Baudouin de Courtenay

Baudouin de Courtenay, Jan Niecislaw

Baudouin de Courtenay (1845 – 1929) was the Polish linguist who is best known for having introduced the theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations in the 19th century Russian Empire. His work had a major impact on 20th century linguistic theory, and it served as a foundation for several schools of phonology. He was an early champion of synchronic linguistics, the study of contemporary spoken languages, and he had a strong impact on the structuralist linguistic theory of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Baudouin established the Kazan School of Linguistics in the mid-1870's. He later moved to St. Petersburg, where he continued to refine his theory of phonetic alternations. Three major schools of 20th century phonology arose directly from his distinction between physiophonetic (phonological) and psychophonetic (morphophonological) alternations: the Leningrad School of Phonology, the Moscow School of Phonology, and the Prague School of Phonology. All three schools developed different positions on the nature of Baudouin's alternational dichotomy. The Prague School was the best known outside of the field of Slavic linguistics.