LL-L "Prepositions" 2003.03.13 (05) [E]

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From: Ian James Parsley <parsleyij at yahoo.com>
Subject: Prepositions

Ron,

I can confirm that 'wait on' is most certainly found
in British and Irish dialects.

In Northern Ireland 'wait for' would actually be
unusual apart from in formal contexts - 'wait on' is
much preferred.

Likewise in the north of England, where you will even
hear the exclamation 'Wait on!'

I don't remember hearing it when I lived in the south
of England (apart from in the context of serving in a
restaurant, as you suggest). I don't know what the
situation is in Scotland, the English Midlands, SW
England or the rest of Ireland.

Regards,

=====
------------------
Ian James Parsley
www.ianjamesparsley.net
+44 (0)77 2095 1736
JOY - "Jesus, Others, You"

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Prepositions"

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Preposition
>
> Thanks, Mike and Gabriele.
>
> Gabriele:
>
> > It sounds very much like a Germanism to me. Maybe there were enough
> > German immigrants to the States who said it wrong? Or is this happening
> > in Britain, too?
>
> I thought of that too (e.g., German _auf ... warten_, Yiddish _vartn oyf
> ..._), possibly also from Dutch (_op ... wachten_).  But  this could only
> apply to "wait on" (perhaps because "wait on" in a different sense already
> existed).  Surely it would not apply to "believe on," apart from the fact
> that this occurs already in the King James Bible.  If "to wait on" (in the
> sense of "to wait for") occurs in British dialects, too, then we
> might need
> to suspect that we are dealing with an archaic construction preserved in
> certain American dialects.

"wait on" is the most typical way to say this is in my Scots.
In fact it's a useful contrast in questions because:

"What oo waitin on?" - "What are we waiting for?"

"What oo waitin for?" - "Why are we waiting?"

It's probably the normal form in general Scots, because it's
what Lorimer chooses to use in his translation of the New
Testament:

"Aa this while the fowk wis waitin on Zacharie..."
"...as we wait on the day whan God will adopt us as his sons..."
"...syne we maun een wait on its comin..."
"...aa at is left us is a dreesome waitin on juidgement..."

and many other examples. He uses "wait for" only once:

"...for they war ettlin tae lay their wait for him on the gate..."

This is the only example of "for" being used with "wait"
by Lorimer. I think this may be because the preposition
applies to the vernal phrase "ettlin tae lay their wait"
rather than the verb "wait".

As well, Lorimer doesn't consider the preposition to be
strictly necessary in Scots:

"MEANTIME THE CROUD hed aa been waitin his back-comin..."
"...like servans waitin their maister's hamecome..."
"MEANTIME PAUL WAITIT their comin in Athens"

This probably corresponds to the English verb "await".

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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