Chapter III: Pronouns

1. The first personal pronoun _Ic_ is never found softened into _Ich_ as in Laȝamon's Brut, the Ancren Riwle, and other Southern works. _I_ is found only once or twice throughout the poem.

2. The first and second personal pronouns have a _dual_ as well as a plural number; as, _wit_, we two; _unc_, us two; _gunc_, you two; _gunker_, of you two.

3. _Hine_ (_hin_, _in_) (acc.) occasionally occurs, but more frequently _him_ (dat.) does duty for it.

4. _Ge_, _ghe_,[53] she, represents the A.Sax. _héo_ (O.E. _heo_, _ho_, and _hi_). The curious form _sge_ (= _sye_), as well as _sche_, occurs for she, the earliest instance of which is _scæ_ in the A.Sax. Chronicle.

5. The neuter pronoun is written _it_ and not _hit_, and is frequently used as a plural. It coalesces with the pronoun _ge_, _ghe_[54] (she), and with the preterite of verbs terminating in _-de_ or _-te_,[55] and with some few irregular verbs; as, _sagt_ (saw there), p. 37, l. 1301. The curious form _negt_ (in l. 3964, p. 112) = _neg_ + _it_ = nigh it.

6. The A.Sax. _hi_ (they) is represented by _he_ = _hie_.[56] _He_ is common enough in the Romance of Havelok the Dane.[57]

The pronouns, as has already been shown, coalesce with the plural (acc.) _is_ (them), and give us the compounds _hes_, he + them; _wes_, we + them;[58] mes = _me_ + _hes_ = one + them.[59]

Not satisfied with joining _he_ (they) to the pronoun _is_, the author of this poem occasionally employs the more perplexing combination _hem_ = _he_ + _hem_, he, them.

bred kalueſ fleiſ, and flures bred,
_Roasted calves' flesh, and flour-bread,_
And buttere, _hem_ ðo sondes bed,
_And butter, he them the messengers offered._—(l. 1014.)
In ſichem feld ne fonde _hem_ nogt,
_In Shechem field found he them not._—(l. 1933.)
Ðo ſette ſundri _hem_ to waken,
_Then set sundry he them to watch._—(l. 2551.)
ðo ſeide ðuſ quanne _hem_ cam dun,
_Then said thus when he to them came down._—(l. 4022.)

In l. 2673 _hem_ seems to stand for _he_ + _hem_, they + them.

And _hem_ ſeiden wið anſweren,[60]
_And they to them said in answer._

The Southern _me_, one (Fr. _on_), is absent from this poem as well as from the Ormulum; its place is supplied by _man_ and _men_[61] used with a verb in the singular number. _ðe_ is frequently used as a relative pronoun as well as _ðat_, but uninflected; _quo_ (who), _quat_ (what), are interrogative; _whether_ signifies which of two.

TABLE OF PRONOUNS.

SINGULAR.

Nom. Ic, I ðu
Gen. min ðin
Dat. me ðe
Acc. me ðe

DUAL. PLURAL. DUAL. PLURAL.

Nom. wit we —— ge
Gen. —— ure gunker gure
Dat. —— us —— gu
Acc. unc us gunc gu

SINGULAR.

Nom. He ge, ghe (sge, sche) It
Gen. His Hire Is, His
Dat. Him Hire It
Acc. { Hin } Hire It
{ Him }

PLURAL.
Masc. Neut. Interrogative.

Nom. He It | Quo
Gen. Here Here | Quase }
| Was }
Dat. Hem It | ——
Acc. Hem It | Quam

The third personal pronoun is occasionally used reflexively; as _him_ = himself. _Self_ is used adjectively in the sense of own, very, and the form _selven_ (from the A.Sax. _sylfa_) is joined to the personal pronouns; as _ðeselven_, _himselven_, etc.

The independent possessives are _min_, _ðin_, _his_ (_hise_), _hire_ (hers), _ure_ (ours), _gure_ (yours), _here_ (theirs).[62]