I would also wonder about "before" and "after" and "past" in "many
years before," "many years after," and "many years past." Are these all
"postpositions"?
Craig
On 10/6/2010 10:26 AM, Katz, Seth wrote:
> So, Herb, would a more contemporary paraphrase of "ago" (the used-to-be participle) in a phrase like "many years ago" be something like "many years that have gone"?
>
> Seth
>
> Dr. Seth Katz
> Assistant Professor
> Department of English
> Bradley University
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Stahlke, Herbert F.W.
> Sent: Tue 10/5/2010 9:49 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Adverbs?
>
>
>
> I agree with Dick's analysis. Historically "ago" is a shortening of an older past participle of "go," "agone" The prefix a- has about as complex and ancestry and etymology as anything in English, but a lot of words that have an a- prefix are used only postnominally or predicatively. We can't say "an awake dog" or "an alive fish," although other a- words like "alert" and "ashamed" can be attributive. Because "ago" has lost all participial traces but remains postnominal, it has become what Dick called it, a postposition. "Alert," by the way, is not etymologically one of the a- prefix words. It was borrowed from French in something close to its current form and would break down in French etymology to al+ert. It first appears in English in 1598 where it is used predicatively. The first attributive usage appears in 1712.
>
>
>
> Herb
>
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dick Veit
> Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 6:09 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Adverbs?
>
>
>
> "Forty years ago" seems to function much like a prepositional phrase, but with "ago" as a postposition rather than a preposition.
>
> Thanks for posing this question, Janet. I look forward to being enlightened by responses from others.
>
> Dick
>
> On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 5:47 PM, Castilleja, Janet<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> How do you usually analyze a structure like this: Our old beach house, which was built forty years ago, has now vanished. What do you do with 'forty years ago'? I learned it as a noun phrase functioning as an adverb, but I'm not sure that's the best description, especially when working with students.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Janet
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
