Owen — Revision of Pronouns. 123 



with more or less distinctness not only an individual being, but 

 also quite an outfit of qualities. In "wolfish" the tendency of 

 these is to become less numerous ; in a "wolfish appetite" one 

 only may be conceived; indeed even this may lose everything 

 except intensity. Vv'hat is more important still, no idea foreign 

 to "wolf" is grafted on the idea expressed by "wolfish." 



In the word "my," on the other hand, there is no abatement 

 -of self; and no quality connoted under "I" is lost; ]3er contra 

 the important idea of possession is added. "My" differs from 

 ■^^I" or "me," much as "Indian-owmed" (in the sense of owned 

 by Indians) differs from "Indians," for instance in "Indian- 

 owned lands." As "my," with the value of "by me o^vned," 

 is ranked as the adjective of "me," consistency requires that 

 "^^Indian-owned" be ranked as the adjective of "Indian." So 

 also, by strict analogy, "shark-eaten" and "man-eating" rank 

 as adjectives, the one of "shark" and the other of "man." Ob- 

 viously the initial move of Grammar leads to much that is be- 

 yond the grammatical purpose. It is better, perhaps, to admit 

 that "my" is not the adjective of "I" in the usual sense employed 

 by Grammar. 



It is also but a part of the truth that "my" is possessive. 

 "^^My" has doubtless the meaning "of me;" and "of" may cer- 

 tainly name the relation of owner to property; "of," that is, 

 may have a possessive value, as in the "book of me" or "my 

 book." But "of" may have and often does have other values, 

 many and very different. Conceiving myself a boy again, I 

 lament "my punishment by a teacher." "My," as usual, stands 

 also here for "of me ;" but this time the protean preposition ex- 

 presses the relation of action (punishment) to its actee (sufferer, 

 object), myself; or, in other words, "my" is the objective geni- 

 tive. Or, letting the teacher speak, "My punishment of that boy 

 was proper." Again "My" stands for "of me ;" but this time also 

 ^^of" expresses not at all the possessive relation, nor that indeed 

 of action to actee, but the relation of actor to his act, "My" be- 

 ing now a subjective genitive. 



Grammar seems, moreover, to misconceive the sentential rank 

 of "mine." To illustrate, in "This book is mine," the value 

 of "mine" being taken as "my object," "mine" itself is rated 



