Re: "two be"
| From: | Vasiliy Chernov <bc_@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, December 28, 2001, 19:34 |
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On Thu, 27 Dec 2001 21:35:26 -0500, Padraic Brown <agricola@...>
wrote:
>As an aside, the quasi archaic English I write in at
>times has two bes as well. One is substantive, and I
>think might answer at times to Clint's "active" form;
>the other is copulative. So:
>
>I be a doctor / I am a doctor in the play. Usage is
>not consistent, though, so :P
Interesting. I've read somewhere that the usage of the regular present
of _beon_ and the present derived from *es- (_eom_, _ert_, _is_) differed
in Old English, but I've never understood the exact difference... Any
pointers?
Basilius
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