Читать книгу The Etymology and Syntax of the English Language Explained and Illustrated онлайн

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If I say, “Who is the man that will dare to affirm?” it implies that I am entirely a stranger to him, and that I even doubt his existence. “Which is the man?” not only implies his existence, but also that the aggregate of individuals, whence the selection is made, is known to me.

What is also used interrogatively, and is employed in introducing questions, whether the subject be persons or things, as, “What man is that?” “What book is this?” When no substantive is subjoined, it is then wholly indefinite, as, “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” When we inquire, therefore, into the character of any person, and not for the individual himself, it is to be remembered that we employ this pronoun, and not who or which.

There seems to be the same difference between who and what definite, as between who and which. If I say, “What man will dare to affirm this?” and “Which man will dare?” &c., it is obvious that the former interrogatory is more indefinite than the latter; the one implying a total ignorance of the individual, and some doubt of his existence; the other, that he is one of a number in some degree known to the inquirer.