English
The Old English language, current until approximately sometime after the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, had a dative case; however, the English case system gradually fell into disuse during the Middle English period, when in pronouns the accusative and dative merged into a single oblique case that was also used for all prepositions. This conflation of case in Middle and Modern English has led most modern grammarians to discard the "accusative" and "dative" labels as obsolete, often using the term "objective" for oblique.
Read more about this topic: Dative Case
Famous quotes containing the word english:
“Red lips are not so red As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
“I don’t wish to give offense when I suggest that this country should select a king, or even a queen, rather than a president. One isn’t that quick to shoot a king or a queen—the majesty of royalty, you see.”
—David Webb Peoples, screenwriter. English Bob (Richard Harris)
“The boneless quality of English conversation, which, so far as I have heard it, is all form and no content. Listening to Britons dining out is like watching people play first-class tennis with imaginary balls.”
—Margaret Halsey (b. 1910)