Where do sunt, ești, este and fi come from? History of the Romanian verb 'a fi'

The melt, form by form

Tap each form: see which Latin side it belongs to and by which mechanism. The series tag is secure across the whole machine; where uncertainty exists, it belongs to the mechanism — and the tag says so.

How to read the tags

ESSE ESSE · FU- FIERI: The Latin series: which side the form belongs to. The assignment is secure across the machine — that is not where the dispute lies.
RECONSTRUCTION: Reconstruction: the mechanism scholars propose (Goția & Corcheș; Maiden).
PROBABLE ETYMON: Probable etymon: the likeliest Latin cell (fie < fiat/fiant; fiind after the infinitive).
ANALOGICAL FORMATION: Analogical formation: rebuilt in Romanian on another pattern (suntem, sunteți after sunt).
DISPUTED MECHANISM: Disputed mechanism: two reconstructions compete (sunt, fost).
ATTESTED OPEN MECHANISM: Attested: the form appears in texts (e, in 1521). Open: the page's sources do not settle the mechanism (eram, fui).

sunt I/they ESSE DISPUTED MECHANISM

Present ← esse. The mechanism is disputed: sint + -unt (Coteanu 1992) or sunt + unt (Goția & Corcheș 2010)? The literary u-spelling came through the Latinist School (MDA2) — it does not settle it.

ești you sg. ESSE RECONSTRUCTION

The Goția & Corcheș (2010) reconstruction: analogical from est + i (4th-conjugation pattern) + the -ști ending (dorești).

este he/she ESSE RECONSTRUCTION

The Goția & Corcheș (2010) reconstruction: from est + the -it ending, still in Danube Latin.

e he/she, short ESSE ATTESTED

The reduced variant of este; in 1521 the only 3rd-person form (Neacșu has no este).

suntem we ESSE ANALOGICAL FORMATION

First semu < simus (subjunctive, not sumus); the modern form, analogical after the 3rd plural sunt. (Coteanu; Goția & Corcheș; Maiden)

sunteți you pl. ESSE ANALOGICAL FORMATION

First seți < sitis; the modern form, analogical after the 3rd plural sunt. (Coteanu; Goția & Corcheș; Maiden)

eram I/we, was ESSE OPEN MECHANISM

Series: imperfect ← esse. The person-by-person match is not elucidated in the page's sources.

fui · fusei I, once was ESSE · FU- OPEN MECHANISM

Series: perfect ← fui. Alive in the Oltenian vernacular and in literary writing. The doublet mechanism, not elucidated here.

fi infinitive FIERI RECONSTRUCTION

fieri → fiere → fire → fi. The FIERI ancestry is secure; the chain is the standard reconstruction.

fiu · fii · fim · fiți let me/you/us FIERI RECONSTRUCTION

Maiden (2022): phonologically impossible from fiam, fias, fiamus, fiatis (which would have given *fie, *fie, *fiem, *fiați); impeccably derived from indicative fio, fis, fimus, fitis.

fie let him/them be FIERI PROBABLE ETYMON

Probably < fiat/fiant — the likeliest etymon (Maiden); the 3rd person behaves differently from the 1st–2nd.

fiind gerund FIERI PROBABLE ETYMON

Stem fi- + -înd; probably modelled on the infinitive (Maiden 2022).

fost participle ESSE · FU- DISPUTED MECHANISM

The fu- series (sum/esse): the participle of fi, a Romanian analogical formation. The exact mechanism is disputed: from fuse, after pus < puse — or from fuistes/fuissetis (Scriban)?

Stare does NOT enter the machine: Latin stare separately gave a sta (a sta în picioare).

Who took the verb apart

Four witnesses

From the 1521 letter to the 2022 thesis: five centuries of forms, two of explanations.

Neacșu, 1521

“să fie în ajutor… de boiari ce sânt megiiaș… domniiata ești înțelept… aimintrea nu e… pre io-i va fi voia.”

Neacșu's letter of 1521 (transcription)

Fie, sânt, ești, e, fi — attested together in Neacșu's letter of 1521. Este is missing: the 3rd person is only e.

Coteanu, 1992

“a existat cîndva, înaintea secolului al XVI-lea, un sintunt, din păcate neatestat. El este predecesorul lui sîntu.”

Limba română XLI (PDF)

The sint + -unt thesis, with the phonological argument: u could not become î. Plus the old su/ești/e/semu/seți paradigm.

Goția & Corcheș, 2010

“Sursa… poate fi tot atât de bine și sunt + unt, nu neapărat *sintunt.”

Dacoromania XV (PDF)

The counter-thesis: nasal u does give â/î (adânc, osânză) — so sunt + unt is just as possible. Both routes stay open.

Maiden, 2022

“Romanian fiu fii fim fiți are simply not phonologically possible reflexes of fiam fias fiamus fiatis.”

ZrP 138(2), 317–339 (open access, CC BY)

The indicative thesis: the fiu series comes from fio, fis, fimus, fitis; fie stays probable from fiat/fiant, and the gerund fiind is modelled on the infinitive.

Maiden 2022 (open access) →

Three stops on one rail

The letter, the psalter, the linguist — the evidence, the copy, the explanation.

Neacșu
1521
Neacșu's letter of 1521: fie, sânt, ești, e, fi attested together. The 3rd person is only e — este is missing.
stop 1 of 3
Scheiana
1573
The surviving copy at the Romanian Academy Library (ms. rom. 449), dated c. 1573–1578: iaste, sâmtu, săntu, fură, fu, era. One copy in a chain of versions — not the birth of the translation.
stop 2 of 3
Coteanu
1992
The sintunt thesis: sîntu from sint + -unt, before the 16th century. With a phonological argument.
stop 3 of 3

Where the melt shows

Seams

The melt did not come out smooth: short and long forms survived side by side, a perfect that has retreated from speech, and a voted spelling.

