Да знакомо уж сто лет как--я про этот "а" particle, с йтимологической точки зрения:)
Thanks, though, for not missing it.
Модератор: zymbronia
Затоптанный вопрос на https://english.stackexchange.com/quest ... gular-nounPeter Shor пишет:It's not just "many a".
Walt Whitman: Many the burials, many the days and nights, passing away,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Many the souls that sped, Many the hearts that bled, By our stern orders.
But according to the OED, many a goes back to the 13th century (not long after a entered English), while many the isn't even mentioned—I expect it's an invention of poets who used many a as a model.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origi ... ny-a-timesexamples in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED ) go as far back as the 14th century!
Men may se þare þe erthe of þe toumbe many a tyme stirre and moue.
Translation into modern English: “Men may see there the earth of the tomb many-a-time stir and move.”
But the expression many a “__” goes even further back. The 13th century sees the sentence “Ich aue hy go mani amyle.” (I have __ go many a mile), and the late 14th century finds this cute rhyming couplet in print:
Love, which doth many a wonder
And many a wys man hath put under.
(many a wys = many a ways).