bei

See also: Bei, bèi, Bèi, bēi, běi, bei-, be'i, and bé-í

Aiwoo

Adjective

bei

1. sick, ill

References

• Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007), “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, issue 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Ajië

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ᵐbei]

Verb

bei

1. to fall

References

• Leenhardt, M. (1935) Vocabulaire et grammaire de la langue Houaïlou, Institut d'ethnologie. Cited in: "Houaïlou" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
• Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "Ajiø" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Bauro

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *bei.

Noun

bei

1. water

References

• Sidney Herbert Ray, A Comparative Study of the Melanesian Island Languages (2014), page 481: Bauro bei "water"

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Turkish bey.

Noun

bei m (plural beis)

1. bey

Derived terms

• beilical

Further reading

• “bei” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Central Franconian

Etymology

From Old High German bī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bei̯/

Preposition

bei (+ dative or accusative)

1. (most dialects) at; with; by; near; (close) to

   Jank bei der Wage on waat do op mich!

   Go to the car and wait there for me!

Derived terms

• derbei
• beim, bem (contraction with the masculine and neuter dative of the definite article)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛi̯/
• Hyphenation: bei
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch baye, a borrowing from Old French baie, baia, from Latin bāca.

Noun

bei f (plural beien, diminutive beitje n)

1. (obsolete, dialectal) berry

Synonyms

• bes
• bezie

Derived terms

• aambei
• aardbei
• moerbei

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Turkish bey.

Noun

bei n (plural beien)

1. (historical) bey, beg (historical Turkish official)

Alternative forms

• beg

Esperanto

Etymology

From be (“baa”) +‎ -i (infinitive verb suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbei]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Hyphenation: be‧i

Verb

bei (present beas, past beis, future beos, conditional beus, volitive beu)

1. to make the characteristic cry of a sheep; to baa

Conjugation

Conjugation of bei present past future singular plural singular plural singular plural tense beas beis beos active participle beanta beantaj beinta beintaj beonta beontaj acc. beantan beantajn beintan beintajn beontan beontajn nominal active participle beanto beantoj beinto beintoj beonto beontoj acc. beanton beantojn beinton beintojn beonton beontojn adverbial active participle beante beinte beonte infinitive bei imperative beu conditional beus

Faroese

Etymology

From English bye.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paiːj/
• Rhymes: -aiːj

Interjection

bei

1. bye, goodbye

German

Alternative forms

• bey

Etymology

From Middle High German bī, from Old High German bī, from Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi. More at by.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baɪ̯/
• Rhymes: -aɪ̯

• audio

  (file)

Preposition

bei (+ dative)

1. (locative) by; near

   die Bank bei der Kirche ― the bench/bank by the church

   die Bäckerei beim Bahnhof ― the bakery near the train station

2. (with a person, family, shop) at

   Ich schlafe bei Peter. ― I’m sleeping at Peter’s [place].

   Ich bin beim Metzger. ― I'm at the butcher’s.

3. (with an organization or company) for; at; in

   bei der Firma arbeiten ― to work for the firm

   das Arbeitsklima bei Schmidt & Co.

   the working atmosphere at Schmidt & Co.

4. (formal, reflexive) with; on

   Er hat es nicht bei sich. ― He doesn’t have it on him.

   → for which usually: Er hat es nicht dabei.

5. (with an event considered certain) upon, at the time of

   bei Abfahrt des Zuges ― upon departure of the train

6. (with an event considered theoretical) in case of, in the event of

   bei Hochwasser ― in case of flooding

7. (with a continuing activity or condition) during; while; during the existence of

   bei der Arbeit ― during work

   beim Lesen des Textes ― while reading the text

   bei Schnee ― when there is snow

8. (with an item that implies an activity) over; during

   bei einem Glas Wein ― over a glass of wine (that is, while drinking it)

   bei einem Film ― during a film (that is, while watching it)

9. (dated, in a postal address) care of; via

   Frau Tina Müller bei Firma Schmidt & Co. ― Mrs Tina Müller, care of Schmidt & Co.

10. (now dialectal, nonstandard, northern and central Germany, with accusative) with, to, towards

    Leg dat bei die andern Sachen! ― Put that with the other things!

    Komm ma bei mich! ― Come to me!

Usage notes

• When bei is followed by the definite article dem (“the”), the two words contract to beim. However, when dem is a demonstrative pronoun, no contraction occurs. Compare:

Der Baum steht zu nah beim Haus. – “The tree is too close to the house.”

Der Baum steht zu nah bei dem Haus da hinten. – “The tree is too close to that house over there.”

