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Beheading words » The be- prefix: adding or subtracting?
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#53434 - 01/31/02 04:46 PM Re: The be- prefix: adding or
subtracting? It seems, however, that in all the offered
specimens, that there, at least, is an inherent ambiguity in the
As usual, Shakespeare best expressed that ambiguity: "To be- or
not to be-; that is the question". #53435 - 02/02/02 12:27 PM
Re: The be- prefix: adding or subtracting? I've been meaning to
get around to this for sime time and finally got off my duff.
The be- prefix in Old English had three possible meanings.
Quoted from A Guide to Old English by Bruce Mitchell and Fred C.
Robinson: be- 1 In some words be- is the same as the prep.
'about', e.g. be-gan'surround' and be-ridan 'ride 2 Sometimes it
is a deprivative, e.g. be-dælan 'deprive'