Present-day English is unlike Old English in not using singular demonstrative pronouns with anaphoric reference to human beings. This article adds to the contributions of Cole (2017) and Los & van Kemenade (2018) in our understanding of the factors determining the choice between personal and demonstrative pronouns in Old English by documenting the hitherto unexamined use of these pronouns as heads of relative clauses. It also traces how the singular demonstrative pronouns referring to humans retreated as heads of relative clauses in Early Middle English. A corpus-based study shows that third-person personal pronouns were unusual as heads of relative clauses in Old English and normally referred to specific individuals, while demonstratives were the pronouns of choice for generic reference but could also refer to specific individuals. The increased use of personal pronouns for generic reference is well underway in Early Middle English. While the retreat of the singular demonstrative pronouns to refer to humans in Early Middle English seems to have some connection with the reduced marking of feature distinctions in that period, a simple explanation in terms of loss of gender is untenable.

中文翻译：

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早期英语中以代词为首的关系从句

现代英语与古英语不同，它不使用单数指示代词来指代人类。本文通过记录迄今为止未经审查地将这些代词用作关系从句的头部，增加了 Cole (2017) 和 Los & van Kemenade (2018) 在我们理解决定古英语中人称代词和指示代词之间选择的因素方面的贡献. 它还追溯了在早期中古英语中，指代人类的单数指示代词是如何作为关系从句的头部而退缩的。一项基于语料库的研究表明，第三人称人称代词在古英语中作为关系从句的头部是不寻常的，通常指代特定的个人，而指示代词是泛指代词的选择，但也可以指代特定的个人。在早期中古英语中，越来越多地使用人称代词作为通用参考。虽然在早期中古英语中单数指示代词的后退指代人类似乎与那个时期特征区别标记的减少有关，但从性别丧失的角度进行简单解释是站不住脚的。