empez

Empez is a term used in linguistic descriptions to denote the stem or root form associated with the Spanish verb empezar, which means to begin. In ordinary written Spanish, the infinitive is empezar, and the form empezar is what appears in dictionaries and sentences. Empez itself is not a stand-alone word in standard Spanish orthography; instead, it functions as a theoretical base from which inflected forms are derived.

In morphology, empez- is described as the stem that combines with endings to produce empezar and its related forms. The infinitive empezar contains the stem empez- plus the infinitival ending ar. Derived forms such as empezando (gerund) and empezado (past participle) retain the core asociado stem empez-, illustrating how the root persists across several inflected forms. The verb also undergoes stem-internal changes in some present-tense forms (for example, empiezo, empiezas, empieza), which reflect a vowel alternation rather than a complete replacement of the stem. This distinction between the underlying stem y the surface vowel changes is a common focus in Spanish verb morphology.

Etymology traces empezar to the Latin incipere, with the modern Spanish form evolving through phonetic and orthographic developments typical of the Iberian Romance languages. Empez, as a theoretical construct, helps linguists discuss conjugation patterns without conflating irregular surface forms with the underlying root.

See also: empezar, incipere, Spanish verbs with irregular present tense stems.