Dick,
    That is convincing, though "a lot" translates more to "very much" than
just "much," so that may be tantamount to a "very very." But putting
the adjective between seems to seal it as determiner plus noun. I
still think it acts more like a set construction than a two word
sequence. I don't think we think of "a" plus "lot" when we hear "a
lot." But the suggestion was never one that I expected people to take
seriously.


Craig>

Craig,
>
> Adverbial yes, but a noun phrase used adverbially rather than a true
> adverb.
> Consider the intensifier:
>
> I do it often / very often.
> I do it a lot / *very a lot / a whole lot.
> I do it a bit / *very a bit / a little bit.
>
> Dick
>
> On Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 9:09 AM, Craig Hancock <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Bill,
>>    I was thinking about situations like "I own a lot, which I check a
>> lot." Or "I check a lot a lot." If we had a different spelling for the
>> adverbial use (which I hear as "alot," not "a lot" in the above
>> instances), I think it would better represent the way the structure
>> has evolved both phonetically and cognitively. I hear it and think of
>> it as a single word spelled as two.
>>   Of course, the written language is innately conservative in the
>> classic
>> sense of that term. People will treat it as an error. Even as I type
>> this, the computer puts a red squiggly line underneath "alot" to cajole
>> me back.
>>
>> Craig
>
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