[lit-ideas] Re: Anonymity and revelation...
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 19:03:23 -0800
Ursula Stange wrote:
Actually, "It's me" is correct...
Didn't the nuns teach you anything?
I don't know from nuns, but whether it's 'It was me,' or 'It was I' is
at least an open question. For the record, I was taught that it was the
latter. Mike is saying, for short, 'I was I who dunnit.' If one asks
'Who dunnit?' the correct pronominal reply is 'He dunnit." The correct
reply to 'By whom was it done?' is 'Him.' ('It was done by him.') And so
on.
--------------------------
[English has hardly any inflection and] great emphasis on order. As a
result, things have gotten a little irregular with the personal
pronouns. And there's uncertainty as to how to use them; the usual
rules aren't there, because the usual word needs no rules, being the
same for nominative and accusative.
The final factor (sic) is the traditional use of Latin grammatical
concepts to teach English grammar. This historical quirk dates to
the 17th century, and has never quite left us. From this we get the
Latin-derived rule, which Fowler still acknowledges. And we *do*
follow that rule to some extent: "Who are they?" (not "Who are
them?" or "Whom are they?") "We are they!" (in response to the
preceding) "It is I who am at fault." "That's the man who
he is."
But not always. "It is me" is attested since the 16th Century.
(Speakers who would substitute "me" for "I" in the "It is I who am
at fault" example would also sacrifice the agreement of person, and
substitute "is" for "am".)
http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxitsmev.html
--------------------------
Robert Paul
Department of Suspicious Utterances
Mutton College
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