Coptic Small Letter Vida

A Unicode Coptic keyboard types ⲃ; Greek input types β.

On Windows 10, add a Coptic keyboard layout; the standard Greek layout will not produce ⲃ. Fonts for Bohairic and Sahidic, two Coptic dialects, also follow distinct styles, so the printed shape can vary without changing the letter.

Coptic beta or Greek beta?

Use ⲃ in Coptic text and β in Greek text. They can look close, but they are separate characters; substituting β can put the wrong character into a Coptic transcription.

Pronunciation varies too. Sahidic teaching materials give ⲃ a b/v-like value, while Bohairic and modern church reading follow different conventions. When reading a manuscript, follow its dialect rather than guessing from the shape.

what does ⲃ mean in Coptic?

It writes a consonant inside Coptic words. On its own, ⲃ has no word meaning; it spells part of a word.

The Coptic tradition grew from Egyptian writing with Greek letters around the beginning of the Common Era. It kept Greek beta for a consonant Greek already represented; signs adapted from Demotic, an older Egyptian script, added sounds Greek lacked.

By the third century, Christian communities were translating scripture into this Greek-based Egyptian writing. As of 2026, Coptic remains in church liturgy and manuscript and language study.