beth
English
Etymology
From Middle Bronze Age picture of a house by acrophony, ultimately Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“house”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: bĕth, IPA(key): /bɛθ/
- IPA(key): /bɛt/
- Rhymes: -ɛθ
- Rhymes: -ɛt
Noun
beth (plural beths)
Translations
See also
- Appendix:Hebrew alphabet
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English bēoþ, present plural of bēon (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *biunþi, third-person present plural of *beuną (“to be, become”).
Alternative forms
Usage notes
The usual plural form of been is aren in the North, been in the Midlands, and beth in the South; sind also existed, especially early on, but was not the predominant form in any area.
Etymology 2
From Old English biþ, with the vowel of the infinitive leveled in.
Etymology 3
From Old English bēoþ, plural imperative form of bēon, from Proto-Germanic *beuþ, second-person plural imperative form of *beuną,
Alternative forms
Old Irish
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bʲeθ/
Mutation
Old Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
beth | beth pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/ |
mbeth |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Welsh
Etymology 1
Originally pa beth (“which thing”) with the soft mutation of peth (“thing”) after pa (“which”), from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis.
Alternative forms
- be’ (colloquial)
- pa beth (literary)
Pronunciation
- (standard) (colloquial) IPA(key): /beːθ/
- (colloquial) IPA(key): /beː/, /bɛ/
Etymology 2
See peth (“thing”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /beːθ/