7.4 Conclusion 227that/ this being said , that/ this having been said – rather than reduction. I’m
just saying seems to develop quite straightforwardly from a main clause (with
subordinate that - clause), which via the matrix clause hypothesis becomes par-
enthetical and then fully independent. At this point, it can be adjoined to non-
embeddable clauses such as interrogatives and imperatives. In contrast, all I’m
saying and what I’m saying both derive from biclausal pseudo- cleft construc-
tions. Much like the reversal of syntactic hierarchy seen in the matrix clause
hypothesis, here the original clausal subjects of the pseudo- clefts become
syntactically independent comment clauses and the original clausal predicate
complement constructions assume main- clause status; the linking verb be may
or may not be retained. Semantically we see similar shifts in these comment
clauses from literal to non- literal pragmatic meaning in which say no longer
denotes an act of speaking but serves various pragmatic functions. That/ this
said comes to function as a concessive marker, while I’m just saying serves to
undercut the illocutionary force of the previous discourse, suggesting that it
is just ‘saying’ rather that ‘asserting, claiming, suggesting, etc.’ All/ what I’m
saying are adjoined to the utterance that the hearer has failed to understand
or accept. All of these comment clauses are of modern provenance. That/
this said and having said this / that are both recorded early (Middle English/
Early Modern English), but their use as concessive comment clauses can be
established only in the twentieth century. The occurrence of I’m just saying is
dependent upon the increasing frequency of the progressive in the nineteenth
century and semantic changes in the adverb just ; comment clause uses begin
to appear in the early twentieth century. All- and wh -pseudo- cleft clauses arise
in the seventeenth century, with early conventionalized uses of these clauses
containing say , but all/ what I’m saying must again await the increasing use of
the progressive in Late Modern English. The comment clause all I’m saying
appears in the mid twentieth century and what I’m saying in the late twentieth
18000.000001000%
0.000000900%
0.000000800%
0.000000700%
0.000000600%
0.000000500%
0.000000400%
0.000000300%
0.000000200%
0.000000100%
0.000000000%
1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
I’ m just saying _START_just saying I’ m just sayin
Figure 7.4 Google Ngram: Frequency of (I’m) just saying/ sayin’ over time