An English Grammar Part 14

From a.n.a.logy to p.r.o.nouns, which have _forms_ for person, nouns are sometimes spoken of as first or second person by their _use_; that is, if they are in apposition with a p.r.o.noun of the first or second person, they are said to have person by agreement.

But usually nouns represent something spoken of.

[Sidenote: _Three persons of p.r.o.nouns._]

76. p.r.o.nouns naturally are of three persons:--

(1) First person, representing the person speaking.

(2) Second person, representing a person or thing spoken to.

(3) Third person, standing for a person or thing spoken of.

FORMS OF PERSONAL p.r.o.nOUNS.

77. Personal p.r.o.nouns are inflected thus:--

FIRST PERSON.

_Singular._ _Nom._ I _Poss._ mine, my _Obj._ me

_Plural._ _Nom._ we _Poss._ our, ours _Obj._ us

SECOND PERSON.

_Singular._ _Old Form_ _Common Form._ _Nom._ thou you _Poss._ thine, thy your, yours _Obj._ thee you

_Plural._ _Nom._ ye you _Poss._ your, yours your, yours _Obj._ you you

THIRD PERSON.

_Singular._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._.

_Nom._ he she it _Poss._ his her, hers its _Obj._ him her it

_Plur. of all Three_.

_Nom._ they _Poss._ their, theirs _Obj._ them

Remarks on These Forms.

[Sidenote: _First and second persons without gender._]

78. It will be noticed that the p.r.o.nouns of the first and second persons have no forms to distinguish gender. The speaker may be either male or female, or, by personification, neuter; so also with the person or thing spoken to.

[Sidenote: _Third person_ singular _has gender_.]

But the third person has, in the singular, a separate form for each gender, and also for the neuter.

[Sidenote: _Old forms_.]

In Old English these three were formed from the same root; namely, masculine _he_, feminine _heo_, neuter _hit_.

The form _hit_ (for _it_) is still heard in vulgar English, and _hoo_ (for _heo_) in some dialects of England.

The plurals were _hi_, _heora_, _heom_, in Old English; the forms _they_, _their_, _them_, perhaps being from the English demonstrative, though influenced by the cognate Norse forms.

[Sidenote: _Second person always plural in ordinary English._]

79. _Thou_, _thee_, etc., are old forms which are now out of use in ordinary speech. The consequence is, that we have no singular p.r.o.noun of the second person in ordinary speech or prose, but make the plural _you_ do duty for the singular. We use it with a plural verb always, even when referring to a single object.

[Sidenote: _Two uses of the old singulars._]

80. There are, however, two modern uses of _thou, thy_, etc.:--

(1) _In elevated style_, especially in poetry; as,--

With _thy_ clear keen joyance Languor cannot be; Shadow of annoyance Never came near _thee_; _Thou_ lovest; but ne'er knew love's sad satiety.--Sh.e.l.lEY.

(2) _In addressing the Deity_, as in prayers, etc.; for example,--

Oh, _thou_ Shepherd of Israel, that didst comfort _thy_ people of old, to _thy_ care we commit the helpless.--BEECHER.

[Sidenote: _The form_ its.]

81. It is worth while to consider the possessive _its_. This is of comparatively recent growth. The old form was _his_ (from the nominative _hit_), and this continued in use till the sixteenth century. The transition from the old _his_ to the modern _its_ is shown in these sentences:--

1 He anointed the altar and all _his_ vessels.--_Bible_

Here _his_ refers to _altar_, which is a neuter noun. The quotation represents the usage of the early sixteenth century.

2 It's had _it_ head bit off by _it_ young--SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare uses _his_, _it_, and sometimes _its_, as possessive of _it_.

In Milton's poetry (seventeenth century) _its_ occurs only three times.

3 See heaven _its_ sparkling portals wide display--POPE

[Sidenote: _A relic of the olden time._]

82. We have an interesting relic in such sentences as this from Thackeray: "One of the ways to know '_em_ is to watch the scared looks of the ogres' wives and children."

As shown above, the Old English objective was _hem_ (or _heom_), which was often sounded with the _h_ silent, just as we now say, "I saw '_im_ yesterday" when the word _him_ is not emphatic. In spoken English, this form '_em_ has survived side by side with the literary _them_.