In the lead-in: "depending on who you ask." -- This would typically be 'whom' since an action is performed upon the object of the predicate phrase (I think). But I've also heard that who and whom are becoming interchangeable. As grammar evolves too, could this be another changing of the tide?
In the lead-in: "depending on who you ask." -- This would typically be 'whom' since an action is performed upon the object of the predicate phrase (I think). But I've also heard that who and whom are becoming interchangeable. As grammar evolves too, could this be another changing of the tide?
Language does shift over time, and grammatical case losing favor to word order is one of the most noticeable changes when you compare High Latin with Vulgar Latin and its descendent Romance languages (something similar can be found in Ancient Greek as it progresses through Koine into the modern version): Word order was relatively unimportant in those ancient languages because the differences between the nominative, accusative, etc. were often apparent in spelling and pronunciation; over time, it became more common to recognize the difference between subject and object by where they fell in relation to each other. IтАЩm not certain why this happened but I imagine, as their respective empires and cultural influence spread into foreign areas, it was simply easier to learn a SOV structure than a different variation for each case of every noun. The spread of literacy likely played a role, too, as meter and rhyme were less necessary for memory.
тАЬWhomтАЭ has already largely disappeared from everyday English, to the point where correcting its misuse comes off as pedantic and applying it properly can be perceived as pretentious.
In the lead-in: "depending on who you ask." -- This would typically be 'whom' since an action is performed upon the object of the predicate phrase (I think). But I've also heard that who and whom are becoming interchangeable. As grammar evolves too, could this be another changing of the tide?
No, I do not house any cats.
YouтАЩre probably right.
Language does shift over time, and grammatical case losing favor to word order is one of the most noticeable changes when you compare High Latin with Vulgar Latin and its descendent Romance languages (something similar can be found in Ancient Greek as it progresses through Koine into the modern version): Word order was relatively unimportant in those ancient languages because the differences between the nominative, accusative, etc. were often apparent in spelling and pronunciation; over time, it became more common to recognize the difference between subject and object by where they fell in relation to each other. IтАЩm not certain why this happened but I imagine, as their respective empires and cultural influence spread into foreign areas, it was simply easier to learn a SOV structure than a different variation for each case of every noun. The spread of literacy likely played a role, too, as meter and rhyme were less necessary for memory.
тАЬWhomтАЭ has already largely disappeared from everyday English, to the point where correcting its misuse comes off as pedantic and applying it properly can be perceived as pretentious.
Reminds me - people are terrified of using "me" and default to "I" with sometimes tortuous sounding results.