Heard on The Judges

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Feb 28, 2008, at 11:52 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> Late-forty-ish, black female plaintiff from Georgia:
>
> ... Anyhow, the dog was _aloose_."
>
> It's nice to find an "aloose" in the wild. Ever since a
> standard-speaking friend pointed out to me that "aloose" is not
> standard - I was taken completely aback by his claim, refusing to
> believe it until I couldn't find "aloose" in any dictionary - I listen
> for it.
>
> What's really interesting about this instance is its use as a simple
> predicate adjective. Normally, it occurs only in phrases: break
> aloose, get aloose, knock aloose, come aloose, turn aloose, but no
> _*be*_ aloose, an observation with which DARE concurs.

not too hard to find examples.  here are two from the south, and one
citation from "Pittsburghese":

   Its Aloose on the Internet. These were my comments to Mr. Hobbs
article on his blog page [Ted G. Cook, Savannah, Tennessee]
teddstablet.blogspot.com/ 2006/09/its-aloose-on-internet.html

   Foreshadowing of events is used very effectively throughout this
story. Grandmother rants about the Misfit being aloose from the
Federal Pen 139. [essay on Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to
Find"]
www.megaessays.com/essay_search/Federal_Pen.html

   Your shoe is aloose. (Submitted by Debra Harvey, Columbia,
Maryland). Ascared, Afraid or Scared. I'm ASCARED of the dark.
www.pittsburghese.com/glossary.ep.html?type=adjectives

lots and lots of examples (not as complement of "be") from songs,
mostly by black artists:

   Billy Ray Charles shake these blues aloose - Song - MP3 Stream on
IMEEM Music.
missreneeriley.imeem.com/music/c3MHQJOd/
billy_ray_charles_shake_these_blues_aloose/

   Funkin' it aloose by Kevin "Kstar" Shider. Funk. Funk Rock.
payplay.fm/shider

i'd always assumed "aloose" was widespread but non-standard.

though predicative uses are not hard to find, prenominal uses should
be extremely rare, since most adjectives in a- (many of them descended
from prepositional phrases with the preposition an/on) do not occur
prenominally.  so non-standard "aloose" (and "ascared" etc.) are like
standard "asleep" etc. in being  barred from prenominal use.

arnold

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org