Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/e-

This Proto-Finnic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Finnic

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *e- ~ *ä- ~ *a- (negative verb stem). Cognate with Proto-Samic *i- (whence Northern Sami ii). The imperative forms are from the Proto-Uralic negative imperative verb stem *älä-.

Verb

*e- (stem *e-)

The negative verb, not

Inflection

Used as an auxiliary verb; the main verb is then inflected in a special connegative form. The negative verb seems to only have inflected in indicative and imperative moods (with the former used for other moods).

For the indicative mood, a separate past tense stem *es- existed, which survives only in Võro, Livonian and some Estonian dialects (eg. Kodavere). In other descendants, the present forms are used instead with the connegative form replaced by the past active participle. Since a corresponding past tense negative verb stem can be found in many other Uralic languages, from Sámi to Samoyedic, a common root of *-(ń)ś- can be reconstructed.

The imperative mood stem *älä- is suppletive; many descendants show partial levelling to *elä-.

	present	past	imperative
1st sing.	*en	*esin	—
2nd sing.	*et	*esit	*äläk
3rd sing.	epi epä	*esi	*älägäsen
1st plur.	ekmek ekmäk	esimek esimäk	älägätemek älägätämäk
2nd plur.	ektek ektäk	esidek esidäk	älägäte älägätä
3rd plur.	ebät epi	*esi	*älägäsen

Besides the listed forms, an active present participle form *epä can be reconstructed. It usually survives as a prefix or in further derived forms (such as the third-person plural), but seems to have become the standard third-person singular form in Livonian, Votic and some dialects of Estonian. The final -i in the other third-person singular forms probably originates from *epi (seemingly regularly shifted from earlier *epä, compare *-pi and *-mpi), but has in the past also thought to come from the agent suffix *-ja.

Derived terms

*ehkä
? *eksüdäk

Descendants

The following entries are for the third-person singular indicative (present) form.

Estonian: ei
- ⇒ Estonian: pole (from dialectal ep; contraction of ep ole)
Finnish: ei
Ingrian: ei
Karelian: ei
Livonian: ä'b
Livvi: ei
Ludian: ei
Veps: ei
Votic: eb
Võro: ei, eiq

Itkonen, Erkki, Kulonen, Ulla-Maija, editors (1992–2000), Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The origin of Finnish words]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online version; note: also includes other etymological sources), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland/Finnish Literature Society, →ISBN
“ei”, in [ETY] Eesti etümoloogiasõnaraamat [Estonian Etymological Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2012
Grünthal, Riho. 2022. Varhaisen metallikauden kielellisiä jälkiä Volgan yläjuoksulta itäiselle Suomenlahdelle - Monographs of the Archaeological Society of Finland; No. 10.