NIKOLAY KONDRASHOV AND HIS TEXTBOOK “HISTORY OF LINGUISTICS”

Abstract

The article analyzes the well-known textbook of professor N. Kondrashov “History of Linguistics,” published for the first time in 1979, and that became one of the leading textbooks of this discipline in pedagogical schools and classical universities. It is emphasized that N. Kondrashov’s book was distinguished by the originality of assessments and the bold generalizations. It objectively showed the development of world linguistic thought from the ancient civilizations until the second half of the 20th century. The value of the book is also in the fact that the author didn’t go past the analysis of some controversial issues of linguistic theory and practice: the tradition Port-Royal “Grammar” in the Russian linguistics of the 19th century, the innovation of the Prague School, the discussions in Soviet linguistics of 1930-1950s., etc. The book also presents brief essays on the methodology of linguistics, the portraits of Russian and foreign linguists. The analysis of the textbook by N. Kondrashov entered the general cultural background linguistic sсientific searchings and problems of Soviet linguistics in the last third of the 20th century.