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