A member asked about the lyrics that were replaced by Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic".
They start out:"John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave". I have no idea what the construction "a-mouldering" is called. Who does?

no idea what the construction "a-mouldering" is called

Prefixation.

"Decomposing" is what "a-mouldering" means, but I'm not sure what the "a-" is called. There is in Greek a usage called "alpha privative" where the "a" prefix means "without, -less, not" as in "agenes" = ignoble, from "a- + genos = family, kindred" or "agnotos" = unknown, new, from a- + gnotos = known".

This would seem to be a usage going in a different direction. The a- prefix in English generally connotes duration, or a prolonged or continued action, the same idea which is conveyed in other Indo-European langues by the imperfect tense. But I still don't know what it's called.

I mo look this up in my Anglo Saxon Grammar when I get home. I think a- was one of the standard OE inseparable prefixes.

"Decomposing" is what "a-mouldering" means

My dictionary has instead "to crumble into particles". If that's correct (e.g., a cook might molder a slice of toast) then "molder" is a particularly gruesome word to apply to a corpse.

to have understood wht Dr. Bill was asking or the onliest one to misunderstand him?

Okay, so the name of the construction is prefixation. But how would you explain to someone learning English what the time element implied is like. It seems to be archaic, used only in old quotes like nursery rhyme "A froggie would a-wooing go...."

It seems to be archaic, used only in old quotes like nursery rhyme

Hoowever: in song or poem this "a-" gives the writer the extra syllable needed for the meter scheme. (Akin to a poet using "doth go" instead of "goes".)

But is the a- used outside of song/poem, where meter doesn't control? "Mr. A-, I ask you, 'Are you now or have you ever been a member of an ordinary dialect?'"

no idea what the construction "a-......." is called


So where's all our USn's who "speak Southern"? Are y'all a-goin' to offer some insight here? I'm a-hollerin' for your help!

This page calls it a conversion prefix and explains its origin.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19971124

Bingley

I couldn't think what to call it and still can't. "Conversion" refers to the element in "afire", "abed": converting noun "fire", "bed" to an adjective. In the case of "I'm wooing" vs "I'm a-wooing" there's no such conversion: they're both progressive tenses.

It's hard to get a feel for the difference because we (or most of us) no longer use it. See if this feels right: the "a-" forms an intransitive, naming just the activity of the verb, without a specific object. (In this case it would be conversive of transitivity.)

"Froggy goes a-wooing" vs "Froggy goes wooing the widow next door"

"Papa is a-hunting" vs "Papa is hunting woodsnipe"

But I don't know, and you might well find counterexamples. Just an idea.

The Old English prefix a- was sometimes used with the meaning of away from as in a-fysan, to drive forth and sometimes had no apparent effect as in a-galan, to sing.

as an aside-- i am the only one who thinks "Froggy went a-courtin' " not a wooing?
Froggy went a-courting, and he did ride-- a woo, a woo,
Froggy went a-courting, and he did ride,
Sword and pistol at his side, a woo, a woo.

(as i recall the wedding party was a tragedy-- a cat came along and ate the bride.... )

a-courting.

I agree, ledasdottir.

i am the only one who thinks "Froggy went a-courtin' "

I am a-greeing

But The Annotated Mother Goose, Bramhall House New York mcmlxii © William S. & Cecil Barong-Gould, pp. 77-79, has the following:

There was a frog liv'd in a well,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone,
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
Kitty alone and I.
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
And a farce mouse in a mill,
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.

This frog he would a wooing ride,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone,
This frog he would a wooing ride,
Kitty alone and I.
This frog he would a wooing ride,
And on a snail he got astride,
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.

... numerous following stanzas

This has a footnote:

Much better known today is the more recent version of this old song that begins:

A frog he would a-wooing go,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
A frog he would a-wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no,
With a rowley, powley, gammon and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.

The Baring-Goulds state that the original version was printed in Gammer Gurton's Garland, first printed in London in 1784. I have read somewhere that there have been efforts to prove that the later version alludes to some English notable, but I forget what that was all about.

well, yes, i know about the english version-- but the american version-- i heard Burl Ives sing it.. can be found here..
(words, and real audio or midi or aiff files) http://www.smsu.edu/folksong/maxhunter/0085/ the music is not the same.

and the uh hu change with each local dialect.
Musick-- or anyone else--is this one of the song collected by Childs?

Froggy went a courting, he did ride, uh-hu
Froggy went a courting, he did ride
Sword and a pistol by his side, uh-hu

He rode till he came to masters hall, uh-hu
He rode till he came to masters hall
There he did both knock and call, uh-hu

Took Miss Margy on his knee, uh-hu
Took Miss Margy on his knee
Says to her, will you have me, uh-hu

Old uncle Rat, he's gone from home, uh-hu
Old uncle Rat, he's gone from home
And I cain't tell till he's does come, uh-hu

Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides, uh-hu
Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be frogs bride, uh-hu

Old Uncle Rat, he galloped off to town, uh-hu
Old Uncle Rat, he galloped off to town
To buy his niece a wedding gown, uh-hu

Where shall th wedding supper be, uh-hu
Where shall th wedding supper be
Way down yonder in a hollow tree, uh-hu

What shall the wedding supper be, uh-hu
What shall the wedding supper be
Two black beans an' a blue-eyed pea, uh-hu

First came in was an old black bug, uh-hu
Th first came in was old black bug
He had his whiskey in his jug, uh-hu

The next come in was a little black flea, uh-hu
The next came in was a little black flea
Had his fiddle on his knee, uh-hu

Th next came in was an old sly cat, uh-hu
The next came in was an old sly cat
She says, I'll put up a stop to that, uh-hu

Then Miss Mousy started up th wall, uh-hu
Then Miss Mousy started up th wall
Her foot slipped an' she did fall, uh-hu

Th Frog was left a wider then, uh-hu
Th Frog was left a wider then
He swore he never would marry again, uh-hu

Started swimming across th brook, uh-hu
Started swimming across th brook
And an old black snake took him down his crook, uh-hu

You may lay this all upon th shelf, uh-hu
Lay this all upon th shelf
And if you want 'ery 'nother one, you must sing it yourself, uh-hu

> I have no idea what the construction "a-mouldering" is called.

I don't know what it's called, but in this case the "a-" is, to me, merely a syllable added to enhance (or perhaps more precisely enforce) scansion. With the a in place you have "JOHN Brown's BOdy LIES a MOULDring IN the Grave." If you take out the a it would be "JOHN Brown's BOdy LIES MOULDERring IN the GRAVE," which does not have the same "foot" print.

I suspect a poet or songwriter would know a word for this added syllable, just as I suspect there really is such a word. After all, we've found a word for just about everything we've ever looked at, thanks usually to tsuwm.

On the subject of John Brown, I lived near Harper's Ferry at one time, and absorbed a bit of the history of John Brown and his ill-fated raid on the armory there. His short-lived rebellion ended in a hanging at which Robert E. Lee was commanding officer of the Army detachment involved in the hanging. Lee was in the US Army at the time, and I'm not certain what his role was, since if I remember correctly the charge for which Brown was convicted and executed was treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Federal Government was only peripherally involved.

I attended an auction in WV about 20 years ago at which there was up for sale the wooden chest Brown sat upon while being transported to his hanging. I actually put in the first bid ($1,000), but it went for far more than that. This auction will figure somewhat peripherally in the plot of my next novel, entitled The Great Copter Caper, though the item up for sale in the story will be not the chest but the wagon itself. In real life the wagon is in a small museum in Charles Town, now West Virginia rather than Virginia.

Iamb your humble correspondent

Ted