Short and long

The short series: s, îs (mi-s, nu-s, eu îs) — direct leftovers of sum/sunt. The long series (sunt, suntem, este): analogically rebuilt, to save the forms from dying. (Goția & Corcheș 2010)

Semu and seți

In the 16th century the 1st and 2nd plural were semu and seți, from subjunctive simus/sitis — not sumus/estis. They held on in Transylvania and Banat into the 20th century. (Coteanu 1992)

Fui lives in Oltenia

The simple perfect has largely left ordinary speech, but it stays alive in the Oltenian vernacular for recent actions and available in literary narration. (grammar synthesis; DEX marks fusei as regional)

Sânt versus sunt

On 17 February 1993 the Romanian Academy decided to return to the sunt spelling (suntem, sunteți), alongside the return to â inside words. The decision is normative: it says how the standard is written; it does not by itself settle whether the historical form was built from sint + -unt or sunt + -unt. (Academica; Cirimpei 2009; the controversy: Firică 2009)

The Coresi statue at Brașov — Coresi at Brașov, where he printed the Missal (1570). Photo: Alex:D, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Coteanu 1992 (PDF) →

Where reconstruction gets tricky

Three knots where reconstruction gets tricky

The split of the paradigm between sum/esse and fieri is well established; the liveliest disputes concern how certain forms were remodelled and, sometimes, the exact Latin cell they start from.

Sunt: sint or sunt?

Coteanu: *sintunt (sint + -unt), since u does not give î. Goția & Corcheș: sunt + unt just as possible (adânc, osânză, Fr. sont, It. sono < sunt) — and they leave both routes open. On top of that, the literary u-forms came through the Latinist School (MDA2): today's spelling does not settle the dispute.

Fiu and fie: one series, different persons

Traditionally: fiu < fiam. Maiden (2022) shows phonologically why that fails: from fiam, fias, fiamus, fiatis we would expect *fie, *fie, *fiem, *fiați. The series fiu, fii, fim, fiți follows impeccably from indicative fio, fis, fimus, fitis. Fie is a different case: probably from fiat/fiant.

Fost and fiind: how?

Fost belongs to the fu- series (sum/esse): the participle of fi, a Romanian analogical formation. What stays to be settled is the exact mechanism: from fuse, after pus < puse — or, in Scriban, from fuistes or fuissetis? Fiind is clearer: Maiden sees it modelled on the infinitive.

Fragment from Donatus' Ars minor — Donatus, Ars minor: the Latin grammar where esse is conjugated. Photo: Donatus, Aelius; Printer of the Speculum, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

No form with a disputed mechanism gets a single certain etymon on this page: mechanisms stand with their source beside them, and the alternatives stay on the table.

What is NOT disputed: infinitive fi < fieri, present/imperfect/perfect series < esse, and that stare separately gave a sta — every source agrees on that.

Goția & Corcheș 2010 (PDF) →

The same trick, other languages

Cousins: English and French

Suppletion in 'be' verbs is a world champion: copular meanings show the most frequent tense-aspect suppletion in Veselinova's survey — synchronic typology, not evidence for the Romanian history. English melts three roots, French two verbs.

English: three roots

be/been/being from one root ('to become'), am/is/are from another ('to be'), was/were from a third ('to dwell'). Lass: 'a collection of paradigm fragments'. (Etymonline)

French: two verbs

The infinitive être comes from popular Latin *essere, from classical esse; the imperfect (étais), the participle (été) and the present participle (étant) come through Old French estere, from stare, 'to stand'. A different melt, the same trick. (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th edition)

Veselinova, WALS ch. 79 →

Test yourself

Which side is the form from?

Six forms from the machine, three bins. Sort each form into its series — then read the reveal: a secure series can hide a disputed mechanism.

Choose one bin for each card. Keys 1, 2, 3 pick the bin for the focused card; cards tap with a finger too.

sunt
I/they
Bin
A secure sum/esse series — but the mechanism (sint or sunt + -unt?) stays disputed.
ești
you sg.
Bin
ESSE, via the Goția & Corcheș reconstruction: est + i + -ști.
fi
infinitive
Bin
Secure FIERI: fieri → fiere → fire → fi.
fiu
let me be
Bin
FIERI — but from indicative fio, not subjunctive fiam (Maiden 2022).
fie
let him/them be
Bin
FIERI, probably from fiat/fiant: the 3rd person behaves differently.
fost
participle
Bin
The machine's trap: not FIERI. Fu- series (esse), a Romanian analogical formation, disputed mechanism.

Score: 0 of 6

The answers, with the reveal:

sunt (I/they) — SUM/ESSE: A secure sum/esse series — but the mechanism (sint or sunt + -unt?) stays disputed.
ești (you sg.) — SUM/ESSE: ESSE, via the Goția & Corcheș reconstruction: est + i + -ști.
fi (infinitive) — FIERI: Secure FIERI: fieri → fiere → fire → fi.
fiu (let me be) — FIERI: FIERI — but from indicative fio, not subjunctive fiam (Maiden 2022).
fie (let him/them be) — FIERI: FIERI, probably from fiat/fiant: the 3rd person behaves differently.
fost (participle) — ANALOGICAL FORMATION: The machine's trap: not FIERI. Fu- series (esse), a Romanian analogical formation, disputed mechanism.

A secure series does not mean a secure mechanism: that is the whole lesson of the machine.

Sources

Linguists first, then the texts, dictionaries and spelling. Every risky claim points at its source.