[Indo-European] To be, being #1

Be: a simple word at first glance. It's easy to pronounce, easy to spell, and it holds only one meaning: existence. But this word is deceptively complex! This series will be about "being" in every major language in the Indo-European family.

This first chapter will look only at one form in each language: the simple present, active, infinitive, "to be".

We will also look at how each language says "maybe", when this is derived from the verbs of "being" (existence) or "happening" (occurrence, new existence).

 

[English]

To be, being.

Maybe = may (potential) + be (existence).
Mayhap (very archaic and rarely used) = may + happen.

[Dutch]

zijn / wezen - to be

mach (may) + schien (happen) = misschien (maybe).  

wel (very) + licht (easy) = wellicht. 
Imagine person 1 asks "Could this happen?" Person 2 replies "Very easily!" With time, this becomes a new word, meaning "maybe!"

[German]

sein - to be

Maybe = vielleicht, könnte sein.

könnte sein (could be).
können - can. This is the indicative mood, so it indicates a certainty. "Das kann sein" means "that can be".
könnten - could. This is the subjunctive mood, so it indicates a possibility, without certainty.

Viel (much) + leicht (easy) = vielleicht.
Imagine person 1 asks "Could this happen?" Person 2 replies "Very easily!" With time, this becomes a new word, meaning "maybe!"

[Danish]

at være - to be
 
må (may) + ske (happen) = måske (maybe).

[Norwegian]

å være - to be
 
kan (can) + skje (happen) = kanskje (maybe).

[Swedish]

att vara - to be

kan (can) + ske (happen) = kanske (maybe).

[Spanish]

ser - to be
estar - to be (transient)

[French]

être - to be

[Portuguese]

ser - to be
estar - to be (transient)

[Italian]

essere - to be

[Lithuanian] 

bū́ti - to be 

gál - maybe

galbūt - maybe 

[Polish]

być - to be

może - maybe

[Bulgarian]

бъда (bǎ́da) - to be
съм (sǎm) - to be

може би (može bi) - maybe 

[Russian]

быть (bytʹ)- to be

мо́жет быть (móžet bytʹ) - maybe
возмо́жно (vozmóžno) - maybe

Origination

Everything began with:

• Proto-Indo-European: *bʰúHt (to become) 

• Proto-Germanic: *beuną (to be, to become)
• English: be
• Proto-Slavic: *byti (to be) 
• Lithuanian: bū́ti
• Polish: być 
• Bulgarian: бъда 
• Russian: быть

• Proto-Indo-European: *h₁ésti (to be)
• Proto-Italic: *staēō (to stand)
• Latin:  stāre (to stand) 
• Spanish: estar
• Portuguese: estar
• Proto-Italic: *sedēō (to sit)
• Latin: sedēre (to sit, reside)
• Spanish: ser 
• Portuguese: ser
• Proto-Italic: *ezom (to be)
• Latin: 
• esse (to be)
• Spanish: ser
• Portuguese: ser
• French: être
• Italian: essere 

• Proto-Indo-European: *h₂wes- (to dwell)
• Proto-Germanic: *wesaną (to be) 
• German: sein
• Dutch: zijn, wezen
• Danish: være
• Norwegian: være
• Swedish: vara

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this article.