be-
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English be-, bi-, from Old English be- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at, near”). See by.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian bi- (“be-”), West Frisian be- (“be-”), Dutch be- (“be-”), German Low German be- (“be-”), German be- (“be-”), Danish be- (“be-”), Swedish be- (“be-”). More at by.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- (rare or no longer productive) By, near, next to, around, close to.
- (rare or no longer productive) Around; about.
- (rare or no longer productive) About, regarding, concerning, over.
- (rare or no longer productive) On, upon, at, to, in contact with something.
- (rare or no longer productive) Off, away, over, across
- (rare or no longer productive) As an intensifier; i.e. thoroughly, excessively; completely; utterly.
- (rare or no longer productive) All around; about; abundantly; all over.
- (rare or no longer productive) Forming verbs derived from nouns or adjectives, usually with the sense of "to make, become, or cause to be".
- (archaic or informal) Used to intensify adjectives meaning "adorned with something", often those with the suffix -ed.
- 2010 October 17, Hadley Freeman, “Tattoos: what makes one spiritual and another Katona-esque?”, in The Guardian[1]:
- Similarly, one could argue that if these be-tattooed yogic folk were really so spiritual, they wouldn't feel the need to inform everyone else of this or remind themselves of it, via the medium of the tattoo.
Derived terms edit
References edit
- the NED and OED
Anagrams edit
Afrikaans edit
Etymology edit
From Dutch be-, from Middle Dutch be-, from Old Dutch bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Used to indicate that a verb is acting on a direct object (making an intransitive verb into a transitive verb). Always unstressed.
- Used to change the direct object of a transitive verb, so that what was previously expressed as an optional prepositional object becomes the direct object and vice versa. Always unstressed.
- pyle op die diere skiet → die diere met pyle beskiet
- to shoot arrows at the animals
Usage notes edit
Not separable. When forming past participles, those generally aren't prepended with the prefix ge-.
Danish edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Low German be-, from Old Saxon bi-.
Prefix edit
be-
- Forms adjectives from nouns, with the sense "having noun".
- Forms verbs from adjectives, with the sense "making" (adjective); -ify.
- Prepends to verbs, having no effect save making the verb transitive
Usage notes edit
Verbs formed with be- are transitive. Many such words are formed after Middle Low German words.
Derived terms edit
References edit
- “be-” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch be-, bi-, from Old Dutch bi-, be-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at, near”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian be- (“be-”), West Frisian be- (“be-”), English be-, German Low German be- (“be-”), German be- (“be-”), Swedish be- (“be-”).
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Used to indicate that a verb is acting on a direct object (making an intransitive verb into a transitive verb). Always unstressed.
- Used to change the direct object of a transitive verb, so that what was previously expressed as an optional prepositional object becomes the direct object and vice versa. Always unstressed.
- huizen op een land bouwen → een land met huizen bebouwen
- to build houses on a land
Derived terms edit
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German be-, from Old High German bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies working on something or change of state.
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies touching the object.
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies discussing or mentioning the object.
Usage notes edit
- Verbs with this prefix very often take an object in the accusative case.
- The prefix can be used to convert an intransitive verb into a transitive verb, examples:
- gehen + be- → begehen
- arbeiten + be- → bearbeiten
- schnüffeln + be- → beschnüffeln
Derived terms edit
- beachten
- beanstanden
- beantragen
- bearbeiten
- bedauern
- bedenken
- bedeuten
- bedienen
- beehren
- beeilen
- beenden
- beengen
- beerben
- beerdigen
- befehlen
- befehlen
- befeuern
- befördern
- befürchten
- begehen
- begehren
- begleiten
- beglücken
- begünstigen
- behalten
- behandeln
- behaupten
- beirren
- bekannt
- beknien
- bekochen
- bekommen
- beköstigen
- bekümmern
- belassen
- belasten
- belauschen
- belehnen
- belehren
- belobigen
- belohnen
- belügen
- belustigen
- bemächtigen
- bemannen
- benachrichtigen
- benachteiligen
- beobachten
- berauben
- bereichern
- bereuen
- besamen
- beschäftigen
- beschatten
- bescheißen
- beschießen
- beschlafen
- beschleunigen
- beschließen
- beschneiden
- beschönigen
- beschreiten
- beschweren
- beschwichtigen
- beschwören
- besehen
- besetzen
- besitzen
- bespielen
- bestehen
- bestehlen
- bestehlen
- bestellen
- besteuern
- bestrafen
- bestrahlen
- bestreuen
- bestücken
- bestücken
- besuchen
- besudeln
- betanken
- betasten
- betätigen
- betatschen
- betonen
- betören
- betrachten
- betrauern
- betreiben
- betreten
- betrinken
- betrügen
- betüddeln
- betuppen
- beweisen
- bewerkstelligen
- bewilligen
- bezahlen
- bezaubern
- bezeichnen
- bezichtigen
- beziehen
- bezwingen
Hungarian edit
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
See also edit
References edit
Indonesian edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Alternative form of ber-
Limburgish edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch be-, bi-, from Old Dutch bi-, be-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies working on something or change of state.
