Pattern

Existence

How do languages say “there is”?

“The water is in the river” takes the water as given and tells you where it is. “There is water in the river” reverses that: the river is the setting and the water is the news. Saying that something exists therefore reuses the machinery for saying where it is, and languages differ in how much they change along the way — some leave the locational predicate untouched, some add a placeholder subject, some borrow the possessive verb, and some keep a predicate for existence alone. The choice often splits by animacy and by number.

Domain: Existence Location Possession
Structure: Syncretism Expletive subject
Mechanism: Grammaticalization Reanalysis

Strategies

Plain locational clause

[X] ([at LOC]) [be located]

One clause shape serves both readings. Japanese 本が机の上にある is “the book is on the desk” with a definite subject and “there is a book on the desk” with an indefinite one; Ainu an and oka(y) behave the same way. Word order, case or agreement often shift between the two.

Japanese · ある / いる aru / iruKorean · 있다 itdaAinu · an (SG) / oka(y) (PL) Finnish · on Estonian · on Latvian · ir Lithuanian · yra Mongolian (Khalkha) · байна bainaIndonesian · ada Basque · egon (dago / daude) Swahili · -ko / -po / -mo German · sein (ist / sind) Welsh · mae Irish · tá Scottish Gaelic · tha Manx · ta Cornish · yma Breton · zo Latin · est / sunt Polish · jest Czech · je Slovak · je Slovenian · je Serbian · је jeCroatian · je Bosnian · je Ancient Greek · ἔστιν éstinEsperanto · estas Romanian · este / e Hindi · है haiUrdu · ہے haiNepali · छ chaBengali · আছে achePersian (Farsi) · است astPashto · ده / دی da / diHungarian · van Arabic (MSA) · هناك hunākaArabic (MSA) · يوجد yūjad

Copula with a proform

[there] [be] [X] ([at LOC])

A proform joins the copula and the thing whose existence is asserted follows it. English there stands in the subject slot; Italian ci is a locative clitic on the verb.

English · there is / there are Dutch · er is / er zijn Afrikaans · daar is Danish · der er West Frisian · der is Norwegian · det er Icelandic · það er Faroese · tað er Yiddish · עס איז es izLuxembourgish · et ass Italian · c’è / ci sono Corsican · ci hè

Possessive frame

([there]) [has / with] [X]

The existential borrows the frame of a possessive clause, so the thing whose existence is asserted sits where an object would and controls no agreement — French il y a des livres, never *il y ont.

French · il y a Bulgarian · има imaMacedonian · има imaAlbanian · ka Thai · มี miiLao · ມີ mīKhmer · មាន miənCatalan · hi ha Occitan · i a Walloon · i gn a Mandarin Chinese · 有 yǒuVietnamese · có Swahili · kuna / pana / mna

Specialized existential

[X] [exist]

A predicate kept for existence and absent from plain location. Turkish states location as kitap masada, with no var anywhere in it, and uses var for masada kitap var “there is a book on the table”.

Welsh · oes Turkish · var / yok Azerbaijani · var Turkmen · bar Uzbek · bor Kazakh · бар barKyrgyz · бар barTatar · бар barBashkir · бар barUyghur · بار barGreek (Modern) · υπάρχει ypárcheiArmenian · կա kaHebrew (Modern) · יש / אין yesh / einTagalog (Filipino) · may / mayroon Russian · есть / нет jest’ / netUkrainian · є jeBelarusian · ёсць josćTajik · ҳаст hastSpanish · hay Portuguese · há Galician · hai Asturian · hai German · es gibt Swedish · det finns Pela · tʃàʔ Pela · pá Pela · ŋjí

No verbal predicate

[there] / [a X] ([at LOC])

Existence is asserted with no verb at all — a bare indefinite nominal, which a locative phrase may follow.

Māori · he X

Geographic distribution

Each dot is one attested language, coloured by the strategy it uses. Click a dot for the surface form.

Plain locational clause Copula with a proform Possessive frame Specialized existential No verbal predicate

Marker positions are approximate cultural centres — they are not territorial claims. Tiles: OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Dark tiles: © CARTO.

Shared predicates

Many languages use one predicate for more than one of these three. Each language sits in the region covering everything its predicate can express.

