Attraction is the process by which a relative pronoun takes on—that is, is "attracted to" -- the case of its antecedent, rather than having the case appropriate to its function in the relative clause. For example, in this English sentence, the relative pronoun has the appropriate case, namely, the accusative:
- This is the boss of the man whom I met yesterday.
This sentence, on the other hand, shows attraction:
- This is the boss of the man whose I met yesterday.
Because the antecedent, " the man", is possessive, the relative pronoun has become possessive too. Attraction is a theoretical process in standard English, but is common in the Greek of the Septuagint and also occurs in the New Testament.
Famous quotes containing the word attraction:
“War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law of the world. War is divine through its consequences of a supernatural nature which are as much general as particular.... War is divine in the mysterious glory that surrounds it and in the no less inexplicable attraction that draws us to it.... War is divine by the manner in which it breaks out.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)