further to = "in addition to; besides" ?

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Oct 23, 2010, at 7:09 AM, Jon Lighter wrote:

> I've never noticed this before, and I don't find it in OED. The writer
> refers to the outbreak of war in 1914:
>
>
> 1996 Lloyd Clark in Ian Stewart & Susan L. Carruthers, eds. _War, Culture
> and the Media_ (Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson U. P.) 40: "War was seen
> by various groups as the way of achieving different things. Further to the
> defeat of Germany and its allies, poets believed that war was an opportunity
> for personal fulfillment.
>
> Prof. Clark is a prominent British military historian.

(a) i'm familiar with this usage in British (formal/academic) English.

(b) it's a natural development from the 'in addition, also' sentence-adverbial usage of "further". developing a prepositional 'in addition to' use in combination with NPs.

(c) but i too don't find it in the OED. maybe not looking in the right places. oughta get in there.

arnold

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