MDDM Subjunctive Spaces

[Michel Ryckx]

jbor wrote:
[snip]

> I think that a big concern of _M&D_ is to do with the way/s in which
> language structures perception. It's very hard for me to conceive of that
> "Subjunctive World" (677) which Indigenous American languages could
> generate, because my perceptions of 'reality' have been constructed by the
> "number'd and dreamless indicative" which prevails in the English language.
> I'm not fluent enough in French to know if the subjunctive mood there is
> merely a vestigial category (as in those English clichés, "Long Live the
> Queen", or "Heaven help us!" &c) or if it has retained its integrity and
> does provide access to broader perspectives regarding how the future
> (might/could/will) unfold.

[snip]

I have no idea wether the way a language is structured influences perception of
reality (doesn't that phrase make me look smart?); nevertheless, two remarks:

(1) I think it obvious that when a certain grammatical form does not exist any
longer, or is hardly used anymore, the possibilities of expressing nuances in a
given language do not diminish.  Only the method of expressing changes.  A very
simple example would be the use of the present tense in English, which only knows
two forms (I think in Southafrican even only one, but I'm not certain about that).
The reason is very simple: you do not need different forms when you prefix it with
I, you, (s)he etc.

The same happens with the subjunctive.  'Long live the King' can be rephrased as
'May the King live a long time' -- not that it happens; and I'm for a republic-- but
the possibility is still there.  Most phrases with a modality or a qualification in
it were used, once upon a time, with a subjunctive.  The latin coniunctivum was used
even for expressing a reason, or a cause etc. (those damned difficult phrases
beginning with 'ut' etc).  Only when there was a relation in time, the indicative
was used.  In ancient Greek it was even much more difficult with the use of the
optativus.

(2)
The rules for using the French subjunctive are very rigid --French has a very clear,
rigid and simple grammar--  and since I have to talk it every day I cannot recall
the rules; there's a moment when you forget them, but you use it without thinking
about it.  The classic example is the use of the subjonctif as an imperative: 'Il
faut que tu sois plus sage, Barbara',  'You'd better be a good girl, Barbara'.

In every day talk it is not used very much (but still in use); in written language
on the other hand it is quite common.

Quoi qu'il en soit,

Michel.