A-maying, a-hunting – what is that ‘a’ a-doing?
Feb 20, 2020
2 minutes
![](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/5lvpz2rg3k7mdn6d/images/fileTK6CY1KT.jpg)
A reader wrote in asking about words like a-maying – what does the “a-” mean? So even though spring’s a-comin’ slowly, and some of us will have to keep a-shoveling for a few more months, let’s talk about what linguists call “a-prefixing.”
Today, this construction can (celebrating spring by gathering flowers and dancing around a maypole). But if we heard, say, “You ain’t got nary a cow but the one you a-leadin’,” as one Ozark man told his uncle, many of us might simply see it as wrong.
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days