I heard somewhere recently that the two oldest verbs are “to be” and “to have”. With “being” as the older of the two. Supposedly, the way that linguists are able to determine that fact is that in most, if not all, languages there is more irregularity with all the various forms of these verbs than in any others. Apparently, the older the verb, the less consistently structured the forms of it are.
Quick example: am/was versus identifies/identified. “Am” and “was” are fully different words while “identify” features a much more civilized modified suffix.
So it basically means that being and having are the two oldest most primary things that people could do. Or at least that they could conceive of in the form of language. That actually reminds me of one of the opening lines of Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer:
- “I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive.”
I always loved that.
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