Chapter XIII. The Adverb

§281. There is no special Adverb Formation. In order to qualify the verbal action, Coptic uses a noun or infinitive prefaced by a preposition. A few substantives are used absolutely without a prefixed preposition. The most important of these are:

*Note: me4ak ‘perhaps’ was originally a verb which took pronominal suffixes; e.g. me4ak  nto.3  pe  pe.xs ‘Perhaps he is the Christ’.
§282. Adverbial Phrases
Substantives with prefixed preposition used adverbially. The substantive may or may not be defined.
(1) With e-

§283. (2) With n

§284. (3) With 6n- the substantive takes the article; e.g. 6n.t.pa4e ‘at midnight’, 6m.poou  (for 6m.p.6oou) ‘today’, 6n.ou.me ‘truly’, 6n.ou.4pn.4wp ‘suddenly’. For adverbial phrases formed with 6n  and the Infinitive with the Indefinite Article, §246.
§285. (4) With other prepositions

§286. Greek Adverbs frequently appear in Coptic texts. They usually stand absolutely, i.e. without introductory preposition; e.g. a.3.`e  pe3.a6e  ebol  kakws ‘He spent his life badly’, kalws  a.3.profhteue  6arw.tn ‘Well did he prophesy about you’. Occasionally a Greek word is introduced by 6n followed by the Indefinite article, to form an Adverbial Phrase; e.g. 6n.ou.amelia ‘Carelessly’.
§287. Conjunctions
While it is true that Coptic possesses conjunctions which have survived from the older stage of the language, it also uses a wide variety of Greek conjunctions, many of which became part and parcel of the language. A list of the principal conjunctions is given in the next section. The Coptic conjunction appears first and is followed by the loan conjunctions from Greek. Notes on a few of the more important conjunctions follow in §290-95.
        [MS lacks §288.]
§289.

 §290. Notes on Conjunctions
(1)  auw  ‘and’  (originating from a.ouw6, the Imperative of ouw6 ‘To put, set’) is used primarily to join together sentences.  It is less commonly used to join nouns together; for this purpose Coptic more correctly used the prepositions mn- (§264.2) and 6i- (§268.5); e.g. p.rh  na.r.kake  auw  p.oo6  n.3.na.5  an  mpe.3.ouoein  auw  n.siou  se.na.6e  ebol  6n.t.pe  auw  n.2om  n.m.phue  se.na.noein ‘The sun will become darkness and the moon will not give its light; and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will tremble’ (Mk 13:24-25). Sometimes auw is used to join sentences when the sentences are already joined by use of the Conjunctive (§225); e.g. er4an  ou.eiwt  n.asebhs  `po  n.ou.4hre  n.aikaios  auw  pai  n.3.nau  e.n.nobe  ere.te3.eiwt eire  mmo.ou  auw  n.3.r6ote  n.3.sa6ww.3  ebol  mmo.ou  e.3.e.wn6  6n  te3.dikaiosunh ‘If a wicked father begets a righteous son, and this (one) sees the sins while his father is committing them, and he fears and removes himself from them, may he live¹ by his righteousness!’ (¹Future Energetic; Apa Victor, Steindorff Grammar 49*, lines 1-4).
§291. (2)  auw  on ‘moreover, furthermore’ ; e.g. a.penta.k.`oo.3  4wpe  auw  on  oun ma ‘That which thou hast said¹ has happened, moreover there is room still’ (¹II Perfect; Lk 14:22).
§292. (3)  `n, `en-  (less correctly `in-)  ‘Or’ ; e.g. e.k.`w  na.n  n.tei.parabolh  `en  e.k.`w  mmo.s  e.ouon  nim ‘Art thou saying this parable to us or art thou saying it to everyone?’ (Lk 12:41), barabbas  `n  is ‘Barabbas or Jesus’ (Mt 27:7).
§293. (4)

