from Latin tui, gen. of tu, comes tuus, tua, tuum, thy; from Latin cujus, gen. of quis, quæ, quid, comes cujus, cuja, cujum, belonging to whom?

From Gothic meina, gen. of ik, I, comes meins masc., meina fem., mein neut., my; from Gothic theina, gen. of thu, thou, comes theins masc., theina fem., thein neut., thy.

From Anglo-Saxon min, gen. of ic, I, comes min masc., mine fem., min neut., my; from Anglo-Saxon thin, gen. of thu, comes thin masc., thine fem., thin neut., thy.

In Hindoostanee, also, the genitive case, so designated by the writers on that language, conforms itself in its terminations to the gender, number, and case of the noun by which it is governed, just as an adjective would do.

Notwithstanding these facts, there is, we apprehend, in the English language, so far as my and mine, thy and thine are concerned, no possessive adjective pronoun distinct from the possessive case of the substantive pronoun.

For, in the first place, adjectives are not inflected in English. There is, originally, no essential difference of meaning between the possessive case of the substantive and the possessive adjective, derived from the same substantive; and in languages which have no inflection, as the Chinese, it is a matter of indifference whether certain forms are called the possessive case of the substantive or a possessive adjective. As adjectives in English are not declined, we have not this means of distinguishing them from substantives.

In the second place, mine and my, thine and thy, are severally both derived from an ancient genitive; as, mine and my, from Gothic meina, genitive of ik, Anglo-Saxon min, gen. of ic, and not from Gothic meins, meina, mein, Anglo-Saxon min, mine, min, the adjective. So thine and thy, from Gothic theina, gen. of thu, Anglo-Saxon thin, gen. of thu, and not from Gothic theins, theina, thein, Anglo-Saxon thin, thine, thin, the adjective.

And, in the third place, the different uses of my and mine, thy and thine, severally, are merely euphonic. The longer forms are used at the end of a sentence or clause for the better cadence. As the indefinite articles an and a are mere abridgments of the ancient numeral for one, being distinguished from

each other euphonically, so are mine and my, thine and thy, mere abridgments of the same ancient form. Thus we say, "It is my book;" but, "The book is mine," or "Mine is the book." Also, we say, "My book;" but anciently altogether, and now, in more solemn style, "Mine hour," "mine iniquities," just as we say, "A book," " an hour," "an elephant." Thus the longer forms are used at the end of a sentence or a clause, whenever the word with which it stands most immediately connected is either omitted or begins with a vowel.

Thus far concerning my and mine, thy and thine; but our and ours, your and yours, their and theirs, her and hers, stand etymologically on somewhat different ground.

It

In my and mine, &c., mine is the original or normal form from which my is derived by an apocope. But in our and ours, &c., our appears to be the original or normal form from which ours is derived by a process not yet fully understood. is probably a capricious or abnormal form, involving a double or second exponent of the possessive relation (in imitation of the genitive of nouns, king's, John's). Compare the Latin genitives plural nostrùm or nostri, vestrûm or vestri.

But in usage, the distinction between our and ours, &c., is now perfectly analogous to that between my and mine, &c.; that is, it is merely euphonic.

The distinction in usage between the longer and the shorter forms of the possessive case is often very delicate. Thus we say, "The book is mine;" but if own follows, we say, "The book is my own." So "yours and her ancestors," if the ancestors are different; but if they are the same, we say, "your and her ancestors."

There is another form of the possessive, namely, of mine, of thine, of ours, of yours, &c., which has been usually explained as a partitive construction; but it is to be regarded as emphatic; or, rather, as indicating the logical importance of the term thus used. Thus: "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his."-Ps. xxx., 4. "And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar."-1 Sam., ii., 33. "My faith would lay her hand on that dear head of thine."—Watts.

In the ancient language, a genitive might be employed either before or after a noun, according to its logical worth or import

T

ance. Hence, in forming our modern language, when an emphasis fell on the genitive, the mind vacillated between the expressions "a book mine" and "a book of me," and finally adopted the mixed construction, "a book of mine."

If our views are correct, it follows,

1. We can not approve of the course of the older English grammarians, as WALLIS, GREENWOOD, WISEMAN, PRIESTLEY, who make my and mine, our and ours, &c., all adjective pronouns, unless one goes further, and makes, also, John's and Peter's adjective nouns. No one, we fancy, will incline to do this.

