today's bizarre find

Sun Jun 10 23:59:23 UTC 2007

a thought: is there a non-standard variant "a-how" (also spellable as
"ahow" or, of course, "a how") of the adverb "how"?  not in the OED,
but is it in DARE?  i have some vague recollection of having heard
such forms in appalachian speech (where it might have some connection
to the "a-V-in'" form).

one of my "a how" examples was from a u.k. site (this is not so great
a stretch, given other connections between appalachian and british
regional dialects).  here are some possible hits for "a how much",
including two from british speakers:

   >"She certainly had huge respect and admiration for his music but
again its not clear ahow much of it she really understood,' he says. ...
icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/reviews/
tm_headline=elgar-150--love-story-hits-the-stage&..

   >Happy to do it. ahow much money are we talking about, and is that
in US or CDN dollars?
www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040809015040999

   > I am not sure if or ahow much of that responsibility has been
delegated, and to whom. Certainly the PLP can restrain, or enable,
the service through its ...
www.limeyinbermuda.com/latest_news/ 2006/02/giving_up_on_sp.html

   >I told her: ahow much have I spent on you the last month?" She
says, "Maybe five bucks. ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0802073638... [Daniel R. Wolf, The
Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers (1991)]

   >Excellent! So what do you trade? ahow much does it cost you? is
your broker ok, etc. ...
traderclub.com/discus/messages/18/581.html?FridayMay1820070124pm  <

and some hits for "ahow about"

   >ok... fine ahow about YOU change it & play different maps or
different servers!!! I loved it when Panjaland stopped running
Micro's for a bit, but everyone ...
redfaction.levels4you.com/forum.l4y?do=view&t=167540

   >ahow about asking why they split up. If it's financial maybe help
them find a solution or point them in the direction who can help them
out. ...
answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070605222454AARoHXl&show=7

   >I wish I could repay you, hey ahow about a few LA Lites? Got some
here! LOL.
www.diet-blog.com/archives/2005/03/07/la_weight_loss_exposed.php?
page=11  <

this wouldn't account for chris waigl's examples with "the".  these
could have a separate source (perhaps, as chris suggested, marking
the embedded clause as serving in an NP function).  or some of them
could be conversions of "a" to "the" -- "definitizations", as i
called them in a Language Log posting (based on earlier ADS-L postings):

   http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003550.html

(all of the sudden, once in the while, once in the blue moon, one at
the time)

(since then, from Wilson Gray here on ADS-L, 2/21/07: "little at the
time", as in "I can pay you back only a little at the time")

but then here's a double-header that i have no account of:

   >A easy formula could be made to determine the ahow much damage
you would recieve while wearing body armor.
www.pointofexistence.com/forums/index.php?
showtopic=241&pid=3123&mode=threaded&start=  <

it's the only hit for "the ahow much", for what that's worth.

nor do i have an account of chris's "a what" examples, those these
might be inadvertent blends.

or "a-" might be able to occur with wh words other than "how".
here's an "awhere":

   >Does anyone know awhere to get Oxytocin spray?
www.youtunr.com/health/1/  <

possibly an inadvertent blend (of "a place to get" and "where to
get").  similarly for these "say a where" cases  (though this
possibility depends on the patterns i searched for, and might be less
plausible with other frames):

   >I would assume it was caught closer to the Port Aransas side of
the bay but thats just a guess. does anyone know a where the general
location was?
www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=10164052839

   >Where would you find a design for a wall-follower if you didn't
know a where to start?
micromouse.cs.rhul.ac.uk/mail-archive/msg00182.html

   >Anyone know a where i could download an mp3 of it? .
www.cinemablend.com/reviews/The-Fast-And-The-Furious-Tokyo-Drift

   >I order Portuguese Muffins online but would love to find a place
to order them in my area. Do you know a where i can find them in
Vienna, VA?
www.chowhound.com/topics/380533  <

and then there's "awhen" (which submits less easily to the blend
account):

   >It should be their decision to recieve communion as they need to
make their own decisions awhen it comes to their relationship with
God. ...
www.rivervalleyblogs.com/articles/2007/06/04/dsimmons/9994.txt

   >found the one in the colapsing room awhen you pull out the
supports and the one in the fire room where the heck is the last
one? ...show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-35786600&pid=934025

     >I have a question. can I make myself invisible awhen i am
online in Yahoo.
forum.meebo.com/viewtopic.php?t=61  <

if (at least some of) these cases have dialect "a-how", "a-where", "a-
when", "a-what" etc., then the a-prefixed wh words should also appear
in main clauses, as in a few of the examples above.

arnold, still lurching about in data

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