# Who started adding a- to english verbs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-a-to-english-verbs/621285>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 8, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-a-to-english-verbs/621285 "2012-05-08T15:38:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-a-to-english-verbs/621285/21 "2012-06-01T16:12:19Z")

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> [@bup](#):
>
> [This site](http://german.about.com/library/verbs/blverb_pre01.htm), which I found looking for a German root of the _a-_ question, says that English prefixes do come from Greek.

He (she?) wasn’t talking about English _a-_, but Italian. [This site](http://www.etimo.it/?term=anormale) (in Italian) derives the _a-_ in _anormale_ from Latin _ab-_, and I would assume the _a-_ in _amorale_ in from Latin _in-_, etc.

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**Author:** ![matteo\_moku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@matteo\_moku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matteo_moku)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-a-to-english-verbs/621285/22 "2012-06-01T21:04:37Z")

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> [@Dr.Drake](#):
>
> Why do you think this comes from Greek?

Because this function of the letter “a” was used in Old Greek language,too(clearly Greek people didn’t use the letter “a”,but its counterpart “alpha”)…

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-a-to-english-verbs/621285/23 "2012-06-02T03:26:39Z")

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On this general subject, the [Lexicon Valley](http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2012/05/lexicon_valley_when_the_progressive_passive_replaced_the_passival_in_english_grammar_.html) podcast may shed some light. They recently discussed the changes in the past progressive in English, and it turns out that the way to express ongoing action in the past has undergone several changes, with pedants always decrying a new Dark Ages when the new standard comes in. One of the phases it went through involved prefixing the verb with ‘a-’.

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**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 3, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-a-to-english-verbs/621285/24 "2012-06-03T02:01:30Z")

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Just for info, I’m sending a cross-ref of this thread to the “Christ is Risen” thread.

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