[Ads-l] that:who::whom:which?

[Joel Berson]

Larry, I think you answered a question I didn't ask.  I am interested in the "whom" of "its parent to whom it is genetically identical".  Shouldn't the "whom" be "which", to parallel the earlier "that"?  (And one can't use "that" in "to that it is genetically identical".)


Joel

      From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
 To: Joel Berson <berson at att.net> 
Cc: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
 Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 12:03 PM
 Subject: Re: that:who::whom:which?
   
I would think that here, as in many other contexts, "that" is used precisely to avoid the decision between "who" and "which", such as cases in which animals are the antecedents (especially pets):  a dog {that/?who/?which} had just been hit by a car...  Similarly for clones, I'd expect.  It's sort of like "that" is the "they" of relative pronouns.

LH


> On Apr 18, 2016, at 11:53 AM, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
> 
> While looking in the OED for anything under "clone", n., that might relate to Wilson's question, I noticed sense 1.c.  "An animal or (theoretically) a person that is developed asexually from its parent to whom it is genetically identical."
> 
> If one has used "that" in the first clause rather than "who" (because cloned persons are only theoretical?), then instead of "whom" in the second clause shouldn't one use "which"?
> 
> Joel
> 
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