Pronouns, so called from their being supposed to be mere substitutes of nouns, ought according to their signification to be deemed either substantives or adjectives; for as general signs they serve to personate, demonstrate, relate, and interrogate persons, things, and parts of discourses; and being all demonstrative and interrogative, they are properly distinguishable only into the following sorts, viz.
| Personals. | Possessives. | Relatives. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | I, me, myself; | my - own, mine; | one, any, none. |
| 2. | Thou or you, thee, thyself; | thy - thine; | this, each, every, either. |
| 3. | He, she, it, him, her, himself, herself; | her, its - hers; | that, some, another, such. |
| 4. | We, us, ourselves; | our - ours; | who, whose, whom. |
| 5. | Ye or you, yourselves; | your - yours; | which. |
| 6. | They, them, themselves; | their - theirs; | what. |
Tho’ the English, Welsh, Greek, and Latin pronouns are, with the other parts of speech, all defined in the vocabulary at the end of this essay, it may not be improper here to observe in general, as to their signification, that the first personal pronoun substantively, and not substitutionally signifies man as an indefinite line placed alone or by himself in the centre of things before his extension or division into U the male and female spring; the 2d, the-o-U or y-o-U, the off man or woman; 3d, man extended into T, or in his race and possessions; and hi and shi, the male and female forms and existences; 4th, mankind; 5th, the first and second female persons; 6th, all mankind, persons, and things, except the first second and third persons singular. The possessives express all things to be in man, as one universal possessor; and to relate to his descendents as their qualities and properties. The relative and interrogative which is a compound of wch-ich signifying the above action, as ich means the first act of motion or creation, and uch man’s utmost return of that act or spring upwards. And so used as a general relative and interrogative of all actions, as who is of persons, and what of things, and as to the rest they are particularly explained in the vocabulary.
The personal pronouns and such of the possessives and relatives as will not join with substantives in construction, are substantives, and the rest are adjectives; and pronouns like other English nouns, have no variation or declension of person, number, gender, or case, but each is an original, distinct name. So that to attempt any further distinction of pronouns, like all other unnecessary distinctions, would tend to the confusion, rather than the illustration of language, and they perhaps might be better distinguished by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or their original signification of 1st, 2d, 3d, persons singular and plural; tho’ such names as have no foundation in nature, may require more arbitrary rules towards their explanation.
Of Nouns Adjective and Participle.
Adjective and participle nouns are added to substantives and propositions, as expressive of the attributes or qualities, affections, and accidents of things, as in the following example; The preying beast was daring; the astonished guese are fled, lost, or stolen; and he is still pursuing a fled, lost, or stolen gus, in order to make a sweet morsel of its garbage; but all such sensations are nauseous to human nature. But qualities were originally expressed by the verbal actives, with few particles, and the compounded sorts were adjected thereto.
And qualities being the effects of light, heat, and motion, flowing upon, warming or penetrating bodies differently modified in various degrees, and the sensations thence produced in us, as those of colours, tastes, sounds and feeling, rather than any internal offences or properties of matter or substances, adjectives assert or express their subsistence as the attributes of various substances and things, as the following specimen of English adjectives shews.