The meaning of "he"

[Rachel Adams]

What is the meaning of "he" in this song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."



"When the blazing sun is gone, When he nothing shines upon, Then you show your little light, Twinkle, twinkle, all the night."

 

[Rover_KE]

Click here.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Click here.

The sun is considered masculine, but what kind of construction is it? "When he nothing shines upon" does it mean "he doesn't shine upon anything"?

 

[Rachel Adams]

More closely: When he shines upon nothing.

Verse often takes liberties with word order for the sake of rhyme and/or rhythm.

Are these short forms also used in verse and spoken English "trav' ller," "tho" and "tis"?
They are also from this song.

 

[GoesStation]

'Tis is rarely used in most varieties of modern English.

My mom arrived in the States with what my dad has described as a charming English accent overlaid on her native Polish accent. She gradually Americanized, losing nearly all the distinctly English pronunciations and usages, but she retained 'tisn't for emphatic denial for the rest of her life. I hope that at least survives in England.

 

[SoothingDave]

Waiting to see if anyone responds "'tdoesn't." :lol:

 

[Rachel Adams]

Trav' ller and tho are the normal pronunciations of these words. 'Tis is rarely used in most varieties of modern English.

But why are they spelled that way?

 

[jutfrank]

My mom ... retained 'tisn't for emphatic denial for the rest of her life. I hope that at least survives in England.

Waiting to see if anyone responds "'tdoesn't." :lol:

I'd been desperately trying to resist answering GS's question with 'Tisn't used any longer, or something similar, but didn't have the heart to shatter the romantic illusion.

(No, seriously, I'm sure there are still some people out there who speak like that.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

But why are they spelled that way?

Trav' ller: This is a mistake. There should not be a space. It should be "trav'ller." When the song was composed, "traveller" was a three-syllable word. The e was removed to fit the song's meter.

Tho: Poets used to write "though" that way. I don't know why.

'Tis: This is the customary way of spelling the old contraction of "it is." We combine two words "'t is" into one word: "'tis." It looks better that way, don't you think?

 

[Rachel Adams]

Trav' ller: This is a mistake. There should not be a space. It should be "trav'ller." When the song was composed, "traveller" was a three-syllable word. The e was removed to fit the song's meter.

Do you mean "tra" "ve" ller" had three syllables? I thought it still has three syllables.:shock:

 

[GoesStation]

Do you mean "tra" "ve" ller" had three syllables? I thought it still has three syllables.:shock:

Nope. Two: trav-ler. This is a good illustration of how the British practice of doubling the root's final consonant when adding a suffix can mislead readers. Of course, the American practice of failing to double it is also misleading. When it comes to English orthography, you just can't win.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Nope. Two: trav-ler.

So it used to have three syllables "tra" "ve" "ller" but in modern English it has two trav-ler. Sorry, but I don't understand why you wrote it as trav-ler and why in modern English it has two syllables why is the "e" gone?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

So it used to have three syllables "tra" "ve" "ller" but in modern English it has two trav-ler. Sorry, but I don't understand why you wrote it as trav-ler and why in modern English it has two syllables why is the "e" gone?

The e is still there. It's often silent. We have lots of silent letters.

And there's nothing wrong with pronouncing that e. Many or most people don't. But pronouncing it is still natural. It's fine either way.

Likewise, it can be spelled with on or two l's. As long as you're consistent, either spelling is fine.

 

[probus]

It has two syllables in some varieties of English. In my dialect we give it three, the middle one being a slight schwa.

 

[emsr2d2]

If I'm enunciating carefully (in a presentation or a speech), I use all three syllables. In standard, everyday, casual English, I use two.