| 释义 |
alder-prefix Stress is often attracted to this prefix. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: all adj. Etymology: < the genitive plural of all adj. (see discussion below). Compare Middle High German aller- (German aller- ). Compare alther adj., allers adj.Development of construction with superlatives. The original genitive plural form of all adj. inherited from Old English survives in Middle English beyond the time when inflection for case and number is otherwise lost for all adj. and also for all pron. and n. (compare discussion at all adj., pron., n., adv., and conj.); thus the form of the word becomes increasingly opaque and potentially subject to reanalysis in a number of different ways, depending on the construction. Reflexes of Old English noun phrases comprising a noun head modified by a genitive plural noun with the inflected genitive plural form of all adj. in agreement occasionally survive in early Middle English; compare:OE Cynewulf Elene 815 Ðu eart gecyðed ond acenned allra cyninga þrym.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 217 Heo his ælra þinga angin [OE Royal an angin is ealra þinga].a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 33 He is alra kinge king. A variant of this construction with superlative adjective used as noun is very common in Old English, and also occasionally survives in early Middle English; compare: OE Widsith 15 Þara wæs Wala [perh. read Hwala] hwile selast, ond Alexandreas ealra ricost monna cynnes.lOE Prose Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn I (1982) xl. 31 Saga me hwilc treow ys ealra treowa betst.?c1250 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Egerton) 351 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 181 Þer is alre meruþe mest.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 2865 Þat is alre manne [c1425 Harl. aller mon] worst þat ich euere ne sey mid eye. There is also a parallel Old English construction (the direct antecedent of alder- prefix) comprising the genitive plural of all pron. and n. (in sense ‘of all’) with a superlative adjective or adverb either preceding or (more commonly) following:OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) iii. 74 Broðor mine, vi þing synt nydebehefe to habbanne þære halgan cristenlican æwfæstnesse & ealra mæst [c1175 Bodl. 343 alre mest] on þyssum halgum lengtenfæstenes [read lengtenfæstene].OE Judgement Day II 297 Heo let þurh þa scenan scinendan ricu, gebletsodost ealra, þæs breman fæder..rice rædwitan.OE Paris Psalter (1932) cviii. 28 Him si abrogden hiora sylfra sceamu swyþust ealra. Reanalysis of construction; form history of prefix. In the more common construction where the superlative follows, the word seems to have been gradually reinterpreted as a prefix in the course of Middle English. It is difficult to determine in which of the examples at sense 1 this reanalysis has already taken place. For convenience, an arbitrary date of 1150 (i.e. the division between Old English and Middle English) has been selected. The phonological developments seen in the various form types probably contributed to the reanalysis. The β. forms show an epenthetic dental consonant between l and r (which is also seen in rare early Middle English dative singular feminine aldre ), and subsequent development of a parasitic vowel before r ; while the γ. forms show development of a parasitic vowel between l and r . The increasing frequency of these forms (and conversely the increasing rarity of the α. forms) is probably evidence that reanalysis has already taken place. The δ. forms apparently show a further or different reanalysis of the β. forms as two words, i.e. as either all adj. + their adj. or (in Older Scots) all adj. + thir adj., perhaps also sometimes as all adj. + there adv. For another type of reanalysis, compare the following superlative form, which appears to show the original genitive form being taken as the base form of a gradable adverb (unless alþrest fairest is to be taken as a single word showing a double superlative):c1330 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Auch.) (1966) l. 27 Þe child he sette next his hende, In þe alþrest fairest sete. Use of prefix in combination with non-superlative forms. Sense 2 probably reflects a number of different phenomena. It apparently partly continues the construction with genitive plural of all adj. with adjectives and adverbs that are semantically similar to superlatives (as e.g. forward adj.), partly shows transference of the prefix from superlatives to comparative adjectives and adverbs, and partly reflects reanalysis of the fossilized genitive plural form as an intensifying adverb (compare alles adv.). Reflexes of other constructions. The Old English construction in which the genitive plural form is preceded by the genitive of a plural personal pronoun (later reinterpreted as a possessive adjective), e.g. Old English ūre ealra mōdor , ēower ealra þegn , etc., survives in Middle English as alther adj. (see discussion at that entry). Very occasional late attestations of what appears to be the genitive plural of all pron. and n. modifying a noun either show omission of the possessive before alther adj., or perhaps, despite scribal word division, are to be taken as instances of all their (see all adj. 5):c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 12335 Ector..was alther lord and hede; He was alther mayntenour.a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 13 Her Fellouys..wyth grette Perill of althere lyues..come ayeyn to lond. Now rare ( archaic and literary in later use). 