Lacustris ancient dialect

 The use of Lacustris ancient dialect

The use of the old Bohairic accent  spread in the church prayers in all the Egyptian towns.There was for the people In Upper Egypt their church Books of Masses etc written in the sahidic accent ( which differs from the Bohairic accent) . And it was used when the Sahidic accent was a Living language to communicate in the daily life . When it became weak it is substituted by  the church books  imported from the Monasteries of Wadi Natrun, due to the boom of monasticism and the great number of scribes there .

As the accent that was used in monasteries of wadi Natrun was the Bohairic, so the scribes were Copying about their church books which were written in the Bohairic accent, and these church Bohairic Manuscripts reach to all the churches of the Egyptian country from the far north to the far south because of their abundance and accuracy,  also due to their cheap price  .

Also what helps that is that Abu Makar Monastery was considered for long generations  Patriarch’s office from which graduaded many of the Patriarchs and they were spending  Long periods in it both for praying and residence  . Most of the bishops of the Diocese were choosen from wadi natrun . all these factors combined together helped the spread of the use of the Bohairic accent in the prayers of the church to gradually to include all all parts of the country of Egypt from Alexandria up to Aswan . For this the old bohairic accent  became the assumptive one for us by tradition , Spoken by it in the church’s prayers in all parts of the Saint Mark Evangelism . for it is present and is used in Upper Egypt exactly as it is present and is used in the lower Egypt . The situation continued as such until the modern pronunciation appeared .

 The Author  : 

 Fr. Shenouda Maher Ishak ( previously Deacon Dr. Emil Maher Eshak ).

Translated by Dr. Mariam Michael