analysis: unhappiness

[Danielle E. Cyr]

We might also want to take into account 1) the historical time span extension of
different people's grammatical knowledge and 2) the fact that grammaticalization
occurs progressively over generations so that not all people of a same
generation have the same grammatical analysis in mind when they think about
morphological analysis.

By 1) I mean that the more one knows about the history/evolution of a language's
morphology, spread over the longer a period of time, the finest morphological
analysis one will be able to make. For instance, when I present my students
with the French adverb MAINTENANT 'now' at first they can't parse it into
separate morphemes. After some minutes and a little bit of coaxing they come
too see
MAIN+TEMANT 'in hand' + 'holding', and finally MAIN+TEN+ANT 'in hand'+'hold'+
'-ing'. From that moment on, these students will integrate that precise
morphological parsing. It will become part of their "internal historical
grammar" and they will not really be able to go back to the "feeling" that
MAINTENANT is only one morpheme.

Now when I present them with the adverb AUJOURD'HUI 'today' and we go back in
time to AD+ILLU(M)+DIURN(UM)+DE+HO(C)+DIE(M), the evolution of which spans over
more than 2000 years, it totally transforms their inner historical grammar. They
become different speakers of French from who they were before.

By 2) I mean what is made totally explicit in Hopper and Traugott
Grammaticalization (1993) and Marchello-Nizia (2006) Grammaticalisation et
changement linguistique, Bruxelles, De Boeck). Speakers of a same language
community do not all have the exact same grammar in mind simply  because
language change occurs constantly and progressively among different social
groups, classes and generations. So it will always be impossible to get
everyone to produce morphological parsing in the same exact way.

Language, and grammar with it, are realities in constant flux. Conceiving that
there is a unique stable grammar "out there" is "une vue de l'esprit". It helps
us to think about the flux with a sensation of being on solid ground. Perhaps
just like believing there is a God out there helps some of us to cope with
impermanence.

Cordialement,
Danielle Cyr