ⲃⲉⲗⲗⲉ

Coptic

Alternative forms

• ⲃ︤ⲗ︥ⲗⲉ (bəlle) — Sahidic
• ⲃⲉⲗⲗⲏ (bellē) — Fayyumic

Etymology

Blind Egyptian beggar

Černý derives this word from Demotic bl (“blind”), from Egyptian (br) or (brr), both components found in masculine proper names which Meeks equates and renders as ‘blind man’. Vycichl instead considers it to have come from a compound which he reconstructs as *bely-iꜣ, with the first component related to Demotic bl (“blind”).

Pronunciation

• (Old Bohairic) IPA^(key): /βəlˈleʔ/

Noun

ⲃⲉⲗⲗⲉ • (belle) m (plural ⲃⲉⲗⲗⲉⲩ (belleu)) (feminine ⲃⲉⲗⲗⲏ (bellē))

1. (Bohairic) a blind person

References

• Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 23
• Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 27
• Meeks, Dimitri (1977) Année Lexicographique Égypte Ancienne vol. I, 77.1283