REFLEXIVE OR COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS
[Sidenote: _Composed of the personal pronouns with_ -self, -selves.]
94. The REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS, or COMPOUND PERSONAL, as they are also
called, are formed from the personal pronouns by adding the word
_self_, and its plural _selves_.
They are _myself_, (_ourself_), _ourselves_, _yourself_, (_thyself_),
_yourselves_, _himself_, _herself_, _itself_, _themselves_.
Of the two forms in parentheses, the second is the old form of the
second person, used in poetry.
_Ourself_ is used to follow the word _we_ when this represents a
single person, especially in the speech of rulers; as,--
Methinks he seems no better than a girl;
As girls were once, as we _ourself_ have been.--TENNYSON.
[Sidenote: _Origin of these reflexives._]
95. The question might arise, Why are _himself_ and _themselves_ not
_hisself_ and _theirselves_, as in vulgar English, after the analogy
of _myself_, _ourselves_, etc.?
The history of these words shows they are made up of the
dative-objective forms, not the possessive forms, with _self_. In
Middle English the forms _meself_, _theself_, were changed into the
possessive _myself_, _thyself_, and the others were formed by analogy
with these. _Himself_ and _themselves_ are the only ones retaining a
distinct objective form.
In the forms _yourself_ and _yourselves_ we have the possessive _your_
marked as singular as well as plural.
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