General features
This verb has two basic meanings. In a less marked context it is a simple
copula (''I'm tired''; ''That's a shame!''), a function which in non-Indo-European languages can be expressed quite differently. In a more heavily marked context it expresses existence (''I think therefore I am''); the dividing line between these is not always easy to draw. In addition, many Indo-European languages use this verb as an
auxiliary for the formation of
compound (periphrastic) tenses (''I'm working''; ''I was bitten''). Other functions vary from language to language. For example, although in its basic meanings, ''to be'' is a
stative verb, English puts it to work as a dynamic verb in fixed collocations (''You are being very annoying'').
The copula is the most
irregular verb in many Indo-European languages. This is partly because it is more frequently used than any other, and partly because
Proto-Indo-European offered more than one verb suitable for use in these functions, with the result that the daughter languages, in different ways, have tended to form
suppletive verb paradigms. This article describes the way in which the irregular forms have developed from a series of roots.
The Proto-Indo-European roots
''h1es-''
The root ''*h
1es-'' was certainly already a copula in
Proto-Indo-European. The e-grade (see
Indo-European ablaut) is found in such forms as
English ''is'',
German ''ist'',
Latin ''est'', while the zero grade produces forms beginning with /s/, like German ''sind'', Latin ''sumus'',
Vedic Sanskrit ''smas'', etc. In
PIE, ''*h
1es-'' was an
athematic verb in ''-mi'', that is, the first person singular was ''*h
1esmi''; this inflection survives in English ''am'', Sanskrit ''asmi'',
Old Church Slavonic (jesm'), etc.
The present indicative of this verb is generally reconstructed for
Proto-Indo-European thus:
! Person
! Singular
! Plural
|-
| 1
| h1és-mi
| h1s-més
|-
| 2
| h1és-si ''(already in PIE reduced to'' *h1ési'')''
| h1s-th1é
|-
| 3
| h1és-ti
| h1s-énti
|
''bhuH-''
The root ''*b
huH-'' (where ''H'' stands for a
laryngeal of unknown quality) probably meant "to grow", but also "to become". This is the source of the English infinitive ''be'' and participle ''been'' (Germanic participles have the suffix in ''-an''), as well as, for example, the
Scottish Gaelic future tense ''bithidh'', and the
Slavic infinitive, etc. for example
Russian быть
byt'. PIE /b
h/ becomes Latin /f/, hence the Latin future participle ''futūrus'' and perfect tense ''fuī''; Latin ''fiō'' 'I become' is also from this root, as is the Greek verb , from which ''physics'' and ''physical'' are derived. Jasanoff (2003: 112) reconstructs the present indicative of this verb as follows:
!Person
!Singular
!Plural
|-
| 1
| bhúH-i-h2e(i)
| bhuH-i-mé-
|-
| 2
| bhúH-i-th2e(i)
| bhuH-i-(t)é-
|-
| 3
| bhúH-y-e
| bhuH-y-énti
|
''wes-''
The root ''*wes-'' may originally have meant "to live". The e-grade is present in the German participle ''gewesen'', the o-grade (''*wos-'') survives in English and Old High German ''was'', while the lengthened e-grade (''*wēs-'') gives us English ''were''. (The Germanic forms with /r/ result from
grammatischer Wechsel.) See
Germanic strong verb: Class 4.
''h1er-''
The root ''*h
1er-'' meant "to move". This is probably the origin of the
Old Norse and later
Scandinavian languages' present stem: Old Norse ''em, ert, er, erum, eruð, eru''; the second person forms of which were borrowed into English as ''art'' and ''are''.
[Calvert Watkins, American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.] Other authorities link these forms with ''*h
1es-'' and assumes
grammatischer Wechsel (/s/→/r/), although this is, to a degree, difficult to explain in the present stem.
''steh2-''
The root ''*(s)teh
2-'' survives in English with its original meaning: "to stand". From this root comes the present stem of the so-called "substantive verb" in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''tá'' and ''tha'' respectively. In Latin, ''stō, stare'' retained the meaning "to stand", until local forms of
Vulgar Latin began to use it as a copula in certain circumstances. Today, this survives in that several Romance languages use it as one of their two copulae, and there is also a Romance tendency for a past participle derived from ''*steh
2-'' to replace that of the main copula. On the absence of the initial s- in Celtic, see
Indo-European s-mobile.
The resulting paradigms
Hittite
The
Hittite verb "to be" is derived from the Indo-European root
'.
!
