Le Redoublement du Sujet en Français (Parlé): Chronique d’une Condamnation Grammaticale

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which the normative grammar has for centuries
stigmatized subject doubling in French, a structure which was denounced as
redundant and vulgar. The paper shows that this structure has survived and is
part of real linguistic repertoire in most varieties of contemporary (spoken)
French, even in the context where the school perpetuates the fight against subject
doubling. Modern linguistic theories hardly address this structure and,
unfortunately, in explaining the mechanism behind the structure, they seem to
impose ‘constraints’ that limit its potential expansion. The variationist approach
appears to be promising in that it proposes the revamp of ‘marginalized’ linguistic
facts within a more integrated vision of the language’s system.