CHAPTER XI. Adverbs. 223. Adverbs are, for the most part, abbreviations of words or phrases, or cases of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. According to their origin or form, we may divide them into the following classes :— 224. I. Adverbs derived from Nouns and Adjectives. Genitive.-Need-s of necessity; M.E. nedes; E.E. nêde (instr.). A-night-s, now-a-day-s, al-way-s, be-time-s, el-se (O.E. elles), eft-soon-s, un-a-ware-s, on-ce, twi-ce, thri-ce, whil-s-t, a-mid-s-t, a-mong-s-t, be-twi-x-t. Twice O.E. twi-wa, E. E. twi-e, M.E. twies; thrice O.E. thri-wa, E.E. thrie, M.E. thries; -wa = -war = time; once, O.E. ane, E. E. ene, M.E. an-es, on-es, an-s, on-s. The -st in whilst, &c. represents an older -es(-s). Cp. M.E. whil-es, amidd-es, among-es, &c. Dative. Whil-om (O.E. hwil-um), from while time. Seld-om (O.E. seld-um) from O.E. seld = rare. Latin All adverbs ending in -meal once had the dative suffix -um. Cp. O.E. lim-mæl-um= limb-meal. The suffix -um formed distributives like Latin -im. Cp. M.E. table-mele tabillatim.-Palladius on Husbondrie, p. 66. Little by little = M.E. lytlum and lytlum. Accusative. Alway (O.E. ealne-weg), otherwise, sometime, the while, now-a-day, backward, &c. Prepositional Forms.-The chief prepositions used to form adverbial expressions are, a, (an), on, in, at, of, be, (by), to. An in, on: anon = in one second. In M.E. we find on-an—anon. A = in, on: a-bed, a-day, a-sleep, a-loft, &c.; a-broad, a-cold, a-good, a-twain, &c. On, in: on sleep, on high, in-deed, in vain, in short, in two, &c. At: at jar, at odds, at large, at night, at length, at best, at first, &c. Of (for a) of kin, of late, of old, of new ; Of (for older genitives), of a truth, of right. Be, by be-times, be-cause, by turns, by degrees, by hundreds. To: to-day, to-night, to-gether. Per: per-chance, per-haps. An (=in, on) occurs in E. E. and M. E. before words beginning with a vowel or h; as, an eve, in the evening; an honde, in hand. A is used before words beginning with a consonant. "Ich am nu elder than ich was a wintre and a lore."-O.E. Hom. ii. 220. This a was a separate word as late as the seventeenth-century, It is very common before verbal nouns. Cp. a-fishing, a-hunting, a-weeping. As on is only another form of an, it has replaced an before a Vowel. "Set our teeth an edge [= on edge]." The Four Book of Princes, p. 116. A and on, sometimes occur side by side: a-board and on board, a-ground and on ground. An takes the place of in, in the phrase ever and anon;" where an-on = M. E. in oon, in one state. "Ever in oon."-CHAUCER, Astrolabe, p. 15. Sometimes an end = in oon = continually. As of takes the place of a in akin, &c. so a sometimes takes the place of of. "I have heard a the horses walking a' (on) the top of Paules." -DEKKER, Satiromastix, C. 2. "What manner a man."-BECON. Cp. "a the appel tre = that appel tre = of the apple tree.-C. Mundi, p. 86. This a for o or of explains; man-a-war, justice-a-peace (Dekker); two-a-clock = two o'clock two of the clock; jack-an-apes. In M.E. we find of long, of new, of-fer (afar), and even of goo = ago (cp. O.E. of-gân, to go off). = Be sometimes preceded the dative adverb in O.E. as be ân. fealdum by one fold = singly, from which we have formed our expressions, by hundreds and by fifties = O.E. be hundredum and be fiftegum. In E. E. the dative ending dropped, and we have bi sixe, bi seove, = by sixes, by sevens, &c. Cp. by piecemeal for piecemeal, (Beaumont and Fletcher). At especially before superlatives is a contraction of at the, M.E. atte. In O.E. this the was in the dative case. At random = Fr. d randon. 225. Many adjectives are used as adverbs, especially those with irregular comparisons: far, forth, ful, ill, late, little, much, nigh, near, well. Many monosyllabic adjectives are used as adverbs, as, to work hard; to talk fast; to speak loud; to aim high. In the earlier stages of the language, the adverbial form was marked by a final -e, as, hard (adj.), hard-e (adv.), &c. When this -e became silent, then the adjectival and adverbial form became identical. We can thus easily understand the use of godly as adjective and adverb; (cp. "a godly life," and "to live godly.") In O.E. the distinction was plainly marked, e.g., god-lic (adj.), god-lic-e (adv.). The adverbial -e was probably a dative suffix. In M.E. we find instances of the use of this -e: they pleye hastiliche and swiftliche (Trevisa). In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the suffix -ly was often dropped: as, "Foolish bold." BECON. Cp. "Wondrous wise." "Grievous sick." SHAKESPEARE. In The history of wondrous (wonderfully) is a curious one. O.E. the adverb was wundr-um, which in M.E. became wunder, wonder, T. E. wonders. In E. E. we find wunderliche, in M.E. wonderli; and in T.E. wondersly. In Ford's works we find woundy bad," i.e. wonderfully or very bad. 226. II. Pronominal Adverbs. Many adverbs are derived from the pronominal stems, the, he, who. The suffixes -re and ther in the-re, he-re, where, thi-ther, &c., were originally locative. The -n in the-n, whe-n, &c., is an accusative suffix. See pronouns, § 131, p. 107; § 146, p. 119. The -ce (M.E. -es), in then-ce, &c., represents an older -an, cp. O. E. than-an (thence); heon-an (hence); hwan-an (whence). The O. E. -an denotes motion from: east-an=from the east ; so thence = than-an = · from that (place). The, before comparatives, as, the more (= O.E. thi mâre, Lat. eo magis) is the instrumental case of the definite article, the. Lest has lost the instrumental the. In O.E. we find thŷ læs the, E.E.. les the, M.E. leste = lest. Thus is the instrumental case of this. How (O.E. hu, E.E. hwu), and why (O.E. hwi), are the inst. cases of who. Cp. for-why = for which (reason), wherefore; for-thy = for that (reason), therefore. Yea, yes, ye-t, are from a relative stem ya, which also had a demonstrative force, as in yon, -yond, yonder. That and so are often used as affirmative adverbs. In nay, no, not, now, we have a demonstrative stem, na. In O.E. ne = not. "Eart thû of thyses leorning-cnihtum? nic ne eom ic." Negatives are often repeated for emphasis :— "Ne nân ne dorste nân thing âcsian." = No one durst ask him anything. John xviii. 17. Matt. xxii. 46. |