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Whether we speak of things present, or of things absent, of ourselves, or of others, and to whomsoever we address our discourse, the repetition of the names of those persons or things would not only be tiresome, but also sometimes productive of ambiguity. Besides, the name of the person addressed may be unknown to the speaker, and the name of the speaker may be unknown to the person addressed. Hence appears the utility of pronouns, words, as the etymology of the term denotes, supplying the place of nouns. They have therefore been denominated by some grammarians, nouns of the second order.

When the person who addresses speaks of himself, the pronoun I, called the pronoun of the first person, is employed instead of the name of the speaker, as, “The Lord said to Moses, I (the Lord) am the God of Abraham.”

When the person addressed is the subject of discourse, the pronoun thou, called the pronoun of the second person, is used instead of his name, as, “Nathan said unto David, Thou (David) art the man.”

When neither the person who speaks, nor the person addressed, but some other person or thing, is the subject of discourse, we employ the pronouns of the third person, namely, he, she, it; as, “When Jesus saw the multitude, he (Jesus) had compassion on them.”

I have said that pronouns are employed to prevent the tiresome repetition of names. It is not, however, to be hence inferred, that even the repetition of the name would, in all cases, answer the same purpose, or denote the subject with the same precision as the pronoun. For, as there is hardly any name, strictly speaking, proper or peculiar to one individual, the employment of a name, belonging to more persons than one, would not so clearly specify or individuate the object as the appropriate pronoun. Hence it would often be necessary to subjoin to the name some distinctive circumstances, to discriminate the person intended from others of that name; or the speaker would be obliged to point to the individual if he happened to be present. Nay, though the person or subject designed might be thus sufficiently ascertained, it is easy to see that the phraseology would have nothing of that simplicity and energy which accompany the pronoun. If, in the first example, instead of saying, “I am the God,” we should say, “The Lord is the God;” or in the second, instead of “Thou art the man,” “David is the man,” the energy of the expression would be entirely destroyed. If any person, speaking of himself, should distinguish himself from others of the same name, by subjoining the necessary discriminating circumstances, so as to leave no doubt in the mind of the hearer, it is obvious that this phraseology would not only be inelegant, but also feeble and unimpressive. To be convinced of the truth of this observation, it is only necessary to compare the exanimate, stiff, and frequently obscure diction of a common card, with the freedom, perspicuity, and vivacity of a letter.

Pronouns may be divided into substantive and adjective, personal and impersonal, relative and interrogative. The personal substantive pronouns are I, thou, he, she. The impersonal substantive pronoun is it.

The personal substantive pronouns have three cases, and are thus declined:

First Person, Masc. and Fem.
	Sing.	Plur.
Nom.	I[28]	We
Gen.	Mine	Ours
Obj.	Me	Us.
Second Person, Masc. and Fem.
	Sing.	Plur.
Nom.	Thou[29]	Ye or you
Gen.	Thine	Yours
Obj.	Thee	You.
Third Person.
Masc.
Nom.	He[30]	They
Gen.	His	Theirs
Obj.	Him	Them.
Fem.
	Sing.	Plur.
Nom.	She[31]	They
Gen.	Hers	Theirs
Obj.	Her	Them.
Third Person.
Neuter.
Impersonal.
Nom.	It[32]	They[33]
Gen.	Its	Theirs
Obj.	It	Them.

My, thy, our, your, their, being the representatives of nouns, have the essential character of pronouns. Thus, when Decius says to Cato, “Cæsar is well acquainted with your virtues,” the pronoun is employed as a substitute for Cato’s. As they express not only the subject, but also the relation of property or possession, they are by some grammarians considered to be the genitives of their respective substantive pronouns. In usage, however, they are distinguished from the English genitive by their incapacity to stand alone. Thus we say, “It is the king’s,” “It is yours;” but we cannot say, “It is your,” the presence of a noun being necessary to the last expression. They are, therefore, more correctly named pronominal adjectives. For the purpose of denoting emphatically the relation of possession or property, the word own is frequently joined to them, as, my own, thy own, our own. And to mark the person with emphasis, they are compounded with the word self; in Saxon, sylf; from the Gothic silba, ipse: thus, myself, thyself; ourselves, yourselves. Theirselves is now obsolete, themselves being used in its stead.

