Date:    Thu, 21 May 1998 16:53:41 +0200
<br>From:    Michal Lisecki <magura[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CN.CZ.TOP.PL>
<br>Subject: albeit - a conjunction, yet it's a clause
<br>
<br>Dear linguists and natives of English,
<br>
<br>One of the lecturers at my University (U. of Silesia, Poland) focused his
<br>academic interest on the phenomenon of the conjunction/clause "albeit."
<br>He investigates various occurances of this item as occuring throughout ages.
<br>
<br>e.g. al [be] it, al be thow, albeit it be, albeit that, etc.
<br>In this way he came across a use of "albeit" as a sort of separate standing
<br>clause like in the example below.
<br>
<br>e.g. Analysts are predicting the company will return to profit this year,
<br>*albeit their pre-tax projections are* for a figure of only #500.000
<br>(pounds).
<br>
<br>Yet, even more strange occurence he came accross came from latest quality
<br>papers where he found the following form occur for which he finds no
<br>justification or explanation:
<br>
<br>e.g. But the real reason Buckingham Palace has thrown its gilded gates open
<br>(*albeit it* for a hefty #8 per head) is that the Prince of Wales has been
<br>lobbying hard for such a move.)
<br>
<br>e.g. Yet she had lived long enough, *albeit it* in her mother's womb.
<br>
<br>I was wondering if any of you, as native speakers of English and/or
<br>qualified linguists at the same time, find any justification and explanation
<br>for the use of *albeit it* form in the above example.
<br>
<br>I am just an undergraduate, about to finish my MA thesis in June, but I got
<br>interested with the topic enough in order to ask the question.
<br>At the same time, I am almost sure that he himself would be willing to
<br>discuss any aspects of the use of *albeit* as it was a point of his interest
<br>about four years ago [8 ICEHL Edinburgh, 19-23 September 1994: _Albeit_ a
<br>conjunction, yet it is a clause: a counterexample to undirectionality
<br>hypothesis].
<br>If any of you is interested I could pass down your email to him.
<br>
<br>Thanks in advance.
<br>tafn mike
<br>____________________________________________________________
<br>Michal Lisecki  <magura[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cz.top.pl> or <mlisecki[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]kki.net.pl>
<br>UIN [4324037]  IRC [lisu]  http://priv2.onet.pl/ka/mlisecki
<br>'The limits of my language mean the limits of my world' L.W.
<br>