Baudouin de Courtenay on language and gender – the past and the present context
Baudouin de Courtenay on language and gender – the past and the present context

Summary/Abstract: The present paper sets itself two major goals. First, it intends to review Jan Baudouin de Courtenay’s largely and unjustly forgotten views on language and gender. Secondly, it attempts to place Baudouin’s ideas both in the past and the present perspective by comparing them with, on the one hand, the stance of his famous contemporary, a Danish linguist Otto Jespersen, and, on the other hand, with the current Polish research on gender linguistics. We argue that Baudouin’s critical attitude towards linguistic sexism, his conviction of its negative impact on people’s way of thinking and acting as well as his view that language should be modified to fit the needs of its users allow us to regard him as a genuine forerunner of modern feminist linguistics.

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