whom to be archaic

[keannu]

Someone asked me why "whom" is being replaced by "who" and I just answered "whom" is longer than "who", so it sounds more inconvenient, but I was not sure of the reason. In languages, some phenomena are hard to explain, but if I knew the reason for "whom"'s disappearence, it would be better.

ex)She is the girl who(whom) I like.

 

[Raymott]

Someone asked me why "whom" is being replaced by "who" and I just answered "whom" is longer than "who", so it sounds more inconvenient, but I was not sure of the reason. In languages, some phenomena are hard to explain, but if I knew the reason for "whom"'s disappearence, it would be better.

ex)She is the girl who(whom) I like.

If it's too difficult for the average person to know which form to use consistently, it's easier to use just one form. "Who" has to stay, bcause it's used in simple questions such as "Who is that?"; "Who are you?", so 'whom' tends to drop out. This is why some forms of the subjunctive are dropping out.
That's my hypothesis.