Janet,
Historically it's the past participle of OE wyrcan "to work," from which
we get PDE "work". However, the particular weak verb formation that
produces "wrought" is like that that produces also "thought," "sought,"
"taught," "caught," etc., with a change from the /k/ to a velar
fricative like German <ch> in Bach and a corresponding shift in the
vowel. "Wreak" was a strong verb in OE and its past participle was
gewrecen, without the -t that marks Germanic weak verbs. Today it bears
no relationship to either verb. It's simply an old participle that has
become an adjective, like "sodden," "molten," and many others.
In the Edison utterance "What hath God wrought?" it behaves as if it's
still the past participle of "work," but I think that was an archaic
usage even in the late 19th c.
So historically if a dictionary says it's a past participle of "work"
the authors are right. If they're making a claim about Modern English,
they're stretching a point beyond the breaking point.
Herb
Is 'wrought' the past participle of 'wreak' or 'work'? My dictionaries
are having a conflict.
Janet Castilleja
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Edmond Wright
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 6:13 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Begging the question (3)
Sorry, Paul! Too rapid reading of emails was the cause.
Edmond
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/
|
