[General] A-fishing

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DutchDude

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Hi everyone. I am currently reading Thoreau's Walden. Not at all easy to read, especially for a Dutchman, haha! Its technical difficulties notwithstanding, I absolutely love it.

In order to truly understand what Thoreau wrote down, I look up all the words of which I do not know the meaning. Works like a charm, but alas, there is one curiosity I cannot seem to unravel... The prefix 'a-' followed by a verb.

"These times have been a-changing" or "(...) who often went there a-fishing (...)". "I went there a-chestnutting (...)".

Is it a mere literary decoration, something along the lines of a dialect, or does it actually alter the meaning of the verb?

Thank you for your time.

Cheers
DutchDude
 

SoothingDave

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It's more of an old-fashioned type of use. It doesn't really alter the meaning. I could say I was waiting for a train or I was awaiting the train.
 

5jj

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It's more of an old-fashioned type of use. It doesn't really alter the meaning. I could say I was waiting for a train or I was awaiting the train.
That's slightly different - 'wait' and 'await' are different verbs.

However, to 'go' or 'be a-verbing' is a consciously old-fashioned use, often in poems or songs. The 'a-' does not change the meaning.
 

Ouisch

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bhaisahab

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That's slightly different - 'wait' and 'await' are different verbs.

However, to 'go' or 'be a-verbing' is a consciously old-fashioned use, often in poems or songs. The 'a-' does not change the meaning.
"We'll go no more a-verbing...";-) (apologies to Lord Byron)
 
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TheParser

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"These times have been a-changing" or "(...) who often went there a-fishing (...)". "I went there a-chestnutting (...)".

Is it a mere literary decoration, something along the lines of a dialect, or does it actually alter the meaning of the verb?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello,


(1) All the teachers have given you and me some really interesting

answers.

(2) I assume that you are interested in grammar, so I thought that

you might like this:

(a) My books tell me that many (many!!!) years ago, English speakers

use "a" as a preposition meaning "on." The -ing word after "a" was a

gerund. So "I went a-fishing" really meant "I went on fishing." As

time passed, people changed it to "I went fishing." And -- depending

on which explanation you accept -- "fishing" is now generally analyzed

as a participle (subjective complement of "I").



Sincerely,


James


P.S. You can still see this use of "a" in such words as:

asleep
aboard
away
etc.
 

emsr2d2

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The last bit of that last post is interesting. I was under the impression that "asleep" came from "at sleep".
 

BobK

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"We'll go no more a-verbing...";-) (apologies to Lord Byron)

Neat! ;-) Nursery rhymes are a good source of more examples:

'Where are you going, my pretty maid?'/'I'm going a-milking Sir' she said.

'A frog he [alias Froggy] would a-wooing go...'

I'm sure there are more.

b
 

birdeen's call

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The last bit of that last post is interesting. I was under the impression that "asleep" came from "at sleep".
It comes from "on" according to my books too, but it's interesting that not all "a-" words have the same origin. Obviously, words like "amoral" don't, but even "aware" doesn't. "A-" in "aware" is etymologically completely different from "a-" in "asleep".
 

emsr2d2

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And in The Twelve Days of Christmas:

"Twelve lords a-leaping..." (although I have a feeling they added the "a-" to fit in with the number of syllables required).
 

bhaisahab

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And in The Twelve Days of Christmas:

"Twelve lords a-leaping..." (although I have a feeling they added the "a-" to fit in with the number of syllables required).
As did Byron with "a-roving" I'm sure.
 

bhaisahab

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Byron didn't think the line up actually, he stole it from a folk song. ;-)
I know the two folk songs, "The Jolly Beggar" and "The Maid of Amsterdam/Plymouth Town" but I didn't know he took the line from there, I thought it possible that it was the other way round.
 

birdeen's call

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I know the two folk songs, "The Jolly Beggar" and "The Maid of Amsterdam/Plymouth Town" but I didn't know he took the line from there, I thought it possible that it was the other way round.
"Jolly Beggar" is older than Byron's poem.
 
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