wesen

== Low German == === Alternative forms === węsen, wäsen, wiäsen weasen (New Saxon Spelling) ween waen (Dutch Low Saxon) === Etymology === From Middle Low German wēsen, from Old Saxon wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. All the forms with initial w- (imperative and past tense) derive from this root. It is related to Old English wesan, Dutch wezen, West Frisian wêze. The original infinitive is wesen but a second infinitive sien also exists. The infinitive wesen is still the most used one, but in general which one is used is a matter of personal preference and/or region. The infinitive sien derives from Middle Low German sîn, from Old Saxon sīn. Along with the words is and sünd, it derives ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”), which had no separate infinitive in Germanic. The modern infinitive sien was probably back-formed in late Old Saxon from the former first-person plural subjunctive sīn (“we be”), since this form had become identical to the infinitive in other verbs during the late Old Saxon period. Compare also Dutch zijn and its alternative infinitive wezen. Finally, the forms bin/bün and bist/büst derive from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, to become”), from *bʰuH- (“to become”), which survives only as relic forms in the West Germanic languages and not at all in the others. Its infinitive and non-singular forms are only attested in (Old) English. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈʋɛː.zən/, /ˈvɛː.zən/ (most areas, including parts of Brandenburg) IPA(key): /ˈwɛː.zən/, /ˈβɛː.zən/ (conservative pronunciation for most areas; becoming steadily rarer post 17th century) IPA(key): /ˈʋeː.ən/, /ˈʋɛːn/ (areas with historical Frisian settlement) IPA(key): /ˈʋɪɛ.zən/, /ˈʋɪa.zən/ (parts of Westphalia) IPA(key): /ˈʋeː.zən/ (some dialects at the Dutch border and North Sea coast) IPA(key): /ˈβeːa.zən/, /ˈʋeːa.zən/ (Brandenburg) === Verb === wesen (past singular weer, past participle wesen or west, auxiliary verb wesen) (intransitive) To be, to exist. (transitive, copulative) Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the perfect tense of the active voice of some verbs, together with a past participle.Note: The perfect tense of most other verbs is formed using hebben. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the perfect tense of the passive voice, together with a past participle.Note: The imperfect tense passive is formed using warrn. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses, together with an't. (intransitive) To go, to go on a trip and return. (intransitive, impersonal) Used to indicate weather, temperature or some other general condition. (transitive, copulative, mathematics) To equal; used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same, often used with gliek an. (intransitive) To have the next turn in a game. (with an indirect object and no subject) It is, be ==== Usage notes ==== The stem wes- is pronounced with an open vowel or diphthong in all forms, in dialects which have not merged these vowels with close long vowels. (cf. Pronunciation section) The original forms are marked bold, the other forms were created later in a process of pattern regularisation. The forms with ü come from later rounding due to a mixture of labial environment and unstressed position. ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Synonyms ==== sin, sien seyn, syn === See also === Wesen wesentlich == Middle Dutch == === Etymology === From Old Dutch wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈwɛːzən/ === Verb === wēsen to be Synonym: sijn ==== Inflection ==== This verb needs an inflection-table template. ==== Descendants ==== Dutch: wezenAfrikaans: weesJersey Dutch: wêzeNegerhollands: wees, wis Limburgish: waeze === Further reading === “wesen (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000 “wesen (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000 Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “wesen (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II == Middle High German == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (before 13th CE) /ˈwɛs̠ən/ === Verb === sīn or wësen (irregular, third-person singular present ist, past tense was, past participle gewësen, past subjunctive wære, auxiliary sīn) alternative form of sīn == Middle Low German == === Etymology === From Old Saxon wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną. === Pronunciation === Stem vowel: ē² (originally) IPA(key): /wɪɛzən/ === Verb === wēsen to be ==== Usage notes ==== Wēsen is a verb with a suppletive conjugation based on multiple Proto-Germanic stems. For many verb forms, authors freely chose between forms based on the stems wēs- and sî-, without semantic impact. This is also true for modern Low German and Dutch. For the forms based on the sî- stem, see the respective entry at sîn. ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Alternative forms ==== sîn ==== Descendants ==== Low German: wesen, ween, waen