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A feature common to all Indo-European languages is the presence of a verb corresponding to the English verb to be. In some languages (as Russian) the verb, though vestigial, is present nonetheless, in atrophied forms or derivatives.
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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-
 |
Look up Appendix:Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The root *h1es- 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, *h1es- was an athematic verb in -mi, that is, the first person singular was *h1esmi; this inflection survives in English am, Sanskrit asmi, Old Church Slavonic есмь (jesm'), etc.
The present indicative of this verb is generally reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European thus:
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | *h1és-mi | *h1s-més |
| 2nd | *h1és-si (already in PIE reduced to *h1ési) | *h1s-th1é |
| 3rd | *h1és-ti | *h1s-énti |
*bʰuH-
The root *bʰuH- (which did not have ablaut variations in the protolanguage[1]) 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 *bh 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 φύω, from which physics and physical are derived. The present indicative of this verb can be reconstructed as follows:[1]
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | *bʰúH-i-h₂e(i) | *bʰuH-i-mé- |
| 2nd | *bʰúH-i-th₂e(i) | *bʰuH-i-(t)é- |
| 3rd | *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 *h1er- 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.[2] Other authorities link these forms with *h1es- and assume grammatischer Wechsel (/s/→/r/), although this is, to a degree, difficult to explain in the present stem.
*steh2-
The root *(s)teh2- 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. On the absence of the initial s- in Celtic, see Indo-European s-mobile. 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 *steh2- to replace that of the main copula.
The resulting paradigms
Hittite
The Hittite verb "to be" is derived from the Indo-European root *h1es-.
| 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 *h1es-.
| Person | Present, Indicative, Active | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1st | asmi | svas | smas |
| 2nd | asi | sthas | stha |
| 3rd | asti | stas | santi |
bhū (to be) is derived from Indo-European *bhuH-.
| Person | Present, Indicative, Active | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1st | bhavāmi | bhavāvas(i) | bhavāmas(i) |
| 2nd | bhavasi | bhavathas | bhavatha |
| 3rd | bhavati | bhavatas | bhavanti |
Persian
Persian grammar[3] differentiates the marked or substantive verb هستن hastan from the unmarked enclitic copula است ast. Hastan is used to express existence while ast in the present tense expresses predication, although hastan can also be used for emphasis to express predication in the present tense. In the past tense, the verb بودن budan covers both meanings.
Strictly speaking, hastan is only a theoretical infinitive, not lexical: budan functions as the actual infinitive of hast, used, for example, in present-tense modal constructions like شايد بود shāyad bud 'it may be'. The present stem of budan is باش bāsh-, used for the imperative and subjunctive, e.g. چنين باشد chonin bāshad 'may it be so!'.
| Substantive verb | Enclitic copula | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | هستم hastam هستى hasti هست hast هستيم hastim هستيد hastid هستند hastand |
م -am ى -i است ast يم -im يد -id ند -and |
| Preterite | بودم budam بودى budi بود bud بوديم budim بوديد budid بودند budand |
Greek
The Ancient Greek verb eimi (I am) is derived from the Indo-European root *h1es-.
| Homeric Greek | Classical Attic | Modern Greek | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present indicative | 1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. |
εἰμί (eimi) εἶς, ἐσσί (eis, essi) ἐστί(ν) (esti(n)) εἰμέν (eimen) ἐστέ (este) εἰσί(ν), ἔασι (eisi(n), easi) |
εἰμί (eimi) εἶ (ei) ἐστί(ν) (esti(n)) ἐσμέν (esmen) ἐστέ (este) εἰσί(ν) (eisi(n)) |
είμαι (ime) είσαι (ise) είναι (ine) είμαστε (imaste) είστε (iste) είναι (ine) |
| Preterite indicative | 1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. |
ἦα, ἔον (ēa, eon) ἦσθα, ἔησθα (ēstha, eēstha) ἦ(ε)ν, ἔην (ē(e)n, eēn) ἦμεν (ēmen) ἦτε (ēte) ἦσαν (ēsan) |
ἦ(ν) (ē(n)) ἦς, ἦσθα (ēs, ēstha) ἦν (ēn) ἦμεν (ēmen) ἦστε, ἔατε (ēste, eate) ἦσαν ἔσαν (ēsan, esan) |
ήμουν (imoun) ήσουν (isoun) ήταν (itan) ήμασταν (imastan) ήσασταν (isastan) ήταν (itan) |
| Subjunctive | 1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. |
ἔω (eō) ἔῃς, ἔοις (eēis, eois) ἔῃ(σι), ᾖσι(ν), ἔοι (eēi(si), ēisi(n), eoi) ἔωσι(ν) (eōsi(n)) |
ὦ (ō) ᾖς (ēis) ᾖ (ēi) ὦμεν (ōmen) ἦτε (ēte) ὦσι(ν) (ōsi(n)) |
|
| Optative | 1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. |
εἴην (eiēn) εἴης (eiēs) εἴη (eiē) εἶτε (eite) εἶεν (eien) |
εἴην (eiēn) εἴης (eiēs) εἴη (eiē) εἴημεν, εἶμεν (ei(ē)men) εἴητε, εἶτε (ei(ē)te) εἴησαν, εἶεν (eiēsan, eien) |
|
| Imperative | 2nd sg. 2nd pl. |
ἔσσο, ἴσθι (esso, isthi) ἔστε (este) |
||
| Infinitive | εἶναι, ἔμ(μ)εν(αι) (einai, em(m)en(ai)) | εἶναι (einai) | ||
| Participle | ἐών, ἐόντ- (eōn, eont-) fem. ἐοῦσα (eousa) |
ὦν, ὄντ- (ōn, ont-) fem. οὖσα (ousa) |
||
Albanian
The Albanian verb jam (I am) is derived from the Indo-European root *h1es-.