! Present indicative
! Preterite indicative
! Imperative
|-
| 1st sg.
| ēšmi
| ešun
| ēšlit
ēšlut
ašallu
|-
| 2nd sg.
| ēšši
| ēšta
| ēš
|-
| 3rd sg.
| ēšzi
| ēšta
| ēšdu
|-
| 1st pl.
| (ašweni)
| ēšwen
| ——
|-
| 2nd pl.
| ēšteni
| ēšten
| ēšten
|-
| 3rd pl.'''
| ašanzi
| ešer
| ašandu
|
Vedic Sanskrit
The
Vedic Sanskrit verb ''as'' (to be) is derived from the Indo-European root
'.
|-
!rowspan="2"| Person
!colspan="3"| Present, Indicative, Active
|-
! Singular !! Dual !! Plural
|-
! 1.
| asmi || svas || smas
|-
! 2.
| asi || sthas || stha
|-
! 3.'''
| asti || stas || santi
|
; ''bhū'' - 'to be'
|-
!rowspan="2"| Person
!colspan="3"| Present, Indicative, Active
|-
! Singular !! Dual !! Plural
|-
! 1.
| bhavāmi || bhavāvas(i) || bhavāmas(i)
|-
! 2.
| bhavasi || bhavathas || bhavatha
|-
! 3.
| bhavati || bhavatas || bhavanti
|
Ancient Greek
The
Ancient Greek verb ''eimi'' (I am) is derived from the Indo-European root
'.
!
! Present indicative
|-
| 1st sg.
| (eimi)
|-
| 2nd sg.
| (ei ,eis, essi)
|-
| 3rd sg.
| (esti(n))
|-
| 1st pl.
| (esmen, eimen)
|-
| 2nd pl.
| (este)
|-
| 3rd pl.'''
| , enti, eisi(n)
|
Slavic languages
|
! Old Church Slavonic
! Ukrainian
! Russian
! Polish
! Serbo-Croatian
Bosnian = Croatian = Serbian
! Bulgarian
|-
| Infinitive
| class="Unicode" | byti
| class="Unicode" | buty
| class="Unicode" | | class="Unicode" | być
| class="Unicode" | biti
| class="Unicode" | |-
| Present
| class="Unicode" | esmĭ
esi
estĭ
esmŭ
este
sǫtŭ
| class="Unicode" | je
je
je
je
je
je
| class="Unicode" | (rare)
(rare)
(arch.)
(arch.)
| class="Unicode" | jestem
jesteś
jest
jesteśmy
jesteście
są
| class="Unicode" | jesam, sam
jesi, si
jest, je
jesmo, smo
jeste, ste
jesu, su
| class="Unicode" |
|-
| Imperfect
| class="Unicode" | –
–
běaše
–
–
běaxǫ
|
|
|
| class="Unicode" | bijah, bjeh/beh
bijaše, bješe/beše
bijaše, bješe/beše
bijasmo, bjesmo/besmo
bijaste, bjeste/beste
bijahu, bjehu/behu
| class="Unicode" |
|-
| Imperfective aorist
| class="Unicode" | běxŭ
bě
bě
běxomŭ
běste
běšę
|
|
|
|
| class="Unicode" |
|-
| Future
| class="Unicode" | bǫdǫ
bǫdeši
bǫdetŭ
bǫdemŭ
bǫdete
bǫdǫtŭ
| class="Unicode" | budu
budeš
bude(t′)
budem(o)
budete
budut′
| class="Unicode" |
| class="Unicode" | będę
będziesz
będzie
będziemy
będziecie
będą
| class="Unicode" | budem
budeš
bude
budemo
budete
budu
| class="Unicode" |
|-
| Imperative
| class="Unicode" | –
bǫdi
bǫdi
bǫděmŭ
bǫděte
bǫdǫ
| class="Unicode" | –
buvaj/bud′
–
buvajmo/bud′mo
buvajte/bud′te
–
| class="Unicode" | –
–
–
| class="Unicode" | –
bywaj/bądź
–
bywajmy/bądźmy
bywajcie/bądźcie
–
| class="Unicode" | –
budi
(neka bude)
budimo
budite
(neka budu)
| class="Unicode" | -
-
-
-
|-
| Perfective aorist
| class="Unicode" | byxŭ
by(stŭ)
by(stŭ)
byxomŭ
byste
byšę
|
|
|
| class="Unicode" | bih
bi
bi
bismo
biste
biše
| class="Unicode" |
|-
| Present participle
| class="Unicode" | sy ''m.''
sǫšti ''f.''
sy ''n.''
| class="Unicode" | buvajučyj ''m.''
buvajuča ''f.''
buvajuče ''n.''
| class="Unicode" | ''m.''
''f.''
