C H a P T E R Xxxviii
CHAPTER XXXVIII. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS. FORM. 1. The interrogative pronouns are who, what, which and whether. Only who is declined: Nom. who, Gen. whose, Obj. whom. For the declension of whoever, whosoever and whoso, and for details about the use of these compounds see Ch. XLI. 2. Obs. I. The genitive of the word-group who else is formed in three ways: whose else, who else's, whose else's. The first form is grammatically the most correct, else being an adverb. It is also the oldest and is still preferred when no noun follows. Who else's is now the common form when a noun follows, and whose else's, like other cumulate forms, may be considered as vulgar. Compare JESPERSEN, Progress, § 233. i. MAR. IS this Mr. Hardcastle's house, child? — Miss HARD. Ay, sure. Whose else should it be? GOLDSMITH, She Stoops, IV, (212). ii. Yes, wAo else's daughter should I be? GOSSE AND ARCHER, transl. of Ibsen's Master Builder, 51.i) iii. 'His blankets?' asked Joe. — "WAose else's do you think?" replied the woman. DICK., Christm. Car.s, IV, 94. II. In Present Spoken English whom is often replaced by who, except in the rather uncommon construction when the pronoun is preceded by a preposition. Thus the literary Of whom are you speaking? answers to the familiar Who are you speaking of ? Numerous instances of this substitution of who for the strictly grammatical whom occur in SHAKESPEARE, and the practice sesms to have been prevalent in all stages of Modern English. See SWEET, N.E.
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