| present tense | |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | jam |
| 2nd sg. | je |
| 3rd sg. | është |
| 1st pl. | jemi |
| 2nd pl. | jeni |
| 3rd pl. | janë |
Baltic languages
| Lithuanian | Latvian | Old Prussian | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | būti | būt | |
| Present | esu, esmi (rare), būnu (rare) esi, būni (rare) yra, esa (rare), būna (rare) esam(e), būname (rare) esate, būnate (rare) yra, esti (rare), esa (rare), būna (rare) |
esmu, esu (rare) esi ir esam esat ir |
|
| Past simple | buvau buvai buvo buvom buvote buvo |
biju biji bija bijām bijāt bija |
|
| Perfect | bijis bijis bijusi (f), bijis (m) bijuši bijuši bijušas (f), bijuši (m) |
||
| Future | būsiu būsi bus būsim būsite bus |
būšu būsi būs būsim būsiet, būsit (rare) ir |
|
| Imperative | – būk – būkime būkite – |
esiet, būsiet (second person plural) | |
| Dubitative | esot, būšot | ||
| Conditional | būtu |
Slavic languages
| Old Church Slavonic | Ukrainian | Russian | Polish | Bosnian / Croatian / Serbian | Bulgarian | Slovenian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | byti | buty | быть, byt' | być | biti | да бъда, da bədə | biti |
| Present | esmĭ esi estĭ esmŭ este sǫtŭ |
є, есьм je, jes'm є, єси je, jesy є, єсть je, jest' є, єсмо je, jesmo є, єсте je, jeste є, суть je, sut' |
есмь, esm' (arch.) еси, esi (arch.) есть, est' есмы, esmy (arch.) есте, este (arch.) суть, sut' (arch.) |
jestem, -m jesteś, -ś jest jesteśmy, -śmy jesteście, -ście są |
jesam, sam jesi, si jest, je jesmo, smo jeste, ste jesu, su |
съм, səm си, si е, e сме, sme сте, ste са, sə |
sem si je sva / smo sta / ste sta / so |
| Imperfect | – – běaše – – běaxǫ |
by(wa)?ł[ea]m by(wa)?ł[ea]ś by(wa)?ła? by(wa)?(li|ły)śmy by(wa)?(li|ły)ście by(wa)?(li|ły) |
bijah, b(j)eh bijaše, b(j)eše bijaše, b(j)eše bijasmo, b(j)esmo bijaste, b(j)este bijahu, b(j)ehu |
бях, byah беше, beshe беше, beshe бяхме, byahme бяхте, byachte бяха, byahə |
sem bil si bil je bil sva bila / smo bili sta bila/ ste bili sta bila / so bili |
||
| Imperfective aorist | běxŭ bě bě běxomŭ *běste běšę |
бях, byah бе, be беше, be бяхме, byahme бяхте, byachte бяха, byahə |
|||||
| Future | bǫdǫ bǫdeši bǫdetŭ bǫdemŭ bǫdete bǫdǫtŭ |
буду, budu будеш, budeš буде, bude будемо, budemo будете, budete будуть, budut′ |
буду, budu будешь, budeš' будет, budet будем, budem будете, budete будут, budut |
będę będziesz będzie będziemy będziecie będą |
budem budeš bude budemo budete budu |
ще бъда, shte bədə ще бъдеш, shte bədesh ще бъде, shte bəde ще бъдем, shte bədem ще бъдете, shte bədete ще бъдат, shte bədət |
|
| Imperative | – bǫdi bǫdi bǫděmŭ bǫděte bǫdǫ |
– бувай/будь, buvaj/bud′ (нехай буде, nexaj bude) буваймо/будьмо, buvajmo/bud′mo бувайте/будьте, buvajte/bud′te (нехай будуть, nexaj budut') |
– будь, bud’ – будем, budem будьте, bud’te – |
– bywaj/bądź – bywajmy/bądźmy bywajcie/bądźcie – |
– budi (neka bude) budimo budite (neka budu) |
– бъди, bədi – – бъдете, bədete – |
– bodi naj bo bodiva / bodimo bodita / bodite naj bosta / naj bodo |
| Perfective aorist | byxŭ by(stŭ) by(stŭ) byxomŭ byste byšę |
bih bi bi bismo biste biše |
бих, bih би, bi би, bi бихме, bihme бихте, bihte биха, bihə |
||||
| Present participle | sy m. sǫšti f. sy n. |
буваючий, buvajučyj m. буваюча, buvajuča f. буваюче, buvajuče n. |
будущий, budušči m. будущая, buduščaja f. будущее, buduščeje n. |
będący m. będąca f. będące n. |
budući m. buduća f. buduće n. |
||
| Resultative participle | bylŭ m. byla f. bylo n. |
był m. była f. było n. |
бил, bil била, bila било, bilo |
||||
| Past active participle | byvŭ m. byvŭši f. byvŭ n. |