Existence alone · 12

Catalan hi ha Greek (Modern) υπάρχει ypárcheiTajik ҳаст hastSpanish hay Portuguese há Galician hai Asturian hai German es gibt Pela tʃàʔ Pela pá Pela ŋjí Māori he X

Also location · 33

Lithuanian yra Mongolian (Khalkha) байна bainaIndonesian ada Basque egon (dago / daude) Swahili -ko / -po / -mo German sein (ist / sind) Breton zo Polish jest Czech je Slovak je Slovenian je Serbian је jeCroatian je Bosnian je Esperanto estas Romanian este / e Persian (Farsi) است astPashto ده / دی da / diArabic (MSA) هناك hunākaArabic (MSA) يوجد yūjadEnglish there is / there are Dutch er is / er zijn Afrikaans daar is Danish der er West Frisian der is Norwegian det er Icelandic það er Faroese tað er Yiddish עס איז es izLuxembourgish et ass Italian c’è / ci sono Corsican ci hè Swedish det finns

Also possession · 27

French il y a Bulgarian има imaMacedonian има imaAlbanian ka Thai มี miiLao ມີ mīKhmer មាន miənOccitan i a Walloon i gn a Mandarin Chinese 有 yǒuVietnamese có Swahili kuna / pana / mna Turkish var / yok Azerbaijani var Turkmen bar Uzbek bor Kazakh бар barKyrgyz бар barTatar бар barBashkir бар barUyghur بار barArmenian կա kaHebrew (Modern) יש / אין yesh / einTagalog (Filipino) may / mayroon Russian есть / нет jest’ / netUkrainian є jeBelarusian ёсць josć

All three · 19

Japanese ある / いる aru / iruKorean 있다 itdaAinu an (SG) / oka(y) (PL) Finnish on Estonian on Latvian ir Welsh mae Irish tá Scottish Gaelic tha Manx ta Cornish yma Latin est / sunt Ancient Greek ἔστιν éstinHindi है haiUrdu ہے haiNepali छ chaBengali আছে acheHungarian van Welsh oes

