New use of "unless"?

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

At 11:27 AM 1/23/2001 +0800, you wrote:
>This would be one of many cases where the OED's "obs." should really
>be "obs. and dial."  I don't think "lest" necessarily figures in
>"unlest".
>
>larry [horn]
>

The English Dialect Dictionary might help with the possible history of
nonstandard "unle(a)st" between 1600 and 1900, but I don't have a copy here
with me.

It's hard to be sure where the "t" comes in. It could be liaison, as
suggested earlier, and/or a natural enough (con)fusion of two conjunctions
having similar sounds and not unrelated meanings, due (after all) to a
geunine genetic link.



Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at is2.nyu.edu