[§ 239]. Either, neither, other, whether.—It has just been stated that the general fundamental idea common to all these forms is that of choice between one of two objects in the way of an alternative. Thus far the termination -er in either, &c., is the termination -er in the true comparatives, brav-er, wis-er, &c. Either and neither are common pronouns. Other, like one, is a
pronoun capable of taking the plural form of a substantive (others), and also that of the genitive case (the other's money, the other's bread). Whether is a pronoun in the almost obsolete form whether ( = which) of the two do you prefer, and a conjunction in sentences like whether will you do this or not? The use of the form others is recent. "They are taken out of the way as all other."—Job. "And leave their riches for other."—Psalms.
CHAPTER X.
THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE.
[§ 240]. There are four leading facts here,—
1. The older form in -s. In English we say old-er, bett-er, sweet-er; in Old High German they similarly said, alt-iro, bets-iro, suats-iro; but in Mœso-Gothic the forms were ald-iza, bat-iza, sut-iza.
2. Adverbs are susceptible of comparison; e.g.—Come as soon as you can, but do not come sooner than is convenient.
3. The Anglo-Saxon comparison of the adverbs is different from that of the adjectives; there being one form in -re and -este, another in -or and -ost respectively. Now the first of these was the form taken by adjectives: as se scearp-re sweord = the sharper sword, and se scearp-este sword = the sharpest sword. The second, on the other hand, was the form taken by adverbs: as, se sweord scyrð scearp-or = the sword cuts sharper, and se sweord scyrð scearp-ost = the sword cuts sharpest.