Coptic or Coptic Egyptian (Bohairic: ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙ̀ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ met.rem.ən.khēmi, Sahidic: ⲙⲛⲧⲣⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲉ mənt.rəm.ən.kēme, Greek: Μετ Ρεμνχημι Met Rem(e)nkhēmi) is the latest stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afroasiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written in the Coptic alphabet – an adaptation of the Greek script with some letters inherited from Demotic – in the 1st century AD.