Ancient Egyptian dead language

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The Ancient Egyptian Dead Language
The influx of new languages into an ancient dialect not only decreases the latter’s frequency but also plays a critical role to its disappearance. Thus, the question is whether native speakers all die with the style or people just stop speaking the language. The Coptic, named after the Coptic Orthodox Church, like most ancient Egyptian language, has gone through a series of regeneration changes that have steered its extinction. Therefore, it is essential to understand its origin, natives, contributors to its extermination, and measures in place to revitalize the language.
The Coptic language
Users of Coptic language are estimated to be around 10% of the entire Egyptian population (Tadros 502). This number is considered a minority group whose language is threatened by the incorporation of Islam in the region. Also, Copts were mainly peasant and probably the clergy. Nonetheless, members of the Coptic Orthodox Church are considered the most significant Christian society in the Middle East (Tadros 502). The exact numbers of the Coptic population are hard to evaluate, but rough estimates suggest that they are located mostly in Alessandria. However, Coptic speakers are also found in the neighboring countries like Jordan, Libya, Syria, and other in the West.
Factors contributing to Coptic death
One of the critical factors that contributed significantly to the death of Copts is the invasion and forceful adoption of Muslim culture in to the language (Sharkey 1856).

It is depicted that by around the 7th century, Arab ruler had successfully dominated the region (Sharkey 1856). Under the Arab dominance, the Copts were forced into learning and adopting the Arabic language. This taking on was greatly attributed to the pressure from the government to get rid of the Copts in top positions. Furthermore, job security was based solely on the ability to learn and use Arabic. Those who retained the use of the Coptic language not only risked layoffs but also minimized the chances of their children inheriting their work. Thus, the pressure put on families in exchange for their continued service led to the neglect of Coptic. Parents from such families ultimately became reluctant in teaching their children in literary Coptic. The liturgical use of the language eventually declined drastically with few of such scripts used in few church scripts. Therefore, such period of economic distress caused language vulnerability exposing it to the incorporation of Arabic words.
Also, the death of the Coptic language was due to economic pressure. It is depicted that the Source of income was dependent on the extent of mutual understanding. The invasion by Arab traders influenced the necessity of collective business interest. At this point, most natives abandoned the Coptic language to start speaking the Arabic language considered lucrative for business. Thus, the economy greatly impacted on the increased rate of Coptic eradication.
Apart from that, political tension and interference from invaders and rulers of the Middle East who waged war to the Coptic language. The rulers of Egypt changed over time meaning that each leader had their style of ruling. By around the 11th century, the ruler that came in was a sworn enemy to Christianity (Kamil 103). This resentment was greatly attributed to war the European Crusaders declared on Muslim rulers. The belief that the Copts were hospitable to the Christian invaders attracted rejection from the Arab. The cross in Coptic Churches was believed to be a symbol of agreement between the invaders and Copts. Consequently, oppressions against the Copts even to extreme ends of public persecution was declared by the then ruler, Hakem-bi-Amr-Allah (Kamil 103). Copts and Christians, in general, were publicly trolled and had their churches closed. The use of the Coptic language was even prohibited leading further to the large decline in the language.
Means of Revitalizing the Coptic language
Various mechanisms of revitalizing the Coptic language have been in play since the initial invasion of the Arab. The introduction of the Arabic literature into Christianity by around the 12th century was crucial (Loprieno, Antonio, and Müller 102). The replacement of Greek texts with Arabic liturgical books flourished over time. Consequently, the use of Arabic grew more than just mere translations to actual usage in the churches. However, the Coptic language slowly became limited to church hymn and prayers. Nonetheless, the reviving of the Coptic was convenient at a time when the Copts had been declared enemy of the country.
A great revival movement came into course by the 19th century. A Patriarch by the name of St. Cyril initiated a Church based movement aimed at recruiting and educating clergy and the new generations (Kamil 105). Such movement undoubtedly required the use of Coptic. Thus, the Coptic language was offered in all the institutes affiliated to the campaign. The motion had laid a framework that would be adopted in the early 20th Century in spreading the language (Kamil 105). The establishment of a clerical College, as well as printing of Coptic services, was among the great works of elites in promoting the language.
In conclusion, the death of a dialect is highly dependent on some factors. Such factors usually influence the restructuring and incorporations of other languages into ancient parlance. However, once a language regressively represents its downfall, it is difficult to recreate its original prowess. Therefore, only a given level of intervention can be applied to reduce the rate of complete eradication significantly
Works Cited
Kamil, Jill. Christianity in the Land of the Pharaohs: The Coptic Orthodox Church. Routledge, 2013.
Loprieno, Antonio, and Matthias Müller. “Ancient Egyptian and Coptic.” (2012): 102-144.
Sharkey, Heather J. American evangelicals in Egypt: Missionary encounters in an age of empire. Princeton University Press, 2013.
Tadros, Samuel. Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic quest for modernity. Vol. 638. Hoover Press, 2013.