Abstract
The essay is designed to characterize reciprocal markers encountered in Old French texts. Examples are drawn from three integral epic poems (including one song of heroic feats) written in the 12thcentury – Perceval ou le conte du Graal, Le Roman de Thebes and Le couronnement de Louis.Seven kinds of reciprocal constructions are singled out depending on what auxiliary means are used. They may be further split into lexical (e. g. adverbials, as in Coste a coste vont par la pree»They are walking one next to the other across a meadow«) and grammatical (e. g. bipartite anaphorics, Li uns plaint l’autre, grant duel font»One is moved to pity by the other; they are sunk in grief«), mono-clausal and multi-clausal ones (e. g. Vos confondez lui et il vos»You embarrass him and inversely«). Theoretical findings on their evolutionary paths will then be formulated in terms of grammaticalization. The analysis reveals also syntactic changes undergone by reciprocal exponents in French (the present-day clitic se)
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