The Classification of Words

§ 154. They are compound noun prono/ms whose second 'element -self expresses the anaphorical relation of the first element, i. e. it shows that the first element refers to the person mentioned previously in the sentence. Thus, / ... myself, thou .. thyself, he (or John) ... himself, she (or Mary) ... herself, it (or bird) . itself, we .. ourselves, you ... ^your­self (you/selves), they (or the chidren) ... themselves, one ... oneself.
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§ 155. Like the personal and the possessive pronouns, the reflexive pronouns distinguish the lexico-grammatical meanings of person, number and gender.
Some linguists are of the opinion that in myself — ourselves, yourself— yourselves number is expressed grammati­cally ¹. But this is an illusion caused by the correlation self — selves. As ourselves is not myself + myself, but my­self + yourself or myself + yourselves, or myself + himself, or myself -¹- herself, or myself 4- themselves, we are to regard myself and ourselves as different lexical units, just as / and we, my and our. As to the so-called reflexive voice, see§211.
§ 156 The anaphorical use of the reflexive pronouns 'accounts for the fact tlyit they do not occur in the function of subjects, their usual function being that-of prepositionless or prepositional objects.
When I first met Hickson, I could have kissed his beauti­ful boots. I loved them for themselves. (Gary).
You rftay be letting yourselves out nicely, but I can't. Nor can mother. (Priestley).
§ 157. Se//-pronouns are often used in apposition for emphasis. Dickson's view on the Middle Ages them­selves would have to wait until another time. (Amis).
Some linguists regard the se//-pronouns used for emphasis as a separate group of emphatic pronouns ². In colloquial speech there is a marked tendency to use emphatic pronouns as synonyms of personal ones. Perhaps, the usage is caused by the fact that se//-pronouns are felt to carry more weight than unstressed personal pronouns.
E. g. My wife and myself were left behind. (Daily Worker).
Demonstrative Pronouns