two tests, then, of the grammatical place of a pronoun, its _present
power_ and its _original power_, are often conflicting.

s. 396. In the English language the point of most importance in this
department of grammar is the place of forms like _mine_ and _thine_; in
other words, of the forms in -n.

Now, if we take up the common grammars of the English language _as it is_,
we find, that, whilst _my_ and _thy_ are dealt with as genitive cases,
_mine_ and _thine_ are considered adjectives. In the _Anglo-Saxon_
grammars, however, _min_ and _thin_, the older forms of _mine_ and _thine_,
are treated as genitives or possessives.

s. 397. This gives us two views of the words _my_ and _thy_.

a. They may be genitives or possessives, which were originally datives or
accusatives; in which case they are deduced from the Anglo-Saxon _mec_ and
_thec_.

b. They may be the Anglo-Saxon _min_ and _thin_, _minus_ the final -n.

Each of these views has respectable supporters. The former is decidedly
preferred by the present writer.

s. 398. What, however, are _thine_ and _mine_? Are they adjectives like
_meus_, _tuus_, and _suus_, or cases like _mei_, _tui_, _sui_, in Latin,
and _hi-s_ in English?

It is no answer to say that sometimes they are one and sometimes the other.
They were not so originally. They did not begin with meaning two things at
once; on the contrary, they were either possessive cases, of which the
power became subsequently adjectival, or adjectives, of which the power
became subsequently possessive.

s. 399. In Anglo-Saxon and in Old Saxon there is but one form to express
the Latin _mei_ (or _tui_), on the one side, and _meus_, _mea_, _meum_ (or
_tuus_, &c.), on the other. In several other Gothic tongues, however, there
was the following difference of form:

_Moeso-Gothic_ meina = _mei_ as opposed to meins = _meus_.
theina = _tui_ -- theins = _tuus_.
_Old High German_ m[^i]n = _mei_ -- m[^i]ner = _meus_.
d[^i]n = _tui_ -- d[^i]ner = _tuus_.
_Old Norse_ min = _mei_ -- minn = _meus_.
thin = _tui_ -- thinn = _tuus_.
_Middle Dutch_ m[^i]ns = _mei_ -- m[^i]n = _meus_.
d[^i]ns = _tui_ -- d[^i]n = _tuus_.
_Modern High German_ mein = _mei_ -- meiner = _meus_.
dein = _tui_