The conjunctive possessive pronoun is in many dialects formed by adding the genitival s to the personal pronouns both nominative and objective, as: we’s, Oxf. Ess.; us’s, m.Yks. Glo. Oxf.; you’s, Sur.; him’s, w.Sc. Hrf.; she’s, Sur. Wil.; them’s, Dev.; in e.An. that’s is used for his, her, its. The use of the personal pronoun, nominative or objective, instead of the possessive is common in many Midl. and sw.Cy. dialects, especially when unemphatic or in addressing children, as: we held we breaths; let’s be off tul us dinners, In certain n.Cy. and Midl. dialects the old uninflected it is still used instead of the modern its, cp. ‘It lifted up it head,’ Ham. I. ii. 216. In Hmp. the still older use of his for the neuter possessive is preserved, cp. ‘To every seed his own body,’ A.V. 1 Cor. xv. 38. In ne. Lan. her (O.E. hiera) is used for their. Throughout England the use of our, your before a proper noun to denote that the person spoken of belongs respectively to the family of the speaker or the person spoken to is very common, as: our Sal; your Tom. wə(r is in general dialect use in Sc. Irel. and Eng. for the unstressed form of our.
In the Midl. e. s. and sw. counties the disjunctive possessive pronouns, except mine, thine, are generally formed from the conjunctive by adding n or ən, thus hisn, hern, ourn, yourn, theirn. A double form is used in mine’s, Sc. n.Yks. This double ending is added to the nom. in weez’n, Glo.; shizn, War. Glo. Brks. Hmp. Wil. The conjunctive form is used disjunctively in Lakel. Suf. Ess., as: that is my. In w.Yks. that’s is used as the disjunctive possessive of the third person. Apart from these deviations, the dialects generally express the disjunctive possessive pronouns in the same manner as the lit. language.
The reflexive pronouns are generally formed by adding self, sel, sen, or seln for the singular, and selves, sels, sens (rarely sen) for the plural, to the conjunctive possessive pronouns, usually the unstressed forms: mi, ði, wə(r, jə(r, &c. The endings sen, seln, sens are chiefly confined to the n.Midl. dialects. The endings self, selves are hardly ever used in Sc. Irel. n.Cy. and n.Midlands. Frequently the objective case of the simple personal pronoun is used with a reflexive meaning, especially in Sc. n.Cy. and n.Midl., as: get thee dressed while I wash me. In Sc. theirsel is used when the idea is collective, theirsels when it is segregate.
The demonstrative pronoun this is expressed by: (1) This, generally used in the same manner as in lit. English. (2) This here, in general dialect use in Eng. (3) That, in Sc. and n.Irel. as: that is a fine day. (4) Thease, Hrf. Glo. and sw.Cy., used of objects having a definite shape; cp. Lat. hic; in w.Som. when the noun, whatever its quantity or number, has already been mentioned in the same sentence, it is referred to as that, this, not as thick, thease. (5) Thease yerimy, Glo. (6) Thick here, sw.Cy. In disjunctive use are: (7) Thisn, thisna, n.Cy. Midl. Suf. Sur. (8) Thease here, w.Som. (9) Thissum, Glo. Hmp. sw.Cy.
That is expressed by: (1) That, generally used in the same manner as in lit. Eng. (2) That there, in general dialect use in Eng.; a second there is often added, as is also a second here to this here. (3) Thack, thacky, Glo. sw.Cy. (4) Thick there, Glo. I.W. sw.Cy. (5) Thon, Sc. Irel. Nhb. Dur., used to identify an object remote from both speakers. (6) Thonder, Chs. Hrf. (7) Yon, Sc. Irel. n.Cy. n.Midl. Hrf. e.An. Dev., used especially of a person or thing a little way off, but within sight. (8) Yond, Edb. Yks. Lan. Dev. (9) Yonder, Ayr. I.Ma. s.Chs. Nhp. w.Wor. Nrf. In disjunctive use are: (10) Thatn, Lakel. Der. Not. Wor. Hrf. Sur. (11) Thickumy, Som. (12) Thilk, Glo. In Sc. n.Midl. Lon. Suf. Ken. that is used in emphatic reiteration of an assertion, as: I suppose you are in a hurry. I am that. In all the dialects that is used adverbially with the meaning to such a degree, as: I was that bad. It is also used before a substantive with the meaning such, as: in that fear that I couldn’t move. In n.Hmp. thick is always used for this, and thuck for that; in Dor. thick is only used for the personal class of formed individual objects.
These is expressed by: (1) These, as in lit. Eng. (2) Thes here, w.Yks. Midl. Brks. Nrf. Ken. Som. n.Dev. (3) These yerimy, Glo. (4) Theasum, theasamy, Glo. Hmp. sw.Cy. (5) This, ne.Sc. n.Cy. parts of Yks. and Lan., and sw.Cy. It is used especially with plural nouns denoting time, as: this three weeks. In disjunctive use are: (6) These ’ans (= ones), theseun, Cum. Hrf. Brks. Wil. (7) Thism, Glo.
Those is seldom or never heard in genuine dialect speech. Its place is supplied by: (1) Them, in all the dialects of Sc. Irel. and Eng. In Sc. it is especially used as the antecedent of the relative, as: them at did it. (2) Them there, n.Midl. Midl. e.An. Dor. Som. (3) Themmin, Glo. Wil. (4) Themmy, sw.Cy. (5) They, Midl. Suf. s. and sw.Cy., used especially as the antecedent of the relative. (6) They there, Ken. w.Som. Dev. (7) That, ne.Sc. (8) These, Sc. Cum. Yks. (9) Thon, Sc. Irel. Nhb. Dur. (10) Yon, Sc. n.Irel. n.Cy. n.Midl. e.An. Dev. (11) Yond, Edb. Yks. Lan. Dev. (12) Them ’ans, Cum. (13) Yon ’ans, Cum. These and those are both expressed by: (1) Thae, Sc. Uls. n.Cy. (2) Thick, thuck, Wor. Dev. (3) Thir, Sc. (s. of the Grampians) Uls. n.Cy. In disjunctive use: (4) Thirs, thors, Sc. Nhb. (5) Thir ’ans, Cum.
There are no special dialect words for the interrogative pronoun, but the following deviations from the lit. use are worth notice: Whom is hardly ever used in any dialect; its place is taken by who. In Sc. and n. and ne.Yks. whose is seldom used as an interrogative pronoun, a periphrasis being used instead, as: who is aught the bairn? whose is the child? who belongs this house? whose house is this? In Cum. which is used of persons as well as of animals and things.
The relative pronoun is generally expressed by as, at, that or what for all genders and numbers, when the antecedent is expressed. In other cases who is used for the masc. and fem. nom. and obj., and what for the neuter. Whom is never used in the dialects. As is rarely used in n.Cy., but in the other parts of England it is in general use. At is in general use in Sc. Irel. n.Cy. and a small portion of the n.Midl. counties. What can be used when it refers to persons as well as to inanimate objects in some of the n.Midl. counties, and in nearly all the counties south of the n.Midlands. In w.Som. it is only used when special emphasis is required. In s.Not. Hrf. Glo. and Nrf. the relative which is used redundantly in a conjunctive sense, as: ghosts, which I can’t bear talking about. In Brks. whosen is used for whose, but as a rule the possessive relative cannot be expressed by a single word in the dialects; instead a periphrasis or parenthetical sentence is substituted. Especially frequent is the use of as or what coupled with a possessive pronoun, as: that’s the chap as his uncle was hanged. In Sc. at is similarly used, as: the man at his coat’s torn.