[Sidenote: _First and second persons without gender._]
78. It will be noticed that the pronouns 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 pronoun
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.--SHELLEY.
(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_.
[Sidenote: _Use of the pronouns in personification._]
83. The pronouns _he_ and _she_ are often used in poetry, and
sometimes in ordinary speech, to personify objects (Sec. 34).
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