previous next

COMPOUND WORDS. Verb compounds

Verb-Compounds. Verbs were compounded with their objects more commonly than with us.

“Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany,
Some mumble-news.
”

“All find-faults.
”

We still use "mar-plot" and "spoil-sport." Such compounds seem generally depreciatory. "Weather-fend" in

“In the lime grove which weather-fends your cell,
”

means "defend from the weather," and stands on a somewhat different footing.

One is disposed to treat "wilful-blame" as an anomalous compound in

“In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame.
”

like

“A false-heart traitor.
”

But "heart" is very probably a euphonious abbreviation of "hearted." The explanation of "too wilful-blame" is to be sought in the common expression "I am too blame," Othello, iii. 3. 211, 282; M. of V. v. 1. 166. "I am too too blame," is also found in Elizabethan authors. It would seem that, the "to" in "I am to blame" being misunderstood, "blame" came to be regarded as an adjective, and "to" (which is often interchanged in spelling with "too") as an adverb. Hence "blame," being regarded as an adjective, was considered compoundable with another adjective.

A Shakespearean Grammar. Edwin Abbott Abbott. London and New York. Macmillan and Company. 1870.

NSF, NEH: Digital Libraries Initiative, Phase 2 provided support for entering this text.

This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: