A REVISION OF THE PRONOUNS. 



WITH SPECIAL EXAMINATION OE RELATIVES AND RELA- 

 TIVE CLAUSES.* 



EDWARD T. OWE 2^. 

 I^ro/ensor of the French Language and Literature in the University of Wisconsin , 



CHAPTER I.— GEXEEAL SURVEY. 



THE PEONOMIXAL MEDLEY. 



With a stone that sparkles, an Indian aiTow-head, a spitted 

 •dragon-fly, the farm-lad begins a ''collection of curiosities,'' 

 which grows in bnlk only to grow also more incongruous. With 

 hardly more definite purpose Grammar has selected the mem- 

 bers of the pronominal word-class. Amused by here and there 

 a verbal oddity, the pseudo-science also may be said to have 

 formed a collection of linguistic curiosities; and these in dis- 

 parity match the objects assembled by boyish caprice. 



Into this aggregation are entered '"some," which stands at 

 times for any persons whatever, and ^^I," which is perhaps the 

 most exclusive element of speech. ''Who" (relative), although 

 it requires an antecedent, is fraternized with "this" and "that," 

 Vfhich do not. Words said to ask a question are grouped with 

 others used to answer questions. In this field the lion and the 

 lamb lie do\\Ti of a truth together. 



Indiscriminable admission is offset bv undeserved omission, 

 partly inadvertent, it would seem, and partly arbitrary. It 

 usually is not seen that "few" and "many," being quite as truly 



*A dissertation for which the degree of Doctor of Philosophy was awarded 

 by Yale University. A selection from Chapter III. of this article was read be- 

 fore the American Philological Association, at the meeting of July, 1900. 



