Re: Middle English Verbal Prefix i-

Adam Walker wrote:
> I'm not sure what the techical name for it is, but I
> do believe the function survives in many country
> dialects in the US where it's usually spelled "a" --
> as in "Don't rush me, I'm a-comin."  "Summer is
> a-comin in," seems quite acceptable to me, and "Adam
> lay a-bounden" just slightly archaic.
That's a different origin.  That's from the preposition _on_.  In Old
English, progressives (which were far rarer than in ModEng), were formed
with the preposition _on_ plus the present participle, thus, the
equivalent of "He is on coming" for "he is coming" (I'm not sure of the
exact forms in Old English).