[§ 304]. The following points in the history of the demonstrative and relative pronouns are taken from Grimm's Deutsche Grammatik, vol. iii. pp. 1, 2, 3.
Throughout the Indo-European tribe the interrogative or relative idea is expressed by k, or by a modification of k; e.g., qu, hv, or h; as Sanskrit, kas, who; kataras, which of two; katama, which of many.—Lithuanic, kas, who; koks, of what sort; kokelys, how great; kaip, how.—Slavonic: kto, who, Russian and Polish; kdo, who, Bohemian; kotory, which, Russian; kolik, how great.—Quot, qualis, quantus, Latin.—Κόσος, κοῖος, κότε, Ionic Greek; in the other dialects, however, πότερος, πόσος, &c.—Gothic: hvas, who, Mœso-Gothic; huer, Old High German; hvaþar, which of two, Mœso-Gothic; huëdar, Old High German; hvem, hvad, huanne, huar, Norse; what, why, which, where, &c., English.
Throughout the Indo-European tribe the demonstrative idea is expressed by t, or by a modification of it; as, Sanskrit, tat, that; tata-ras, such a one out of two.—Lithuanic, tas, he; toks, such; tokelys, so great; taip, so.—Slavonic, t' or
ta, he; taku, such; tako, so.—Tot, talis, tantum, Latin.—Τόσος, τοῖος, τότε, Greek; this, that, thus, English, &c.
The two sounds in the Danish words hvi, hvad, &c., and the two sounds in the English, what, when (Anglo-Saxon, hwæt, hwæne), account for the forms why and how. In the first the w alone, in the second the h alone, is sounded. The Danish for why is hvi, pronounced vi; in Swedish the word is hu.
[§ 305]. The following remarks (some of them not strictly etymological) apply to a few of the remaining pronouns. For further details, see Grimm, D. G. iii. 4.
Same.—Wanting in Anglo-Saxon, where it was replaced by the word ylca, ylce. Probably derived from the Norse.
Self.—In myself, thyself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, a substantive (or with a substantival power), and preceded by a genitive case. In himself and themselves an adjective (or with an adjectival power), and preceded by an accusative case. Itself is equivocal, since we cannot say whether its elements are it and self, or its and self; the s having been dropped in utterance. It is very evident that either the form like himself, or the form like thyself, is exceptionable; in other words, that the use of the word is inconsistent. As this inconsistency is as old as the Anglo-Saxons, the history of the word gives us no elucidation. In favour of the forms like myself (self being a substantive), are the following facts:—
1. The plural word selves, a substantival, and not an adjectival form.
2. The Middle High German phrases, mîn lîp, dîn lîp, my body, thy body, equivalent in sense to myself, thyself.