Hello Maryame, I think Ambrose Boulos, meant 'Yala', 'wala' : which are derived from 'Alou' Quoting Dr.Emile Maher at tape (1 or 2) of Copto-Arabica.
However, Yalla: as let's Go. was mentioned on the Book of Georgy Sobhy Bey. As a derivative from the Greek word 'ELA', the link below is a scan from the book. Common words in the spoken Arabic of Egypt, of Greek or Coptic origin http://www.coptic.org/language/georgy/3.jpg Its Coptic equivalent is 'MARON' it is mentioned in the Gospel of St.John Ch.14, also it's part of the Gospel reading of the TERCE prayer of the horologion (Ajbeya) http://www.geocities.com/remenkimi/terce.htm On Fri, 25 May 2007 23:00:16 +0100 "Ambrose Boles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello Maryame. I read a while ago in: Emil Maher Ishak. _The Phonetics and Phonology of the Bohairic Dialect of Coptic and the Survival of Coptic Words in the Colloquial and Classical Arabic of Egypt and of Coptic Grammatical Constructions in Colloquial Arabic_. _Volumes 1 - 4_. (A D.Phil Thesis submitted to the University of Oxford, September 1975). that Arabic "yalla" is derived from the Coptic word alou "child" (in the Old Bohairic pronunciation). I can't remember the details as I read it quickly and I don't have access to the thesis at present. Hopefully someone who has ready access can check it out it was in the _Survival of Coptic Words in the Colloquial and Classic Arabic of Egypt_ section of the thesis. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "maryame_georgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: RemEnKimi@yahoogroups.com To: RemEnKimi@yahoogroups.com Subject: _[RemEnKimi] Coptic word_ Date: _Thu, 24 May 2007 10:13:41 -0000_ Hello, I wanted to ask if the word "YALLA" used in the Egyptian dialect( it means let's go) has any coptic backgrounds. If it does, what does it really mean and is it used correctly until now? __________________________________ + C o p t i c M a i l . c o m + Free 300Mb - webmail & POP3 accounts "Serving Copts Worldwide"