Re: USAGE : English past tense and participle in -et
| From: | Costentin Cornomorus <elemtilas@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Saturday, December 27, 2003, 2:09 |
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--- Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
> > > On Fri, 26 Dec 2003, Andreas Johansson
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Lately, I've seen alot of people
> misspelling the
> > past tense and passive
> > > > participle ending _-ed_ as **_-et_.
>
> Lately I've seen a lot of people using the
> non-word
> "alot" a lot.
>
> If we're going to admit "alot" why not also
> admit
> "afew", "alittle", "abunch" and "anumber". If
> I can
> write "I have alot of ideas" I should be able
> to write
> "I have acouple dollars," and "I have abunch of
> grapes."
Well, a- is an old intensive particle in English
(as well as a present participal marker). I doubt
that people are aware of this, but it seems that
they're simply recomposing single words that look
to have been decomposed at some time apast.
When you think about it, "a" in such phrases
really can't be the indefinite article, because
the noun that follows is always plural. (Can
anyone think of any exceptions?)
> Just a nother
Ah! Tha does that too! Nother is an interesting
word. It can be, as it is here, a transferrence
of the N of "an" to "other"; so it is a nother <
another < an other. Nother can also be < ne
other, and means neither of two.
Padraic.
=====
la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu ast meiyoer ke 'l andrext ben trasfu.
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