I've noticed in poetry the word "over" will sometimes be shortened to "o'er"', which I've always been baffled by. Are there actually people out there who say "o'er" or is this a purely poetic form?
o'er
It's more accurate to say that they USED TO actually say that. No, no one does it anymore (to my knowledge).
You will also see something similar with taken -- it gets shortened to "ta'en" in old poetry. As far as I know, the K is no longer glossed over in normal speech. Same goes for other old-fashioned contractions like "e'en" for even. No one really says that anymore, but once upon a time they did.
There are some exceptions. Sometimes the archaic contracted form has been around so long that we no longer even use the "normal" form, as in the following examples:
o'clock
of the clock
Hallowe'en
Halloweven
fo'c's'le
forecastle
cat-o'-nine-tails
cat-of-nine-tails
ne'er-do-well
never-do-well
will-o'-the-wisp
will-of-the-wisp
www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/department/docs
You will also see something similar with taken -- it gets shortened to "ta'en" in old poetry. As far as I know, the K is no longer glossed over in normal speech. Same goes for other old-fashioned contractions like "e'en" for even. No one really says that anymore, but once upon a time they did.
There are some exceptions. Sometimes the archaic contracted form has been around so long that we no longer even use the "normal" form, as in the following examples:
o'clock
of the clock
Hallowe'en
Halloweven
fo'c's'le
forecastle
cat-o'-nine-tails
cat-of-nine-tails
ne'er-do-well
never-do-well
will-o'-the-wisp
will-of-the-wisp
www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/department/docs
>>I've noticed in poetry the word "over" will sometimes be shortened to "o'er"', which I've always been baffled by. Are there actually people out there who say "o'er" or is this a purely poetic form?<<
>>It's more accurate to say that they USED TO actually say that. No, no one does it anymore (to my knowledge).<<
Actually, I normally have "o'er" [ˈoːʁ̩(ː)]~[ˈoːwʁ̩(ː)] for "over" myself.
>>You will also see something similar with taken -- it gets shortened to "ta'en" in old poetry. As far as I know, the K is no longer glossed over in normal speech. Same goes for other old-fashioned contractions like "e'en" for even. No one really says that anymore, but once upon a time they did.<<
"Ta'en" is actually Scots for English "taken", and really should be written more like "tane". The apostrophe had been erroneously added by analogy with its English cognate when the /k/ had been lost in the Scots word all the way back in the Middle Scots period.
As for "e'en", I say that too, as [ˈiːɨ̃(ː)n], at times.
>>It's more accurate to say that they USED TO actually say that. No, no one does it anymore (to my knowledge).<<
Actually, I normally have "o'er" [ˈoːʁ̩(ː)]~[ˈoːwʁ̩(ː)] for "over" myself.
>>You will also see something similar with taken -- it gets shortened to "ta'en" in old poetry. As far as I know, the K is no longer glossed over in normal speech. Same goes for other old-fashioned contractions like "e'en" for even. No one really says that anymore, but once upon a time they did.<<
"Ta'en" is actually Scots for English "taken", and really should be written more like "tane". The apostrophe had been erroneously added by analogy with its English cognate when the /k/ had been lost in the Scots word all the way back in the Middle Scots period.
As for "e'en", I say that too, as [ˈiːɨ̃(ː)n], at times.
I don't pronounce the 'v'. I try to pronounce things as they are written as far as possible.
To abbreviate the word "over" in this way is strictly confined to poetry, as you so rightly intimate, and even then mainly to ahhere to the strict rhythmic metre of the lines of the poem. It's never used in normal conversation - it'd be considered extremely strange if you did speak in this manner, even at the Ledbury or Cheltenham Poetry Festivals, just two of many such events which never fail to attract the most delightfully eccentric of literary and poetic people.
Take the words of William Wordsworth for instance, the English Lakeland poet of world renown....everyone familiar with English poety knows this particular poem composed by him at his famous Lakeland home Dove Cottage, in the wee village of Grasmere, Cumbria - in the heart of the lovely Lake District of north western England. One beautiful spring morning he was inspired by the "hosts of golden daffodils" surrounding his home, all nodding and dancing in the gentle Lakeland breeze.
Poets are prone to these kind of sentiments you know - they tend to get inspired by even the most mundane of situations, and it's just as well that they do.
"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze".
Just think on - if he'd used "over" in the second line it would have ruined the whole rhythmic effect - don't you agree?
It wouldn't have worked for wee Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz though, would it? "Somewhere o'er the rainbow, way up high"? No - it doesn't seem right in this case. Let's stick with Wordsworth the Wordsmith.
