Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/bwiyeti

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Alternative reconstructions

*biyeti^[1]

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become”). Cognate with Ancient Greek φῡ́ομαι (phū́omai, “to grow”), Latin fīō (“to become”) and English be.

Verb

*bwiyeti^[2]

to be
to become

Inflection

Thematic present, suffixless preterite
Active voice
	Present	Imperfect	Future	Preterite
1st singular	*bwiyū	*bwiyemam	*bibūsū	*bubuwa
2nd singular	*bwiyesi	*bwiyetās	*bibūsesi	*bubuwas?
3rd singular	*bwiyeti	*bwiyeto	*bibūseti	*bubuwe
1st plural	*bwiyomosi	*bwiyemo	*bibūsomosi	*bubuwmo
2nd plural	*bwiyetesi	*bwiyestē	*bibūsetesi	*bubuwe
3rd plural	*bwiyonti	*bwiyento	*bibūsonti	*bubuwars
	Pres. subjunctive	Past subjunctive	Imperative
1st singular	*buwū	?	—
2nd singular	*buwesi	?	*bwiye
3rd singular	*buweti	?	*bwiyetou
1st plural	*buwomosi	?	*bwiyomos
2nd plural	*buwetesi	?	*bwiyete
3rd plural	*buwonti	?	*bwiyontou
Passive voice
	Present	Imperfect	Future	Preterite
1st singular	*bwiyūr	—	*bibūsūr	*bubuwra
2nd singular	*bwiyetar	—	*bibūsetar	*bubuwras?
3rd singular	*bwiyetor	?	*bibūsetor	*bubuwre
1st plural	*bwiyommor	—	*bibūsommor	?
2nd plural	*bwiyedwe	—	*bibūsedwe	?
3rd plural	*bwiyontor	?	*bibūsontor	?
	Pres. subjunctive	Past subjunctive	Imperative
1st singular	*buwūr	—	—
2nd singular	*buwetar	—	—
3rd singular	*buwetor	—	—
1st plural	*buwommor	—	—
2nd plural	*buwedwe	—	—
3rd plural	*buwontor	—	—

Declension of the present participle
masculine	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bwiyonts	*bwiyonte	*bwiyontes
vocative	*bwiyonts	*bwiyonte	*bwiyontes
accusative	*bwiyontam	*bwiyonte	*bwiyontans
genitive	*bwiyantos	*?	*bwiyantom
dative	*bwiyantei	*bwiyantbom	*bwiyantbos
instrumental	*bwiyantī?	*bwiyantbim	*bwiyantbis
feminine	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bwiyantī	*bwiyantī	*bwiyantiyās
vocative	*bwiyantī	*bwiyantī	*bwiyantiyās
accusative	*bwiyantīm	*bwiyantī	*bwiyantiyans
genitive	*bwiyantyās	*?	*bwiyantyom
dative	*bwiyantyāi	*bwiyantyābom	*bwiyantyābos
instrumental	*?	*bwiyantyābim	*bwiyantyābis
neuter	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bwiyont	*?	*bwiyonta
vocative	*bwiyont	*?	*bwiyonta
accusative	*bwiyont	*?	*bwiyonta
genitive	*bwiyantos	*?	*bwiyantom
dative	*bwiyantei	*?	*bwiyantbos
instrumental	*bwiyantī?	*?	*bwiyantbis

Declension of the middle participle
masculine	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bwiyomnos	*bwiyomnou	*bwiyomnoi
vocative	*bwiyomne	*bwiyomnou	*bwiyomnoi
accusative	*bwiyomnom	*bwiyomnou	*bwiyomnons
genitive	*bwiyomnī	*bwiyomnous	*bwiyomnom
dative	*bwiyomnūi	*bwiyomnobom	*bwiyomnobos
instrumental	*bwiyomnū	*bwiyomnobim	*bwiyomnobis
feminine	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bwiyomnā	*bwiyomnai	*bwiyomnās
vocative	*bwiyomnā	*bwiyomnai	*bwiyomnās
accusative	*bwiyomnam	*bwiyomnai	*bwiyomnans
genitive	*bwiyomnās	*bwiyomnous	*bwiyomnom
dative	*bwiyomnai	*bwiyomnābom	*bwiyomnābos
instrumental	*?	*bwiyomnābim	*bwiyomnābis
neuter	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bwiyomnom	*bwiyomnou	*bwiyomnā
vocative	*bwiyomnom	*bwiyomnou	*bwiyomnā
accusative	*bwiyomnom	*bwiyomnou	*bwiyomnā
genitive	*bwiyomnī	*bwiyomnous	*bwiyomnom
dative	*bwiyomnūi	*bwiyomnobom	*bwiyomnobos
instrumental	*bwiyomnū	*bwiyomnobim	*bwiyomnobis

Reconstruction notes

It is possible that the development within Proto-Celtic was *biyeti < *bwiyeti < *buyeti, Zair prefers the simpler *biyeti < *buyeti. He rejects the counter-evidence to this provided by Welsh ysbyddad (“hawthorn”) and the Brythonic word for “duck” (Welsh hwyad, Cornish hos, and Breton houad).

Derived terms

*du(s)-bwiy-om
*su-bwiy-om
- Old Irish: subae (“joy”)
- ⇒ *su-bw-inyos
  - Old Irish: Suibne

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *bɨðɨd
- Old Breton: bout
- Cornish: bos
- Old Welsh: bot
  - Middle Welsh: bod
    - Welsh: bod
Gaulish: biiete (2pl.pres.ind./imp.), buetid (3sg. subj.)^[2]
Old Irish: bí (see ·tá for derivatives)
- Irish: bí
- Manx: bee
- Scottish Gaelic: bi

References

^ Nicholas Zair (2009) “OIr. biid < *bʰuH-ye/o- and “Hiatus” Verbs”, in Stephanie Jamison, Craig Melcher, Brent Vine, editors, Proceedings of the 20th UCLA Indo-European Conference: Los Angeles 2008‎^[1], Bremen: Hempen Verlag, archived from the original on 2024-09-24, pages 213-20
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Schumacher, Stefan, Schulze-Thulin, Britta (2004) “Urkelt. *bu̯-ii̯e/o-”, in Die keltischen Primärverben: ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon [The Celtic Primary Verbs: A comparative, etymological and morphological lexicon] (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft; 110) (in German), Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität Innsbruck, →ISBN, pages 241-56