The pronouns of the first and second persons are either masculine or feminine. The reason is, says Mr. Harris, because the sex of the speaker and of the person addressed is generally obvious. This explanation, which has been adopted by most grammarians, appears to me unsatisfactory and erroneous. Others have said that the pronouns of the first and second persons have no distinction of sex, because all distinction of this kind is foreign to the intention of the speaker, who, when he uses the pronoun I, means the person who speaks, be it man or woman; and when he employs the pronoun thou, means the person addressed, without any regard to the sex of the individual. This matter seems sufficiently plain. Language, to be useful, must be perspicuous and intelligible, exhibiting the subject and its attributes with clearness and precision. If it should be asked why the pronoun of the third person has three varieties, Mr. Harris would answer, “to mark the sex.” If it were inquired whence arises the necessity of marking the sex, he would answer, and very justly, “in order to ascertain the subject of discourse.” It is obvious, therefore, that to note the sex is not the primary object, and that the principal aim of the speaker is to discriminate and mark the subject. The pronouns of the first and second persons have no variety of form significant of sex, because the speaker and the person addressed are evident without it. Mr. Harris, therefore, should have said that the pronouns in question have no distinction of gender, not because the sex of the speaker and of the person addressed, but because the persons themselves, are in general obvious, without the aid of sexual designation. The intention of the speaker is not to denote the sex, but the person spoken of, whether male or female; to ascertain which person, if absent, the discrimination of sex is generally necessary. The sex, therefore, enters not as an essential, but as an explanatory circumstance; not as the subject of discourse, but to distinguish the subject. Where the person is present, and is either the speaker or the person addressed, discrimination of sex becomes unnecessary, the pronoun itself marking the individuals. When the person or subject of discourse is absent, the distinction of sex serves frequently to determine the subject. Hence the pronoun of the third person has three varieties, he for the masculine, she for the feminine, and it for the neuter.

The four personal pronouns, I, thou, he, and she, have three cases, viz., the nominative or leading case, expressing the principal subject, and preceding the verb; the genitive case, whose form and office have been already defined; and the objective, accusative, or following case, (for it has obtained these three names,) expressing the object to which the energy is directed, or the subject acted upon. This case follows the verb.

Mine, thine, hers, theirs, his, yours, ours, are truly pronouns in the possessive or genitive case. Johnson has indeed said that my and mine are words precisely synonymous, my, according to him, being used before a consonant, and mine before a vowel; as, my sword, mine arm. It is doubtless true that mine and thine are sometimes used as my and thy, which are not substantive pronouns, but pronominal adjectives; but that they are not precisely synonymous or mutually convertible, is obvious; for my and thy cannot be used for mine and thine, though mine and thine, as has been observed, may be used for my and thy. Example: “Whose book is this?” I cannot answer, “it is my,” but “it is mine.” We may indeed say “it is my book;” but the addition of the substantive is necessary.

As my and mine, thy and thine, our and ours, your and yours, their and theirs, are not mutually convertible, they cannot be regarded as synonymous each with its fellow.

This and that, which have improperly been referred by some to the class of pronouns, have been considered already. The former makes in the plural these, the latter those.

The relative pronouns, so called because they directly relate or refer to a substantive preceding, which is therefore termed the antecedent, are who, which, that.

The pronoun who is of the masculine or feminine gender, referring to persons, male or female. The pronoun which is neuter. That is common to the three genders.

	Sing. and Plur.	Sing. and Plur.
Nom.	Who[34]	Which
Gen.	Whose	Whose
Obj.	Whom	Which.

