# "The times they are a-changing" a-? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974 "2011-06-18T21:48:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/1 "2011-06-18T21:48:54Z")
From Dylans famous song of course. here is my question : Why the **a** in “a-changing”, what does it mean, or is it just for rythm purposes? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/2 "2011-06-18T21:52:14Z")
It’s just an affectation. Lots of dialects say things like “I’m gonna go a-fishin’.” ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/3 "2011-06-18T22:01:03Z")
If something is big, it uses the “a,” as in “there’s a hurricane a-coming.” At least according to Sofia Petrillo of _the Golden Girls_ ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/4 "2011-06-18T22:09:59Z")
[More info](http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=616625) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/5 "2011-06-19T00:16:54Z")
> [@](#): > > If something is big, it uses the “a,” as in “there’s a hurricane a-coming.” That can’t be it, because Froggy went a-courtin’. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/6 "2011-06-19T00:19:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That can’t be it, because Froggy went a-courtin’. Maybe he had a _Big Big Love_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/7 "2011-06-19T22:59:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That can’t be it, because Froggy went a-courtin’. That’s more to avoid the trochee. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/8 "2011-06-20T00:28:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That can’t be it, because Froggy went a-courtin’. The big is the courting part. Froggy just wasn’t looking to get lucky, he was looking for a wife, which is big 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/9 "2011-06-20T02:30:20Z")
I hear it occasionally here in Texas, usually in the phrase “come a-running.” Ex. “Just tell him that supper’s ready and he’ll come a-running.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/10 "2011-06-20T02:34:45Z")
I can tell a storm’s a-comin’ when my corn’s a-twitchin’. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/11 "2011-06-20T03:38:36Z")
It’s a fairly old construction - think of “Sumer is icumen in” (“Summer is a-coming in”). From [this commentary](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffds.oup.com%2Fwww.oup.com%2Fpdf%2Fmusic%2Ffvw_12.pdf&rct=j&q=sumer%20is%20icum&ei=Jb_-TaaFLpS20AGHrrjrDA&usg=AFQjCNH2sb8_qmS8eygXZt7efTJK4C16HQ&sig2=PM5nj9IrgUBrfwZgJXaYkw&cad=rja) on “Sumer”: > [@](#): > > ‘icumen’ is equivalent to the German ‘gekommen’ and means ‘has arrived’ rather than ‘is on its way’. So “a-changing” likewise implies that change had already occurred (which was true, really), rather than in progress or in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/12 "2011-06-20T04:13:16Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > I hear it occasionally here in Texas, usually in the phrase “come a-running.” Ex. “Just tell him that supper’s ready and he’ll come a-running.” Woody Guthrie, in lyrics of _Mister Charlie Lindberg_: “Then they had a meetin’, and all the Firsters come, Come on a-walkin’, they come on a-runnin’,” And in Dylans case, the ‘a-changin’ does seem to fit the scan better. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/13 "2011-06-20T07:20:38Z")
It’s a worn-down unstressed variation of the preposition _on_, from Old English _an_ ‘on’. To be “on” a verb was an Old English way to express progressive tenses. The loss of final -_n_ when unstressed parallels the same thing happening to the word’s homophone _an_ originally meaning ‘one’, but which became _a_ when used as the indefinite article. > [@American Heritage Dictionary p. 1](#): > > _ **Our Living Language** _ 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 cover 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._ The _AHD_ also notes the survival of the _a_- prefix in the dialect of Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay. The preposition _on_, OE _an_, derives from Proto-Indo-European \*_an_- meaning ‘on’. Other words tracing back to this root include Greek _ana_ ‘up’ (as in _analysis_, _Anabasis_, or Anatolia) and Russian _na_ ‘on, in, upon, into’, as in _Rostov na Donu_. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/14 "2011-06-20T13:39:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That can’t be it, because Froggy went a-courtin’. And he did ride? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/15 "2011-06-20T13:49:26Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > And he did ride? Uh-huh! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/16 "2011-06-20T14:03:03Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Uh-huh! (Weapons?) ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/17 "2011-06-20T15:57:25Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > It’s a fairly old construction - think of “Sumer is icumen in” (“Summer is a-coming in”). This. It is a archaic leftover from the German pluperfect verb tense, which adds “ge” to the beginning of most verbs. This is the reason it is almost always used with a helping verb, most often “to be” or “to have” or their congugations…“are” in the Dillon lyric. (“to be”, congugated to match “they”) > **[Pluperfect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluperfect)** > > The pluperfect (shortening of plusquamperfect), usually called past perfect in English, characterizes certain verb forms and grammatical tenses involving an action from an antecedent point in time. Examples in English are: "we had arrived" before the game began; "they had been writing" when the bell rang. > The word derives from the Latin plus quam perfectum, "more than perfect". The word "perfect" in this sense means "completed"; it contrasts with the "imperfect", which denotes uncompleted acti... As with most German leftovers, like placing prepositions at the end of sentences, it is seen as low class, or “Folksy” if you want to put a positive spin on it, which is probably exactly what folk singer Dillon was aiming for. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/18 "2011-06-20T16:26:10Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > it is seen as low class, or “Folksy” if you want to put a positive spin on it, which is probably exactly what folk singer Dillon was aiming for. Dylan! As in [Dylan Thomas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas) (Kevbo – that man ain’t got no culture 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/19 "2011-06-20T16:28:46Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > And he did ride? Krambo!! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974/20 "2011-06-20T16:29:03Z")
I dropped my harmonica, Albert. ETA: What is a krambo, or crambone anyway? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-times-they-are-a-changing-a/585974.md?page=2)