Owen — Bevision of Pronouns. 63 



XVIII. DEGRADED RELATIVES. 



In feeblv inflected languages it often happens that the rela- 

 tive exhibits no power of indicating meaning, association, or 

 any particular function. To illustrate, in ^'The ship of Mrs. 

 X's husband that you met is lost,'' some idea is plainly simul- 

 taneous factor of two thoughts. But the word "that" is unable 

 to exhibit this idea as certainly either a person or a thing, mas- 

 culine or feminine ; that is, it has no meaning value. It is also 

 unable to show which preceding idea is simultaneous factor ; 

 that is, it has no associative value. It also does not show you 

 whether this idea is =ubject or object of "met ;" that is, it has no 

 specific functional value. The question rises. What is the use 

 of "that" ? 



Overlooking the ambiguity attending the further employ- 

 ment of "that" as sometimes a "conjunction" and sometimes a 

 ^^demonstrative," suppose that from context and situation it be 

 satisfactorily understood that the word "that" is the object of 

 "met," and "refers" to "'ship." Though these important data 

 be as supposed inferred, that is, in no way indicated by "that", 

 some opportunity yet remains for "that" to be of service. In 

 showing this I take as my jDoint of departure the fact that the 

 relative "that" is the habitual si£:n of a simultaneous factor's 

 function. As such a sign it is the sigTi also that simultaneous 

 factorship occurs ; it serves as a warning that some part of the 

 thought "The ship of Mrs. X's husband is lost" is to be at the 

 same time part of the thought incompletely rendered by "you 

 met;" that is, it shows that an idea, used already amid given 

 surroundings, is to stand its ground while new surroundings 

 ^^ather about it ; though ceasing to serve the hearer as a guide, 

 it still does service by putting him on his guard. 



XIX. PROMOTED RELATIVES. 



By these I mean a number of words which have graduated 

 from an ordinary relative value into one of higher sjTiibolic 

 rank. In following their advancement, I find a favoring in- 

 fluence, I think, indeed, the originating impulse, in the conten- 

 tiousness of the averaa'e mind. To illustrate this, the statement 



