Neither.—The same with the negative article prefixed. Neither : either :: naught : aught.
[§ 236]. Other, whether.—These words, although derived forms, being simpler than some that have preceded, might fairly have been dealt with before. They make, however, a transition from the present to the succeeding chapter, and so find a place here.
A. First, it may be stated of them that the idea which they express is not that of one out of many, but that of one out of two.
1. In Sanscrit there are two forms, a) kataras, the same word as whether, meaning which out of two; b) katamas, which out of many. So also êkateras, one out of two; êkatamas, one out of many. In Greek the Ionic form κότερος (πότερος); in Latin, uter, neuter, alter; and in Mœso-Gothic, hvathar, have the same form and the same meaning.
2. In the Scandinavian language the word anden, Dano-Saxon, annar, Iceland. corresponds to the English word second, and not the German zweite: e.g., Karl den Anden, Charles the Second. Now anthar is the older form of other.
B. Secondly, it may be stated of them, that the termination -er is the same termination that we find in the comparative degree.
1. The idea expressed by the comparative degree is the comparison, not of many but of two things; this is better than that.
2. In all the Indo-European languages where there are pronouns in -ter, there is also a comparative degree in -ter. See next chapter.
3. As the Sanscrit form kataras corresponds with the comparative degree, where there is the comparison of two things with each other; so the word katamas is a
superlative form; and in the superlative degree lies the comparison of many things with each other.