• (with, to, towards): In many dialects, and historically in literary style, bei could express movement, requiring then the accusative case. This is in conflict with modern standard rules, for which reason this use of the preposition is becoming rare. In adverbial constructions, however, bei and dabei expressing movement are still fairly common in regional speech: Kommt noch was dabei? (“Do you want anything else with that?”) Sie können Sie sich hier ruhig beisetzen. (“You may come sit here with us.”) The standard language proper normally uses dazu in such cases, but it does feature some relicts in compounds such as herbei, beiseite, beilegen, beitreten, etc. Compare also the idiom Butter bei die Fische. Compare further Dutch bij for which all such constructions are perfectly standard.

Derived terms

• (bei + dem) beim

Related terms

• nebenbei

Further reading

• “bei” in Duden online
• “bei” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Italian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.i/
• Rhymes: -ɛi
• Hyphenation: bè‧i

Adjective

bei

1. masculine plural of bello (before a consonant)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.i/
• Rhymes: -ɛi
• Hyphenation: bè‧i

Verb

bei

1. inflection of beare:
   1. second-person singular present indicative
   2. first/second/third-person singular present subjunctive
   3. third-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbe.i/
• Rhymes: -ei
• Hyphenation: bé‧i

Verb

bei

1. (archaic or colloquial Tuscan) second-person singular present indicative of bere

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛj/
• Rhymes: -ɛj
• Hyphenation: bèi

Noun

bei m (invariable)

1. (uncommon) Alternative form of bey

Iu Mien

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *pei (“to know”). Cognate with White Hmong paub.

Verb

bei 

1. to know

Japanese

Romanization

bei

1. Rōmaji transcription of べい

Lithuanian

Etymology

According to Fraenkel, from bè (“without”) + particle -i(d).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “What is this i(d) particle?”)

Conjunction

beĩ

1. and (used to link words, not phrases, that are very similar in meaning)

   Synonym: ir̃

   Miške gyvena vilkai bei lapės, ir pelės bei voverės. ― In the forest, there are wolves and foxes, and mice and squirrels.

Usage notes

ir̃ is more commonly used in general, but beĩ can be used to link words more closely in a hierarchy.

Further reading

• Vytautas Ambrazas (2006) Lithuanian Grammar, 2nd revised edition, →ISBN, page 427; 596
• Fraenkel, Ernst (1955, 1962–1965), “bèt”, in Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume I, Heidelberg-Göttingen: Carl Winter and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, page 41

Luxembourgish

Alternative forms

• bäi

Etymology

From Old High German bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɑɪ]

  Rhymes: -ɑɪ

  Homophone: Bei

Preposition

bei

1. by, next to, near

   De Schlëssel läit bei der Dier.

   The key is by the door.

2. at, to (the home or workplace of someone)

   Gëschter den Nomëtteg sinn ech bei den Dokter gaangen.

   Yesterday afternoon I went to the doctor's.

3. with

   Wunns du nach bei dengen Elteren?

   Do you still live with your parents?

4. during

Usage notes

• The term bei is usually used with the dative case, unless it is used to express movement towards a particular place, then the accusative case is used.

Mandarin

Romanization

bei (bei⁵／bei⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄅㄟ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 唄／呗
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 臂

Romanization

bei

1. Nonstandard spelling of bēi.
2. Nonstandard spelling of běi.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bèi.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Merei

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *bei.

Noun

bei

1. water

References

• Ying Shing Anthony Chung, A Descriptive Grammar of Merei (Vanuatu) (2005)

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German bei, Dutch bij, English by.

Preposition

bei

1. near
2. at, at the house of
3. amidst, among
4. by
5. in
6. with
7. during

Portuguese

Noun

bei m (plural beis)

1. bey (governor of a Turkish dominion)

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bej]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك‎ (bey).

Noun

bei m (plural bei)

1. bey

Declension

Declension of bei

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) bei	beiul	(niște) bei	beii
genitive/dative	(unui) bei	beiului	(unor) bei	beilor
vocative	beiule		beilor

Etymology 2

Verb

bei

1. second-person singular present indicative of bea

   ce bei?

   what are you drinking?

2. second-person singular present subjunctive of bea

   vrei să bei ceva?

   do you want to drink something?

Roro

bei

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *bei.

Noun

bei

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بَيْع‎ (bayʕ).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

Noun

bei (n class, plural bei)

1. price (cost required to gain possession of something)

Volapük

Preposition

a bei

1. by

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bei/
• Rhymes: -ei̯

Noun

bei

1. Soft mutation of pei.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
pei	bei	mhei	phei
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.