Polyphase electric motor

An electric motor has a stator (28) and a rotor (36') separated therefrom by an air gap (39). The rotor has a plurality of salient poles with pole shoes (260A) facing toward the air gap, and a yoke (200). The pole shoes serve to generate a sinusoidal counter-EMF. Located between the yoke (200) and a pole shoe (260A) is a recess (266A) in which a permanent magnet (262A) is arranged. Adjacent to this recess (266A) on each side in the circumferential direction is a low-magnetic-conductivity region (266A', 266A'') that is bounded by a retaining segment (270') made of ferromagnetic material. The latter serves to connect the pole shoe mechanically to the yoke (200). A magnetic shunt (274', 274'') extends from a source segment (264A', 264A'') to a target region (270''') of one of the retaining segments.