What is the meaning of prefix -y in the following examples? [duplicate]
Solution 1:
A past participle form from Old English ge-:
Y- :
The prefix ge-, a regular past participle marker in Old English, continued to be attached to the past participle throughout the Middle English period. Over time, however, the attachment of ge-, which weakened to a form spelt y- (or i-), be- came no longer obligatory. The Northern dialects eliminated the prefix, leaving suffixes as the sole markers of the past participle. In the South, y- was still used, but optionally, especially in Late Middle English, with a steady increase in the use of forms lacking prefixal marking.
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