http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here

Languages have different approaches for the division of space. In English, here and there correspond roughly with this and that; this is the object that is here, while that refers to what's over there. Latin, by contrast, divides space three ways. While hic can mean "here" as an adverb, or "this one" as a pronoun, and ille corresponds to "that one yonder" (illic is the corresponding adverb of location), Latin also adds iste, "that one of yours", and istic, "there by you". Spanish also has three divisions of space, which vary solely by distance rather than possession: aquí corresponds directly to "here", while allí and allá both mean "there", with allí referring to a nearer location than allá. Other languages include even more possible divisions of space. Translations from languages with a richer division of locations to languages with fewer such divisions may use additional words to convey the meaning, such as "there" versus "over there", or may simply drop the distinctions entirely


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Note added at 21 mins (2007-01-20 16:54:22 GMT)
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Hither means "to here," implying a direction; here can be used in this sense as well ("come hither" versus the more contemporary "come here"). Similarly, hence means "from here". Hence also means "therefore", in which sense it expresses a figurative rather than literal meaning of "from here"—as opposed to thence, which means "therefrom".