Where does “ikun” come from?
ikun (Maltese) comes from Maltese kien, from Arabic كَانَ, from Arabic و, from Persian یا, from Arabic يَا — {{m|en|O|id=vocative}}.
Ancestry of “ikun”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Maltese | kien | to be |
| 2 | Arabic | كَانَ | to be |
| 3 | Arabic | و | and, "comma", "semi-colon"; a divider of words or... |
| 4 | Persian | یا | API •; or; either |
| 5 | Arabic | يَا | {{m|en|O|id=vocative}} |