Where does “tha” come from?
tha (Middle English) comes from Old English þā, from Proto-Germanic þai, from Proto-Indo-European to-, from Proto-Indo-European só — this; that.
Ancestry of “tha”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | þā | the, those; then, when; those |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | þai | they; those; nominative plural masculine of *sa |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | to- | it; that; the, that |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | só | this; that |