kaout

Breton

Etymology

Infinitive from kavout (to find), all other forms from the verb bezañ (to be). Cognate with Cornish kavos and y'm beus.

Verb

kaout

1. (auxiliary, transitive) to have
2. (transitive) to get

Usage notes

• In the indicative and in the conditional, the first and second persons contain a particle, which can be a or e, so the first person can appear with the forms am or em and the second person with the forms ac'h and az or ec'h and ez. In the infinitive and in the imperative, these persons contain the long forms ’m' and ’z, which are am and az. Middle Breton had 'm beus as first person and had only 'h eus for the present indicative and 'z peus for all other tenses as second person.
• In the indicative present, the form az peus is a back-formation from the other tenses. As this verb is based on third person of bezañ, the forms with az and initial p- in the second person singular all come from an initial b- of the conjugation of bezañ. But in the indicative present of bezañ in the third person, there is no initial b-, thus the normal form for kaout based on bezañ in the indicative present shows this same lack of initial consonant, thus eus with a particle ac'h. Nowadays the ac'h eus is more literary though very common, and az peus is becoming more and more common.
• The infinitive endevout or en devout is used in the dialects of Vannes, where the form of the indicative present form is em bout, ez pout, en/he d(ev)out, hor bout, ho pout, o d(ev)out and the present habitual is em-es, 't-es, en/hé-des, on-es, ho-es/ho-pes, o-des.

Inflection

  Mutation of kaout  

Breton consonant mutation
unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
kaout	gaout	c'haout	unchanged	unchanged

Conjugation

Conjugation of kaout

Personal forms
	Indicative						Conditional		Imperative
	Present	Imperfect	Preterite	Future	Present (habitual)	Imperfect (habitual)	Present	Imperfect
1s	am eus*	am boa*	am boe*	am bo*	am bez*	am beze*	am befe*	am bije*	am bezet*
2s	ac'h eus, az peus*	az poa*	az poe*	az po*	az pez*	az peze*	az pefe*	az pije*	az pezet, az pez*
3s (m)	en deus	en doa, devoa	en doe, devoe	en do, en devo	en dez, en devez	en deze, en deveze	en defe	en dije	en devezet
3s (f)	he deus	he doa, devoa	he doe, devoe	he do, he devo	he dez, he devez	he deze, he deveze	he defe	he dije	he devezet
1p	hon eus	hor boa	hor boe	hor bo	hor bez	hor beze	hor befe	hor bije	hor bezet
2p	hoc'h eus, ho peus	ho poa	ho poe	ho po	ho pez	ho peze	ho pefe	ho pije	ho pezet, ho pet
3p	o deus	o doa, devoa	o doe, devoe	o do, o devo	o dez, o devez	o deze, o deveze	o defe	o dije	o devezet
0	ez eus	a oa	a voe	a vo	a vez	a veze	a vefe	a vije	-
Impersonal forms							Mutated forms
Infinitive: kaout, endevout*, en devout* Present participle: no one Past participle: bet (auxiliary verb: kaout)							Soft mutation after da, e: e gaout Aspirate mutation after va or ma, he, hor, o : hor c'haout