''n.''
| class="Unicode" | będący ''m.''
będąca ''f.''
będące ''n.''
| class="Unicode" | budući ''m.''
buduća ''f.''
buduće ''n.''
| class="Unicode" |
''only predicative use''
|-
| Resultative participle
| class="Unicode" | bylŭ ''m.''
byla ''f.''
bylo ''n.''
|
|
|
|
| class="Unicode" |
|-
| Past active participle
| class="Unicode" | byvŭ ''m.''
byvŭši ''f.''
byvŭ ''n.''
| class="Unicode" | buvšyj ''m.'' (‘former’ ''adj.'')
buvša ''f.''
buvše ''n.''
| class="Unicode" | ''m.'' (‘former’ ''adj.'')
''f.''
''n.''
|
|
|
|-
|
Italic languages
Except for Latin, the older Italic languages are very scarcely attested, but we have in
Oscan ''set'' (they are), ''fiiet'' (they become), ''fufans'' (they have been) and ''fust'' (he will be), and in
Umbrian ''sent'' (they are). This section will explain Latin, and the
Romance languages that have evolved from it.
In
Spanish,
Catalan,
Galician-Portuguese and to a lesser extent,
Italian there are two parallel paradigms, ''ser/èsser/essere'' from Latin ''esse'' "to be" on one hand, and ''estar/stare'' from Latin ''stare'', "to stand" on the other.
For simplicity, the table below has only the full conjugation of the present tense, and the first-person singular forms of some other tenses.
|-
|
! colspan=2 | Latin
! colspan=2 | (Old) French
! colspan=2 | Spanish
! colspan=2 | Italian
! colspan=2 | Portuguese
! colspan=2 | Catalan
|-
| Infinitive
| esse
| stāre
| être
| ester
| ser
| estar
| essere
| stare
| ser
| estar
| ser, ésser
| estar
|------
| Present indicative
| sum
es
est
sumus
estis
sunt
| stō
stās
stat
stāmus
stātis
stant
| suis
es
est
sommes
êtes
sont
| este
estes
este
estons
estez
estent
| soy
eres
es
somos
sois
son
| estoy
estás
está
estamos
estáis
están
| sono
sei
è
siamo
siete
sono
| sto
stai
sta
stiamo
state
stanno
| sou
és
é
somos
sois
são
| estou
estás
está
estamos
estais
estão
| sóc
ets
és
som
sou
són
| estic
estàs
està
estem
esteu
estan
|-
| Present subjunctive
| sim
| stet
| sois
| este
| sea
| esté
| sia
| stia
| seja
| esteja
| sigui
| estigui
|-
| Preterite
| fuī
| steti
| fus
| estai
| fui
| estuve
| fui
| stetti
| fui
| estive
| fui
(unused)
| estiguí
(unused)
|-
| Imperfect
| eram
| stābam
| étais
| estais
| era
| estaba
| ero
| stavo
| era
| estava
| era
| estava
|-
| Future
| erō
| stābō
| serai
| esterai
| seré
| estaré
| sarò
| starò
| serei
| estarei
| seré
| estaré
|-
| Past participle
/ Supine
| n/a
| stātum
| été
(borrowed)
| esté
| sido
| estado
| stato
(borrowed)
| stato
| sido
| estado
| sigut
(dialectal)
| estat
|
In several modern
Romance languages, the perfect is a compound tense formed with the participle as in English, but the old Latin perfect survives as a commonly-used
preterite in Spanish and Portuguese, and as a literary "
past historical" in
French, Italian and Catalan.
There is a tendency for a past participle derived from ''stare'' (or more specifically its supine, ''statum'') to replace that of the main copula derived from ''esse''. For example, the French participle ''été'' comes from ''statum''.
For further information, see the main article.
