_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 præstat 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 linguæ; 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. § 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. § 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, seó_ ( = _she_). Of this word we meet two forms only, both of the singular number, and both in the nominative case; viz., masc., _se_; fem. _seó_ ( = the). The neuter gender and the other cases of the article were taken from the pronoun _þæt_ ( = that). II. _þæt_ ( = that, the), and _þis_ ( = this). _Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._ _Masc._ _Fem._ _Sing. Nom._ _þæt_ -- -- _þis_ þes þeós. _Acc._ _þæt_ _þone_ þâ þis þisne þás. _Abl._ _þy_ _þy_ _þǽre._ _þise_ þise þisse. _Dat._ þám þám _þǽre._ þisum þisum þisse. _Gen._ þæs þæs _þǽre._ þises þises þisse. \__________ _________/ \_________ _________/ \/ \/ _Plur. Nom. Acc._ _þá._ _þás._ _Abl. Dat._ _þám._ þisum. _Gen._ _þára._ þissa. III. _Hit_ ( = it), (_he_ = he), _heó_ ( = she).