These do not stand at the beginning of the sentence, but rather follow an introductory word: noun, verbal form, etc.; e.g. p.`ioua  de  nto3  m.pe.pna  n.se.na.kaa.3  (an)  ebol ‘But the blasphemy in respect of the Spirit will not be forgiven’ (Mt 12:31), pet.eira  nto3  n.t.me  4a.3.ei  4a.p.ouoein ‘But he who does the truth is wont to come to the light’ (Jn 3:21), ne  oun.ta.i  6ww3  n.ou.maau ‘I had, on the other hand, a mother’ (Z 327.c.11), 5.na.bwk  ntooun  4a  ou.son ‘I will go then to a brother’ (Z 306.c.4), a.3.ei.2e  on  e.t.kana ‘He came therefore again to Cana’ (Jn 4:46).
(5)  -2e  in negative statements has the meaning  ‘(Not) again, (no) more’ ; e.g. n.5.na.moute.2e  an  erw.tn  `e  na.6m6al ‘I shall not again call you my servants’ (Jn 15:15), auw  p.kosmos.2e  na.nau  ero.i  an ‘And the world will see me no more’ (Jn 14:19).
§294. (6)  `e , an unaccented particle, originating from the old rdd (lit. To say). It is used in a number of ways: (a) Apposition: ‘Namely, viz., i.e.’; e.g. ou.polis  `e  kalonia  (for kolonia) ‘A city, i.e. a colony’ (Acts 16:12). It is used after a verb of calling or naming, to indicate the second object; e.g. etbe  ou  tet.na.moute  ero.i  `e  noemin  ‘Why will you call me Naomi?’ (Ruth 1:21).
§295. (b) To introduce Direct speech (§337).
(c) To introduce Indirect speech (§337).
(d) To introduce Causal Clauses (§373).
(e) To introduce Final Clauses (§369).
NB: the tenses of the verbs preceding and following `e are independent of one another.
§296. Interjections
Coptic possesses few interjections. The following may be noted:
(1)  eis ‘Lo, behold!’ : properly used before a noun; e.g. eis  ou.israhliths  na.me ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed!’ (Jn 1:47).
(2)  eis.6hhte ‘Lo, behold!’ : properly used before a pronoun or verb; e.g. eis.6hte  5.na.`eu  pa.aggelos ‘Behold, I shall send my messenger!’ (Mk 1:2). Note: Occasionally 6hhte  appears in the forms 6hhpe  and 6hhne. In other words, the particle is made to agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence; e.g. eis.6hhne  se.6n.amnte  nmma.3  auw  eis.6hhpe  3.6m.p.kake  nmna.u ‘Lo, they are in Amente¹ with him, and he is in the darkness with them’ (¹Crum 008b; Z 590.9).
(3)   ouoi ‘Woe!’ , followed by the dative; e.g. ouoinai  ‘Woe to me!’
(4)   6amoi  ‘Would that, Oh that!’ , followed by the prefix ene- (§380) and the Imperfect or Future Imperfect; e.g. 6amoi  on  ene.n.eire  m.pet.soutwn ‘Oh that we might do what is upright!’ (Ming. 322). In Biblical texts 6amoi is less commonly found in Sahidic than in Bohairic (Boh form amoi). Sahidic generally substitutes for 6amoi the impersonal nanou.s ‘It is good’; e.g. nanou.s  ene.tet.na.anexe  mmo.i  n.ou.koui  m.mnt.aq.ht (i.e. m.mnt.at.6ht) ‘Would that you would bear with me in a little foolishness!’ (II-Cor 11:1).
§297. (5)  6a(e)io   is the interjection of entreaty,  ‘Yea, verily!’ ; e.g. 6a(e)io  5.`w  mmo.s  nh.tn  `e  a.ri.6ote  6ht.3  m.pai ‘Yea; I say to you, Fear this one!’ (Lk 12:5).
(6)  mpwr  is the interjection of deprecation,  ‘Do not!, By no means!, No!’ ; e.g. mpwr  na.4eere  mp.r2w  6i.nai ‘No, my daughters, do not remain thus!’ (Ruth 1:13). It is frequently found preceding the Negation of the Imperative.