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Jan. 3rd, 2003|03:12 am |
Там внизу был вопрос про глагол ту би и откуда он взялся и почему. Вот что интернет говорит.
The Verb béon ("to be")
<...>Notice, for example, that it's impossible to understand the connection between "been" and "was" as a sound change similar to that from "sung" to "sang." This is because the verb is actually cobbled together out of three different Indo-European verbs--the whole thing is a total mess, in fact, and does not respond easily to analysis. http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/engl401/lessons/beonpron.htm
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TO BE
"To be" is the most irregular verb in modern English, as well as the most common. In fact, it is a collective verb in all the Germanic languages. It takes eight different forms in Modern English:
BE = infinitive; subjunctive; imperative.
AM = Present, 1st person singular.
ARE = Present, 2nd person singular and all plural.
IS = Present, 3rd person singular.
WAS = Past, 1st and 3rd persons singular.
WERE = Past, 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive.
BEING = Progressive & present participle; gerund.
BEEN = Perfect participle.
These represent the merger of three once-distinct verbs:
S-root = eom, eart, is, sindon
B-root = beo, bist, biр, beoр
W-root = wesan, wжs, wжron.
Beon was the only Anglo-Saxon verb with a special future form. It was used specifically for future states of being, or "coming to be," or statements of eternal truth. It comes from an Indo-European root meaning "to dwell."
The S-root form traces back to another Indo-European root, the same one that gave the Greek esti- and Latin est (and German ist). The Old English form was esan.
For plural and subjunctive, Old English could also use sindon (sind, sie), which died out in the 12th century and was replaced by "are" (eart), though it continues in Modern German as the 3rd person plural of "to be."
The past-tense forms (was, were) come from Old English wesan, and they are the only Modern english survival of the Verner's Law shift of "s" into "r" between infinitive and 2nd preterite. This transformation once affected a great many English verbs. Wesan also means dwell/remain, but didn't have the sense of permanence of beon. The imperative, wes, is buried in "wassail" = wes hal, or "be healthy." Beon was generally reserved for permanent states, esan and wesan for temporary ones. The use of the w-root as a preterite goes back to Proto-Germanic. Gothic has was, us, im. "The incorporation of the b-root into this group seems to be a West Germanic innovation."
The picture is further clouded because Old English had strong regional variations among the various kingdoms of the island, and different combinations were used in Northumbria than in the West Saxon kingdom. For instance, West Saxon used beoр as the plural, but the modern plural, "are," is descended from the Anglian earon.
Retention of the b-root form was a mark of conservative dialect until the 1950s in rural West Country England -- "I be," "you be," "they be." It is a badge of non-standard grammar in contemporary America. <...>
http://www.geocities.com/etymonline/columns/tobe.htm
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