Lowth and several other grammarians have asserted that the pronoun which admits no variation. Numberless examples, however, from the best authors might be cited to disprove this assertion. Shakspeare occasionally uses whose as the genitive of which; and, since his time, writers of the highest eminence have employed it in the same manner.

“Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste.”—Milton.

“The lights and shades, whose well-accorded strife

Gives all the strength and colour of our life.”—Pope.

“A true critic is like a dog at a feast, whose thoughts and stomach are wholly set on what the guests fling away.”—Swift.

This usage is favourable to conciseness, and can very seldom create ambiguity. Where obscurity indeed is apprehended, the periphrasis, of which, should be adopted. I have, therefore, given whose as the genitive of which; not only because this usage is sanctioned by classical authority, but likewise, because the other form, of which, is frequently awkward and inelegant.

Who is applied to persons, that is, to animals distinguished by rationality, or represented as possessing it.

“The man who has no music in himself.”—Shakspeare.

The antecedent man, being a person, is followed by who.

“A stag, who came to drink at a river, seeing his own image in the clear stream, said thus to himself.”

Here the stag is represented as possessing reason and speech, and therefore the pronoun who is employed. In mythological writings in general, such as the Fables of Æsop, inferior animals are very properly denoted by the personal relative.

Which is applied to things inanimate, and creatures either devoid of all indications of rationality, or represented as such. “The city, which Romulus built, was called Rome.” Here which is used, the word city being the antecedent, to which it refers.

“The sloth, which is a creature remarkable for inactivity, lives on leaves and the flowers of trees.” Here the sloth, an animal hardly possessing sensation or life, is expressed by which.

The rule here given for the use of these pronouns is not uniformly observed, several good writers occasionally applying them indifferently to inferior animals, without any determinate principle of discrimination. It would be better, however, were this rule universally followed; and if such modes of expression as “frequented by that fowl, whom nature has taught,” were entirely repudiated.

Priestley, whose doctrine on this subject seems nearly to coincide with ours, has even objected to the application of the pronoun who to children, because this pronoun conveys an idea of persons possessing reason and reflection, of which mere children are incapable. He, therefore, disapproves of Cadogan’s phraseology, when he says, “a child who.”

That is applied indiscriminately to things animate and inanimate, and admits no variation.

The pronouns who, which, and that, are sometimes resolvable into and he, and she, and it. Mr. Harris, indeed, has said, that the pronoun qui (who) may be always resolved into et ille, a, ud (and he, and she, and it). This opinion, however, is not perfectly correct; for it is thus resolvable in those examples only in which the relative clause does not limit or modify the meaning of the antecedent. If I say, “Man who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble,” the relative clause is not restrictive; I may, therefore, resolve the pronoun, and say, “Man is of few days, and he is born of woman.” “Light is a body which moves with great velocity,” is resolvable into “Light is a body, and it moves with great velocity.” But when the relative clause limits the meaning of the antecedent, the relative is clearly not thus resolvable. “Virgil was the only epic poet, among the Romans, who can be compared to Homer.” The signification of the antecedent is here restricted by the relative clause: we cannot, therefore, by resolution, say, “Virgil was the only epic poet among the Romans, and he can be compared to Homer;” for the former of these propositions is not true, nor is the sentiment, which it conveys, accordant with the meaning of the author.

The pronoun what, if not employed interrogatively, is equivalent to that which; and is applicable to inanimate things only, as, “I believe what I see,” or “that which I see.”

What admits no variation.

The relative pronouns who, which, are often used interrogatively, and are, therefore, in such cases considered as interrogatives. When thus employed, it is the opinion of the author of the British Grammar, that they still retain their relative character. “The only difference,” says he, “is this, that the relative refers to an antecedent and definite subject, and the interrogative to something subsequent and unknown.” The example which he adduces in support of his opinion is the following: “Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?” “The very question,” says he, “supposes a seducer, to which, though unknown, the pronoun who has a reference.” Answer, “The infernal serpent.” He continues, “Here, in the answer, we have the subject, which was indefinite, ascertained; so that the who in the interrogation is as much a relative as if it had been said originally, without any interrogation at all. It was the infernal serpent who seduced them.” Others adopt an opinion diametrically opposite, contending that who and which are properly interrogatives, and that even, when used as relatives, they still retain their interrogative character. This theory a few examples will sufficiently illustrate.

