Excepting the Nominative--which serves as a Vocative in exclamations -all cases of nouns and pronouns in E.I., as in other synthetic languages, are called 'oblique.' In Modern English, names of oblique cases-excepting the Possessive'-have mostly become so far vague that they do not clearly denote uses. For this reason such names as Genitive,' Dative,' and Accusative' (or 'Objective') are hardly noticed here in treating modern forms, though it must be granted that vestiges of the Dative' in E.I. remain in some modern uses of pronouns. [See §§ 47 and 49.]

Personal Pronouns of the first and second persons have the following forms:

I,' the pronoun of the first person, and thou,' of the second person, have no inflexions with respect to gender.

In Modern English 'my,' 'thy,' 'our,' and 'your,' serve as adjectives, but are not used as mîn, þîn, ûre, and eówer were used for the Genitive in E.I.

Mine and thine are often used without nouns following.

Ex.: These books are mine.' Here 'mine' is a possessive pronoun. In poetry mine and thine (instead of my and thy) are used with nouns. My and thy are pronouns with respect to formation; but are used with nouns, and not instead of

nouns.

'Me' and 'thee' follow verbs and prepositions. 'He goes before me, and will guide me.'

Ex.:

The preposition 'to' is often understood and not expressed before 'me," as in the following examples :-' methinks' (= it seems to me), 'give me the pen, 76 show me the book.' These are examples of the Dative Case' in E.I., which was represented by 'me' without a preposition.

Old authors often use me' where we should now say 'for me!" Ex.: 'Knock me at this gate;' instead of, Knock for me.' This is another use of the Dative Case, and is not unlike the familiar form of request in Come, play us a tune.'

The personal pronoun thou,' is still found in poetry and in forms of prayer, but has long been obsolete in conversation.

'Ours' and 'yours' are used with reference to owners, but

'mine' and 'thine' are used with reference to one owner.

Ex.: These books are ours; ''those books are mine.'

'Us' may represent either the object or the dative case, or may follow a preposition. Ex. I.: 'He led us.' II.' He gave us a lesson.' III. 'He will go with us.'

'You' is placed as the subject, or as the object, or after a preposition. Ex.: I. 'You write well.' II. He will guide you.' III. 'He will go with you.'

you

'Ye,' in Old English, was used for the subject, and ‘ for the object, or as a dependent noun following a preposition. Numerous examples of distinct uses for 'ye' and 'you' be found in the English Bible. [See MATT. v., 11, 12; 21, 22; 33, 34.]

'may

These distinct uses of 'ye' and 'you' were mostly neglected by dramatists of the Elizabethan age. They often placed 'you' as the subject and 'ye' as the object. In conversation the latter form is now obsolete.

The pronoun of the third person has, in the Singular, the three forms: 'he' (masculine),' she' (feminine), and 'it' (neuter); but the Plural form, 'they,' serves for all genders.

The forms 'he,'' she,' and 'they' serve as Subjects.

The forms him,' 'her,' and 'them' serve as Objects, and as dependent words following prepositions; but 'it' may serve as Subject, or as Object, or as a dependent word following a preposition. [See §§ 47 and 49.]

Some writers on grammar treat the forms his,'' her,' 'its,' and 'their' as Possessive Cases' of 'he,' she,' 'it,' and 'they.' By other writers 'his,' 'her,' 'its,' and 'their' are called Possessive Pronouns.' These names have reference to the stems to which the said forms belong. But, when classified with respect to modern use, these forms may be treated as adjectives. In order to show at once both their origin and their use, ‘his,' her,' 'its,' and their '-like 'my,' 'thy,' 'our,' and 'your '— -are sometimes called Adjective-Pronouns. It is with reference to modern use that such words as our,' 'your,' and 'their' are here called adjectives, while 'ours,' 'yours,' and theirs' are classed with possessive pronouns. A tabular form can hardly show at once the historical relations and the syntactical uses of all words called pronouns; for some words that were pronouns in E.I. serve as adjectives in M.E.

The following words are used with nouns, or as adjectives:- my,' 'thy,' 'her,' 'its,' 'our,' 'your,' their.'

Possessive Pronouns.-The following words are used instead of nouns, or as possessive pronouns :—“ mine,' 'thine,' 'his,'hers,'' ours, yours,' 'theirs.'

96

The possessive form 'his' may be used either with or instead of a noun. Ex.: That was his book.' 'That book

was his.'

Demonstrative Pronouns have the following forms for the singular and the plural:

G

'Who,' the Relative Pronoun, has the following forms in both the singular and the plural :—

who

whose

whom

'Who' when employed as an Interrogative Pronoun, has still the forms 'whose' and 'whom.' Ex.: Whose is the fault?' 'To whom shall we go?' 'Whose' mostly refers to persons, but in poetry may refer to inanimate objects. Ex.:'. brown groves whose shadow,' etc. (SHAKESPEARE.) A holy river, on whose banks are found sweet pastoral flowers.' (WORDSWORTH.)

