What is not clear is not French: Reflections on syntax clarity and right-peripheral subject pronoun duplication

Abstract

French is often celebrated for its clarity and precision – a legacy shaped by Cartesian rationalism and prescriptive language policies. However, the evolving forms of spoken French challenge this ideal of fixed linguistic norms. This study examines one such feature: the right-peripheral duplication of the subject pronoun je with its tonic counterpart moi, a recurrent but underexplored phenomenon in spoken French. The primary objective is to understand how this syntactic feature functions pragmatically and emotionally in real-life discourse. Using a corpus of movie dialogues, the analysis shows that duplication plays a role in managing conversational flow, expressing personal stance, and enabling self-repair. Through a multidisciplinary lens that draws from sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and applied linguistics, the study argues that such variation enriches the expressive potential of French and complicates the rigid divide between written norms and spoken practice. It also suggests that incorporating these features into language pedagogy can support a more inclusive, realistic understanding of French as a living language.