Adjectives formed with this prefix are often restricted topredicative use, owing to their origin asprepositional phrases with the preposition "on." For example, one may say "the ship isafire," but not "theafire ship," just as one may say "the ship ison fire," but not "theon fire ship."
Alternative form ofy-(archaic and dialectal)In dialect, it is sometimes conflated with sense 5 of the previous definition, and is used as a general indicator of a participle.[First attested around 1150 to 1350 (Middle English).][1]
aware,alike
(Devon)Used to form the past participle of a verb.
When invited to believe in the Chimaera, the horse-centaurs, or the winged horse Pegasus, all of them straightforward Pelasgian cult-symbols, a philosopher felt bound to reject them asa-zoölogical improbabilities [...].
2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala,The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published2013, page191:
If aroused outside the proper outlet of marriage, [female lust] could range out of control, turning its possessor into ana-feminine monster: that is what happened to fallen women.
Used with stems that begin with consonants except sometimesh.an- is synonymous and is used in front of words that start with vowels and sometimesh.[4] For example,anesthetic andanalgesic.
(no longerproductive) Towards; Used to indicate direction, reduction to, increase to, change into, or motion.[First attested from around 1150 to 1350.][1]
Variation of the prefixab-, only used when the stem starts with the letterp orv,[4] or (rarely)s in which case thes is doubled (as inassoil andassoilzie).
Different Germanic and Latinate senses ofa- became confused (vaguely “intensive") and are all unproductive. The Greek sense of “not” (e.g.,amoral,asymmetry) remains in use.
“[I]t naturally happened that all thesea- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultanta- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical,euphonic [nice-sounding], or even archaic, and whollyotiose [pointless].” OED.
^J. J. Hogan and Patrick C. O'Neill (1947), “A NORTH-COUNTY DUBLIN GLOSSARY”, inBéaloideas[1], volume17, number1/2, An Cumann Le Béaloideas Eireann/Folklore of lreland Society, page263
Borg, Alexander (2004),A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies;I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill,page135
Oa, Morea and Ma`oni Paul. (November 2013).Tentative Grammar Description for the Gabadi language spoken in Central Province. Editor: Eileen Gasaway. [Unpublished manuscript/course material, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea]. For the prefixa-, see page 23, section "5.1.1 Subject Marking".
Please seeModule:checkparams for help with this warning.Hideo Sawada (2024), “Differences between ‘Lacid’ and ‘Leqi’”, inGrammatical Phenomena of Sino-Tibetan Languages, volume 6, pages33-54
(Before a word beginning withsc,sp orst)alternative form ofad-
a- + scandere(“climb”) → ascendere(“climb up, go up; rise, spring up”)
a- + scrībere(“write”) → ascrībere(“state in writing, add in writing; insert; appoint, enroll, enfranchise, reckon, number”)
a- + spīrāre(“breathe”) → aspīrāre(“breathe or blow upon; am favorable to, assist, favor, aid; aspire or desire (to); approach, come near (to)”)
a- + specere(“observe, look at”) → aspicere(“look at or towards, behold; regard, respect; observe, notice; examine, inspect; consider, ponder”)
a- + stringere(“press, tighten, compress”) → astringere(“draw close, bind or tie together; tighten, contract; check, restrain; oblige, necessitate”)
a- + struere(“compose, construct, build; ready, prepare; place, arrange”) → astruere(“build near or to a thing, erect; build on, heap; build an additional structure”)
Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017),A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.[5], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page145
This prefix is often used as a neutral possessive pronoun to make the citation forms ofinalienable nouns:amá(“someone's mother”),akʼos(“someone's neck”),ajáád(“someone's leg”),ajaaʼ(“someone's ear”),akʼéí(“someone's kin”). The alternative is to use the prefixha-(“one's”) orbi-(“his/her/its/their”) to make these dictionary forms.
From the first letter of the Norwegian alphabeta, fromLatina, fromAncient GreekΑ(A,“alpha”), likely through theEtruscan language, fromPhoenician𐤀(ʾ), from Proto-Canaanite, from Proto-Sinaitic, fromEgyptian𓃾.
This form merges with the prefixesro-,no-,dí-,to-,fo-,ar-, andimm- to formra-,na-,da-,da-,fa-,ara-,imma- respectively. It disappears after the particlení(“not”), its only trace being the mutation it causes (eclipsis in the case of the masculine, lenition in the case of the neuter), thusní cara(“does not love”) vs.ní chara(“does not love it”),ní ben(“does not strike”) vs.ní mben(“does not strike him”).
SeeAppendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns for details on how these forms are used. Note that the so-called “infixed” pronouns are technically prefixes, but they are never the first prefix in a verbal complex.
L means this form triggers lenition. N means this form triggers nasalization (eclipsis) (N) means this form triggers nasalization in some texts but not in others.
Álvarez, José; Bravo, María (2008), “a-”, inDiccionario básico de la lengua añú [Basic dictionary of the Añú language][6], Maracaibo, Venezuela: University of Zulia,→ISBN, page41.
Used with stems that begin with consonants excepth.an- is synonymous and is used in front of words that start with vowels andh. For example,analfabetismo(“analphabetism”).
18th century, Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir,Al-Inkishafi[7], translation fromR. Allen (1946), “Inkishafi—a translation from the Swahili”, inAfrican Studies, volume 5, number 4,→DOI, pages243–249, stanza14:
Only used before Spanish cardinal numbers to tell the date for a month. For the first day of a month,a-primero is more correct buta-uno is also used by younger speakers. The prefix has the same function asika- for Tagalog cardinal numbers.
The prefix is optional but Spanish-oriented speakers often use it.
Buck, Carl Darling (1904),A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian: With a Collection of Inscriptions and a Glossary
Poultney, James Wilson (1959),The Bronze Tables of Iguvium[9], Baltimore: American Philological Association
De Vaan, Michiel (2008),Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,page301
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “a-”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
"a-" is traditionally the 3rd person singular subject concord, but Sanderson records "a-" also meaning you, which is verified by theCiyawo - English Dictionary: Dikishonale ja Ŵakulijiganya via the examples under entries. Perhaps a change occurred between 1902 and 1922 resulting in "a-" meaning "you".
, from Proto-Sinaitic
, fromEgyptian𓃾.
