Paul Carbuncle

@jesse Sorry to be a sportspoiling git, but this explanation's not right. It's true that proportional "the" (the more the merrier) isn''t simply the NOMINATIVE case of the definite article "the", but it's not a reflex of Old English þā 'when/then'. The OE construction "þā – þā" was indeed common, and had many uses, but it has no connection with modern "the – the". The OE correlative construction was "þȳ – þȳ" (also "þē – þē"), usually explained as the INSTRUMENTAL case of the definite article.

@michaelmeckler@mastodonapp.uk A bonus antedating! 1969 eh, an excellent vintage. Cheers, and season's merriest!

@dynamic @jesse Thank you, yes, I should've included a citation myself! A quick look at the earliest evidence for "the – the" in OED shows that it's clearly "þȳ"/"ðȳ" (sometimes reduced to "þē"/"ðē") which is involved, and not "þā"/"ðā". In any case, you'd have a hard job explaining modern "the" from a form with OE long ā (which ought to end up rhyming with "woe"; compare OE tā 'toe', stān 'stone', hām 'home', etc.).