Expression of Purpose in Old French Legal Documents

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Abstract:

The article examines the ways of expressing purpose in the early texts of laws written in Old French. The analysis is carried out using the text interpretation method, context-situational method and the method of actual division. It is found that, if in the works of art of this period, subordinate ends are used quite rarely, then in old French legal documents the semantic relation of the goal is often conveyed and not only by subordinate goals, but much more often with the help of equivalent prepositional-infinitive and prepositional-substantive constructions. The emerging system of alliances, introducing a clause of purpose, and their features (variability, polysemy) are revealed. The appearance time of the target union “pour que” is specified. The use of moods in subordinate purposes is explained by the anticipation in the speaker’s mind of the action result, presenting it as desired. The article analyzes the cases of preposition and postposition of a subordinate goal, due to the structure of a complex sentence, the rhythm of the phrase, the logical-communicative division specifics of the sentence. Equivalent means of expressing the goal — prepositional constructions with an infinitive and a noun — are used when the subjects of two actions coincide. In these constructions, the preposition “pour” is mainly used, as a part of the subordinate unions expressing the goal. Analyzing the goals that are guided by different subjects of law, there is found a connection which is established between the spheres of the emotional and moral, social.

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