Is there a good historical explanation why we cannot generally use 言う in the 3rd person in the past tense?


Is there a good historical or logical explanation why we cannot generally use
言う in the 3rd person in the past tense? Why do we have to resort to 言っている for
the 3rd person part tense (言っていた), unless it happened 'just now'. Also, why is
this not the case for the 1st person and the 2nd person?

Thank you!




I believe this has to do with the Japanese tendency to avoid foisting their
thoughts/expectations on their conversational partners. For example, 言う
expresses some level of "intention," to say something. It's not kosher to
assume someone's intentions, so they avoid it by 言ってる. 言う is a stative verb in
that it reflects the state of the person/thing performing the action as
opposed to reflecting continuous action. Thus 言ってる means that they "have said"
as opposed to "are saying." This is similar to 来る in that 来ている means "came and
is here" as opposed to "coming."




I believe this has to do with the Japanese tendency to avoid foisting their
thoughts/expectations on their conversational partners. For example, 言う
expresses some level of "intention," to say something. It's not kosher to
assume someone's intentions, so they avoid it by 言ってる. 言う is a stative verb in
that it reflects the state of the person/thing performing the action as
opposed to reflecting continuous action. Thus 言ってる means that they "have said"
as opposed to "are saying." This is similar to 来る in that 来ている means "came and
is here" as opposed to "coming."

