The distinction of three grammatical persons (I, thou, he) has remained foreign to the Japanese language [and the verb has no conjugational suffixes which tend to the expression of this distinction]. All persons [other] than the speaker (the I), as well as that to which or of which he speaks (thou, he), are considered as contents of the proposition, and thus, according to our peculiarity of language, in the third person, and etiquette, having in view the meaning of words expressive of quality, has to determine which person by one of another of these words is intended. Etiquette distinguishes only between the "I" and the "not-I."¹

The possessive pronouns are sometimes extraordinarily developed in primitive languages, apparently because "possession" has intimate affective implications. One of the trends is in the direction of indicating the degree of intimacy and permanence of possession, and at the same time the quality of the possession may be indicated. Thus, in the Teton dialect of the Siouan language inalienable or very intimate possession is expressed by one form of the prefix (e.g., his leg; their two hearts), while alienable of more distant possession (e.g., his horse) is expressed by another. And, according to Riggs, still another prefix is used for inalienable possessions when referring to those parts of the body which exhibit no independent action (e.g., my ears).²

¹Hoffman, J.J.n/an/an/an/a, , 73.

² Swantonn, "Siouan," 946.