To Be

So I was amusing myself with some web-surfing of linguistic sites, and in my browsing I came across an interesting fact (which is presumably true): Turkish is the most regular language in the world with only two irregular words, one noun (water) and one verb. Anyone want to guess the verb?

Yep, it’s that perpetually-irregular-no-matter-what-the-language verb: to be. Not even the most regular language in the world can get it right. Which makes you wonder… is this all just a grand coincidence or is there some philosophical or psychological reason for it?

“To be,” after all, is one of the most basic and important concepts a language can convey. It cuts right to the chase of reality and thus finds its way into all sorts of communication. In fact, a brief count reveals that I’ve used it six times in the past seven sentences. So why does this most important of words get “irregular status?”

Is it that people could regularize other irregular verbs inherited from their forebears, but “to be” is used with such frequency that no one could make the switch?

Does it show a certain respect for a common yet indispensable word, by giving it a form all its own?

Or does it perhaps reveal our own limitations in perceiving and describing reality, such that we cannot even master our own word for it?

What do you think?