Or it can be a reduced form of the Old English past participle prefix ge-, as in aware. It also can represent Middle English of (prep.) "off, from," as in anew, afresh, akin, abreast. In words derived from Old English, it commonly represents Old English an "on, in, into" (see on (prep.)), as in alive, above, asleep, aback, abroad, afoot, ashore, ahead, abed, aside, obsolete arank "in rank and file," etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns, with the notion "in, at engaged in." In this use it is identical to a (2).
Prefix or inseparable particle, a conglomerate of various Germanic and Latin elements.
0 kommentar(er)
