60 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



The close relation between nouns and pronouns is exempli- 

 fied by the Zulu language, which contains as many classes of 

 pronouns, as there are varieties of nouns. 70 



The great number of pronouns of the first and second 

 persons need not, after what has been just now said, excite 

 astonishment. The J avanese dialect possesses twenty pronouns 

 of the first and twelve of the second person, while the 

 Malayan contains sixteen of the first, ten of the second, and 

 five of the third person. 71 



The pronoun of the third person is a truer reflection of the 

 character of a dialect, than either that of the first or of the 

 second person. This will manifest itself more clearly after- 

 wards. The pronoun of the third person is an artificial alter 

 ego. It originates from an inmost tendency towards abstractness. 

 "Where such an inclination is wanting, it does not exist, as in 

 the Javanese ; 72 or it is built upon a concrete substratum, as 

 in the languages of the Abipones, where the position occupied 

 by the person or the object alluded to, is specially expressed. 73 



When examining the terms of consanguinity stress was laid 

 on their absence in concrete languages, and the importance of 

 this fact was particularly noted. It was pointed out as an 

 unmistakable evidence for the concrete character of a dialect. 

 The pronoun of the first person in its dual and plural numbers 

 supplies a corresponding exhibition of the natural tendency 



(70) Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. I, pages 390 and 

 407 : " Pronouns of the third person in the Zulu are a kind of reflection or 

 image of the initials of the nouns for which they stand, and are used to show 

 the condition of those nouns. There are therefore as many classes of them, 

 as of nouns, that is twelve." 



(71) See : A Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay Language, by John 

 Crawfurd, London, 1S52, Vol. I, pages xxi, 24 and 25. 



(72) See : Crawfurd, page xxi. 



(73) See : An Account of the Abipones, from the Latin of Martin Dobriz- 

 hoffer, London, 1S22, Vol. II, page 166 : " But the pronoun of the third 

 person, he, is varied, according to the situation of the person of whom you 

 speak. For if the object of discourse be present,, he is called Enefta, if he be 

 sitting Hiniha, if lying Hiriha, if standing Haraha, if walking and seen 

 Ehaha, if not seen Ekaha, &c." 



