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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage
"I am become" -> where does it come from
Hi....
I'm learning (trying to :-) english and while reading some text yesterday I saw such an expression "I am become death". I guess it's something similar to "I've become death" but it doesn't match any of grammar rules I know. I suppose it's something as in german. I mean (for those of you who know something about german):
"Ich habe gemacht" so we use haben (to have in english), but "Ich bin gegangen" and here it's replaced with sein (to be). I thought it may comes from some old times when in english such a situation was possible. Am I right?
If anyone know what's it all about I'll be grateful for explaining it to me.
Thank you in advance
Valamarth valamarth(at)frugo.pl Nigdy nie k³óæ siê z g³upcem, ludzie mog± nie dostrzec ró¿nicy.
I'm learning (trying to :-) english and while reading some text yesterday I saw such an expression "I am become death". I guess it's something similar to "I've become death" but it doesn't match any of grammar rules I know. I suppose it's something as in german. I mean (for those of you who know something about german):
"Ich habe gemacht" so we use haben (to have in english), but "Ich bin gegangen" and here it's replaced with sein (to be). I thought it may comes from some old times when in english such a situation was possible. Am I right?
If anyone know what's it all about I'll be grateful for explaining it to me.
Thank you in advance
Valamarth valamarth(at)frugo.pl Nigdy nie k³óæ siê z g³upcem, ludzie mog± nie dostrzec ró¿nicy.
Top answer
> This is poetry, or some strained writing. Just glance at it and go on to something written in normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.
- > This is poetry, or some strained writing.
- Just glance at it and go on to something written in normal English.
- Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.
- Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
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42 Answers
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>
This is poetry, or some strained writing. Just glance at it and go on to something written in normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
This is poetry, or some strained writing. Just glance at it and go on to something written in normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
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[nq:1]<< (Valamarth) I'm learning (trying to :-) english and while reading some text yesterday I saw such an expression "I ... normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.[/nq]
Yes, it is poetic, or something like that. Google produces many hits for the phrase, including a title for a documentary film on the A-bomb.
Then again, s
Yes, it is poetic, or something like that. Google produces many hits for the phrase, including a title for a documentary film on the A-bomb.
Then again, s
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It's a vestige of Latin, not standard in modern English. In this case, it's poetic license. Mike Hardy
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[nq:1]Hi.. I'm learning (trying to :-) english and while reading some text yesterday I saw such an expression "I am ... I thought it may comes from some old times when in english such a situation was possible. Am I right?[/nq]
Your explanation is also what I have guessed when confronted with this situation, but I don't have any proof. "I am come" occurs in various poetic and early modern Engli
Your explanation is also what I have guessed when confronted with this situation, but I don't have any proof. "I am come" occurs in various poetic and early modern Engli
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[nq:1]Hi.. I'm learning (trying to :-) english and while reading some text yesterday I saw such an expression "I am ... right? If anyone know what's it all about I'll be grateful for explaining it to me. Thank you in advance[/nq]
There is a tendency, which was once much stronger than it is now, to use archaic forms of words for translations of religious texts into English. This one ("I am beco
There is a tendency, which was once much stronger than it is now, to use archaic forms of words for translations of religious texts into English. This one ("I am beco
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[nq:1]<< (Valamarth) I'm learning (trying to :-) english and while reading some text yesterdayI saw such an expression "I am ... normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.[/nq]
It's from the Bhagvad Gita. As Valamarth suggests, it's an old fashioned way of saying, 'I have become Death'.
m.
It's from the Bhagvad Gita. As Valamarth suggests, it's an old fashioned way of saying, 'I have become Death'.
m.
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In our last episode,
,
the lovely and talented Richard Maurer
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
(I am become death.)
[nq:1]This is poetry, or some strained writing. Just glance at it and go on to something written in normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.[/nq]
It is a translation of a Hindu religious text. Gods tal
,
the lovely and talented Richard Maurer
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
(I am become death.)
[nq:1]This is poetry, or some strained writing. Just glance at it and go on to something written in normal English. Give us a few lines before and after and the author's name if you want more on this.[/nq]
It is a translation of a Hindu religious text. Gods tal
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Thus spake Don Aitken:
[nq:1]There is a tendency, which was once much stronger than it is now, to use archaic forms of words for ... lot of them in the King James Bible, which itself was probably an influence on the translator of the Gita.[/nq]
It looks as if you are saying that the "archaisms" in the KJV were deliberate (I doubt that's what you wanted to say).
They weren't archis
[nq:1]There is a tendency, which was once much stronger than it is now, to use archaic forms of words for ... lot of them in the King James Bible, which itself was probably an influence on the translator of the Gita.[/nq]
It looks as if you are saying that the "archaisms" in the KJV were deliberate (I doubt that's what you wanted to say).
They weren't archis
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[nq:1]Yet again, innovation was nothing new.[/nq]
This should be carved in stone.
This should be carved in stone.
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[nq:1]Thus spake Don Aitken:[/nq]
[nq:2]There is a tendency, which was once much stronger than ... was probably an influence on the translator of the Gita.[/nq]
[nq:1]It looks as if you are saying that the "archaisms" in the KJV were deliberate (I doubt that's what you ... Of course, the translators' innovative spirit caused a return to an earlier time, in which pronouns weren't marked for
[nq:2]There is a tendency, which was once much stronger than ... was probably an influence on the translator of the Gita.[/nq]
[nq:1]It looks as if you are saying that the "archaisms" in the KJV were deliberate (I doubt that's what you ... Of course, the translators' innovative spirit caused a return to an earlier time, in which pronouns weren't marked for
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