sum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsum]^[1]

Forms

sum (present infinitive esse, perfect active fuī, future active participle futūrus); irregular conjugation, suppletive, no passive, no supine stem except in the future active participle, no gerund^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *es-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”).^[2] The verb is suppletive: its present forms continue ⟨*h₁es-⟩, while the perfect ⟨fuī⟩ and all the forms in /f-/ (including ⟨fore⟩, and the separate verb fīō “to become”) continue Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become, grow”), the root that also gave the endings of the future in ⟨-bō⟩ and the imperfect in ⟨-bam⟩.^[1][3]

The shape of the first person ⟨sum⟩ is disputed.^[2] Archaic Latin had ⟨esom⟩ and Old Latin ⟨esum⟩ beside the clipped forms in /s-/, which probably arose as unstressed clitics.^[1] Joseph and Wallace derived ⟨esom⟩ from ⟨*esmi⟩ by sound change in enclitic position, but Dunkel and Schrijver explain Proto-Italic ⟨*esom⟩ as the old thematic subjunctive ⟨*es-e/o-⟩, also found in Celtic.^[2]

Cognates include Oscan súm (“I am”), Umbrian est (“is”), Hittite 𒂊𒍪 (ēšzi, “is”), Sanskrit अस्ति (ásti, “is”), Ancient Greek εἰμί (eimí, “I am”), Old Irish is (“is”) and Albanian jam (“I am”).^[2] The OLD also compares English ⟨am⟩ and ⟨be⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's earliest attestations are very old Latin inscriptions: esed “will be” on the Forum cippus, sied on the Duenos inscription, esom “I am” on the Garigliano bowl, and estod in a sacred law.^[2] The OLD's earliest literary citations are from Plautus and Ennius.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From its basic senses, to be alive and to exist, be real, as in Plautus and Ennius, it was used of being found or occurring in a place or circumstance, of a state of affairs obtaining, as already in the Twelve Tables, and with the dative of something belonging to someone (est mihi “I have”).^[3] As a copula it joined subject and complement (to be of a kind, be equal to, amount to), est ut meant “it is the case that”, and with an infinitive it meant to be possible, as in Terence.^[3] With the perfect participle it formed the perfect passive, already in Plautus.^[3]

Old Latin had a future escit “will be”, in the Twelve Tables and Lucretius, and superescit “will be over” in Ennius and Accius.^[2] In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to be, exist, belong to, pertain to.^[5] It continues as Italian essere, Old French estre, Portuguese ser and Romanian fi.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a copula and as an auxiliary.^[3][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of real existence.^[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be alive, (of things) to exist.^[3]
2. To have physical being, be real.^[3]
3. To be found, occur, be present (in a place or circumstance).^[3]
4. (with dative) To belong to, be the property of: est mihi “I have”.^[3]
5. est ut: it is the case that.^[3]
6. (with infinitive) To be possible or allowable.^[3]
7. (as a copula) To be (of a kind, in a condition); to be equal to, amount to.^[3]
8. (as an auxiliary verb) Forming the perfect passive with the perfect participle.^[3]
9. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To belong to, pertain to.^[5]

Word family

• absum
• adsum
• cōnfūtō
• dēsum
• essentia
• exsum
• īnsum
• intersum
• obsum
• praesum
• praetersum
• prōsum

Related words

• posse
• sōns
• fīō
• possum
• absēns
• praesēns

Usage notes

A separate Old Latin sum is the masculine accusative singular of a pronoun, meaning eum “him”, with feminine sam and plural sōs, sās, and Festus quotes it from Ennius.^[3][6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.