The emergence of the definite article: ille in competition with ipse in Late Latin Anne Carlier and Walter De Mulder Abstract This paper is devoted to the emergence of the definite article in the transition from Late Latin to French. It tackles the enigma of the selection of ille as the source of the definite article in French, in spite of its lower frequency in comparison with ipse in Late Latin. Used concurrently with ille as an incipient definite article, the identity marker ipse is more frequent because it conveys a more simple and precise instruction as an anaphoric device. This precision turns out to be a handicap when paradigmatization leads to the selection of one form for the definite article, in bi- nary opposition with the indefinite article. Ille, in virtue of its deictic force, is a more flexible tool for anaphora than ipse and even allows first mention use. More- over, it takes advantage of its status of demonstrative associated with the third person. Indeed, contrary to the first and second person demonstrative, ille signals that the referent cannot wholly be identified by elements in the context of utter- ance. It thus suggests that previous knowledge should be activated in order to re- trieve the referent. This feature makes ille the preferred candidate to become the definite article. Previous studies have analysed the shift from the demonstrative ille to the defi- nite article as a linear process of desemantization, i.e. loss of deictic meaning, or have accounted for it by invoking subjectification. This paper argues that, though subjectification is involved in the first stage of the process leading to the definite article, the transition to a full-fledged definite article implies that the initial imbal- ance between speaker and hearer changes into a more symmetric relationship, strengthening the intersubjective dimension. 1. The restructuring of the demonstrative system according to Harris and the role of subjectification It is generally accepted that the demonstratives in Classical Latin are struc- tured in a person-oriented system: hic, iste and ille are linked respectively to the first, the second and the third person. Their meaning has been tradi-