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies touching the object.
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies discussing or mentioning the object.
Usage notes edit
- The verb with this prefix takes very often a direct object (i.e., an object in the accusative case).
Related terms edit
Luxembourgish edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German and Old High German bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-, from *bi.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies working on something or change of state.
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies touching the object.
- Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies discussing or mentioning the object.
Usage notes edit
- Verbs with this prefix very often take objects in the accusative case.
Derived terms edit
Middle Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Old Dutch bi-, be-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-.
Prefix edit
be-
- A verb prefix with a variety of meanings.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Middle English edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Alternative form of bi-
Middle Low German edit
Etymology edit
From Old Saxon bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-. Cognate to bî (“by”).
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Makes an intransitive verb transitive or denotes that the action is targeted at something or accompanying something.
- vallen (to fall) → bevallen (befall, afflict)
- singen (to sing) → besingen (to sing about something; to sing for the merit of something)
- bischop besingen – to ordain someone as bishop while chanting
- Denotes on top, onto, often used to create figurative meanings.
- Denotes next to, very close.
- bûwen (to build) → bebûwen (to build too close to something else; to besiege)
Alternative forms edit
edit
Prefix edit
be-
- his, her (indicates secondary or alienable possession, in opposition to bi-. See for example akʼah, beʼakʼah)
See also edit
Old English edit
Etymology edit
An unstressed form of bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi-.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- a productive prefix usually used to form verbs and adjectives, especially:
- verbs with the sense "around, throughout";
- transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, adjectives and nouns
Usage notes edit
- This prefix is always unstressed, in both nouns and verbs.
- The stressed nominal counterpart is bī-.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Old Saxon edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Alternative form of bi-
Swedish edit
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- same as German be-, often found in German loanwords, primarily verbs and words based on verbs
Usage notes edit
In many cases the be- prefix doesn't change the meaning at all, it only makes word look more German. In the name of conciseness and readability, Swedish linguists in the late 19th century (Adolf Noreen, later also Erik Wellander) successfully promoted the idea that this prefix should be dropped from such words, for example befrämja turned into främja.
Derived terms edit
Tooro edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Form used before a verb beginning with the letter e of ba-
- be- + efubika (“to cover oneself”) → beefubika (“they cover themselves”)
Uzbek edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Chagatai بی, from Classical Persian بیـ (bē-).
Prefix edit
be-
Derived terms edit
Volapük edit
Prefix edit
be-
- Used to make an indirect object a direct object.
- Strengthens the meaning of the radical.
- Implies causing or conferring the meaning of the radical.
Derived terms edit
Wutunhua edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
be-
- not; negates the existence of an action or state conveyed by a verb or adjective, in practice chiefly used as negation in the present or future.
Derived terms edit
- bai (“to not be”)
See also edit
References edit
- Juha Janhunen, Marja Peltomaa, Erika Sandman, Xiawu Dongzhou (2008) Wutun (LINCOM's Descriptive Grammar Series), volume 466, LINCOM Europa, →ISBN
- Erika Sandman (2016) A Grammar of Wutun[2], University of Helsinki (PhD), →ISBN
Zulu edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Prefix edit
be-
- Class 2 simple noun prefix, used with nouns whose full prefix is abe-.