1. α. OE Homily (Corpus Cambr. 419) in B. Assmann (1889) 139 Ealra ærest sceal ælc cristen man witan and on his heortan trumlice healdan þæt æreste bebod and þæt mæste. lOE (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1124 Þet wes for se miccle unfrið þet he heafde wið se king Loðewis of France..& wið his agene men alremest.] ?a1160 (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1135 Agenes him risen sona þa rice men þe wæron swikes, alre fyrst Balduin de Reduers. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 173 (MED) Hie..ben sore ofgramede, and wið hem seluen alre sorest, for þat hie hadden swo fulliche suneged. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) 1776 Ich..hatine..bugge him alre errust þat him wes alre leouust. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Otho) (1963) 2282 Him com mochel lette, ase him was alre loþest [c1275 Calig. alre laðest]. c1300 Childhood Jesus (Laud) 1460 in C. Horstmann (1875) 1st Ser. 49 Formest icholde..Alre erest iwitene of þe, ȝwat is Beth. a1350 in (1911) 127 37 Mon þat broche oþer ryng forlest, he biþ bitreyed alre nest. α. OE 337 Hie hæfdon gewrixled wita unrim þurh heora miclan mod and þurh miht godes and þurh ofermetto ealra swiðost.] a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 85 (MED) Te biginninge was fair, and te middel fairere, and te ende alre fairest. c1275 (?c1250) (Calig.) (1935) l. 687 (MED) Wone þe bale is alrehecst, Þonne is þe bote alre necst. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 2086 Six hundred cnihtes..to wiðe alre hardest. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Otho) (1963) 1512 Gordoille..was alre ȝeongest [c1275 Calig. alre ȝungest], of worde alre soþest. a1350 Sayings St. Bernard (Harl. 2253) in F. J. Furnivall (1901) ii. 515 Mon, þou hauest wicked fon, Þe alre-worst is þat on. c1380 (1879) Orig. draft 381 Þou hast..mad þy avy..for to fiȝte, Of al oure ȝonder company, þe alre beste knyȝte. c1390 (Vernon) (1967) 348 Þi douhter alre eldest, Ouer alle þe oþere beldest. a1400 (a1325) (Trin. Cambr.) (1887) 7626 Alre ȝongeste [?a1425 Digby alther ȝongest, a1450 London Univ. of al ȝongist; c1325 Calig. Constance þe oþer was..Þe erles wif Alein; Adele ȝongost was, To Steuene Bleis ispoused]. c. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) 937 Nu loke ȝure preost..Þatt he ȝuw illke sunenndaȝȝ Att allre læste lære. a1300 (?c1175) Poema Morale (McClean) l. 55 in (1907) 30 228 (MED) Þe man þat deþ her mest to gode & alþre lest to loþe. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. (Rawl.) (1898) 247 (MED) In euery monthe atte alerleste. c1175 (?OE) Instr. for Christians 178 in (1964) 82 16 Þæt her monnum þince mæst earfeðu þæt him bið on ende ealra leofest.] a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 239 Myn alderleuest [?a1425 Harl. alther levest] lord and broþer dere. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 576 Myn alderleuest lady dere, So wommanly. c1503 R. Arnold f. xv/1 Our alther lieuest vncles. 1587 G. Gascoigne 163 To mine Alderlieuest Lord I must indite a wofull case. 1590 T. Watson 386 Thou, Spencer, art the alderliefest swaine. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. i. 24 + 5 Mine Alder liefest Soueraigne. View more context for this quotation 1813 J. Fitchett III. xxiv. 503 Sea-King, our alder-liefest admiral, Under your conduct, we are sure, our trust Is safe. 1913 A. C. Laut iii. xx. 311 When we face our Calvary, the best-beloved, the alder-liefest, of eternal destiny are hidden by the enshrouding darkness. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 468 Ȝirne we to þane kinge ȝeuen suiðe gode, Þat is alreforwarde þat he[o] us ifreoie. a1325 (c1250) (1968) l. 3997 On ilc alter fier alðerneðer. c1330 (Auch.) (1933) l. 2164 On alder twenti deuel wai. a1400 tr. Lanfranc (Ashm.) (1894) 242 Þere ben iij maners of obtalmia [L. obtalmie]: as liȝt, & strenger, & alþer strong. 1555 i. v. sig. D.iv/1 For there was one thyng closed in her hert, An alderother in her chere declared. 1590 28 An alder leefer swaine I weene, In the barge there was not seene. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021). <  prefix?a1160 |
