Chapter 17

PRONOUNS.

(1) #Personal Pronouns.#

72. Paradigms of #ic#, _I_; #ðū#, _thou_. For #hē#, #hēo#, #hit#, see § 53.

_Sing. N._ ic ðū _G._ mīn ðīn _D._ mē ðē _A._ mē (mec) ðē (ðec)

_Dual N._ wit (_we two_) git (_ye two_) _G._ uncer (_of us two_) incer (_of you two_) _D._ unc (_to_ or _for us two_) inc (_to_ or _for you two_) _A._ unc (_us two_) inc (_you two_)

_Plur. N._ wē gē _G._ ūser (ūre) ēower _D._ ūs ēow _A._ ūs (ūsic) ēow (ēowic)

NOTE 1.--The dual number was soon absorbed by the plural. No relic of it now remains. But when two and only two are referred to, the dual is consistently used in O.E. An example occurs in the case of the two blind men (_Matthew_ ix. 27-31): #Gemiltsa unc, Davīdes sunu!# _Pity us, (thou) Son of David!_ #Sīe inc æfter incrum gelēafan#, _Be it unto you according to your faith._

NOTE 2.--Mn.E. _ye_ (< gē), the nominative proper, is fast being displaced by _you_ (< #ēow#), the old objective. The distinction is preserved in the King James’s version of the Bible: _Ye in me, and I in you_ (_John_ xiv. 20); but not in Shakespeare and later writers.

(2) #Demonstrative Pronouns.#

73. Paradigm of #ðēs#, #ðēos#, #ðis#, _this_. For the Definite Article as a demonstrative, meaning _that_, see § 28, Note 3.

_Masculine._ _Feminine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ ðēs ðēos ðis _G._ ðisses ðisse ðisses _D._ ðissum ðisse ðissum _A._ ðisne ðās ðis _I._ ðȳs ---- ðȳs

_All Genders._ _Plur. N.A._ ðās _G._ ðissa _D._ ðissum

(3) #The Interrogative Pronoun.#

74. Paradigm of #hwā#, #hwæt#, _who_, _what?_

_Masculine._ _Neuter._ _Sing. N._ hwā hwæt _G._ hwæs hwæs _D._ hwǣm hwǣm _A._ hwone hwæt _I._ ---- hwȳ

NOTE 1.--The derivative interrogatives, #hwæðer# (< #*hwā-ðer#), _which of two?_ and #hwilc# (< #*hwā-līc#), _which?_ are declined as strong adjectives (§§ 79-82).

NOTE 2.--The instrumental case of #hwā# survives in Mn.E. _why_ = _on what account_; the instrumental of the definite article is seen in the adverbial _the: The sooner, the better = by how much sooner, by so much better._

NOTE 3.--How were the Mn.E. relative pronouns, _who_ and _which_, evolved from the O.E. interrogatives? The change began in early West Saxon with #hwæt# used in indirect questions (Wülfing, _l.c._ § 310, β): #Nū ic wāt eall hwæt ðū woldest#, _Now I know all that thou desiredst_. The direct question was, #Hwæt woldest ðū?# But the presence of #eall# shows that in Alfred’s mind #hwæt# was, in the indirect form, more relative than interrogative.

(4) #Relative Pronouns.#

75. O.E. had no relative pronoun proper. It used instead (1) the Indeclinable Particle #ðe#, _who_, _whom_, _which_, _that_, (2) the Definite Article (§ 28), (3) the Definite Article with the Indeclinable Particle, (4) the Indeclinable Particle with a Personal Pronoun.

The Definite Article agrees in gender and number with the antecedent. The case depends upon the construction. _The bird which I have_ may, therefore, be:--

(1) #Sē fugol ðe ic hæbbe#; (2) #Sē fugol ðone ic hæbbe#; (3) #Sē fugol ðone ðe# (= _the which_) #ic hæbbe#; (4) #Sē fugol ðe hine ic hæbbe#.

NOTE.--O.E. #ðe# agrees closely in construction with Mn.E. relative _that_: (1) Both are indeclinable. (2) Both refer to animate or inanimate objects. (3) Both may be used with phrasal value: #ðȳ ylcan dæge ðe hī hine tō ðǣm āde beran wyllað#, _On the same day that_ (= _on which_) _they intend to bear him to the funeral pile_. (4) Neither can be preceded by a preposition.

(5) #Possessive Pronouns.#

76. The Possessive Pronouns are #mīn#, _mine_; #ðīn#, _thine_; #ūre#, _our_; #ēower#, _your_; [#sīn#, _his_, _her_, _its_]; #uncer#, _belonging to us two_; #incer#, _belonging to you two_. They are declined as strong adjectives. The genitives of the Third Personal Pronoun, #his#, _his_, #hiere#, _her_, #hiera#, _their_, are indeclinable.

(6) #Indefinite Pronouns.#

77. These are #ǣlc#, _each_, _every_; #ān#, _a_, _an_, _one_; #ǣnig# (< #ān-ig#), _any_; #nǣnig# (< #ne-ǣnig#), _none_; #ōðer#, _other_; #sum#, _one_, _a certain one_; #swilc#, _such_. They are declined as strong adjectives.

NOTE.--O.E. had three established methods of converting an interrogative pronoun into an indefinite: (1) By prefixing #ge#, (2) by prefixing #ǣg#, (3) by interposing the interrogative between #swā ... swā#: (1) #gehwā#, _each_; #gehwæðer#, _either_; #gehwilc#, _each_; (2) #ǣghwā#, _each_; #ǣghwæðer#, _each_; #ǣghwilc#, _each_; (3) #swā hwā swā#, _whosoever_; #swā hwæðer swā#, _whichsoever of two_; #swā hwilc swā#, _whosoever_.