Ponctuation médiévale, pragmatique et énonciation. Lire l’Ovide moralisé au XIVe siècle

Abstract

This article aims to examine the pragmatic and enunciative approach of contemporary punctuation for the analysis of punctuation marks in medieval French. Based on the tools of Pragmatics, the study of the scribal writing practices in a richly punctuated copy of the Ovide moralisé (ms. BnF, fr. 24305) allows us to explain the linguistic function of certain marks, which has often become opaque or insignificant for the contemporary reader of the manuscript. We analyse five types of reading instructions: punctuation and word sequencing, the punctuation of an utterance in relation with the unit of versification, the graphic treatment given to et as a conjunction and an argumentative connector, the use of the punctus interrogativus as a contribution to the orthographical history of the interrogation mark in French, and lastly, the polyphony signs or discursive marks in quotation of narrative voices.