Language comparison

Language	Strategy	Expression	Origin & overlap	Note
Japanese Japonic	Plain locational clause	ある / いる aru / iru	from an existential root · established locationexistencepossession also states location	the same verbs head plain locational clauses with a definite subject (本は机の上にある), and both carry possession — 私に子供がいる. Animate いる against inanimate ある. いる continues an older verb “sit down, be seated”; ある continues an old existential root. Clark 1978
Korean Koreanic	Plain locational clause	있다 itda	from an existential root · established locationexistencepossession also states location	covers location, existence and possession alike, with one form for animate and inanimate. 계시다 is the honorific used of people whose status calls for it, not of animates generally. Suppletive negative 없다.
Ainu Ainu (isolate, critically endangered)	Plain locational clause	an (SG) / oka(y) (PL)	from an existential root · established locationexistencepossession also states location	one predicate for existence and location. Strictly intransitive: the bare existential is [theme] an, and a location is an optional oblique (N or ta), never a second argument. Number suppletion rather than an animacy split; suppletive negative isam. Possession is mostly the transitive kor, but an also carries a BE-type possessive with affiliative-form inalienable nouns — a=yupi an “I have an elder brother”, a closed class rather than general possession. Tamura 2000 Bugaeva 2012 Satō 2008: 3–4 Nakagawa 2024: 146
Finnish Uralic › Finnic	Plain locational clause	on	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula olla; ground-first order carries the existential reading. An indefinite subject may take the partitive and then suppresses agreement, but singular count subjects can stay nominative — pihalla on poika “there is a boy in the yard”. The same on carries possession with an adessive possessor: minulla on kirja. Freeze 1992
Estonian Uralic › Finnic	Plain locational clause	on	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula olema, with the ground in the inessive and the pivot nominative — toas on kass. Possession takes an adessive possessor on the same predicate, as in Finnish: mul on raamat. [citation needed]
Latvian Indo-European › Baltic	Plain locational clause	ir	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula būt, with a locative ground — istabā ir kaķis. Possession puts the possessor in the dative on the same predicate: man ir grāmata. [citation needed]
Lithuanian Indo-European › Baltic	Plain locational clause	yra	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula būti — kambaryje yra katė. Recorded without possession: Lithuanian differs from Latvian in using the transitive turėti for ordinary possession rather than a dative frame on this predicate. [citation needed]
Mongolian (Khalkha) Mongolic	Plain locational clause	байна baina	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula байх “be”, with the ground in the dative-locative — өрөөнд муур байна. Recorded without possession: Mongolian ordinary possession uses the comitative -тай rather than this predicate alone. [citation needed]
Indonesian Austronesian › Malayic	Plain locational clause	ada	from an existential root · established locationexistence also states location	also heads definite locational clauses — bukunya ada di meja “the book is on the table”. Continues Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada “be present, exist”.
Basque Basque (isolate)	Plain locational clause	egon (dago / daude)	from “stay, remain” locationexistence also states location	egon is the stage-level locative copula, against izan for identity, and its lexical domain is “stay, remain” rather than a body posture. Trask records no accepted etymology for it, so the origin is a synchronic domain rather than a derivation. Western and central varieties select egon in existentials; eastern varieties use izan, and the ba- prefixed forms are a further pattern. The -a on ura is not a definite in the English sense: Basque extends the article to where English leaves a mass noun bare, and the partitive -ik replaces it under negation — ez dago urik. Hualde & Ortiz de Urbina 2003
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	Plain locational clause	-ko / -po / -mo	from locative morphology · established locationexistence also states location	an agreeing locative copula built on the locative noun classes (16 pa-, 17 ku-, 18 mu-) and related to the locative referential concords. It states location — mbwa yuko nyumbani “the dog is at the house” — and existence alike: watu wapo “there are people”. The commoner existential is kuna. Marten 2013
German Indo-European › Germanic	Plain locational clause	sein (ist / sind)	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the plain copula competes with es gibt — Im Haus ist ein Hund
Welsh Indo-European › Celtic	Plain locational clause	mae	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	mae heads both clause types — mae’r ci yn y tŷ “the dog is in the house” against mae ci yn y tŷ “there is a dog in the house” — and the same form of bod carries possession: mae car gan Sioned. King 2015
Irish Indo-European › Celtic	Plain locational clause	tá	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the substantive verb bí. tá cat sa seomra and tá an cat sa seomra differ only in the definiteness of the subject, and the same verb carries possession on a prepositional frame — tá carr agam “there is a car at-me”. [citation needed]
Scottish Gaelic Indo-European › Celtic	Plain locational clause	tha	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the substantive verb bi, with possession on the same prepositional frame as Irish — tha cù agam. [citation needed]
Manx Indo-European › Celtic	Plain locational clause	ta	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the substantive verb ve, patterning with Irish tá and Scottish Gaelic tha; possession likewise takes a prepositional possessor — ta moddey aym. [citation needed]
Cornish Indo-European › Celtic	Plain locational clause	yma	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the affirmative 3SG present of bos, heading both yma kath y’n stevel and the definite locational clause. Non-affirmative clauses with an indefinite subject switch to eus, as Welsh switches from mae to oes. Possession uses the same verb with a prepositional possessor — yma ki dhymm. [citation needed]
Breton Indo-European › Celtic	Plain locational clause	zo	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	a present form of bezañ “be”. Recorded as location plus existence only: Breton possession is kaout (am eus), built on bezañ but lexicalized as its own verb, so the plain zo of this row does not itself carry possession. [citation needed]
Latin Indo-European › Italic (historical)	Plain locational clause	est / sunt	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	plain copula esse; ground-first order carries the existential reading — in flumine aqua est. The dative of possession uses the same copula: est mihi liber “to me is a book”.
