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 centuriesstigmatized subject doubling in French, a structure which was denounced asredundant and vulgar. The paper shows that this structure has survived and ispart of real linguistic repertoire in most varieties of contemporary (spoken)French, even in the context where the school perpetuates the fight against subjectdoubling. Modern linguistic theories hardly address this structure and,unfortunately, in explaining the mechanism behind the structure, they seem toimpose ' constraints ' that limit its potential expansion. The variationist approachappears to be promising in that it proposes the revamp of ' marginalized ' linguisticfacts within a more integrated vision of the language ' s system.