a- before the verb meaning

[Nezhul]

Hello. So I've been listening to a song recently, found lyrics for it and there was a thing that caught my attention. Maybe someone could explain it to me? Here are two lines from the song:

"Wolves asleep amidst the trees,
Bats all a-swaying in the breeze,
..."

What does that a- means? Is it only for rhythm? Or is there any meaning, maybe it's an old form of something?

Thanks.

 

[oggbashan]

Here you are. Og went a-Googling.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/45886/what-is-the-story-behind-a-prefix-suffix



Prefixing a- to verb forms ending in -ing, as in a-hunting and a-fishing, was once fairly common in vernacular U.S. speech, particularly in the highland areas of the South and in the Southwest.

Such verb forms derive from an Old English construction in which a preposition, usually on, was placed in front of a verbal noun — a verb to which -ing had been added to indicate that the action was extended or ongoing. Gradually such prepositions were shortened to a- by the common linguistic process that shortens or drops unaccented syllables. The -ing forms came to be regarded as present participles rather than verbal nouns, and the use of a- was extended to genuine present participles as well as to verbal nouns. Eventually a- disappeared from many dialects, including Standard English in the United States and Great Britain, although it is still retained today in some isolated dialect areas, particularly among older speakers. Today, speakers who use the a- prefix do not use it with all -ing words, nor do they use it randomly. Rather, a- is only used with -ing words that function as part of a verb phrase, as in She was a-running.

 

[Hypoxia]

Asleep, awake, adrift, ashore, afire, awash, aglut, adios -- will it ever end?

PS: Athwart, abeam, avast, aloft, anon, adorn, abandon, and so on.

 

[Nezhul]

I googled myself, but seems like didn't do it the right way. Thanks.

 

[49greg]

Here you are. Og went a-Googling.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/45886/what-is-the-story-behind-a-prefix-suffix



Prefixing a- to verb forms ending in -ing, as in a-hunting and a-fishing, was once fairly common in vernacular U.S. speech, particularly in the highland areas of the South and in the Southwest.

Such verb forms derive from an Old English construction in which a preposition, usually on, was placed in front of a verbal noun — a verb to which -ing had been added to indicate that the action was extended or ongoing. Gradually such prepositions were shortened to a- by the common linguistic process that shortens or drops unaccented syllables. The -ing forms came to be regarded as present participles rather than verbal nouns, and the use of a- was extended to genuine present participles as well as to verbal nouns. Eventually a- disappeared from many dialects, including Standard English in the United States and Great Britain, although it is still retained today in some isolated dialect areas, particularly among older speakers. Today, speakers who use the a- prefix do not use it with all -ing words, nor do they use it randomly. Rather, a- is only used with -ing words that function as part of a verb phrase, as in She was a-running.

Thanks Ogg, I'd heard it used before, and may have used it myself, but didn't know what or why it was used. I do have an old memory of a song that goes something like:
"A hunting we will go,
a hunting we will go,
hi ho a derry oh,
a hunting we will go". I know I messed up the 'hi ho a darry oh' bit, but I'm not sure I've ever seen it written. Was it used by Elmer Fudd, the cartoon character?

 

[Handley_Page]

Thanks Ogg, I'd heard it used before, and may have used it myself, but didn't know what or why it was used. I do have an old memory of a song that goes something like:
"A hunting we will go,
a hunting we will go,
hi ho a derry oh,
a hunting we will go". I know I messed up the 'hi ho a darry oh' bit, but I'm not sure I've ever seen it written. Was it used by Elmer Fudd, the cartoon character?

Elmer Fudd never got a look-in.
See HERE

 

[49greg]

Elmer Fudd never got a look-in.
See HERE

Thanks. The things you learn here (and in Wiki.)