6

6

The Pronouns who?' whose?' 'whom?' 'which?’ 'what?' and the compounds 'whoever?' whatever?' when used in asking questions, are called Interrogative. The Indefinite Pronouns one,' another,' and 'other' are used and inflected as nouns; but another' (: = one other) has no plural form.

6

'Teach me to feel another's woe,

To hide the fault I see;

That mercy I to others show,

That mercy show to me.'

One' is often used as a noun. Ex.: One of these little ones, which believe in me.' (MATTH. Xviii. 6.) [See § 44.]

'Enough' has no plural form.

The possessive forms eithers' and 'eitheres' are found in old authors.

Without the aid of inflexion, the indefinite pronouns (each other' and 'one another'), when used without a stop placed between them, and following a transitive verb, serve to express a reciprocal action-an act in which the agent and the object change places. Ex.: Love one another.'

Compound Personal Pronouns have the following forms for the singular and the plural:

Plural

Singular

*19. ADJECTIVES.-E.I., E.II.

Adjectives in E.I. (as in Latin) agree with the nouns to which they respectively belong in gender, number, and case. In Latin the noun puer, if used in the genitive singular, must be changed to pueri, and the adjective bonus, if placed in concord with puĕri, must be changed to boni. Like the noun, the adjective is now of the masculine gender, singular number, and genitive case. This likeness of form between the adjective and the noun to which it refers is called Concord.' In Modern English the reference of

the adjective is shown by its position, and not by a change of form.

In Latin the reference must be expressed in the form, and this rule prevails mostly in E.I. But here concord of gender, number, and case is not completely denoted by the second adjective, in constructions where a demonstrative or possessive is prefixed to a qualifying adjective, as in the following example:-'Seô wæs þæs gôdan monnes gifu' ('It was the gift of that good man'). Here the genitive case is marked by the demonstrative bas. The adjective gôdan has the form of the second, or weak, declension; also called Definite, with respect to the use of the Demonstrative. In the following phrase an example is given of an adjective inflected according to the first, or strong, declension; otherwise called Indefinite :-' folc heardes môdes' ('people of stubborn temper'). Here the neuter adjective has the form of the genitive singular in the first, or strong, declension, and this form shows that the adjective belongs to môdes.

Adjectives in E.I. have inflexions, to mark more or less distinctly gender, number, and case. The more distinctive inflexions belong to the first, or strong,' declension, as the appended tables show.

Besides inflexions to show concord, adjectives in E.I. have the endings er and est for degrees of comparison.

The comparative suffix is er (ir, ôr, ur, ar). When placed in concord with a noun, an adjective of the comparative degree belongs to the second, or weak,' declension. For heard (hard) the comparative (if uncontracted) would have these forms for the nominative case singular:—

The superlative suffix is est (ist, ost).

When placed in concord with a noun, the superlative may have either the weak' or the 'strong' form of declension. The superlative of swið (strong) has these forms in the second, or weak, declension:

Mas. swidesta

Fem. swideste

Neut. swideste

The corresponding forms for the superlative of strang (strong) are examples of contraction with modulation of the vowel :

strengsta

strengste

strengste

Vowel-changes are found in the comparison of other adjectives.

Several adjectives in E.I. have anomalous, and others have defective,

degrees of comparison.

In the first example (forma) a word already superlative takes a second superlative, ending m-est, which, in the variation m-ost, looks like the adverb 'most.' The m here belongs to an older Gothic and English form of the superlative-ma-found in hinduma (= extreme, or last), and in other words. The old superlative form, having been used as a positive, took a suffix to make a new superlative. Thus to hindu-ma is related hindum-istô, a word found in the Gothic version of the Gospels made by Ulfilas in the fourth century. [See MATTH. viii. 12.]

Possessive Adjectives, formed from the genitive cases of the personal pronouns (of the first and second persons), are declined as adjectives having the strong form of declension.

Ex.: Ic fare tô mînum fæder' ('I will go to my father').

The possessive here given in the dative case is formed from the pronominal genitive mîn (= the Latin mei).

Possessive Adjectives retained in the earlier times of E.II. some traces of their original declension; but when distinctive forms were effaced, such adjectives were made like genitive cases of personal pronouns. These adjectives have consequently been mostly classified as 'possessive pronouns.' The name refers, however, to their origin and not to their use.

* Adjectives. E.II.-In Old English the two forms of E.I. for the declension of adjectives fell into ruins before CHAUCER's time.

One of the endings (e) was used as a substitute for others, served sometimes to mark the plural, and sometimes indicated the use of a qualifying adjective with some preceding definitive word, which might be the or this, or a possessive form. Examples of this definitive use of a final e may be found in the opening lines of CHAUCER's prologue to his Canterbury Tales.'

This final e was, in the fourteenth century, sounded at the end of many