346. The enclitic τοι seems properly to express a restricted affirmation, generally qualifying a preceding statement—at least, yet surely, etc. It is especially used of a concessiοn, whether made by the speaker or claimed from the person addressed.
Il. 4.405 ἡμεῖς τοι πατέρων μέγ ἀμείνονες εὐχόμεθʼ εἶναι
Il. 5.801 Τυδεύς τοι μικρὸς μὲν ἔην δέμας, ἀλλὰ μαχητής
Tydeus, you must admit, etc.
Il. 5.892 μητρός τοι μένος ἐστὶν ἀάσχετον
I admit (as an excuse)
Il. 8.294 οὐ μέν τοι ὅση δύναμίς γε πάρεστι
παύομαι
Cp. Il. 5.873, 6.211, 10.250; Od. 2.280, etc. So again in maxims.
Od. 2.276 παῦροι γάρ τοι παῖδες κτλ.
few children, it must be said, etc.
Il. 23.315 μήτι τοι δρυτόμος κτλ.
it is by understanding, after all, that the
woodman, etc.
Od. 9.27 οὔ τοι ἔγωγε ἧς γαίης δύναμαι κτλ.
I cannot, when all is said, etc.
Also Il. 22.488, Od. 8.329, etc.
τοι is combined in Homer with adversative particles, as αὐτάρ τοι, ἁλλά τοι (Il. 15.45, Od. 18.230), and with μέν (but not closely, as in the later μέντοι but). So with the affirmative ἦ in ἦ τοι (or ἤτοι), which expresses a restricted concession (Il. 1.140 & 211, 5.724, etc.). But the combinations καίτοι and yet, τοίνυν so then, and the disjunctive ἤτοι either, or, are post-Homeric.
τοι has the first place in the sentence in the compound τοιγάρ, which is used to begin speeches.
Il. 1.76 τοιγὰρ ἐγὼν ἐρέω
sο then I will speak
It is generally used with the 1st person, and has a kind of apologetic force (= I will say, since I must speak). In Attic it survives in the compounds τοιγάρτοι, τοιγαροῦν, and the same meaning is commonly expressed by τοίνυν.
It has sometimes been thought that τοι is originally the same as the dative of σύ, meaning "I tell you" or the like. The orthotone τοιγάρ (or τοὶ γάρ, as some MSS. read) is difficult to explain on this view. It has also been explained as the locative of τό; cp. the dative τῷ = in that case, therefοre. Or it may be from the same stem as τις and τε (as Kühner holds, § 507); cp. ποu (δή που) = sοmehow, thence surely. But the locative of this stem exists already in the form ποῖ whither.