бывший, byvšij m. (‘former’ adj.) бывшая, byvšaja f. бывшее, byvšee 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.
| Latin | Old French | French | Spanish | Italian | Portuguese | Catalan | Romanian | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | esse | stāre | estre | ester | être | ser | estar | essere | stare | ser | estar | ser, ésser | estar | fi | |
| Present indicative | sum es est sumus estis sunt |
stō stās stat stāmus stātis stant |
suis es est sommes estes sont |
este estes este estons estez estent |
suis es est sommes êtes sont |
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 |
sînt eşti este sîntem sînteţi sînt |
|
| Present subjunctive | sim | stem | sois | este | sois | sea | esté | sia | stia | seja | esteja | sigui | estigui | fiu | |
| Preterite | fuī | stetī | fus | estai | fus, ai été | fui | estuve | fui | stetti | fui | estive | fui (unused) |
estiguí (unused) |
fui, am fost | |
| Imperfect | eram | stābam | ier | estais | étais | era | estaba | ero | stavo | era | estava | era | estava | eram | |
| Future | erō | stābō | serai | esterai | serai | seré | estaré | sarò | starò | serei | estarei | seré | estaré | voi fi | |
| Past participle | stātum | esté | été | sido | estado | stato | stato | sido | estado | estat / sigut (dialect) |
estat | fost | |||
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 historic" 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
| Old Norse | Icelandic | Danish/
Norwegian |
Old Swedish | Swedish | Old English | English | Old High German | German | Dutch | Afrikaans | Gothic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | vera | vera | være | vara | vara | wesan | bēon | be | wesan | sein | zijn / wezen | wees | wisan |
| Present indicative |
em ert (est) er (es) erum eruð eru |
er ert er erum eruð eru |
er er er er er er |
æm/ær æst ær ærum ærin æru |
är är är är (äro) är (ären) är (äro) |
eom eart is sint sint sint |
bēo bist biþ bēoþ bēoþ bēoþ |
am art is are are are |
bim, bin bist ist birum, bir(e)n birut, bir(e)t sint |
bin bist ist sind seid sind |
ben bent/zijt is zijn zijn/zijt zijn |
is |
im is ist sijum sijuþ sind |
| Present subjunctive |
sjá sér sé sém séð sé |
sé sért sé séum séuð séu |
være (rare) |
sē(i)/vari sēi(n)/vari(n) |
vare (rare) |
sīe sīe sīe sīen sīen sīen |
bēo bēo bēo bēon bēon bēon |
be |
sī sīs(t) sī sīm, sīn sī(n)t sīn |
sei sei(e)st sei seien sei(e)t seien |
zij zij/zijt zij zijn zijn/zijt zijn |
is |
sijau sijais sijai sijaima sijaiþ sijaina |
| Preterite indicative |
var varst var várum várið váru |
var varst var vorum voruð voru |
var var var var var var |
var vast var vārum vārin vāru |
var var var var (voro) var (voren) var (voro) |
wæs wǽre wæs wǽron wǽron wǽron |
was wast was were were were |
was wāri was wārum wārut wārun |
war warst war waren wart waren |
was was/waart was waren waren/waart waren |
was |
was wast was wēsum wēsuþ wēsun |
|
| Preterite subjunctive |
væra værir væri værim værið væri |
væri værist væri værim værið væri |
var var var var var var |
vāri vāri(n) |
vore vore vore vore vore (-en) vore |
wǽre wǽre wǽre wǽren wǽren wǽren |
were wert were were were were |
wāri wārīs wāri wārīm wārīt wārīn |
wäre wärest wäre wären wäret wären |
ware ware/waart ware waren waren/waart waren |
was |
wēsjau wēseis wēsi wēseima wēseiþ wēseina |
|
| Past participle | verit | verið | været (Norw: vært) | varin | varit | – | been | giwesan | gewesen | geweest | gewees | ||
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 Celtic languages there is 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.
