the twelve days of Christmas

hello,

in the lyric of "the twelve days of CHristmas" one sentence goes like this " ten lords a-leaping"

my questions are :
1. what does the sentence mean? how do you phrase it?

2. what does "a" in a-leaping" mean? does it mean anything???

Thanks.

paula

[Tdol]

Not really- you could just say 'seven lords leaping'.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by guest

hello,

in the lyric of "the twelve days of CHristmas" one sentence goes like this " ten lords a-leaping"

my questions are :
1. what does the sentence mean? how do you phrase it?

2. what does "a" in a-leaping" mean? does it mean anything???

Thanks.

paula

This use of the prefix a- is a remnant of early English. It can be used to add a sense of "in the state of" to other words. Some uses remain "asleep", "aloud", etc.

Here is an entry from Webster's Third:

Main Entry:1a-
Pronunciation:*
Function:prefix
Etymology:Middle English, from Old English a-, an, on

1 : on : in : at *abed* *afoot* *asunder* sometimes used in dialect speech in locutions not found in standard *he did it a-purpose*
2 obsolete : at (such) a time *a-nights*
3 : in (such) a state or condition *afire* *asleep* often used with with *acrawl with ants*
4 : in (such) a manner *aloud*
5 : in the act of : in the process of *daddy's gone a-hunting* *months later the ship was still a-building*

[gonghai]

Originally Posted by guest

hello,

in the lyric of "the twelve days of CHristmas" one sentence goes like this " ten lords a-leaping"

my questions are :
1. what does the sentence mean? how do you phrase it?

2. what does "a" in a-leaping" mean? does it mean anything???

Thanks.

paula

i think it is like that to make the song sound in flow with the rythem