Editing Dative case (section)

===Relic pronouns===
The modern objective case pronoun [[whom]] is derived from the dative case in Old English, specifically the Old English dative pronoun "hwām" (as opposed to the modern subjective "who", which descends from Old English "hwā") – though "whom" ''also'' absorbed the functions of the Old English [[accusative case|accusative]] pronoun "hwone". It is also cognate to the word "''wem''" (the dative form of "''wer''") in German. The OED defines all classical uses of the word "whom" in situations where the indirect object ''is not known''{{clarify|date=September 2016}} – in effect, indicating the anonymity of the indirect object.

Likewise, some of the object forms of personal pronouns are remnants of Old English datives. For example, "him" goes back to the Old English dative ''him'' (accusative was ''hine''), and "her" goes back to the dative ''hire'' (accusative was ''hīe''). These pronouns are not pure datives in modern English; they are also used for functions previously indicated by the accusative.