[en] The results of a high resolution study of the narrow emission line profiles of 16 Seyfert galaxies are presented. It is shown that the line profile parameters published in earlier low resolution studies are sometimes strongly influenced by resolution effects. In spite of these important systematic errors, many of the results derived from low resolution data are confirmed in the high resolution data. The narrow line profiles of Seyfert galaxies have a stronger base relative to core than a Gaussian. Most of the emission lines present a blueward asymmetry in the lower portion of their profile. In some galaxies, the line widths and/or line asymmetries are correlated with the ionization potential and/or critical density of the lines. There is a weak correlation between the line asymmetry and the dust content of the narrow line region (NLR). The large scatter in this relation, the absence of a similar correlation in Seyfert 1 to 1.5 galaxies, and the presence of a blue asymmetry in galaxies with dustfree line-emitting regions suggest that dust obscuration is not the only mechanism responsible for the line asymmetry in active galaxies. An optically-thick disk close to the nucleus is proposed as the other source of line asymmetry. An important result is that the host galaxy is probably playing a role in the kinematics of some of the gas in the NLR. A multicomponent model of the NLR is proposed to explain these results