Re: Multiple wh-words (was Re: LUNATIC SURVEY: 2005)

Ph. D. wrote:

>Andreas wrote:
>
>
>>>Quoting Thomas Wier <trwier@...>:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Briefly, there seems to
>>>>be an assymetry between the kind of long-distance dependency in
>>>>multiple wh-word constructions between, such that in English you
>>>>can't say *"Whom did who see?", but in German you can say "Wen liebt
>>>>wer?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>It's funny. I've never been consciously aware of that English rule
>>>
>>>
>before, and
>
>
>>>when stated like this it strikes me as entirely bizarre. Yet, I realize I
>>>actually do obey it when speaking or writing English. The twist is that
>>>
>>>
>the
>
>
>>>thought to put a such rule into a conlang would, before Thomas pointed it
>>>
>>>
>out,
>
>
>>>never have occured to me, despite me being a fluent speaker of a language
>>>
>>>
>that
>
>
>>>has it.
>>>
>>>
>
>
>I find nothing wrong with "Whom did who see?"  I'm sure I've
>said that question myself, with an emphasis on "who."
>
>
I find the construction rather ugly.  But I can quite easily say 'Who
saw who?'.