In many Romance languages, the first person plural and singular forms are completely different:

• French (aller): je vais, nous allons

• Italian (andare): io vado, noi andiamo
• Catalan (anar): jo vaig, nosaltres anem

There seems to be something equivalent in Portuguese and Gallician (but not, surprisingly, in Spanish) and presumably in other Romance languages. The best I could find out for their etymology is that they come from the Latin ire which can explain some of the other forms of this irregular verb (j'irais for example) but

1. where do these v- and a- forms come from and
2. why are the singular and plural forms so different in so many languages? Do they really come from ire?

In short, what's up with this verb?

^{Extra brownie points if anyone can explain where the f- forms (yo fui, eu fose etc.) come from but I don't want to ask too many questions in a single post.}

In many Romance languages, the first person plural and singular forms are completely different:

• French (aller): je vais, nous allons

• Italian (andare): io vado, noi andiamo
• Catalan (anar): jo vaig, nosaltres anem

There seems to be something equivalent in Portuguese and Gallician (but not, surprisingly, in Spanish) and presumably in other Romance languages. The best I could find out for their etymology is that they come from the Latin ire which can explain some of the other forms of this irregular verb (j'irais for example) but

1. where do these v- and a- forms come from and
2. why are the singular and plural forms so different in so many languages? Do they really come from ire?

In short, what's up with this verb?

In many Latin languages, the first person plural and singular forms are completely different:

• French (aller): je vais, nous allons

• Italian (andare): io vado, noi andiamo
• Catalan (anar): jo vaig, nosaltres anem

There seems to be something equivalent in Portuguese and Gallician (but not, surprisingly, in Spanish) and presumably in other Latin languages. The best I could find out for their etymology is that they come from the Latin ire which can explain some of the other forms of this irregular verb (j'irais for example) but i) where do these v- and a- forms come from and ii) why are the singular and plural forms so different in so many languages? Do they really come from ire?

In short, what's up with this verb?

^{Extra brownie points if anyone can explain where the f- forms (yo fui, eu fose etc.) come from but I don't want to ask too many questions in a single post.}

In many Romance languages, the first person plural and singular forms are completely different:

• French (aller): je vais, nous allons

• Italian (andare): io vado, noi andiamo
• Catalan (anar): jo vaig, nosaltres anem

There seems to be something equivalent in Portuguese and Gallician (but not, surprisingly, in Spanish) and presumably in other Romance languages. The best I could find out for their etymology is that they come from the Latin ire which can explain some of the other forms of this irregular verb (j'irais for example) but

1. where do these v- and a- forms come from and
2. why are the singular and plural forms so different in so many languages? Do they really come from ire?

In short, what's up with this verb?

^{Extra brownie points if anyone can explain where the f- forms (yo fui, eu fose etc.) come from but I don't want to ask too many questions in a single post.}