Modern Descendants of Latin

371

SPANISH
ITALIAN

Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural

Masc
Fern
Masc
Fem
Masc
Fein
Masc Fem

Subject (YOU)
USTED
USTEDES
LEI
LORO

Indirect Ob)ect (TO YOU)
LE
LES
LE (GLIE)

Direct Object
(YOU)
LE3 LO
L*
LES3LOS
LAS
LA
LI LE

IMPERSONAL ROMANCE PRONOUNS
Five English words (p 144) make up a battery of what we shall here
call impersonal pronoun-adjectives They are this, that^ which> what,
who(m). All except the last (who or whom) can stand as pointer-words
alone (demonstrative pronouns) or before a noun (demonstrative adjec-
tives} In questions the last three can also stand alone (interrogative
pronouns) or in front of a noun (interrogative adjectives) All of them
except this can introduce a subordinate clause They are then called
relative (or linK) pronouns To this battery of five essential words
corresponds a much larger group in any Romance dialect Choice of
the right equivalent for any one of them is complicated by several
circumstances, in particular
(a) Romance equivalents of any one of them may have distinct forms
as ad]ectives or as pronouns comparable to the separate adjective
and pronoun forms of our possessives (e g my-mme)>
(fr) The Romance equivalent for any one of them may depend on
whether it occurs in a question;, whether it links two statements^
or whether it is a pointer-word
To help the home student through this maze, there are separate
tables (pp 373-375) m which the same five English impersonal pronouns
turn up Capitals or small letters respectively show whether the Romance
equivalent is. (a) the pronoun form which stands alone (e g read that> or
whati\ (&) the adjective form before a noun (read this book> or which
book?} Italicized capitals signify that the word given can be either.