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. In Irish, particularly in the south, person inflections are still very common for the tá/bhí series. While some grammar books still distinguish the substantive verb from the copula, some treat the substantive forms as assertive forms of the copula;[4] 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 (1 táim, 2 táir, 3 tá, 1pl táimíd, 2pl (archaic) táthaoi, 3pl táid) an bhfuil níl (ní fhuil) nach bhfuil (1 fuilim, 2 fuilir, 3 fuil, 1pl fuilimíd-fuileam, 2pl (archaic) fuiltaoi, 3pl fuilid) |
| Assertive present | is | is | |
| Past | affirmative interrogative negative negative interogative |
bha an robh cha robh nach robh |
bhí (1 bhíos, 2 bhís, 3 bhí, 1pl bhiomair, 2pl bhíobhair, 3pl bhíodar) an raibh ní raibh nach raibh (1 rabhas, 2 rabhais, 3 raibh, 1pl rabhamair, 2pl rabhabhair, 3pl rabhadar) |
| Assertive past | bu | ba | |
| Future | affirmative interogative negative negative interogative |
bidh (or "bithidh") am bi cha bhi nach bi |
beidh (1 bead, 2 beir, 3 beidh, 1pl beimíd, 2pl beidh sibh, 3pl beid) an mbeidh ní bheidh nach mbeidh |
Gaelic (bh)eil and Irish (bh)fuil are from Old Irish fuil, 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).
Modern Welsh
The present tense in particular shows a split between the North and the South. Though the situation is undoubtedly more complicated, King (2003) notes the following variations in the present tense as spoken (not as written according to the standard orthography):
-
Affirmative (I am) Interrogative (Am I?) Negative (I am not) Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural North First Person dw dan ydw? ydan? (dy)dw (dy)dan Second Person —, (r)wyt dach wyt? (y)dach? dwyt (dy)dach Third Person mae maen ydy? ydyn? dydy dydyn South First Person rw, w ŷn, — ydw? ŷn? (d)w ŷn Second Person —, (r)wyt ych wyt? ych? — (ych) Third Person mae maen ydy?, yw? ŷn? dyw ŷn
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Affirmative (I am) Interrogative (Am I?) Negative (I am not) Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Preterite First Person bues buon fues? fuon? fues fuon Second Person buest buoch fuest? fuoch? fuest fuoch Third Person buodd buon fuodd? fuon? fuodd fuon Imperfect First Person roeddwn roedden oeddwn? oedden? doeddwn doedden Second Person roeddet roeddech oeddet? oeddech? doeddet doeddech Third Person roedd roeddyn oedd? oeddyn? doedd doeddyn Future First Person bydda byddwn fydda? fyddwn? fydda fyddwn Second Person byddi byddwch fyddi? fyddwch? fyddi fyddwch Third Person bydd byddan fydd? fyddan? fydd fyddan
Bod also has a conditional, for which there are two stems. The bas- stem is more common in the North, and the bydd- stem is more common in the South:
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Affirmative Interrogative Negative Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural bydd- First Person byddwn bydden fyddwn fydden fyddwn? fydden? Second Person byddet byddech fyddet fyddech fyddet? fyddech? Third Person byddai bydden fyddai fydden fyddai? fydden? bas- First Person baswn basen faswn fasen faswn? fasen? Second Person baset basech faset fasech faset? fasech? Third Person basai basen fasai fasen fasai? fasen?
Armenian
Classical Armenian examples.
| present tense | |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | em |
| 2nd sg. | es |
| 3rd sg. | é |
| 1st pl. | emk' |
| 2nd pl. | ék' |
| 3rd pl. | en |
References
- ^ a b Jasanoff, Jay (2003). Hittite and the Indo-European Verb. Oxford University Press. p. 112. ISBN 0-19-928198-X.
- ^ Calvert Watkins, American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
- ^ Ann K.S. Lambton, Persian Grammar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), p. 10-14.
- ^ Colin Mark, Gaelic Verbs systemised and simplified, Savage (London & Edinburgh) 1986, p21ff.
See also
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