INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.
Three now in use.
97. The interrogative
pronouns now in use are who (with the forms whose and
whom), which, and what.
One obsolete.
There is an old word, whether, used formerly to
mean which of two, but now obsolete. Examples from the Bible:—
Whether of them twain did the will of his
father?
Whether is greater, the gold, or the temple?
From Steele (eighteenth century):—
It may be a question whether of these unfortunate
persons had the greater soul.
Use of who and its
forms.
98. The use of who,
with its possessive and objective, is seen in these sentences:—
Who is she in bloody coronation robes from
Rheims?—De Quincey.
Whose was that gentle
voice, that, whispering sweet,
Promised, methought, long days
of bliss sincere?
—Bowles.
What doth she look on? Whom doth she behold?—Wordsworth.
From these sentences it will be seen that interrogative
who refers to persons only; that it is not inflected for gender
or number, but for case alone, having three forms; it is always third person,
as it always asks about somebody.
Use of which.
99. Examples of the use of
interrogative which:—
Which of these had speed enough to sweep between
the question and the answer, and divide the one from the other?—De Quincey.
Which of you, shall we say, doth love us
most?—Shakespeare.
Which of them [the sisters] shall I
take?—Id.
As shown here,
which is not inflected for gender, number, or case; it refers to either
persons or things; it is selective, that is, picks out one or more from a
number of known persons or objects.
Use of what.
100. Sentences showing the
use of interrogative what:—
Since I from Smaylho'me tower
have been,
What did thy lady do?
—Scott.
What is so rare as a day in June?—Lowell.
What wouldst thou do, old man?—Shakespeare.
These show that what is not inflected for case;
that it is always singular and neuter, referring to things, ideas, actions,
etc., not to persons.
DECLENSION OF INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.
101. The following are all
the interrogative forms:—
|
SING. AND PLUR. |
SING. AND PLUR. |
SINGULAR |
| Nom. |
who? |
which? |
what? |
| Poss. |
whose? |
— |
— |
| Obj. |
whom? |
which? |
what? |
In spoken English, who is used as objective instead
of whom; as, "Who did you see?" "Who did he speak to?"
To tell the case of
interrogatives.
102. The interrogative
who has a separate form for each case, consequently the case can be told
by the form of the word; but the case of which and what must be
determined exactly as in nouns,—by the use of the words.
For instance, in Sec. 99, which is nominative in
the first sentence, since it is subject of the verb had; nominative in
the second also, subject of doth
love; objective in the last, being the direct object of the verb shall
take.
Further treatment of who, which
and what.
103. Who,
which, and what are also relative pronouns; which and
what are sometimes adjectives; what may be an adverb in some
expressions.
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