"Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
"Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
I'm currently learning Dutch which has made me aware of the Dutch word for "before" which is "voor." This is also made me astutely aware that in conversation I often find myself saying "fore" as a nonstandard form of "before." For example, "'Fore we go to the store." "We should look at the account 'fore we do that." I've caught myself doing this on numerous occasions but have not listened to see if others do it. This is noted in my dictionary as a nonstandard form. Can you attest to this in your dialect of English? I'm especially looking for American English attestations.
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
I've heard "fore" used for "before" though I don't use it myself; I rarely fully pronounce "because," though. It drives my parents crazy.
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Yeah, I'm sure I say it occasionally, but not in the conscious way I say 'cause and 'till.
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Till is probably slightly different as it is a word in its own right; it's only relatively recently that it has been reinterpreted as an abbreviation of until when it was actually the original word.linguoboy wrote:Yeah, I'm sure I say it occasionally, but not in the conscious way I say 'cause and 'till.
[quote]Great wit and madness near abide, and fine a line their bounds divide.[/quote]
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
When it's treated as an abbreviation, shouldn't it be spelt with one L as in "until"?
And I'm going 'to the store. Do you want anything?
And I'm going 'to the store. Do you want anything?
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
it is a possible contraction, but it has not grammaticalized yet
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Are you trying to contract "into?" I went over this and in my findings you really can't with "into" or "onto" or "unto." Just as you can't with "below" ("low") unless you want to sound like an old timey ship captain. And "between" ("tween") would also make you sound quaint.Imralu wrote:When it's treated as an abbreviation, shouldn't it be spelt with one L as in "until"?
And I'm going 'to the store. Do you want anything?
The jury in my opinion is still out on "above" ("bove") and "beneath" ("neath").
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Unto. It's basically 'to' ... but I guess, thinking about it now, it's only really used for dative uses of to, not allative. So maybe "Can you give that book 'to me?"Viktor77 wrote:Are you trying to contract "into?" I went over this and in my findings you really can't with "into" or "onto" or "unto." Just as you can't with "below" ("low") unless you want to sound like an old timey ship captain. And "between" ("tween") would also make you sound quaint.Imralu wrote:When it's treated as an abbreviation, shouldn't it be spelt with one L as in "until"?
And I'm going 'to the store. Do you want anything?
If till is not considered a word but a contraction of until (in spite of its etymological history), why not the same for (un)to in all cases when unto can be used?
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Just posting to say that in Swedish it's före and till.
If I stop posting out of the blue it probably is because my computer and the board won't cooperate and let me log in.!
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Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
All cases of 'till' can be replaced with 'until' without sounding weird, whereas no one says 'unto'. And 'to' isn't even from 'unto' -- if Wiktionary can be trusted, 'unto' actually formed by analogy with 'until'. Etymonline says:
Then again, 'until' is actually from 'till'.mid-13c., perhaps a modification of until, with southern to in place of northern equivalent till. Or perhaps a contraction of native *und to, formed on the model of until from Old English *un- "up to, as far as," cognate of the first element in until. "Very rare in standard writers of the 18th c.," according to OED, and since then chiefly in dignified, archaic, or Biblical styles.
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
To me this seems likely to be a result of the general tendency many English speakers have to drop the first syllable in a sentence when unstressed. For instance:
"[I'm] going to the store."
"[You] going to the store?"
"[Where]'s he going?"
"[Be]fore we go to the store."
"[I'm] going to the store."
"[You] going to the store?"
"[Where]'s he going?"
"[Be]fore we go to the store."
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Sometimes I say fore or afore deliberately to be ironic. Lots of words are super dramatically contracted, if you think about it. For instance, because is often just [ks] (because I'm late, [ksaɪm leɪt]); what's that? might even be [tsæt].
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Are we talking Alanis Morissette irony here or what exactly?Ziz wrote:Sometimes I say fore or afore deliberately to be ironic.
Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
Hipster "ironic."
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Re: "Fore" as a nonstandard form of "before"
I've come 'bout the 'breviations.
I'm with Zaarin, I've heard it, and it wouldn't sound weird, but I've never really used it myself. Sounds a bit rural to me.
I'm with Zaarin, I've heard it, and it wouldn't sound weird, but I've never really used it myself. Sounds a bit rural to me.
It was about time I changed this.