Hither, thither, and everywhither?
鈥淲hither adverbs of place?鈥� the wondered not long ago.聽
We seem not to have quite as rich and nuanced a set of adverbial options nowadays as the Elizabethans, for example, did. As the blog reminds us, we have here, there, and where. But each of these is one of a set of verbal triplets, and the records of the other members of this extended family are mixed. To convey the idea of 鈥�to this place鈥� as distinct from 鈥�in this place,鈥� people used to say 鈥渉ither鈥� instead of simply 鈥渉ere.鈥� Thither and whither expressed similar distinctions involving 鈥渢hat place鈥� or 鈥渨hich place,鈥� respectively.
Thus: 鈥淐ome hither,鈥� 鈥淕o thither,鈥� and 鈥淲hither goest thou?鈥� (Back when these words were common, thou was, too.)聽
In the other direction were , thence, and whence, for 鈥渇rom this place,鈥� 鈥渇rom that place,鈥� and 鈥渇rom which place,鈥� respectively. And where are they all today? As the AHD blog notes, 鈥淸H]ence still sees frequent service as an adverb, though nowadays we use it more to mean 鈥渇or that reason鈥� rather than 鈥渇rom this place.鈥澛�
Thence lives on in the language of surveying, platting, and public records (鈥渞unning thence along the boundary line between...鈥�). Whence shows up in reference to origins: 鈥淩emember from whence you came,鈥� the headline on admonished Irish-Americans on the eve of this past St. Patrick鈥檚 Day. Note, though, the redundant 鈥渇rom鈥� 鈥� it鈥檚 built into whence.
Hither lives on in the racy-sounding idiom 鈥�,鈥� which shows that even adverbs have to worry about typecasting.聽
Thither seems to have withered; a quick Google News check shows it appearing in historical reprints of 19th-century articles in local newspapers, plus occasional instances of the idiomatic 鈥�.鈥澛�
Of these underemployed adverbs of place, the one with perhaps the most illustrious post-Elizabethan career is whither, which lives on in what I鈥檒l call the 鈥渏ournalistic whither.鈥�
It鈥檚 a shorthand used to ask, What鈥檚 up with x, and where (whither?) is it going? It tends to show up in verbless headlines over stories with a subject that is often not quite top of mind. That鈥檚 different from a story giving the latest on a subject people are already following.
Thus the recent 鈥淲hither the Muslim World鈥檚 NATO?鈥� It helps to come to a story like this with some advance knowledge that the Muslim world has a NATO 鈥� and that the West has one, too, for that matter.
Thus, 鈥溾�� on possible changes to Washington鈥檚 transit system; 鈥溾�� on a commodities-news site; even 鈥溾�� on India鈥檚 potential as a nut producer.聽
My favorite, though, was over a on Westernizing young people in Yerevan, Armenia, opting for nose jobs: 鈥淲ith Rhinoplasty on the Rise, Whither the Armenian Nose?鈥澛�
I don鈥檛 want to dither further about hither or thither. But whither has found a niche. And the Armenian headline got it on the nose.
