быть

Forms

быть (bytʹ) impf^[1] The present tense is missing except for the third person есть and bookish plural суть; the past is был, была́, бы́ло, the future бу́ду, бу́дешь, the imperative будь.^[2] Old Russian still had a full present ѥсмь, ѥси, ѥсть, with нѣсмь, нѣсть in the negative, a plural соуть, the imperfect бѧше and the aorist бы, бѣ.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic бꙑти (byti), from Proto-Slavic *byti.^[1][4] Anikin explains the Proto-Slavic infinitive as at first the dative singular of an Indo-European noun ⟨*bhū-ti-⟩ formed from the aorist stem;^[4] Shaposhnikov likewise.^[5] The present ⟨*esmь⟩ is suppletive, from another root (see есть).^[4][1] The Slavic forms are Old Church Slavonic быти (byti), Ukrainian бути (buty), Belarusian быць (bycʹ), Slovene biti, Czech býti and Polish być;^[4][1] Bulgarian keeps it only in Bulgarian може би (može bi, “maybe”).^[4][1]

Its cognates include Lithuanian būti, Latvian būt, Old Prussian būton, Old Irish buith (“being”), Ancient Greek φύομαι (phúomai, “I become, grow”), Latin fuī (“I was”) and futūrus (“future”), Old High German būan (“to dwell”) (modern German bauen (“to build”)) and English be.^[6][4][7][1] Anikin and Chernykh trace them to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, arise, be”).^[4][7]

The iterative is бывать, with забыть, прибыть and their imperfectives; the old causative survives only with prefixes, as in прибавить and забавить.^[7][4] The nouns быт, быль and the Church Slavonic бытие belong here too.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Russian has быти from the 11th century.^[4] SDRJa counts more than 50,000 examples, the first from the Izbornik of 1076: „дъва разбо˫а ѥсте” “there are two kinds of robbery”, one taking from the poor, the other failing to clothe them.^[3] The Laurentian Chronicle has „Си бо угри почаша быти при Ираклии цари” “these Ugrians began to appear under the emperor Heraclius”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old Russian the verb meant “to exist”, “to become”, “to happen” and “to be somewhere”, and it was an auxiliary.^[7] The prefixed verbs забыти, прибыти, добыти, отбыти, выбыти and others are all known in the 11th–17th centuries.^[5] The Lay of Igor's Campaign has былина “a true event” in „по былинам сего времени”.^[7]

The modern verb keeps these senses and serves as the copula, especially in the past and future; colloquially, не буду can also refuse food or drink.^[2] Ryazan, Tambov and other dialects have a particle быть “as if”, probably the same verb in an infinitive of necessity.^[9]

Timeline

• 1076 – ѥсте “there are” in the Izbornik of 1076.^[3]
• 11th–17th centuries – забыти, прибыти, добыти and the other prefixed verbs.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To exist, to live.^[2][5]
2. To be there, to take place, to happen: быть беде “there will be trouble”.^[2][5]
3. To be somewhere, to be present: вчера я был у врача “I was at the doctor's yesterday”.^[2][5]
4. be: as part of the predicate, giving its time and its reality, with the instrumental or the nominative: хочу быть врачом.^[2][1]
5. (colloquial; personal forms only) To want to eat or drink something: чай будешь?^[2]

Word family

• бывать
• побывать
• забыть
• прибыть
• добыть
• выбыть
• отбыть
• избыть
• быт
• быль
• бытие

Related words

• есть
• суть
• будущий
• бы
• б
• Old East Slavic бꙑти (byti)

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include была не была! “here goes!”, будь что будет “come what may” and быть по сему, the old formula of a tsar's approval, now ironic.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. быть
3. ^ a b c Avanesov, R. I. et al. (eds.) (1988–), Slovar' drevnerusskogo jazyka (XI–XIV vv.) [Словарь древнерусского языка (XI–XIV вв.)], vols. 1–13, Moskva: Russkij jazyk / Azbukovnik, p. 1, s.v. быти
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Anikin, A. E. (2007–2021), Russkij ètimologičeskij slovar' [Русский этимологический словарь], vols. 1–13 (A–D), Moskva: Rukopisnye pamjatniki Drevnej Rusi / Institut russkogo jazyka RAN, p. 5, 286
5. ^ a b c d e f Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 90
6. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 260
7. ^ a b c d e f Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 1, s.v. быть
8. ^ Barkhudarov, S. G. et al. (eds.) (1975–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XI–XVII vv. [Словарь русского языка XI–XVII вв.], vols. 1–31, Moskva: Nauka / Azbukovnik / Lexrus, p. 1, 366
9. ^ Anikin, A. E. (2007–2021), Russkij ètimologičeskij slovar' [Русский этимологический словарь], vols. 1–13 (A–D), Moskva: Rukopisnye pamjatniki Drevnej Rusi / Institut russkogo jazyka RAN, p. 5, 287