SECTION I.—DERIVATION OF THE ARTICLES.
1. For the derivation of our article THE, which he calls "an adjective," Dr. Webster was satisfied with giving this hint: "Sax. the; Dutch, de."—Amer. Dict. According to Horne Tooke, this definite article of ours, is the Saxon verb "THE," imperative, from THEAN, to take; and is nearly equivalent in meaning to that or those, because our that is "the past participle of THEAN," and "means taken."—Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii, p. 49. But this is not very satisfactory. Examining ancient works, we find the word, or something resembling it, or akin to it, written in various forms, as se, see, ye, te, de, the, thá, and others that cannot be shown by our modern letters; and, tracing it as one article, or one and the same word, through what we suppose to be the oldest of these forms, in stead of accounting the forms as signs of different roots, we should sooner regard it as originating in the imperative of SEON, to see.
2. AN, our indefinite article, is the Saxon oen, ane, an, ONE; and, by dropping n before a consonant, becomes a. Gawin Douglas, an ancient English writer, wrote ane, even before a consonant; as, "Ane book,"—"Ane lang spere,"—"Ane volume."