Between arabic and coptic in a bilingual manuscript of the Pentateuch: The case of la’alla لعلّ

Abstract

The Arabic version of the Pentateuch in MS Paris BN copte 1 (14th century) was basically translated from the Bohairic Coptic version which is set in parallel columns to it. The comparison of the two versions is sometimes very instructive regarding the transition period in which the main language for the Copts in Egypt was Arabic, but Coptic was not completely forgotten. The translation choices of the Arabic word 
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 are examples of changes in meanings, connotations and functions of that word in Middle Arabic in general, and under the influence of Coptic in particular. The studies of Joshua Blau on Christian-Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic of the Middle Ages, and of Ariel Shisha-Halevy on the Bohairic dialect are extremely important for establishing any study of this kind.