_I_, _you_, and _he_ denote their objects by the relations these objects
sustain to the act of speaking; _I_ denotes the speaker; _you_, the one
spoken to; and _he_ or _she_ or _it_, the one spoken of. _This_ and _that_
denote their objects by the relative distance of these from the speaker;
_some_ and _few_ and _others_ indicate parts separated from the rest.
Gestures could express all that many pronouns express.
2. It follows that pronouns are more general than nouns. Any person, or
even an animal or a thing personified, may use _I_ when referring to
himself, _you_ when referring to the one addressed, and _he_, _she_, _it_,
and _they_ when referring to the person or persons, the thing or things,
spoken of--and all creatures and things, except the speaker and the one
spoken to, fall into the last list. Some pronouns are so general, and hence
so vague, in their denotement that they show the speaker's complete
ignorance of the objects they denote. In, _Who_ did it? _Which_ of them did
you see? the questioner is trying to find out the one for whom _Who_
stands, and the person or thing that _Which_ denotes. To what does _it_
refer in, _it_ rains; How is _it_ with you?
3. Some pronouns stand for a phrase, a clause, or a sentence, going before
or coming after.
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