Sunday, June 30, 2013

syntax - I am [who/whom] G-d made me

Please fill in the blank with the correct word and explain your choice.



I am __ G-d made me.




A. who



B. whom






Some people have suggested I elaborate on this question so here goes.



The above was not copied from any test. It is a question about basically two things: (1) whether an objective complement should be in the same case as the subject ("I" => "who") or as the object of the verb ("me" => "whom"); and (2) whether the verb to "make" [someone into something] should properly be considered a linking verb (~a form of "to be") (or, if not, whether this sentence has an implied nonfinite linking verb, and, if so, whether that would indeed exige the predicate nominative: "I am who G-d made me [to be]" => "I"? Or conceivably--since "me" becomes the subject[?] of the complement clause-- =>"me"?).




There are many other implications, just some of which are discussed here. It is a serious question that seems not to be addressed by any general overview of who/whom on this site.



There is another question about a similar construction, "When to use what or who", but the answers there don't address the topic of case.



My question may be addressed in linguistics and may have different answers according to different linguistic models.






Cf. "She is with whom I practice." "It is she I want to be like." "That's who I want to be like."





Related:



Which is grammatically correct: "Let he who..." or "Let him who..."



What rules make “Remember me, who am your friend” grammatical?



https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/48701/subject-of-imperatives-starting-with-let




Carry we who die in battle



https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/124307/is-i-killed-him-who-carried-a-gun-grammatically-correct



Issues with predicate nominative



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/let-he-who-is-a-latin-teacher-instruct-him/article747363/


No comments:

Post a Comment