PRONOUN (Let. pronomen, word standing in place of a noun, from pro, for. before + n. name, word. noun). In grammar (q.v.), a word which stands for or instead of a Poun (q.v.). the noun is at first concrete. the pro noun is abstract, and thus represents psychologi cally a 11111(.11 higher concept than the noun. That it is of later development than the noun seems clear from its composite or suppletive inflection. being made up of a number of steins, still seen. for instance. in I. ine, we. us. It had originally no connection with the noun. from which it dif fered in inflection and in usage. At a later pe riod. however. the nominal and pronominal sys tems of inflection (q.v.) influenced each other, so that the pronoun shows a number of terminations which properly belong only to the noun, and vice versa. A careful distinction must be observed between with gender and those without gender. To the former class originally belonged only the pronouns of the first and second persons and the reflexive pronoun of the third person (represented, for instance. by German ich, sick 1- All other pronouns had gender, which Nva probably natural, not grammatical in character.
(See GENDER.) These pronouns are demonstra tive (as Sanskrit sa, Greek O. Latin ii/c, 'that,' later 'the'), from which the modern pronouns of the third person are derived (compare English he, shc, it with Anglo-Saxon he. hco, hit): rela tive (as Sanskrit ya, Greek Latin pis. Eng lish who), which are more intimately connected with the interrogatives than the demonstratives: and the interrogatives (as Sanskrit Greek rfs, Latin (pus, English who). Of these classes the demonstrative, which is local in force, is probably the oldest. The relative, which intro duces the relatively late sentenee-fo•m of hypo taxis o• subordinate clauses as contrasted with the more primitive parataxis or coordination. seems to be the youngest. Between the two, yet nearer to the demonstrative in point of age, stands the interrogative. which introduces a question.
Consult: Zimmern, argnimatik der semitisehen Spraehen (Berlin, 189S1: Brugmann, Vergleiehemle Grammatik der indoricrinanisrhen ;'prachen, vol. ii. (Strassburg, 1S92.).