Take the words of William Wordsworth for instance, the English Lakeland poet of world renown....everyone familiar with English poety knows this particular poem composed by him at his famous Lakeland home Dove Cottage, in the wee village of Grasmere, Cumbria - in the heart of the lovely Lake District of north western England. One beautiful spring morning he was inspired by the "hosts of golden daffodils" surrounding his home, all nodding and dancing in the gentle Lakeland breeze.
Poets are prone to these kind of sentiments you know - they tend to get inspired by even the most mundane of situations, and it's just as well that they do.
"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze".
Just think on - if he'd used "over" in the second line it would have ruined the whole rhythmic effect - don't you agree?
It wouldn't have worked for wee Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz though, would it? "Somewhere o'er the rainbow, way up high"? No - it doesn't seem right in this case. Let's stick with Wordsworth the Wordsmith.
<<To abbreviate the word "over" in this way is strictly confined to poetry>>
Incorrect. O'er is heard in some English dialects.
<<One beautiful spring morning he was inspired by the "hosts of golden daffodils" surrounding his home, all nodding and dancing in the gentle Lakeland breeze. >>
1. The daffodils didn't surround his home. They were at Eusemere.
2. It wasn't a beautiful morning, and the breeze wasn't gentle. It was rough and stormy weather.
3. He was inspired by his sister's description, not the daffodils.
<<the Ledbury or Cheltenham Poetry Festivals, just two of many such events which never fail to attract the most delightfully eccentric of literary and poetic people.>>
They attract mild-mannered Middle England. There is nothing eccentric, poetic or literary about them.
Incorrect. O'er is heard in some English dialects.
<<One beautiful spring morning he was inspired by the "hosts of golden daffodils" surrounding his home, all nodding and dancing in the gentle Lakeland breeze. >>
1. The daffodils didn't surround his home. They were at Eusemere.
2. It wasn't a beautiful morning, and the breeze wasn't gentle. It was rough and stormy weather.
3. He was inspired by his sister's description, not the daffodils.
<<the Ledbury or Cheltenham Poetry Festivals, just two of many such events which never fail to attract the most delightfully eccentric of literary and poetic people.>>
They attract mild-mannered Middle England. There is nothing eccentric, poetic or literary about them.
English dialects? I stand corrected.....but I am Scottish after all.
I've never personally visited Dove Cottage....I just assumed it had a wee garden crammed full of golden dancing daffodils in Wordsworth's day...I mean, that's the image I have of that area....they are pretty prolific in the Lake District in sprintime are they not?
So it wasn't a beautiful summer morning after all....oh well, never mind - I'm sure such mornings do occur in that area on rare occasions...I must have misread the date. I agree that rough and stormy weather is practically the norm in Lakeland...isn't it the rainiest part of England, statistically?
So it was all sister Dorothy's fault was it? He did rather dote on her it seems - what she said usually went as far as bro William was concerned...and her word was law in Dove cottage.
Mild Mannered Middle England.......are you serious? Carol Duffy is a regular at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, and MMME she most certainly ain't! Quite the contrary in fact!
I've seen some pretty eccentric people knocking about Cheltenham - it isn't as genteely Middle England as many people like to make out it is. It once had a very colourful MP in Parliament, did Cheltenham, by all accounts.....Conservative by politics, but decidedly liberal by nature.
How come you have such a penchant for shattering illusions?
I've never personally visited Dove Cottage....I just assumed it had a wee garden crammed full of golden dancing daffodils in Wordsworth's day...I mean, that's the image I have of that area....they are pretty prolific in the Lake District in sprintime are they not?
So it wasn't a beautiful summer morning after all....oh well, never mind - I'm sure such mornings do occur in that area on rare occasions...I must have misread the date. I agree that rough and stormy weather is practically the norm in Lakeland...isn't it the rainiest part of England, statistically?
So it was all sister Dorothy's fault was it? He did rather dote on her it seems - what she said usually went as far as bro William was concerned...and her word was law in Dove cottage.
Mild Mannered Middle England.......are you serious? Carol Duffy is a regular at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, and MMME she most certainly ain't! Quite the contrary in fact!
I've seen some pretty eccentric people knocking about Cheltenham - it isn't as genteely Middle England as many people like to make out it is. It once had a very colourful MP in Parliament, did Cheltenham, by all accounts.....Conservative by politics, but decidedly liberal by nature.
How come you have such a penchant for shattering illusions?
As Uriel stated, the o'er is an old form. You will not see this in more contemporary poetry.
O'er or 'Ower' as pronounce it is defintely still in use in place of 'Over' in the north-east of England.