L'Ecole phonologique de Léningrad et l'Ecole phonologique de Moscou

Paris: Histoire Epistémologie Langage. t. XVII. fasc. 2. 1995. 183-209 p.The story of the origin of modern phonological science does not restrict itself to a direct relationship between Baudouin de Courtenay and the Russian trio Jakobson-Trubeckoj-Karcevskij of the Linguistic School of Prague; there were indeed also the rival brothers of the Phonological School of Leningrad and its Moscovite homologue. Interpretating Baudouin's phoneme, both schools made opposed choices; Ščerba and his disciples considered it from a material, phonetic point of view, associated with mental perception, whereas the Moscovites saw it as a linguistic sign, according to their structuralist vision which at last was to rule over Russian linguistics. Inspired by all these various formal and philosophical researches that have fertilized 20th century Russia, this history is going further in the different streams of contemporary phonology.