Ponctuation et connecteurs en français classique. Du reposoir (périodique) à la structure (phrastique)

Abstract

This paper analyze the evolution of two additive (puis and ensuite) and three adversarial (cependant, neanmoins, pourtant) connectors throughout the seventeenth century in narrative and argumentative texts. We study their role in association with the punctuation of the editiones principes and the informational dynamics of the utterances. We show that the textual role of connectors accompanied the transition from periodical writing to phrasal writing, by giving authors new resources for organizing their discourses. In particular, we show how cependant benefited from these new perspectives and saw its argumentative roles reinforced throughout the seventeenth century.