2. We can not approve of the course of most modern English grammarians, as LoWTH, MURRAY, BARRETT, INGERSOLL, LENNIE, who make my, thy, his, her, our, your, their, adjective pronouns, and mine, thine, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, personal pronouns in the possessive case; for the etymology or derivation does not sustain such a distinction, and the addition of a substantive following is no more necessary for an adjective than for a genitive case.

3. We can not approve of the principle adopted by a late celebrated English grammarian, that mine, thine, ours, yours, &c., are not the genitive or possessive case of the personal pronouns, but pronouns or substitutes which may stand of themselves directly in the nominative or accusative case, or be preceded by of, the sign of the genitive; for all the examples usually adduced may be explained by supplying the ellipsis of the substantive, and making the change in the form of the pronoun which the principles of euphony stated above require.

SELF USED WITH THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS AS A

REFLECTIVE PRONOUN.

§ 303. The word SELF, compounded with the personal pronouns my, thy, him, her, it, and their plurals our, your, their, them, has the force and supplies the place of a reflective pronoun; as, I abhor myself; thou enrichest thyself; he loves himself; she admires herself; it pleases itself: plural: We value ourselves; ye or you hurry yourselves; they see themselves. Self, in composition, both in the singular and plural number, is used only in the nominative and the objective case. There is no reflective pronoun in the English language, and

hence the use of the word SELF is the more necessary and convenient.

In the Latin there is the reflective pronoun sui, sibi, se.

In the Moso-Gothic one is found in three cases: Seina, sis, sik sui, sibi, se. In Old Norse there is one found in three cases: Sin, ser, sik. In Old Frisian, in Old Saxon, in Old High-German, in Anglo-Saxon, there are traces of a reflective pronoun, at least in its adjectival forms.

In Dutch, Danish, and Swedish the true reflectives occur, so that the modern Frisian and English stand alone in respect to the entire absence of them.

§ 304. SELF appears to be in reality a substantive, though sylf in the Anglo-Saxon was declined as an adjective, and was used as an adjective.

1. Self has selves, the plural form of a noun, and not that of an adjective.

2. It is used as a noun; as, The lover of self.

3. The circumstance that if self be dealt with as a substantive, such phrases as my own self, my great self, my single self, &c., can be used, by which the language would be a gainer. In the Anglo-Saxon, it is added to personal pronouns in the same gender and case; as, N. Icsylf, I myself; G. Minsylfes, of myself, &c. N. Wesylfe, we ourselves; G. Uresylfra, of ourselves, &c. It was also annexed to nouns; as, Petrus-sylf, Peter's self; Crist-sylf, Christ himself.

4. In myself, thyself, ourselves, yourselves, it appears to be a substantive preceded by a genitive case: Myself=my individuality. In himself and themselves the construction is that of a substantive in apposition with a pronoun in the accusative. When himself and themselves are used as nominatives, the two words himself, themselves, must be viewed each as a single word compounded; and even then the compound will be of an irregular kind, inasmuch as the inflectional element -m is dealt with as part and parcel of the root. See LATHAM and GUEST, Lon. Phil. Soc., vol. i., p. 26.

§ 305. SELF is sometimes used as an adjective; as, “At that self-same moment."-DRYDEN. Self-same is equivalent to very same."

Formerly hisself and theirselves were in use even in the objective case, after a preposition. "Every of us, each for hisself, labored how to recover him."-SYDNEY. "That they would willingly and of theirselves endeavor to keep a perpetual chastity." Ourself is peculiar to the regal style.

"SELF" EMPHATIC.

§ 306. In the nominative case, and sometimes when governed by a preposition, these compounds express emphasis; as, I myself will write; I will examine for myself; thou thyself shalt go; thou shalt see for thyself; you yourself shall write; you shall see for yourself; he himself shall write; he shall examine for himself; she herself shall write; she shall examine for herself; the child itself shall be carried; it shall be present itself.

To make the genitives his, her, its, our, your, their, mine, thine, emphatic or reflective, the pronominal adjective own is used; as, "He killed himself with his own sword;" "let them fall by their own counsel."

§ 307. A DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN is a pronoun which eminently points out the object to which it relates.

The Demonstrative Pronouns (Latin demonstrare, to show) are THIS, plural THESE; THAT, plural THOSE; as, "This is true charity that is only its image."

"The only good on earth

Was pleasure; not to follow that was sin."

In the last example, that stands simply for pleasure; there is no ellipsis, for we can not put in the word "pleasure" without striking out that. "That" stands for "pleasure," and not for that pleasure. It is therefore, in this case, a pronoun, and not an adjective.

This refers to the nearest person or thing, and that to the