[Corpora-List] 'behind'

[Marc FRYD]

Dear all,
Barbara Need suggested that I post a query on the ADS list, which 
prompted me first  to do what I should have done intially, that is, 
check the 'behind' entry in  the Dictionary of American Regional English.
Here is a selection of the various examples given for each sense:

1) Before
"Good luck if I don't see you behind your wedding day"

2) Following, after, in pursuit of (chiefly Sth)
"He's a hawk behind money"

3) Concerning, with regard to, about
"'No, that ain't none of her stepfather. That's just her natural daddy, 
just a doggish old nigger, that's all.' I just didn't know what to say 
behind that."

4) By reason of, because of
"Behind them tearing up the street, we couldn't drive to his house."

Sense #1 is new to me. In terms of spatial orientation, it is 
interesting to note that the 'hind' position can either precede a 
targeted point of destination (e.g. 1), or follow a point of origin 
(e.g. 3-4).
Interestingly, "following" and "after" in sense #2 do not denote 
succession but conation towards a targeted point.
Reference to a preceding position must be the original sense, and that 
of succession a tentative later development. This reminds me of the 
development of 'after'. Etymologically a comparative in Gk. 'apotero', 
it implied a movement away from a point of origin, but later came to 
denote a centripetal movement towards a targeted point (e.g. 'to be 
after s.o.'s money').  A comparison may be drawn with the preposition 
'après' in French, from Lat. 'adpressum', which initially denoted a 
tension towards a point of close proximity, with the initial phase of 
movement denoted by the preposition 'ad' being liable to fade into a 
purely stative meaning. This is still marginally extant in modern usage, 
e.g. "La clef est après la porte" / "the key is on the door". I do not 
exactly know the details of the development of the other (now dominant) 
centrifugal meaning of 'après.' My own preoccupations led me rather to 
concentrate on  the "être après faire" imperfective periphrasis, which 
very marginally survives in rural areas, but thrives in an Haitian 
Creole cognate (e.g. 'li ap mange' = 'he is eating'). But I digress...

Marc

-- 
*Dr. Marc FRYD*
Faculté des Lettres et des Langues
Université de Poitiers
95 avenue du Recteur Pineau
86022, Poitiers, France

Tel. [33](0)5 49 45 48 11
Mob. [33](0)6 76 28 18 50
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