| In the Czech, the present indicative of “býti” (to be) with the pronouns is: | |
| já jsem | my jsme |
| ty jsi | vy jste |
| on jest | oni jsou |
| The German is: | |
| ich bin | wir sind |
| du bist | ihr seid |
| er ist | sie sind |
The natural similarity of words in the Slavic languages is obviously even greater and more pronounced than the resemblance of words in the various Indo-European tongues.
Thus, the word “mother” in the principal Slavic tongues has three forms: Russian, mati; Czech, mati, matka or mateř; Serbian, mati; Polish, matka; Bulgarian, majka or mama. The word for “water” is “voda” in all of the above languages except in Polish where it is “woda.” The verb “to sit” is, in Russian, sidět, in Czech, seděti; Serbian, sediti; Polish, siedziec; Bulgarian, sědja. One could trace this similarity of roots and suffixes in all the words common in the experience of our ancestors. The examples given are but two of hundreds or even thousands, which conclusively show that the Slavic tongues are philologically related to the other Indo-European tongues.
The etymology of the word “Slav” was not clear for some time. Some philologists connected it with the word “sláva” which means “glory” or “the glorious race.” Others, and the numbers of such linguistic students or scholars exceed the former school, have accepted the theory of Joseph Dobrovsky, the Bohemian
