Jan Ignacy Niecislaw Baudouin de Courtenay (1845-1929) was a linguist whose work had a great impact on the development of Slovene linguistics at the end of the 19th century. He was the first Slavic scholar to approach the study of the Slovene dialects in a scientific manner. Moreover, he was the first to identify the fundamental character of the phonological development of the Slovene language. He also emphasised the basic unity of Slovene and Serbo-Croatian, as opposed to Macedo-Bulgarian. His influence on Slovene linguistics can be seen at two levels: first, his field work with Slovene dialects in Italy and southern parts of Slovenia; and second, but perhaps even more important, his correspondence with young Slovene philologists. The article presents both aspects of his work.
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