he language, is
replaced by the feminine article _se['o]_.

s. 229. _Her_.--This is a case, not of the present _she_, but of the
Anglo-Saxon _he['o]_: so that _she_ may be said to be defective in the
oblique cases, and _her_ to be defective in the nominative.

_Him_.--A dative form, which has replaced the Anglo-Saxon _hine_. When used
as a dative, it was neuter as well as masculine.

_His_.--Originally neuter as well as masculine. Now as a neuter, replaced
by _its_--"et quidem ipsa vox _his_, ut et interrogativum _whose_, nihil
aliud sunt quam _hee's_, _who's_, ubi s omnino idem praestat quod in aliis
possessivis. Similiter autem _his_ pro _hee's_ eodem errore quo nonnunquam
_bin_ pro _been_; item _whose_ pro _who's_ eodem errore quo _done_, _gone_,
_knowne_, _growne_, &c., pro _doen_, _goen_, _knowen,_ vel _do'n_, _go'n_,
_know'n_, _grow'n_; utrobique contra analogiam linguae; sed usu
defenditur."--Wallis, c.v.

_It_.--Changed from the Anglo-Saxon _hit_, by the ejection of h. The t is
no part of the original word, but a sign of the neuter gender, forming it
regularly from _he_. The same neuter sign is preserved in the Latin _id_
and _illud_.

_Its_.--In the course of time the nature of the neuter sign t, in _it_, the
form being found in but a few words, became misunderstood. Instead of being
looked on as an affix, it passed for part of the original word. Hence was
formed from _it_ the anomalous genitive _its_ superseding the Saxon _his_.
The same was the case with--

_Hers_.--The r is no part of the original word, but the sign of the dative
case. These formations are of value in the history of cases.

s. 230. _Theirs_.--In the same predicament with _hers_ and _its_; either
the case of an adjective, or a case formed from a case.

_Than_ or _then_, and _there_.--Although now adverbs, they were once
demonstrative pronouns, in a certain case and in a certain gender, viz.,
_than_ and _then_ masculine accusative and singular, _there_ feminine
dative and singular.

s. 231. An exhibition of the Anglo-Saxon declension is the best explanation
of the English. Be it observed, that the cases marked in italics are found
in the present language.

I.

_Se, se['o]_ ( = _she_).

Of this word we meet two forms only, both of the singular number, and both
in the nominative case; viz., masc., _se_; fem. _se['o]_ ( = the). The
neuter gender and the other cases of the article were taken from the
pronoun _thaet_ ( = that).

II