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Eipjoo Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary

a-creeping

Given the example:

(Three boys are in the Invisible Cloak)
"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"
He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.
"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

I think ‘If something’s creeping~’ is a good sentence.
Then what’s ‘a-‘?
  

Top answer

'A-' is an old prefix which still exists in a few words like abed and aboard . Here is the American Heritage Dictionary note: Middle English, from Old English, from an, on. S.

— Mister Micawber

  • 'A-' is an old prefix which still exists in a few words like abed and aboard .
  • Here is the American Heritage Dictionary note: Middle English, from Old English, from an, on.
  • 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.
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2 Answers
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'A-' is an old prefix which still exists in a few words like abed and aboard. Here is the American Heritage Dictionary note:

Middle English, from Old English, from an, on.

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
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Thank you very much adding a knowledgeable information.
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