Re: Multiple wh-words

Thomas Wier <trwier@u...> wrote:

>Ah, but there's a catch:  we must distinguish between so-called
>echo-questions and regular wh-questions.  Thus, English is not
>normally considered a wh-in-situ language like Japanese or
>Chinese, but we can get wh-words in situ if they are echo
>questions:
>A: "You'll never guess:  of all people, John saw Mary at
    the library today."
>B: "John saw WHO at the library?!?"
You need to explain to me this in-situ language.  It seems to me
that, regardless of emphasis, "who" is still the object of the
verb "saw" and should be "whom" (for those of us who still use whom).

Let me illustrate by continuing the conversation, but substituting
Sam for Mary.

A: "John saw Sam at the library today."
B: "John saw WHOM at the library?"
A: "John saw Sam."
B: "Oh, John saw HIM."

I can't imagine anyone responding, "Oh, John saw HE."  Well, I can
imagine it!  In both of B's responses, the pronoun is the direct
object of the verb "saw."

Charlie
http://wiki.frath.net/user:caeruleancentaur

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