Polish Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	jest	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula być, with ground-first order carrying the existential reading — w pokoju jest kot. Negation switches the pivot to the genitive under nie ma rather than negating jest. [citation needed]
Czech Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	je	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula být, unchanged between v místnosti je kočka and the definite locational clause. [citation needed]
Slovak Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	je	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula byť, patterning with Czech. [citation needed]
Slovenian Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	je	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula biti; v sobi je mačka differs from the locational clause by definiteness and order alone. [citation needed]
Serbian Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	је je	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula бити. има “has” also heads existentials, so this row covers only the copular pattern. [citation needed]
Croatian Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	je	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula biti, beside an ima existential of the Bulgarian type. [citation needed]
Bosnian Indo-European › Slavic	Plain locational clause	je	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula biti, as in the neighbouring standards, beside an ima existential. [citation needed]
Ancient Greek Indo-European › Hellenic (historical)	Plain locational clause	ἔστιν éstin	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula εἰμί, accented on the first syllable in its existential use. The dative of possession runs on the same copula — ἔστι μοι “to me is”, as in Latin est mihi. [citation needed]
Esperanto Constructed (a posteriori, Indo-European-based)	Plain locational clause	estas	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula esti, unchanged between estas kato en la ĉambro and the definite locational clause. Possession is the transitive havi, so the copula does not carry it. [citation needed]
Romanian Indo-European › Romance	Plain locational clause	este / e	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the plain copula a fi carries the existential reading with an indefinite pivot — este o pisică în cameră — and locates definite subjects unchanged. The dedicated verb a exista is available for explicit assertions of existence. [citation needed]
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	Plain locational clause	है hai	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula honā doubles as the existential predicate, and carries possession with a postpositional possessor — mere pās kitāb hai “near me a book is”
Urdu Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	Plain locational clause	ہے hai	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula honā, the same predicate as Hindi है, carrying possession with a postpositional possessor — mere pās kitāb hai. [citation needed]
Nepali Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	Plain locational clause	छ cha	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	the copula हुनु, unchanged between the existential and the definite locational clause. Possession takes a comitative possessor — मसँग किताब छ. [citation needed]
Bengali Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	Plain locational clause	আছে ache	from an existential root · established locationexistencepossession also states location	the third-person form of the root আছ- “be, exist”, which also carries possession — আমার একটা ভাই আছে “I have a brother”. [citation needed]
Persian (Farsi) Indo-European › Iranian	Plain locational clause	است ast	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula budan. The emphatic existential هست hast stands beside it and is the form Tajik generalized. Possession is the transitive داشتن dāštan, so the copula does not carry it. [citation needed]
Pashto Indo-European › Iranian	Plain locational clause	ده / دی da / di	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the copula, agreeing with the pivot in gender and number; the existential differs from the locational clause by definiteness and order rather than by predicate. [citation needed]
Hungarian Uralic › Ugric	Plain locational clause	van	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession also states location	van marks both location and existence. In the possessive clause the possessed noun carries the possessive suffix and the possessor may take dative marking — Marinak van egy kutyája.
Arabic (MSA) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	Plain locational clause	هناك hunāka	from a deictic · transparent locationexistence also states location	the locative deictic is itself the predicate, with no copula in the present. It heads a plain locational clause with a definite subject — al-kitābu hunāka “the book is there” — as well as the existential hunāka kitābun.
Arabic (MSA) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	Plain locational clause	يوجد yūjad	from FIND · transparent locationexistence also states location	passive of wajada “find”, so literally “is found”. It also takes definite subjects — yūjadu l-muʿallimu fī l-ġurfa “the teacher is in the room”.
English Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	there is / there are	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	expletive there fills the subject slot and the coda is optional. The pivot resists a definite — *there is the book on the table — while the plain copula takes one freely: the book is on the table. McNally 2011 Bentley et al. 2015
Dutch Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	er is / er zijn	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	er is the unstressed locative pro-form paired with stressed daar “there”, so the element is locative in origin rather than a bare expletive. The copula locates definite subjects on its own — de kat is in de kamer. Donaldson 1997
Afrikaans Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	daar is	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the full locative adverb daar “there” fills the slot, without the unstressed/stressed split Dutch draws between er and daar. Donaldson 1993
Danish Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	der er	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	der “there” against the expletive det of the Norwegian and Icelandic pattern. Allan et al. 1995
West Frisian Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	der is	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	der patterns with Danish der and Dutch er rather than with the expletive det type. Confidence is medium because the proform is read off the construction rather than from a grammar. [citation needed]
