to be a-doing something.. what kind of form?

0 .02br
00 I would call it regional dialect.0-

0Hi there!02br
00It should be called either an archaism or a regionalism. There are some dialects both in the USA and England where they use that form. For the USA, it's Pensylvania e.g. and for England the Midlands. I hope this cleared it up.02br
00 Regards 0-

0Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!050010id1

0 As a footnote:02br
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001. to be a-doing X02br
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00The "a-" is a remnant of an Old English preposition, which means (when prefixing a verb) "in the act of". In older texts, it's sometimes written "on".02br
02br
00The "doing" was therefore originally a gerund. In standard English, the "a-" has now disappeared, except in whimsical

0A-going alert!!! I overheard a middle-aged woman in a supermarket use it on her cell phone just a week ago. (California)02br
00It seems she was talking to one of her kids. "... and then I'm a-going to the post office ...." she said --- or some such.02br
00I distinctly heard the "a". Maybe this was the "whimsical" usage -- although she seemed rather matter-of-fact in

0 But was she non-standard, Jim? (What was the kid called?)02br
02br
00<clutches at straw> 0-

0Just a middle-class white lady. Nothing very non-standard about her, far as I could tell. (Well, maybe the orange and lavender paisley blouse.)02br
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00As for the kid's name, I didn't catch it. Mom was just toodling by me looking for frozen peas at the time, so she was out of range before long.02br
00Sorry, we're all out of straws today. 02br
00

0 In that case, I may have to resort to an "in BrE" adjustment. 0-