.

TABLE 3.etah- tare- ei|pe |pe

I Clem.(R) - - + -I Clem. + + +(a) +(a)

Ex. + + + -EpAp. + + + -Elias + + + -Jn. + - + -Prv. - - - +MinProph. - + + -Ost. + Temporal not attested + -aThe attestations of ei|pe and |pe are distributed in the Berliner Handschrift for

I Clem. as follows:ei|pe: p. 36, 18 (I Clem. 27:7); p. 69, 8 (I Clem. 54:2).

|pe: p. 11, 18 (I Clem. 8:4 = Is. 1:18); 13, 29 (I Clem. 10:5 = Gn. 13:16); p. 14, 5(I Clem. 10:6 = Gn. 15:5); p. 23, 12 (I Clem. 16:16 = Ps. 21:9 LXX); p. 23,14 (I Clem. 16:17).

The form |pe is used in four out of five passages that cite the Old Testament,whereas ei|pe occurs only outside of such quotations. The remaining form|pe on p. 23, 24 may have been attracted to the identical form on p. 23, 12.In I Clem., therefore, two levels of language can be recognized in the case ofthe conditional particle.

A summary by morphological characteristics appears in Figures1 and 2. Both types of morphological classification lead to the same“extreme” groups: I Clem., EpAP., Ex., and Elias, on the one hand,and I Clem.(R) and Prv., on the other. Jn. And MinProph. have nodistinguishing features in common with the other main groups, butform a class of their own.

5. Akhmimoid Texts

5.1. A number of literary and nonliterary texts (e.g., letters,magical texts) have traditionally been designated Akhmimic:

5.1.1 Literary texts. The Ascension of Isaiah (AscIs.) = Lacau,1946. The Berlin Genesis fragment, P. 8773 (Gn. 1:18-2:5,fragmentary) = Leipoldt, 1904. Gal. 5:11-6:1 = Browne, 1979 (pp.19-21). The Hymn [of Hierakas] = Lefort, 1939. Ps. 46:3-10 LXX,a pupil’s exercise on a wood tablet = Crum, 1934.

5.1.2 Letters. Listed by Simon, 1940, p.201, with footnotes 30-31.

5.1.3 Magical texts. Same as above, with footnote 32; Ernstedt,1959, no. 70.

5.2. The literary texts AscIs., Berlin Genesis, and the Hymnwere previously described by Kahle (1954, pp. 203-205) as“Akhmimic with Subakhmimic [that is, L] influence,” with AscIs.And Genesis forming a group of their own. The latter texts wereshown by Kasser to be early forms of the dialect L (see especiallyKasser, 1979b and 1982b, in which AscIs. And Genesis are referredto as i and i7, respectively; see also Funk, 1987). AscIs. and theBerlin Genesis have definitely to be eliminated from the body ofAkhmimic texts, as does the Hymn of Hierakas, which corresponds

(CE:A25a)

(CE:A25b)

more closely to i7 (and L) than to A (h> / / swpe: h> /x/ |n,without an anaptyctic vowel in the syllable /CR/ [= voicelessconsonant + voiced cosonant or son(or)ant], second perfect nau-;vocalization of the stressed syllable as in L) or to Galatians (seeKasser and Satzinger, 1982).

5.3. Akhmimic Psalm 46, which is characterized by irregularorthography, is to be considered an early form of L rather than A,since none of the dialectical features of Akhmimic are distinctlymarked: e.g., auw, and not aou (see 1.4.1.1); baab†, to be holy(for *ouaab†) and not baabe† (see 1.2.7); ouote (forouhote*) and not ou(h)ate, (he is) fearful. In this connection, itis noteworthy that instead of the Akhmimic hnw(w)he, fear, the S(L) lexeme hote (hate) is employed.

5.4. The nonliterary textes were delineated earlier by Simon(1940) as Akhmimic with Sahidic influence, or As (for the letters)and “As vulgaire,” or vulgar Akhmimic with Sahidic influence (forthe magical texts). While detailed evidence cannot be offered here, itshould be pointed out that the Meletian letter Pap. 1921 (between330 and 340 A.D.; ed. Crum, in Bell, 1924) clearly belongs to L, asdoes the letter from the John Rylands Library, no. 396, which wasclaimed by Crum (1909, p. viii) as an example of “a practically pureAkhmimic” text.

5.5. It may be concluded that the more or less Akhmimoid textsshould no longer be counted with the corpus of texts written inAkhmimic dialect, not even with the mitigating addition of a small s,which is to indicate Sahidic influence. This means therefore, thatthe A dialect is only represented by literary texts (i.e., biblical,apocryphal, and patristic) and that, finally, “Akhmimic” is identicalto “standard Akhmimic.” The Akhmimic texts are exclusivelydocuments translated from Greek or Sahidic. Just for the mostcomprehensive texts (MinProph., Prv.) it has been shown that theyrepresent interlinear versions of Sahidic (Till, 1927b, p. xxx; Böhlig,1936, p. 35).

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PETER NAGEL