Norwegian Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	det er	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	expletive det “it”, not a locative. Nynorsk has the same frame — det er ein katt. Faarlund et al. 1997
Icelandic Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	það er	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	expletive það “it”; the pivot stays indefinite while the plain copula locates definite subjects. Thráinsson 2007
Faroese Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	tað er	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	expletive tað “it”, matching the Icelandic frame. [citation needed]
Yiddish Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	עס איז es iz	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	expletive עס “it”, as in German es, but with the copula rather than the geben “give” frame that German prefers. Jacobs 2005
Luxembourgish Indo-European › Germanic	Copula with a proform	et ass	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	expletive et “it” with the copula, beside the German es gibt frame of its neighbour. [citation needed]
Italian Indo-European › Romance	Copula with a proform	c’è / ci sono	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the clitic ci plus essere “be”. ci is locative in origin, though in the existential many analyses treat it as a bleached expletive. Freeze 1992 Bentley et al. 2015
Corsican Indo-European › Romance	Copula with a proform	ci hè	from BE · transparent locationexistence also states location	the locative clitic ci plus esse “be”, the same shape as Italian c’è. [citation needed]
French Indo-European › Romance	Possessive frame	il y a	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	expletive il, locative y, and avoir “have”, which is still the ordinary possessive verb. The pivot is an object and controls no agreement — il y a des livres, never *il y ont. avoir states possession, not location. Freeze 1992 Stassen 2009
Bulgarian Indo-European › Slavic	Possessive frame	има ima	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the ordinary possessive verb имам used impersonally — има котка в стаята. The pivot is an object and controls no agreement, and plain location takes the copula instead. [citation needed]
Macedonian Indo-European › Slavic	Possessive frame	има ima	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the same impersonal има as Bulgarian, the Balkan areal pattern against the copular existentials further north. [citation needed]
Albanian Indo-European › Albanian	Possessive frame	ka	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the possessive verb kam “have” used impersonally — në dhomë ka një mace. The Balkan areal pattern shared with Bulgarian and Macedonian има, across unrelated branches. [citation needed]
Thai Tai-Kadai › Tai	Possessive frame	มี mii	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the ordinary possessive verb “have” heads the existential — มีแมวอยู่ในห้อง. Plain location of a known entity takes อยู่ yùu instead. [citation needed]
Lao Tai-Kadai › Tai	Possessive frame	ມີ mī	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the Thai มี pattern in the neighbouring Kra-Dai language: the possessive verb serving as the existential predicate. [citation needed]
Khmer Austroasiatic › Khmeric	Possessive frame	មាន miən	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the possessive verb “have” as existential predicate — មានឆ្មានៅក្នុងបន្ទប់. The areal pattern of mainland Southeast Asia, shared with Thai, Lao, Vietnamese and Chinese across three unrelated families. [citation needed]
Catalan Indo-European › Romance	Possessive frame	hi ha	from HAVE · transparent existence not for plain location	locative clitic hi plus haver “have”. The pivot is an object and controls no agreement — hi ha gats, never *hi han gats. haver has withdrawn to the auxiliary and this existential; ordinary possession is tenir, so the lexeme no longer covers possession the way French avoir does. [citation needed]
Occitan Indo-European › Romance	Possessive frame	i a	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	locative i plus aver “have”, matching the French and Catalan frame. Confidence is medium because whether aver still carries ordinary possession varies across the dialects this single row stands for. [citation needed]
Walloon Indo-European › Romance	Possessive frame	i gn a	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	locative i and the verb aveur “have”, parallel to French il y a with an extra gn. [citation needed]
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic	Possessive frame	有 yǒu	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	the ordinary possessive verb also predicates existence in the frame [place] 有 [pivot]. Plain location of a known entity takes 在 instead — 书在桌上. Heine & Kuteva 2002: s.v. HAVE
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic	Possessive frame	có	from HAVE · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	có “have, possess” serves as the existential predicate; plain location normally takes ở. có is also an affirmative focus marker and can appear before ở in that role, which makes the two uses hard to tell apart.
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	Possessive frame	kuna / pana / mna	from “with” · transparent existencepossession not for plain location	locative class agreement (cl.17 ku-, cl.16 pa-, cl.18 m-) plus comitative -na “with”, the same -na that builds possession in nina “I have”. Marten calls these locative-possessive constructions; they cannot take a definite theme as an ordinary subject. Marten 2013
Welsh Indo-European › Celtic	Specialized existential	oes	from BE · transparent locationexistencepossession not for plain location	the existential form of bod in present interrogatives, with does dim supplying the negative. It cannot take a definite subject — *oes y ci yn y tŷ, where the locational clause needs mae, or ydy in a question. King 2015
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz	Specialized existential	var / yok	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	existential and possessive predicate, usually analysed as nominal predication; uninflected for person but takes copular morphology (var-dır, var-dı). Plain location uses no var — kitap masada. A location is typical but optional: Tanrı var “God exists”. Suppletive negative yok. Old Turkic bar “existence, wealth” is a noun, which is why the modern predicate takes copular rather than verbal morphology. Stassen 2009
Azerbaijani Turkic › Oghuz	Specialized existential	var	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive yoxdur. [citation needed]
Turkmen Turkic › Oghuz	Specialized existential	bar	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive ýok. [citation needed]
Uzbek Turkic › Karluk	Specialized existential	bor	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive yoʻq. [citation needed]
Kazakh Turkic › Kipchak	Specialized existential	бар bar	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive жоқ. [citation needed]
