Is there such a phenomenon as "undercorrection/hypocorrection?

[Dennis R. Preston]

Note that all so-called set phrases all obey the stress rule -
a-fuedin and a fussin, a fussin and a-fighten, a screamin and a
-hollerin, etc, etc. But a-drinkin and a-dancin are good (and not
set), but

a-fussin and a-arguin (no a-prefixin before vowels)

and

a-walking and a-peraumblulatin (no a-prexin before weakly stressed syllables)

ainp;t worth a crap.

dInIs





dInIs

>Isn't "a-screamin and a-hollerin" just a set phrase? The interviewee then
>just reversed the internal order of this phrase for emphasis.
>
>Benjamin Barrett
>Questioning in Seattle
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
>Beverly Flanigan
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---
>
>By the way, for those of you who think a-prefixing is dead, or at least
>isn't used in Ohio, I heard a great example on local radio this morning.
>Concerning a murder about 30 miles from here, in southeastern Ohio, the
>interviewee said "They were a-screamin' and a-hollerin', and a-hollerin' and
>a-screamin'"--four attestations!


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu