بـ

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian [script needed] (bʾ /⁠bē⁠/, “out, away, forth”, also preverbal particle of unclear additional meanings), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰe.

In Classical Persian the prefix did not indicate the subjunctive, but had diverse and generally vague meanings depending on the context. The development into a subjunctive marker went hand in hand with the displacement of the simple present by the durative present in می (mi-). Thereby be- became more and more associated with the subjunctive position and was ultimately grammaticalised in this function. The use of simple present for the subjunctive is now literary, while its use for the indicative is archaic/poetic.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /bi-/, /bij-/
• (Dari)
  • IPA^(key): /bɪ-/
  • IPA^(key): (before a syllable with the vowel /ʊ/) /bʊ-/
  • IPA^(key): (before a vowel) /bij-/
• (Iran)
  • IPA^(key): (in general) /be-/

    • Audio (Iran):

      (file)

  • IPA^(key): (before a syllable with vowel /o/) /bo-/
  • IPA^(key): (before a vowel) /bij-/
• (Tajik) IPA^(key): /bi-/, /bij/, /bu/

Prefix

بـ • (be-)

1. marks the present subjunctive of most verbs

   می‌خوام پانکراستو بخورم. ― mi-xâm pânkrâs-et-o bo-xoram. ― I want to eat your pancreas.

   • 2020, “ماکرون: لوکاشنکو باید برود [Macron: Lukashenko must go]”, in Euronews Persian‎^[2]:

     واضح است که لوکاشنکو باید برود.

     vâze ast ke lukâšenko bâyad be-ravad.

     It is clear that Lukashenko must go.

2. Marks the imperative of most verbs.

   این را ببین. ― in-râ be-bin. ― Look at this.

   راحت بخواب. ― râhat be-xâb. ― Sleep well.

3. (archaic) Adds an emphatic sense to a verb in the simple past.

Usage notes

Unlike the other verbal prefix می (mi-), the negative prefix نـ (na-) replaces ب‍ـ (be-) rather than attaching to it:

• بگو (be-gu, “say!”) > نگو (na-gu, “don't say!”)

The prefix is not used with most compound verbs whose verbal element is کردن (kardan) or شدن (šodan); in these cases, the imperative or subjunctive is marked by the bare present stem. In literary language, it may be also omitted for other verbs.

The verbs بودن (budan, “to be”) and داشتن (dâštan, “to have”) are irregular: the imperative and subjunctive of the former uses the stem باش (bâš) without ب‍ـ (be-), and the latter uses the past participle داشته (dâšte) in conjunction with بودن (budan), e.g. داشته باش (dâšte bâš, “have!”)

Etymology 2

Preposition

بـ • (be)

1. Alternative spelling of به (be)

Usage notes

• The preposition به (be) was most commonly written joined to the following word until the early twentieth century.
• Nowadays, the preposition is normally written as a separate word. It is written joined only in lexicalized usages, or for many به (be) + noun sequences that function as adverbial phrases. For example, به سرعت (be sor'at, “quickly”, literally “in speed”) is often written joined as بسرعت (be-sor'at).