Kyrgyz Turkic › Kipchak	Specialized existential	бар bar	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive жок. [citation needed]
Tatar Turkic › Kipchak	Specialized existential	бар bar	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive юк. [citation needed]
Bashkir Turkic › Kipchak	Specialized existential	бар bar	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive юҡ. [citation needed]
Uyghur Turkic › Karluk	Specialized existential	بار bar	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Turkic existential predicate, taking copular rather than verbal morphology and absent from plain locational clauses. It carries possession on the same frame, with the possessed noun marked, and is negated by the suppletive yoq. [citation needed]
Greek (Modern) Indo-European › Hellenic	Specialized existential	υπάρχει ypárchei	from an existential root · transparent existence not for plain location	υπάρχω “exist” as a dedicated existential predicate, which plain location does not use — there the copula είναι serves. Impersonal έχει “has” is a further colloquial existential. [citation needed]
Armenian Indo-European › Armenian	Specialized existential	կա ka	from an existential root · established existencepossession not for plain location	a dedicated existential predicate distinct from the copula է, carrying possession on a locative frame — ինձ մոտ կա. Suppletive negative չկա. [citation needed]
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	Specialized existential	יש / אין yesh / ein	from an existential root existencepossession not for plain location	invariant existential particles; a definite located subject drops yesh entirely. The deeper source is debated, so it is recorded as an existential element rather than assigned a lexical domain. Veselinova & Hamari 2022
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine	Specialized existential	may / mayroon	no recoverable source existencepossession not for plain location	one predicate for existence and possession, with no transitive HAVE-verb anywhere in the language. May pusa sa bahay “there is a cat in the house” is subjectless; May pera ako “I have money” is the same predicate with the possessor added as the ang-phrase. Plain location of a definite entity takes nasa instead — Nasa bahay ang pusa. The longer mayroon is may plus the locative demonstrative roon “there”, fused as in Spanish hay. Suppletive negative wala covers non-existence and non-possession alike. Schachter & Otanes 1972 Sabbagh 2009
Russian Indo-European › Slavic	Specialized existential	есть / нет jest’ / net	from BE · established existencepossession not for plain location	есть descends from the 3sg present of быть, but ordinary present locational clauses take zero and reject it — твой мобильник (*есть) на кухне — so есть is now reserved for existential and possessive assertion and does not agree. Negative нет takes a genitive pivot. Stassen 2009 Freeze 1992
Ukrainian Indo-European › Slavic	Specialized existential	є je	from BE · established existencepossession not for plain location	є continues the 3SG present of бути, which the ordinary present locational clause otherwise leaves out. It carries possession on the same locative frame — у мене є книга. [citation needed]
Belarusian Indo-European › Slavic	Specialized existential	ёсць josć	from BE · established existencepossession not for plain location	the Russian есть pattern: a present-tense form kept for existential and possessive assertion — у мяне ёсць кніга. [citation needed]
Tajik Indo-European › Iranian	Specialized existential	ҳаст hast	from BE · established existence not for plain location	Tajik uses the hast form of the Persian pair, not the plain copula аст: дар ҳуҷра як гурба ҳаст. Recorded as specialized on that contrast, against the Persian row where аст heads both clause types. [citation needed]
Spanish Indo-European › Romance	Specialized existential	hay	from HAVE · established existence not for plain location	from ha + y (< Latin ibi), but haber is no longer the ordinary possessive verb — that is tener — and the -y has fused, so synchronically hay is a single invariant impersonal existential rather than verb plus proform. Stassen 2009
Portuguese Indo-European › Romance	Specialized existential	há	from HAVE · established existence not for plain location	haver 3SG, invariant and impersonal — há gatos, never *hão gatos. Ordinary possession is ter, so haver survives here and as an auxiliary. Colloquial Brazilian Portuguese largely replaces it with tem. [citation needed]
Galician Indo-European › Romance	Specialized existential	hai	from HAVE · established existence not for plain location	the Spanish hay pattern: haber fused with a locative element and now invariant, while ordinary possession is ter. [citation needed]
Asturian Indo-European › Romance	Specialized existential	hai	from HAVE · established existence not for plain location	the same fused impersonal as Galician and Spanish, with tener carrying possession. [citation needed]
German Indo-European › Germanic	Specialized existential	es gibt	from GIVE · transparent existence not for plain location	literally “it gives”. It is not restricted to enduring existence — heute gibt es Pizza — and overlaps in use with sein. Heine & Kuteva 2002: s.v. GIVE > EXIST
Swedish Indo-European › Germanic	Specialized existential	det finns	from FIND · established locationexistence also states location	with det the pivot is indefinite; without it, finnas states location of a definite subject — boken finns på biblioteket “the book is at the library”. finnas is related to finna “find” but is now a lexicalized verb “exist, be present” rather than a productive passive. Holmes & Hinchliffe 2003
Pela Sino-Tibetan › Burmish (endangered)	Specialized existential	tʃàʔ	from “stay, remain” · established existence	used of concrete things, and continues a verb “remain, be left over”. Pela chooses among three existential predicates by what kind of thing is said to exist; case is unmarked on both sides, so the intransitive analysis is provisional. @masajaninga 2026
Pela Sino-Tibetan › Burmish (endangered)	Specialized existential	pá	from HAVE · established existence	used of qualities and abstract things such as periods of time, from a verb “contain”. Whether it is transitive, intransitive or both is left open by the contributor. @masajaninga 2026
Pela Sino-Tibetan › Burmish (endangered)	Specialized existential	ŋjí	from “stay, remain” · established existence	used of people standing in a relationship — kin, friends — and continues a verb “dwell, live”. @masajaninga 2026
Māori Austronesian › Polynesian	No verbal predicate	he X	from an article · established existence	an affirmative existential can be he plus an indefinite nominal on its own — he kurī “there is a dog” — with no predicate head; he continues the Proto-Polynesian indefinite article. Whether kei/i in he kurī kei te kāinga head that clause is contested. Chung & Ladusaw 2004

