ABSTRACT
Marchello-Nizia argues that in the twelfth century, both SVO and OVS are possible and are unmarked word orders, but that SVO is dominant in constructions where the subject is expressed, and therefore where each of the elements S, V and 0 is present. These constructions are in fact in the
minority (e.g. only 26% of declaratives in the Cbanson de Roland), since the subject is frequently not expressed at all (74% of declaratives in the Roland). Nominal objects are placed in most cases after the verb (66% ofthe Roland), but are nonetheless found relatively frequently in verse texts before the verb (34% of examples in the Roland).
