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}}