Examples

Toggle between Natural / Literal / Gloss to see how each language conceptualises the same idea.

“There is water in the river.”

A mass noun in a natural location. Reveals each language’s basic existential strategy and how it packages the locative phrase.

English

There is water in the river.

Natural: There is water in the river.

French · français

Il y a de l’eau dans la rivière.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Spanish · español

Hay agua en el río.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Italian · italiano

C’è acqua nel fiume.

Natural: There is water in the river.

German · Deutsch

Es gibt Wasser im Fluss.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Swedish · svenska

Det finns vatten i floden.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Japanese · 日本語

川に水がある。

kawa ni mizu ga aru.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Korean · 한국어

강에 물이 있다.

gang-e mul-i issda.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Mandarin Chinese · 普通话

河里有水。

hé lǐ yǒu shuǐ.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Turkish · Türkçe

Nehirde su var.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Russian · русский

В реке есть вода.

V reke yest’ voda.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Hebrew (Modern) · עברית

יש מים בנהר.

yesh mayim ba-nahar.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Indonesian · Bahasa Indonesia

Ada air di sungai.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Finnish · suomi

Joessa on vettä.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Swahili · Kiswahili

Mtoni kuna maji.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Welsh · Cymraeg

Mae dŵr yn yr afon.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Latin · lingua Latina

In flumine aqua est.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Ainu · アイヌ・イタㇰ aynu itak

Pet or ta wakka an.

ペッオッタワッカアン

Natural: There is water in the river.

Hindi · हिन्दी

नदी में पानी है।

nadī mẽ pānī hai.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Arabic (MSA) · العربية

هناك ماء في النهر.

hunāka māʔun fī n-nahr.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Vietnamese · tiếng Việt

Có nước trong sông.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Hungarian · magyar

A folyóban van víz.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Basque · euskara

Ibaian ura dago.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Māori · te reo Māori

He wai kei te awa.

Natural: There is water in the river.

Polarity

Polarity: from “there is” to “there is no”

Negating existence — “there is no X” — is its own typological domain. Some languages just stack a sentential negator on top of the affirmative existential (English there is → there isn’t, French il y a → il n’y a pas). Others recruit a wholly different lexical item for negative existence — a *suppletive* negative existential — which is the typologically interesting case (Russian есть/нет, Turkish var/yok, Hebrew יש/אין, Korean 있다/없다, Welsh mae/does, Hungarian van/nincs, Ainu an/isam). A third pattern uses a negator that only attaches to this construction and effectively fuses with the existential (Mandarin 有 → 没有, Swahili kuna → hakuna). Suppletive negative existentials are the seed of Veselinova’s *Negative Existential Cycle* — the diachronic process by which they expand into general clause negation.

Affirmative ↔ negative contrasts

Suppletive 9

A distinct lexical item for negative existence — no morphological relationship to the affirmative.

