ABSTRACT
The following examples will show the employment of these a-words (some of them are nonce-words):
Only rarely do we find words containing 0,- < onused as pre-adjuncLs; aloof (a + loof sb. 'windward direction') is in NED exemplified only from 1608 (aloofe
14:.18. Curiously enough, the averseness to preadJunct employment, which is easily accounted for in the ease of groups containing a (on) + object, has been transferred to other words beginning with an a-of a different origin: afraid, part.icipJe of affray (OF o,ffl"ayer, ejfraller <:.. *ex-fridare; cf. vulgar ajeertl, &8 if from on + fear), aghast (pte. of vb agast 'frighten', apprehended as = a + ghost), atle7"8e « Lat_ ab + ver&tlS). and alone « al(l) + one). In the la.tter case, however, the exclusively predicative employment may be due to the compol';ition with al (cf. Danish alene and G. allei11, which also are not used as pre-adjuncts.
