gative.
I. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person it is; as, "Whether it[187] were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed."--1 Cor., xv, 11.
The simple personal pronouns are five: namely, I, of the first person; thou, of the second person; he, she, and it, of the third person.
The compound personal pronouns are also five: namely, myself, of the first person; thyself, of the second person; himself, herself, and itself, of the third person.
II. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent word or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence; as, "No people can be great, who have ceased to be virtuous."--Dr. Johnson.
The relative pronouns are who, which, what, that, as, and the compounds whoever or whosoever, whichever or whichsoever, whatever or whatsoever.[188]
What is a kind of double relative, equivalent to that which or those which; and is to be parsed, first as antecedent, and then as relative: as, "This is what I wanted; that is to say, the thing which I wanted."--L. Murray. III. An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun with which a question is asked; as, "Who touched my clothes?"--Mark, v, 30.
The interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what; being the same in form as relatives.
Who demands a person's name; which, that a person or thing be distinguished from others; what, the name of a thing, or a person's occupation and character.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--The pronouns I and myself, thou and thyself, with their inflections, are literally applicable to persons only; but, figuratively, they represent brutes, or whatever else the human imagination invests with speech and reason. The latter use of them, though literal perhaps in every thing but person, constitutes the purest kind of personification. For example: "The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them: and they said unto the olive-tree, 'Reign thou over us.' But the olive-tree said unto them, 'Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'" See Judges, ix, from 8 to 16.
OBS. 2.--The pronouns he and himself, she and herself, with their inflections, are literally applicable to persons and to brutes, and to these only; if applied to lifeless objects, they animate them, and are figurative in gender, though literal perhaps in every other respect. For example: "A diamond of beauty and lustre, observing at his side in the same cabinet, not only many other gems, but even a loadstone, began to question the latter how he came there--he, who appeared to be no better than a mere flint, a sorry rusty-looking pebble, without the least shining quality to advance him to such honour; and concluded with desiring him to keep his distance, and to pay a proper respect to his superiors."--Kames's Art of Thinking, p. 226.
OBS. 3.--The pronoun it, as it carries in itself no such idea as that of personality, or sex, or life, is chiefly used with reference to things inanimate; yet the word is, in a certain way, applicable to animals, or even to persons; though it does not, in itself, present them as such. Thus we say, "It is I;"--"It was they;"--"It was you;"--"It was your agent;"--"It is your bull that has killed one of my oxen." In examples of this kind, the word it is simply demonstrative; meaning, the thing or subject spoken of. That subject, whatever it be in itself, may be introduced again after the verb, in any person, number, or gender, that suits it. But, as the verb agrees with the pronoun it, the word which follows, can in no sense be made, as Dr. Priestley will have it to be, the antecedent to that pronoun. Besides, it is contrary to the nature of what is primarily demonstrative, to represent a preceding word of any kind. The Doctor absurdly says, "Not only things, but persons, may be the antecedent to this pronoun; as, Who is it? Is it not Thomas? i. e. Who is the person? Is not he Thomas?"--Priestley's Gram., p. 85. In these examples, the terms are transposed by interrogation; but that circumstance, though it may have helped to deceive this author and his copiers, affects not