“The man who?” (which man?) his character follows, “has no music in himself.”

“The city which? (what city?) Romulus built was called Rome.”

“Happy the man whose cautious feet.”

“Happy that man who? his (whose) cautious feet.”

“Light is a body which? (body) moves with great velocity.”

Of these two theories I have no hesitation in adopting the former. My reasons are these. The intention of language is to communicate our sentiments; to express what we think, feel, perceive, or desire. Hence its general character is indicative or assertive. “I believe,” “I wish,” “I see,” are affirmative sentences; and whatever variety of forms the phraseology may assume, they are all strictly significant of assertion, and all resolvable into the language of affirmation. “Go,” “teach,” “read,” are equivalent to, “I desire you to go,” “to teach,” “to read.” “Have you finished your task?” means, when the sentiment is fully expressed, “I desire to know, whether you have finished your task.” Ellipses of this kind are natural. They spring from an eagerness to impart to the vehicle of our thoughts a degree of celerity, suited to the promptitude with which the mind conceives them. Vehemence or passion, impatient of delay, uniformly resorts to them. The assertive form of expression I therefore conceive to be the parent whence every other is derived, and to which it is reducible. If this be the case, no interrogative, conceived purely as such, can claim so early an origin as definite or affirmative terms. Hence we may conclude, that who, which, when, where, were at first used as relatives, and came afterwards, by implication, to denote interrogations.

Again, we know that the meaning of an expression is frequently collected, not so much from the strict import of the terms, as from the tone or manner in which it is delivered. If I say, “he did it,” the sentence is affirmative; yet, by the tone of voice or manner of the speaker, this affirmative sentence may denote an interrogation. Thus, “he did it?” by an elevation of the voice, or the mode of notation, maybe rendered equivalent to “did he do it?” “Who did it” is in like manner an affirmative clause; but it is obvious that this form of expression, like the other now adduced, may be likewise employed to note an interrogation, thus, “Who did it?” And it is evident, that, if the ellipsis be supplied, the sentence would read thus, “I want to know who did it.” The preceding clause, however, is sufficiently supplied by the manner of the speaker. An ellipsis of this kind seems to be involved in every interrogation. If I say, “did he do it?” it is equivalent to “tell me, if he did it.” Accordingly, we find that the Latins, in such interrogations, employed only the latter clause; for an (whether), which is termed an interrogative, is, in fact, nothing but the Greek ἂν, synonymous with si (if) among the Latins. “An fecit,” did he do it? is therefore strictly equivalent to “si fecit” if he did it, the former clause “tell me,” being understood, and its import supplied by the manner of the speaker, or the mode of notation.

Besides, let any person ask himself what idea he annexes to the word who, considered as an interrogative, and I am persuaded he will be sensible that he cannot form any distinct conception of its import.

I am inclined therefore to think that interrogatives are strictly relatives: and that these relatives, by the aid of voice, gesture, or some explanatory circumstance, answer the purpose of interrogation.

In using these pronouns interrogatively, it is to be observed, that who and which are each applied to persons, which is not the case when they are employed as relatives. This difference, however, is to be observed, that when the pronoun which is used interrogatively, and applied to persons, it is generally, if not always, understood that the character of the individual, who is the object of inquiry, is in presence of the inquirer, or is in some degree known. Who is more indefinite. If I say, “which is the man?” I mean “who of those now before me?” or of those who have been described? Agreeably to this notion, we say, “which of the two,” not “who of the two,” was guilty of this crime?

