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PRONOUNS, RELATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE. Which less definite than who

Which, like that, is less definite than who. Who indicates an individual, which a "kind of person;" who is "qui," which "qualis."

“I have known those which (qualis) have walked in their sleep
who (and yet they, 263) have died holily in their beds.
”

“For then I pity those I do not know
Which (unknown persons) a dismiss'd offence would after gall.
”

“They have--as who have not, that their great stars
Throned and set high?--servants, who seem no less,
Which are to France the spies and speculations
Intelligent of our state.
”

Here "who seem no less" is parenthetical, and for who might be written "they." Which means "of such a kind that." Where "so dear," "such," &c. is implied in the antecedent, we may expect the corresponding which (278) in the relative:

“Antonio, I am married to a wife
Which is as dear to me as life itself.
”

When the antecedent is personal and plural, which is generally preferred to who. Which, like that (260), often precedes who.

“I am Prospero, and that very duke
Which was thrust from Milan, who, &c.
”

A Shakespearean Grammar. Edwin Abbott Abbott. London and New York. Macmillan and Company. 1870.

NSF, NEH: Digital Libraries Initiative, Phase 2 provided support for entering this text.

This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy.

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