prefixed to the pa. pple. and occasionally to other parts of the verb, = earlier ȝe- [Ger. ge-, Goth. ga-, together, altogether, completely], which in OE. was sparingly used as a prefix to the pple. (more commonly making a compound verb), but in 2–4 became, as ȝe-, y, i-, the regular sign of the pa. pple. in the south, as y-come, i-don, i-sen, y-ben, i-ben, i-be, etc. The toneless ĭ- afterwards sank into ă- (ə), as it is still pronounced in the south-western dialects, and was frequently written a distinct, or a- joined, in 14–16th c. As many verbs had also a derivative form in a- in OE. (as wake awake, rise arise), and many others were formed after them in ME., it is not always easy to say whether a pa. pple. in a- is to be referred to the simple verb, or to a derivative verb in a-, of which no other part is known. So in mod. G. ge-standen may be pa. pple. of stehen, or of ge-stehen. See I-, Y-.
c. 1270. Owl & Night., 1602. Ah thu me havest sore i-gramed That min heorte is wel neh a-lamed.
c. 1400. Tundale’s Vis., 700. Then seyd Tundale ablissyd be thou.
1458. Domest. Arch. (Abingdon MS.), III. 42. Chees & chekenes clerelych a dyght.
1684. Bunyan, Pilg., II. 70. The Highways have a been un-occupied heretofore.
1859. W. Barnes, Hwomely Rhymes (Dorset dial.), 61. An’ we have all a-left the spot, To teäke, a-scatter’d, each his lot.
