Origin of Apon, where and why do we use Apon: It would help if you read the word ‘apon’ instead of the word ‘upon.’ There is no distinction in usage and context, only in spelling; in Middle English, an ancestor of today’s English language, the ancient form ‘apon’ is a word used.
The Origin of Apon?
The History of the English Language Workbook by Harvard explains how spellings have progressed from Middle to Modern English. Apon would have represented a pronunciation such as “open” according to their description? Since spellings reflected pronunciation, there were much greater variety in Middle English spellings than Modern English (Present Day English), so different dialects would write in different ways.
The leading historical dictionary of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary, shows that the root of Upon is related to the “upp á” of the Old Norse, which may, in turn, be linked to the apon variation as the emphasis was put on the “á.” There are many different concepts of where apon and on come from, and when the proposition was first used, there were likely many different spellings, and even meanings, of the word.
Where do we use Apon?
First things first, there’s a proposition on top. You can recognize its elements, “up” and “on,” which are prepositions as well, and the word’s basis. “This proposition must precede noun phrases such as “upon the hill” and “they’re upon us,” as well as certain gerunds (-ing verbs) that may require it: “upon learning the news.
Apart from where we use it grammatically, Upon primarily writes features and is considered formal. Indeed, this could be because it’s an old word, presented in many historical texts. “The opener is one set expression that has survived through fairly tales and other brief stories: “Once upon a time.
“Of its two components of a preposition, it is used quite similarly to “on.” On the other hand, for path “up” is used and is not the same as Upon. We’ll get back to this later.
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Why do we use Apon?
The distinction is very subtle between the terms “on” and Upon. This example is given by the Cambridge Dictionary, an example where it can not be replaced by “on”: we will have another few weeks and spring.
The expression “be upon [something]” is used here to describe the Spring Season’s arrival. It is a fixed word that uses “on” and can not be replaced by “on.” With respect to time, the terms even vary.
- On arrival, you can contact your new boss.
- He sent an email to his new boss upon arrival at work.
The two examples illustrate how similar the two are, but the second is that an event finished and bound by time. In the first case, we use “on” to speak about a time-unbound general behavior.
We also have the different forms in Modern English that both on and on are used interchangeably. English Corner-Place Prepositions-Ben Weinberg’s Life and Times
As seen in the above illustration, when an object rests above another, “on” is used, and we can also say the preposition Upon here. With the gerund framework we’ve previously spoken of, we can also tell “on,” while Upon is preferred. Check out the examples below:
- That hat on its head” / “That hat on its head
- When the news is heard” / “On hearing the news
The OED attributes the preference of Upon over “on” to characteristics such as rhythm and emphasis, which is to say that the way a sentence sounds is more important than any shift of context in deciding which word we choose.
Does upon mean before or after?
Let’s finally see how “before” and “after” are connected to “on.” “The preposition never signifies “before,” but when used before a gerund, or -ing verb, as we have seen, it means “immediately after. Retake a look at this expression and how it is perceived.
- The men rushed out to the streets upon hearing the news.
- When the men heard the news, they ran to the streets immediately.
Hopefully, this clears up the misunderstanding about the Origin of Apon, where and why do we use Upon.