 The copula (that is, the verb signifying "to be") of Classical Latin was '.This evolved to *"essere" in Vulgar Latin by attaching the common infinitive suffix "-re" to the classical infinitive; this produced Italian ' and French ' through Proto-Gallo-Romance *"essre" and Old French ' as well as Spanish and Portuguese "" (Romanian "a " derives from "fieri", which means "to become").In Vulgar Latin a second copula developed utilizing the verb ', which originally meant (and is cognate with) "to stand", to denote a more temporary meaning.