[§ 246]. Difference between a sequence in logic and a sequence in etymology.—The ideas or notions of thou, thy, thee, are ideas between which there is a metaphysical or logical connexion. The train of such ideas may be said to form a sequence, and such a sequence may be called a logical one.
The words thou, thy, thee, are words between which there is a formal or an etymological connexion. A train of such words may be called a sequence, and such a sequence may be called an etymological one.
In the case of thou, thy, thee, the etymological sequence tallies with the logical one.
The ideas of I, my, and me are also in a logical sequence: but the forms I, my, and me are not altogether in an etymological one.
In the case of I, my, me, the etymological sequence does not tally (or tallies imperfectly) with the logical one.
This is only another way of saying that between the words I and me there is no connexion in etymology.
It is also only another way of saying, that, in the oblique cases, I, and, in the nominative case, me, are defective.
Now the same is the case with good, better, bad, worse, &c. Good and bad are defective in the comparative and superlative degrees; better and worse are
defective in the positive; whilst between good and better, bad and worse, there is a sequence in logic, but no sequence in etymology.
[§ 247]. To return, however, to the word better; no absolute positive degree is found in any of the allied languages, and in none of the allied languages is there found any comparative form of good. Its root occurs in the following adverbial forms: Mœso-Gothic, bats; Old High German, pats; Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon, bet; Middle High German, baz; Middle Dutch, bat, bet.