Even this may be
a kind of personification.
+Examples+.--I _shall go_; You _will go_; He _will go_. These are the
proper forms to express mere futurity, but even here we can trace the
original meaning of _shall_ and _will_. In the first person the speaker
avoids egotism by referring to the act as an obligation or duty rather than
as something under the control of his own will. In the second and third
persons it is more courteous to refer to the will of others than to their
duty.
I _will go_. Here the action is under the control of the speaker's will. He
either promises or determines to go.
You _shall go_; He _shall go_. Here the speaker either promises the going
or determines to compel these persons to go; in either case the one who
goes is under some external influence.
_Shall_ I _go?_ Here the speaker puts himself under the control of some
external influence--the will of another.
_Will_ I _go?_--_i. e_., Is it my will to go?--is not used except to repeat
another's question. It would be absurd for one to ask what his own will is.
_Shall_ you _go_? Ans. I _shall_. _Will_ you _go_? Ans. I _will_. _Shall_
he _go?_ Ans. He _shall_. _Will_ he _go?_ Ans. He _will_. The same
auxiliary is used in the question that is used in the answer.
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