• 1. Foreword & Acknowledgements--
• 2. Editors' Introduction--
• 3. Part I: Polish Linguistics: Origins and Trends--
• 4.
• Chapter 1 General Linguistics in the History of the Languages Sciences in Poland: Late 1860s - late 1960s (by Wasik, Zdzislaw)--
• 5.
• Chapter 2 Origins and Developments of Applied Linguistics in Poland (by Grucza, Franciszek)--
• 6.
• Chapter 3 Lexicography in Poland: From the early beginnings to the present (by Piotrowski, Tadeusz)--
• 7.
• Chapter 4 Dialectology in Poland, 1873-1997 (by Gogolewski, Stanislaw)--
• 8.
• Chapter 5 Onomastics in Poland: From 19th-century beginnings to the present (by Gala, Slawomir)--
• 9. Part II: Portraits of Major Polish Linguists--
• 10.
• Chapter 6 Jan Baudouin de Courtenay's Contribution to General Linguistics (by Adamska-Salaciak, Arleta)--
• 11.
• Chapter 7 Mikolaj Kruszewksi and 20th-Century Linguistics (by Berezin, Fedor Mixajlovic)--
• 12.
• Chapter 8 Mikolaj Rudnicki's General Linguistic Conceptions (by Banczerowski, Jerzy)--
• 13.
• Chapter 9 Jerzy Kurylowicz as Indo-Europeanist and Theorist of Languages (by Smoczynski, Wojciech)--
• 14.
• Chapter 10 Aspects of Ludwik Zabrocki's Linguistic World (by Banczerowski, Jerzy)--
• 15. Polish Summaries (Streszczenia polskie)--
• 16. Index of Authors--
• 17. Index of Subjects.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Apart from the names of Jan Baudouin de Courtenay (1845-1929), Mikolaj Kruszewski (1851-1887), and, later, Jerzy Kurylowicz (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 The first two were mentioned with approval by Saussure in an unpublished paper, and this reference was picked up by Roman Jakobson and others many years later. Kurylowicz, 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. Wasik), 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-Salaciak), Kruszewski (F. M. Berezin), and Kurylowicz (W. Smoczynski) to Mikolaj Rudnicki (1881-1978) and Ludwik Zabrocki (1907-1977) (both written by J. Banczerowski). 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.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)