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ある

verb, present indicative active (or general/habitual); plain form

  1. exist, be present
  2. be located
  3. occur, happen
  4. have (possess)

Etymology. From Proto-Japonic *ar-. Related to Sanskrit ásti and Old English 'is' (both from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-), though Japanese and Indo-European branches diverged millennia ago. The concrete sense is 'to be in a place' (location), which extended to 'to have' (locative possession) and 'to exist' generally.

Dictionary entry by Claude.

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