Germanic languages
:''Main article:
Germanic verb''
|-
|
! Old Norse
! Danish
! colspan=2 | Old English
! English
! Old High German
! German
! Dutch
! Gothic
! Swedish
! Old Swedish
|-
| Infinitive
| vera
| være
| wesan
| bēon
| be
| wesan
| sein
| zijn / wezen
| wisan
| vara
| vara
|------
| Present indicative
| em
ert (est)
er (es)
erum
eruð
eru
|
er
| eom
eart
is
sint
sint
sint
| bēo
bist
biþ
bēoþ
bēoþ
bēoþ
| am
(art)
is
are
are
are
| bim
bis(t)
ist
birum
birut
sint
| bin
bist
ist
sind
seid
sind
| ben
bent
is
zijn
zijn / gij zijt
zijn
| im
is
ist
sijum
sijuþ
sind
|
är
| æm
æst
ær
ærum
ærin
æro
|-
| Present subjunctive
| siá
sér
sé
sém
séð
sé
|
være
(extremely rare)
| sīe
sīe
sīe
sīen
sīen
sīen
| bēo
bēo
bēo
bēon
bēon
bēon
|
be
| sî
sîs(t)
sî
sîm
sî(n)t
sîn
| sei
sei(e)st
sei
seien
sei(e)t
seien
|
zij
| sijau
sijais
sijai
sijaima
sijaiþ
sijaina
|
vare
(rare)
| væri
væri
væri
sēin
sēn
sē
|-
| Preterite
|
var
várum
|
var
| colspan=2 | wæs
wǽre
wæs
wǽron
wǽron
wǽron
| was
(wast)
was
were
were
were
| was
wâri
was
wârum
wârut
wârun
| war
warst
war
waren
wart
waren
| was
was
was
waren
waren / gij waart
waren
| was
wast
was
wesum
wesuþ
wesun
|
var
| var
vart
var
vārom
vārin
vāro
|-
| Past participle
| verit
| været
| colspan=2 | ——
| been
| ——
| gewesen
| geweest
| ——
| varit (supine)
| varin
|
Old English kept the verbs ''wesan'' and ''bēon'' separate throughout the present stem, though it is not clear that they made the kind of consistent distinction in usage that we find, for example in Spanish. In the preterite, however, the paradigms fell together. Old English has no participle for this verb.
Celtic languages
In the earliest
Celtic languages there was a distinction between the so-called
substantive verb, used when the predicate was an adjective phrase or prepositional phrase, and the so-called
copula, used when the predicate was a noun. This contrast is maintained today in the
Goidelic languages but has been lost in the
Brythonic languages.
The conjugation of the
Old Irish and Middle
Welsh verbs is as follows:
|
! Old Irish substantive verb
! Old Irish copula
! Middle Welsh
|-
| Present
| (at)·tó
(at)·taí
(at)·tá
(at)·taam
(at)·taïd
(at)·taat
| am
at
is
ammi
adib
it
| wyf
wyt
yw, mae, taw, oes
ym
ywch
ynt, maen(t)
|-
| Preterite
| ·bá
·bá
·boí
·bámmar
·baid
·bátar
| basa
basa
ba
bommar
''unattested''
batar
| buum
buost
bu
buam
buawch
buant
|-
| Future
| bia
bie
bieid, ·bia
beimmi, ·biam
bethe, ·bieid
bieit, ·biat
| be
be
bid
bimmi
''unattested''
bit
| bydaf
bydy
byd
bydwn
bydwch
bydant
|
The forms of the Old Irish present tense of the substantive verb, as well as Welsh ''taw'', come from the PIE root
''stā-''. The other forms are from the roots *''es-'' and *''bhū-''. Welsh ''mae'' originally meant "here is" (cf. ''yma'' 'here').
In modern Gaelic, person inflections have almost disappeared, but the negative and interrogative are marked by distinctive forms. While some grammar books still distinguish the substantive verb from the copula, some treat the substantive forms as assertive forms of the copula;
[Colin Mark, ''Gaelic Verbs systemised and simplified'', Savage (London & Edinburgh) 1986, p21ff.] since the verb is in any case suppletive, this is a matter of perspective.
|-
|
! Scottish Gaelic
! Irish
|-
| Present
affirmative
interrogative
negative
negative interrogative
|
tha
a bheil
chan eil
nach eil
|
tá
an bhfuil
níl (ní fhuil)
nach bhfuil
|-
| Assertive present
| is
| is
|-
| Past
affirmative
interrogative
negative
negative interogative
|
bha
an robh
cha robh
nach robh
|
bhí
an raibh
ní raibh
nach raibh
|-
| Assertive past
| bu
| ba
|-
| Future
affirmative
interogative
negative
negative interogative
|
bithidh
am bi
cha bhi
nach bi
|
beidh
an mbeidh
ní bheidh
nach mbeidh
|
Gaelic ''(bh)eil'' and Irish ''(bh)fuil'' are from Old Irish ''fil'', originally an imperative meaning "see!" (PIE root ''
wel-'', also in Welsh ''gweled'', Germanic ''wlitu-'' "appearance", and Latin voltus "face"), then coming to mean "here is" (cf. French ''voici < vois ci'' and ''voilà < vois là''), later becoming a suppletive dependent form of ''at-tá''. Gaelic ''robh'' and Modern Irish ''raibh'' are from the perfective particle ''ro'' (''ry'' in Welsh) plus ''ba'' (lenited after ''ro'').
References
http://www.gaeliccollege.edu/lessons/verbs/tha.html