Etude des modes dans le système concessif en français du 16e au 20e siècle et en espagnol moderne

Written in French language text, this study describes the evolution of the mood system in concessive clauses during the period from Renaissance to Modern French, based on data taken from huge electronic text corpora. This evolution is described with reference to a recent approach within the framework of grammaticalization theory, including reorganizations of grammatical systems. It is shown that the subjunctive has undergone a process of re-grammaticalization since its domain has gradually been reduced, formally as well as functionally, in contrast to the indicative, whose domain has been extended. The book also questions the general assumption that Romance languages can be considered to form a continuum between conservative and innovative languages, by comparing the mood system of Renaissance French with that of Modern Spanish.