Linked Questions
10 questions linked to/from What is the history of adding the a- prefix to form words?
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What does "a-crowding" mean in the following verse [duplicate]
From "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman:
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d ...
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Seven swans a-swimming [duplicate]
In the famous Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas", presents like "geese a-laying" and "swans a-swimming" are mentioned. What does the "a" refer to in this context?
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Is there a word category for a certain kind of words beginning with 'a-'? [duplicate]
A few words beginning with an a came up to my mind recently because their structure is similar in the way they convey their meaning.
Those words are like: atop, alight; afloat, afresh, anew, asleep, ...
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A-roving, a-walking, a-verb participle: what is this called? [duplicate]
Is there a name for the archaic form of a-verb participle, as in a-walking?
It appears in poetry and songs, for example,
As I was a-walking down Paradise Street...
Time is the stream I go a-fishing ...
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Use of "a-" before words, not the indefinite article [duplicate]
Sometimes I've found some words that start with an "a-" prefix, not the indefinite article. I think it's used to make the phrasing more euphonic and more "melodic", at least this ...
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What we've gelost — why doesn't English use the prefix "ge-"?
The Germanic languages that I'm familiar with all use a prefix similar to ge- on past participles:
German: Ich habe mir den Fuß gebrochen.
Dutch: Ik heb mijn voet gebroken.
But English doesn't do ...
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Origins of negative prefixes like in-, un-, il-, ir-, dis-, a-
I've read here about origins of in- and un- negative prefixes. Are there any known origins of other negative prefixes such as il-, ir-, dis-, a-?
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Prefix "a" in "amaze"
Usually the prefix "a" means "not" or "without", for example: atheist, anarchy. But, in "amaze" it's not the case, since the word maze means "confusing" or "labyrinth" and "amaze" means "surprise". Is ...
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Is there any etymological relation between "a-hunting" and "ajar"?
While reading this question I recalled hearing the phrase like to go a-hunting on several occasions when someone stylized their speech to sound old-time'y and now I started wondering if there is any ...
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What are adjectives that begin with 'a' called in grammar?
I mean adjectives like: ablaze, afloat, alive, ashore, ...
I did a quick Google search and found that they are called a adjectives. But I do remember that I came across a different denomination in a ...
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