Bob,

There's been several VERY good books and shows on the history of English 'as she are spoke' - start looking at the BBC web site. A good working knowledge of English History (invasions, etc) helps a lot in understanding too :-)

My favourite bit - and still apparently used in some parts of the English countryside - is 'emp' - the root word of 'empty' - to 'unemp' is to fill... I unempted the barrow this morning, I'll empty it this arvo :-)

It's a 'creole' - a bloody mess, in other words, and the Celtic, Saxon, Latin, French etc, and bits of one are 'mungled in' to replace bits of earlier usage others (possible genuine confusion by speakers unfamiliar with their neighbour's different language ...) - perhaps not exactly the way you mention for that word, but you are getting the right idea...

What's made it worse is - unlike the French, who set up an Academy to 'preserve the purity of the language', and have had some degree of success - many self appointed English 'authorities' set up various sets of rules which they promoted, and had various success with various bits in various parts of society at various times, most of the speaking population have done just what they damn well please...

:-)