OBLIQUE. _Qu._ _Who_ do you say that it is?--_Ans._ _He._ _Qu._ _Whose_ do you say that it is?--_Ans._ _His._ _Qu._ _Whom_ do you say that they seek?--_Ans._ _Him._ _Note._--The answer should always be made by means of a pronoun, as by so doing we distinguish the accusative case from the nominative. _Note._--And, if necessary, it should be made in full. Thus the full answer to _whom do you say that they seek?_ is, _I say that they seek him._ § 460. Nevertheless, such expressions as _whom do they say that it is?_ are common, especially in oblique questions. "And he axed him and seide, _whom_ seien the people that I am?--Thei answereden and seiden, Jon Baptist--and he seide to hem, But _whom_ seien ye that I am?"--WICLIF, _Luke_ ix. "Tell me in sadness _whom_ she is you love."--_Romeo and Juliet_, i, 1. "And as John fulfilled his course, he said, _whom_ think ye that I am?"--_Acts_ xiii. 25. This confusion, however, is exceptionable. * * * * * CHAPTER XI. THE RECIPROCAL CONSTRUCTION. § 461. In all sentences containing the statement of a reciprocal or mutual action there are in reality two assertions, viz., the assertion that A. _strikes_ (or _loves_) B., and the assertion that B. _strikes_ (or _loves_) A.; the action forming one, the reaction another. Hence, if the expressions exactly coincided with the fact signified, there would always be two propositions. This, however, is not the habit of language. Hence arises a more compendious form of expression, giving origin to an ellipsis of a peculiar kind. Phrases like _Eteocles and Polynices killed each other_ are elliptical, for _Eteocles and Polynices killed--each the other_. Here the second proposition expands and explains the first, whilst the first supplies the verb to the second. Each, however, is elliptic. § 462. This is the syntax. As to the power of the words _each_ and _one_ in the expression (_each other_ and _one another_), I am not prepared to say that in the common practice of the English language there is any distinction between them. A distinction, however, if it existed, would give strength to our language. Where two persons performed a reciprocal action on another, the expression might be _one another_; as _Eteocles and Polynices killed one another_. Where more than two persons were engaged on each side of a reciprocal action, the expression might be _each other_; as, _the ten champions praised each other_. This amount of perspicuity is attained, by different processes, in the French, Spanish, and Scandinavian languages. 1. French.--_Ils_ (i.e., A. and B.) _se battaient--l'un l'autre._ _Ils_ (A. B. C.) _se battaient--les uns les autres._ In Spanish, _uno otro_ = _l'un l'autre_, and _unos otros_ = _les uns les autres_. 2. Danish.--_Hin_ander = the French _l'un l'autre_; whilst _hverandre_ = _les uns les autres_. * * * * * CHAPTER XII.