I'm going to have to jump in here, as someone who finds all of these
examples ill-formed!
I am an educated woman of 59 years, and I have always done quite a bit of
reading and therefore consider myself a fairly "literary" person. Clearly,
I am not representative of English speakers, at least not on this list. I
am even incredulous that one can accumulate so many of such examples -- it
tells me that changes are afoot that I had not previous been aware of (of
which I had not previously been aware).
In some cases, even postposing the preposition would, for me, not
completely remove the tendency toward "whom." In others, postposing makes
"who" preferable for me.
(1) ..she was a founder member of the Bradford Gilbert and Sullivan
Society, who(m) [which??] she had a long association with.
(2) ...there are few players who you can say that about. (CB2: 396)
[better with who than whom]
(3) Robson, who Leeds are already showing an interest in, will become
their most disposable asset. (CBG: 305) [who better than whom]
(4) It has ... 21 rural deans, of whom one is a woman. (ED9: 3029)
[no postposed possible? whom is necessary -- or "deans, one of whom is a
woman"]
(5) ...appeals by persons who intervention notices are served upon by
S.I.B. ...(FD1: 413) [who is better, but the postposed version is awkward]
(6) ...used by local residents, some 25 per or so of who come by
foot... (Harrison, 1981). (FR2: 453) [no postposed possible]
(7) Through its founder Molly Braithwaite, who(m) we held a heartfelt
admiration for, .... (HU8: 57)
(8) ...there is a group of children who nursery education is necessary
or desirable for, and a different group of children who something else
[...] is necessary and desirable for... (JWA: 149) [who better than whom
in postposed, but second clause seems rather awkward in postposed version]
Anyway, thanks to the list for keeping me up to date on current usage.
Eleanor Olds Batchelder
>Dear colleague
>
>I am writing a paper on relative 'who'/'whom' as complement of a
>preposition (e.g. 'the man to whom you spoke'; 'the man who you spoke to').
>
>I am especially interested in the case where the preposition precedes the
>relative pronoun. The grammars ('normative', 'didactic', 'descriptive')
>seem to be unanimous in judging Prep+whom correct and Prep+who incorrect.
>
>The sentences listed below, which are from the British National Corpus, do
>not conform to this rule. What I would like to have your opinion on is
>this:
>
>Do native-speakers of English actually use Prep+relative who? In other
>words: Do you think that the sentences may very well be correct
>representations of the text-producers' usage? Or would you consider it
>likely that there are printing/typing (or transcription) errors involved
>here (omission of 'm' in 'who'), which distort the picture? (I think my
>question points to a, perhaps seldom relevant, but nevertheless
>interesting problem for corpus linguistics if low frequency features are
>concerned: How sure can we be that the corpus represents text-production
>authentically?)
>
>All but (8) are from written sources.
>
>(1) A passionate lover of the Savoy Operas, she was a founder member of
>the Bradford Gilbert and Sullivan Society, with who she had a long
>association. (C8G: 418)
>(2) It's almost impossible to put him down in the tackle, and there are
>few players about who you an [sic; probably 'can' is intended] say that.
>(CB2: 396)
>(3) They need to keep their bankers happy by reducing a £3 million-plus
>debt in the next few months, and Robson, in who Leeds are already showing
>an interest, will become their most disposable asset. (CBG: 305)
>(4) It has one senior bishop, two suffragans, one dean, four
>archdeacons, and 21 rural deans of who one is a woman. (ED9: 3029)
>(5) They must be treated as adequate because they reflect the statutory
>provisions in regard to appeals by persons upon who intervention notices
>are served by S.I.B. in the exercise of the intervention powers delegated
>to it by the Secretary of State (as to which see section 97 of the Act).
>(FD1: 413)
>(6) Instead, the sites are used by local residents, of who some 25 per
>or so come by foot and use the sites like an urban park, primarily to take
>a walk (Harrison, 1981). (FR2: 453)
>(7) Through its founder Molly Braithwaite, for who we held a heartfelt
>admiration, we feel an affectionate living bond with all those in
>positions of responsibility within the MEDAU SOCIETY. (HU8: 57)
>(8) I would also I think put in a word for the work of the joint [...]
>policy panel [...] which is shared between this committee and the social
>services committee because it seems to me that it is not [unclear] for us
>to be thinking that there is a group of children for who nursery education
>is necessary [...] or desirable and a different group of children for whom
>something else [...] is necessary and desirable, largely because of their
>parents' position. (JWA: 149)
>
>Dr. Carsten Breul
>Universitaet-GH Duisburg
>FB 3; Anglistik
>47048 Duisburg
>Germany
>c.breul@uni-duisburg.de
>or
>carsten.breul@ruhr-uni-bochum.de