Language	Affirmative	Negative	Note
Russian Indo-European › Slavic	есть jest’	нет net	нет < ne yest’ (fused); negated noun goes into the genitive Veselinova & Hamari 2022 Veselinova 2014
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz	var	yok	invariant pair; canonical case study Veselinova 2014
Hebrew (Modern) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	יש yesh	אין ein	invariant particles; both head their own clause Stassen 2009
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine	may / mayroon	wala	wala negates existence and possession alike, matching the reach of may Schachter & Otanes 1972 Sabbagh 2009
Korean Koreanic	있다 itda	없다 eopda	distinct verb stems; both inflect normally
Welsh Indo-European › Celtic	mae	does (dim)	does is a dedicated negative existential form of bod Willis et al. 2013
Hungarian Uralic › Ugric	van	nincs	nincs fuses nem + van; PL nincsenek Veselinova 2014
Ainu Ainu (isolate, critically endangered)	an / oka	isam	isam “not exist, be absent” is a dedicated negative existential verb Tamura 2000 Bugaeva 2012
Japanese Japonic	ある / いる aru / iru	ない / いない nai / inai	aru ↔ nai is suppletive (distinct root); iru → inai is regular -nai negation Clark 1978

Compound negator 2

A negator dedicated to (or fused with) the existential, used in this construction only.

Language	Affirmative	Negative	Note
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic	有 yǒu	没有 méi yǒu	没 is the dedicated negator for 有 (and for past); ordinary 不 never combines with 有
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	kuna	hakuna	ha- (negative class 17 prefix) + kuna; lexicalised in greetings like hakuna matata

Same form + negator 14

Same existential predicate, with a regular clausal or pre-predicate negator.

Language	Affirmative	Negative	Note
English Indo-European › Germanic	there is	there is no / isn’t	no (determiner) or not (clausal); both yield negative existence
French Indo-European › Romance	il y a	il n’y a pas (de)	bipartite ne … pas; pas often dropped in speech (see Jespersen’s Cycle) Mosegaard Hansen 2013
Spanish Indo-European › Romance	hay	no hay
Italian Indo-European › Romance	c’è / ci sono	non c’è / non ci sono
German Indo-European › Germanic	es gibt	es gibt kein / nicht	kein (negative determiner) is the unmarked option for indefinite nouns
Swedish Indo-European › Germanic	det finns	det finns inte / inget
Latin Indo-European › Italic (historical)	est	nōn est
Arabic (MSA) Afro-Asiatic › Semitic	هناك / يوجد hunāka / yūjad	ليس هناك / لا يوجد laysa hunāka / lā yūjad	laysa is the standard nominal negator; lā yūjad uses the verbal lā
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	है hai	नहीं है nahī̃ hai
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic	có	không có	không “not” precedes có
Finnish Uralic › Finnic	on (+ partitive)	ei ole (+ partitive)	negative auxiliary ei; subject is partitive under negation
Basque Basque (isolate)	dago	ez dago (+ partitive)	partitive -ik appears on the existence-predicated noun under negation
Māori Austronesian › Polynesian	he X kei/i …	kāhore he X	clausal negator kāhore precedes the existential predication
Indonesian Austronesian › Malayic	ada	tidak ada / tak ada

Negative examples

Negating the inanimate-set test sentence. Watch where the negator sits — and where it disappears entirely into a dedicated lexical item.

“There is no water in the river.”

English

There is no water in the river.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

French · français

Il n’y a pas d’eau dans la rivière.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Spanish · español

No hay agua en el río.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Italian · italiano

Non c’è acqua nel fiume.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

German · Deutsch

Es gibt kein Wasser im Fluss.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Swedish · svenska

Det finns inget vatten i floden.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Mandarin Chinese · 普通话

河里没有水。

hé lǐ méi yǒu shuǐ.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Japanese · 日本語

川に水がない。

kawa ni mizu ga nai.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Korean · 한국어

강에 물이 없다.

gang-e mul-i eopda.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Turkish · Türkçe

Nehirde su yok.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Russian · русский

В реке нет воды.

V reke net vody.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Hebrew (Modern) · עברית

אין מים בנהר.

ein mayim ba-nahar.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Arabic (MSA) · العربية

لا يوجد ماء في النهر.

lā yūjad māʔun fī n-nahr.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Vietnamese · tiếng Việt

Không có nước trong sông.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Hindi · हिन्दी

नदी में पानी नहीं है।

nadī mẽ pānī nahī̃ hai.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Hungarian · magyar

A folyóban nincs víz.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Finnish · suomi

Joessa ei ole vettä.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Basque · euskara

Ibaian ez dago urik.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Welsh · Cymraeg

Does dim dŵr yn yr afon.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Latin · lingua Latina

In flumine aqua nōn est.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Swahili · Kiswahili

Mtoni hakuna maji.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Ainu · アイヌ・イタㇰ aynu itak

Pet or ta wakka isam.

ペッオッタワッカイサㇺ

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Māori · te reo Māori

Kāhore he wai i te awa.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

Indonesian · Bahasa Indonesia

Tidak ada air di sungai.

Natural: There is no water in the river.

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Related patterns

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