La syntaxe du Livre des epistres du debat sus le Rommant de la Rose de Christine de Pizan à la lumière de la typologie linguistique

Abstract

This paper analyses the constituent order in a major text of Christine de Pizan, The Book of the Epistles of the Debate on the Romance of the Rose (1401–1402), from the perspective of linguistic typology. The statistical study of the expression, non-expression and position (pre- or post-verbal) of the subject shows that the TSV (theme-subject-verb) pattern is increasingly present in declarative sentences of Middle French, although the TV(S) pattern – characteristic of Old French – is extant as well. On the other hand, the subject is expressed in the great majority of que subordinates. The language of Christine de Pizan is thus paradigmatic of the stage represented by Middle French – i.e. an intermediate between a TV language (Old French) and a SV language (Modern French).