Proto-Indo-European The optative is one of the four original moods of
Proto-Indo-European (the other three being the
indicative mood, the
subjunctive mood, and the
imperative mood). However, many Indo-European languages lost the inherited optative, either as a formal category, or functional, i.e. merged it with the subjunctive, or even replaced the subjunctive with optative.
Albanian In
Albanian, the optative (, lit. "wishing mood") expresses wishes, and is also used in curses and swearing. • Wish: (May you reach/live 100 years) • Curse: (May the devil take you)
Ancient Greek In
Ancient Greek, the optative is used to express wishes and
potentiality in
independent clauses (but also has other functions, such as contrary-to-fact expressions in the present). In
dependent clauses (
purpose, temporal,
conditional, and
indirect speech), the optative is often used under
past-tense main verbs. The optative expressing a wish is on its own or preceded by the particle (). The optative expressing potentiality is always accompanied by the untranslatable particle ἄν in an independent clause and is on its own in a dependent clause. {{fs interlinear|lang=grc|indent=3 {{fs interlinear|lang=grc|indent=3 In
Koine Greek, the optative began to be replaced by the
subjunctive; in the
New Testament, it was primarily used in set phrases. Its endings are characterized by a diphthong such as (
oi) in
thematic verbs and in athematic verbs.
Germanic languages Some
Germanic verb forms often known as
subjunctives are actually descendants of the
Proto-Indo-European optative. The
Gothic present subjunctive
nimai "may he take!" may be compared to Ancient Greek present optative "may he bear!" That the old
Indo-European optative is represented by the
subjunctive is clear in Gothic, which lost the old, "true" Indo-European subjunctive that represented a fixed desire and intent. Its function was adopted by the present form of the optative that reflected only possibilities, unreal things and general wishes at first. A Germanic innovation of form and functionality was the past tense of the optative, which reflected the
irrealis of past and future. This is shown by evidence in the
Gothic language,
Old High German,
Old English, and
Old Norse. This use of the (new) optative past tense as an irrealis mood started apparently after the Proto-Germanic past tense that had been once the
perfect tense supplanted the Indo-German
aorist (compare Euler 2009:184). A somewhat archaic
Dutch saying, ("long live the king") is another example of how the optative still is present in Germanic languages today.
Latin Likewise in Latin, the newer subjunctive is based on the Indo-European optative. With this change in Latin, several old subjunctive forms became future forms. Accordingly, the
prohibitive (negative desire and prohibition) was formed with the combination of *ne + verb form in the optative present.
Romanian In
Romanian, the
conditional and optative moods have identical forms, thus being commonly referred to as the conditional-optative mood.
Sanskrit In
Sanskrit, the optative is formed by adding the secondary endings to the verb stem. It sometimes expresses wishes, requests and commands: "may you bear" (
active voice) and "may you bear [for yourself]" (
middle). It also expresses possibilities (e.g. "he might perhaps wake up due to the bellowing of cows") or doubt and uncertainty (e.g., "how would I be able to recognize Nala?"). The optative is sometimes used instead of a
conditional mood. ==Basque==