amid this variety is, its performing the office of the accusative case, which it evidently does in many of the examples already given in this work; to which we may add another from the first volume of Lun-yu, wherein the philosopher, deploring the degeneracy of those in exalted stations, says;

"In their urbanity there is nothing sincere ; in their mourning, no sorrow: How can I look on them?"

Lun-yu, vol. i.

In this sentence it is evident that tchee, referring to the antecedent substantives, supplies the place of the accusative pronoun. To multiply examples relative to a fact of which a person can scarcely open a Chinese book without finding examples, would be only a waste of time; we proceed to notice a peculiarity connected with the Chinese pronouns, though in reality to their utter exclusion.

Of the Pronouns as used to express Respect or Contempt.

Most of the languages spoken in India, are furnished with two kinds of pronouns, one expressive of respect, and another used when a person wishes to speak humbly of himself, or contemptuously of others. But in a nation so much noted for attention to exterior things as the Chinese, it might be expected that this feature would appear more prominent than

in the other languages of the east. extensive, and expressed in a way so different from that of other languages, as to deserve a separate section.

This is really the case; it is indeed so

The Chinese language however, although it goes much farther in expressing respect than the other languages at present spoken in India, does it in quite a different way; instead of employing like them certain pronouns to indicate respect, or its opposite, it, approaching more nearly to the simplicity of the Hebrew, rejects the personal pronouns altogether, employing such characters to express the first person as indicate humility, and such to denote the second, as express honour and respect. Thus the Hebrew writers express the first person by, "thy servant;" and the second by, my lord.' To follow the Chinese however through every expression thus used, could they be all identified, would be more tedious than instructive it will be sufficient to notice in general the way in which they express each person.

:

Characters used instead of the First personal Pronoun.—To denote themselves, the Chinese constantly use certain characters expressive of humility, which differ according to the rank of the person addressed.

1. One of the most general and ancient ways of denoting respect, is, that of substituting the name itself for the pronoun I. Of this many examples occur in Confucius, in those instances wherein he is addressed by his disciples. In a passage in the first volume, to which an allusion has been already made, the sage, inquiring of his disciple Tse-koong, whether he was equal to Hooi or not; that disciple in his reply, instead of using the pronoun I, mentions his proper name, thus:

In this sentence the speaker uses his proper name instead of the personal pronoun. Numerous other examples of the same kind might be adduced both from Confucius and Mung.

There are not wanting instances indeed wherein Confucius himself substitutes his proper name for the personal pronoun. In the first volume of Lun-yu, Hoo-ma-khee, telling Confucius that a person had been accusing him of partiality to the great, since he had not rebuked his prince for im

proper conduct; the sage far from expressing anger, says,

“ Myeu is a happy man! If he make a slip, men will certainly notice it.”

Lun-yu, vol. i.

In this sentence, the sage introduces his proper name instead of the pro

noun I.

2. In the various comments on the Chinese works the commentator often

denotes himself by the character yu, the slow, or ignorant one.' The

phrasesyu wỳ, the slow or dull one says,' or

'the dull one supposes;' are far from being unfrequent.

按愚 yun gan,

This character

is also occasionally substituted for the first personal pronoun in epistolary

correspondence.

3. When a son addresses a parent in writing, it is common to substitute, nan, ‘a male,' and in conversation, hai irr, ‘the male child,'

男

for the pronoun I; and a daughter in the same manner will term herself, nyú irr, 'the female child.

In addressing an elder brother, a

younger, instead of using the personal pronoun, will stile himself teè, 'the younger brother.' With a friend also, somewhat advanced in age, the same mode is adopted.

4. But in addressing those of superior dignity, the common people speak of themselves in a style much more humble; H4 J、 syáo tìh, ́ of the little or inferior kind,' though one of the most common, is not the most humiliating phrase used by them; cé, 'the ant or pismire,' is often used in petitions from the common people to those in authority.

5. If inferior mandarines write to one of superior rank, the phrase

職卑

Hpy chih, of low, or mean condition,' is often used by them when

mentioning themselves to those above them. But in writing to the Emperor,

the officers of government who are Tartars, express themselves without any

hesitation by the phrase †

noo tsai, 'the slave.' This however a

Chinese does not so readily do: he prefers substituting for the first personal pronoun, the character chhin, servant or minister.'

7. Lastly, so general among the Chinese, is this custom of laying aside the first personal pronoun, that even the Emperor himself occasionally adopts it. The character chìn, which has been already described as the term by which he generally designates himself in public writings, may perhaps be deemed a pronoun proper to the Emperor. Butkwá yin,' the deficient man,' is also a phrase by which he occasionally designates himself, which is a contraction of kwá tũh tchee yịn ; ʻ the man deficient in virtue.'

人之德寡

But there are, on the other hand, occasions when the Chinese drop the personal pronoun, in order to speak of themselves in the honorific style. Thus a Viceroy, when writing to inferior officers as well as to the common people, instead of using it, will term himself pún poò thang, literally the original tribunal;' the chief of a smaller province, pun poo yuen; while another, beneath hin, will declare himself to be, pun tse, the original governor' and a fourth will term himself, pun tào, the real guide;' and thus

with the rest. But this is confined to men in office: so averse are the Chinese, however, to using the personal pronouns, that when two friends

are conversing, they will occasionally use 彼 pée and Hisé, that and

this,' instead of the personal pronouns you and I.'

The Second Person.-As the terms and phrases used by the Chinese in

W w