Towards a History of Linguistics in Poland

Book excerpt: Apart from the names of Jan Baudouin de Courtenay (1845 1929), Miko?aj Kruszewski (1851 1887), and, later, Jerzy Kury?owicz (1895 1978), Polish linguists and Polish linguistics generally have been little known in the West. The first two were mentioned with approval by Saussure in an unpublished paper, and this reference was picked up by Roman Jakobson and others many years later. Kury?owicz, for his part, made himself well known in the West through his important work as Indo-Europeanist, even Semiticist, and as a general linguist.The present volume is a first attempt to broaden the perspectives on the Polish contribution to linguistics both inside and outside of Poland during the past centuries. Specialists in their respective fields contributed chapters on the origins and development of general linguistics (Z. W?sik), applied linguistics (F. Grucza), lexicology (T. Piotrowski), dialectology (St. Gogolewski), and onomastics (S. Gala), followed by five chapters presenting the theories of the arguably most remarkable Polish linguistic thinkers, from Baudouin de Courtenay (A. Adamska-Sa?aciak), Kruszewski (F. M. Berezin), and Kury?owicz (W. Smoczy?ski) to Miko?aj Rudnicki (1881 1978) and Ludwik Zabrocki (1907 1977) (both written by J. Ba?czerowski).Detailed individual bibliographies, a full index of names (with life dates of Polish linguists from the Renaissance to the present day), and a thorough index of subjects and terms make this volume an important reference tool for anyone wishing to acquaint himself with the rich heritage of Polish linguistic thought.