If I say, “Who is the man that will dare to affirm?” it implies that I am entirely a stranger to him, and that I even doubt his existence. “Which is the man?” not only implies his existence, but also that the aggregate of individuals, whence the selection is made, is known to me.

What is also used interrogatively, and is employed in introducing questions, whether the subject be persons or things, as, “What man is that?” “What book is this?” When no substantive is subjoined, it is then wholly indefinite, as, “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” When we inquire, therefore, into the character of any person, and not for the individual himself, it is to be remembered that we employ this pronoun, and not who or which.

There seems to be the same difference between who and what definite, as between who and which. If I say, “What man will dare to affirm this?” and “Which man will dare?” &c., it is obvious that the former interrogatory is more indefinite than the latter; the one implying a total ignorance of the individual, and some doubt of his existence; the other, that he is one of a number in some degree known to the inquirer.

When any defining clause is subjoined, either may be used, as, “What, or which, man among you, having a hundred sheep, and losing one, would not leave the ninety and nine?”

The pronoun whether is equivalent to “which of the two.” It is the Teutonic word wether, bearing the same relation to wer, “who” or “which,” as either does to ein, “one,” and neither, newether, to nie or nehein, “none.”

This word, though now generally employed or considered as a conjunction, is in truth reducible to the class of words which we are now examining, and is precisely synonymous with uter, tra, trum, of the Latins. “Whether is it easier to say?”—Bible.

Here whether is truly a pronoun, and is the nominative to the following verb.

“Whether is greater, the gold or the temple?”—Ibid.

In these examples, whether is precisely the same with “which of the two.” It seems now to be giving place to the word which, as the comparative, when two things are compared, is often supplanted by the superlative. Thus we often say, when speaking of two, “which is the best,” instead of “whether is better.” The Latins almost uniformly observed the distinction:—“Uter dignior, quis dignissimus?”—Quint.

The pronoun it is used indefinitely, and applied to persons or things.

Dr. Johnson has objected to the use of this pronoun in those examples wherein the pronouns of the first or second persons are employed; and Dr. Lowth has censured it when referring to a plural number, as in the following example:

“’T is these, that give the great Atrides spoils.”—Pope.

I concur, however, with the learned author of the Philosophy of Rhetoric, who regards the objections of these critics as, in this instance, of no weight. For when a question is asked, the subject of which is totally unknown, there must be some indefinite word employed to denote the subject of the interrogation. The word which we use for this purpose is it, as, “Who is it?” “What is it?” This phraseology is established by universal usage, and is therefore unexceptionable. This being the case, there can be no impropriety in repeating in the answer the indefinite term employed in the question. We may therefore reply, “It is I,” “It is he,” “It is she.”

Now, if the term be admitted in questions and answers where the subject may be either male or female, and of the first, second, or third person, it surely is admissible in those cases also where the subject is in the plural number. Nay, to use in the answer any other word to express the subject than that by which it is signified in the question, would be in all cases, if not productive of ambiguity, at least less precise. “Who is it?” says a master to his servant, hearing a voice in the hall. “It is the gentlemen who called yesterday,” replies the servant. Who sees not that “they are the gentlemen,” would be an answer less accordant with the terms of the question, and would less clearly show that “the gentlemen,” and “the subject of inquiry,” both being denoted by one term, are one and the same? Had the master known that it was the voice of a gentleman, and that there were more than one, and had he accordingly said, “Who are they?” the answer would have properly been “They are the gentlemen.” But when the question is “Who is it?” I apprehend the only apposite answer is, “It is the gentlemen,” the identity of the terms (it being repeated) clearly evincing an identity of subject in the question and in the answer; in other words, that the subject of the inquiry, and the subject of the answer, are one and the same.

I conclude with observing, that, though I have here considered the word that as a pronoun, there can be no question that in its import it is precisely the same with the demonstrative that, which has been already explained. “The house that you built is burned,” is resolvable thus, “The house is burned, you built that.”