Lev Shcherba
Encyclopedia
Lev Shcherba (Russian
: Лев Влади́мирович Ще́рба) ( – December 26, 1944) was a Russian
linguist and lexicographer specializing in phonetics
and phonology
.
Born in St. Petersburg, Shcherba went to high school in Kiev
, graduating in 1898, and briefly attended Kiev University
before moving to the capital and entering St. Petersburg University. There he studied under Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, graduating in 1903. In 1906 he traveled abroad, first to Leipzig
and then to northern Italy
, where he studied Tuscan dialect
s. During the autumn holidays of 1907 and 1908, on the advice of Baudouin de Courtenay, he studied the Sorbian languages
, writing a description of the Mužakow dialect (spoken in the east, near Muskau
). At the end of 1907 he went to Paris
, where he worked in the experimental phonetics laboratory of Jean-Pierre Rousselot
studying the phonetics of a series of languages using experimental methods; on his return to Russia he began setting up an experimental phonetics laboratory, paying for equipment from his own stipend, and this became the institution that now bears his name.
As early as 1912, basing himself on the ideas of Baudouin de Courtenay, he elaborated the concept of the phoneme
, defined by him as the grouping of sounds into "sound types". In 1912 he defended his master's thesis and in 1915 received his doctorate from St. Petersburg University, where he was a professor from 1916 to 1941. He became the founder of the so-called "Leningrad school" of phonology, which included M. I. Matusevich and L. R. Zinder among others and carried on a polemic with the "Moscow school." However, he spent the last few years of his life in Moscow, where he died. He became an academician
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
in 1943.
Beyond phonology, Shcherba made significant contributions to the wider fields of linguistics and lexicography. In distinction from Ferdinand de Saussure
, he recognized three rather than two objects of study: speech activity, language systems, and language material. He placed emphasis on the question of the capacity of the speaker to produce sentences never previously heard, a question which would become important to the linguistics of the later twentieth century. He also emphasized the importance of experiments in linguistics, particularly that of negative results, developing methods which became important for field study. He was the teacher of the lexicographer Sergei Ozhegov
, author of the most widely used Russian dictionary.
Shcherba is the author of the glokaya kuzdra
phrase, which consists of words with meaningless word stems, but has correct construction in terms of Russian grammar
.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Лев Влади́мирович Ще́рба) ( – December 26, 1944) was a Russian
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
linguist and lexicographer specializing in phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
and phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
.
Born in St. Petersburg, Shcherba went to high school in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, graduating in 1898, and briefly attended Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
before moving to the capital and entering St. Petersburg University. There he studied under Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, graduating in 1903. In 1906 he traveled abroad, first to Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and then to northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where he studied Tuscan dialect
Tuscan dialect
The Tuscan language , or the Tuscan dialect is an Italo-Dalmatian language spoken in Tuscany, Italy.Standard Italian is based on Tuscan, specifically on its Florentine variety...
s. During the autumn holidays of 1907 and 1908, on the advice of Baudouin de Courtenay, he studied the Sorbian languages
Sorbian languages
The Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code...
, writing a description of the Mužakow dialect (spoken in the east, near Muskau
Bad Muskau
Bad Muskau is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony....
). At the end of 1907 he went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he worked in the experimental phonetics laboratory of Jean-Pierre Rousselot
Jean-Pierre Rousselot
Jean-Pierre Rousselot was a French priest who was an important phonetician and dialectologist....
studying the phonetics of a series of languages using experimental methods; on his return to Russia he began setting up an experimental phonetics laboratory, paying for equipment from his own stipend, and this became the institution that now bears his name.
As early as 1912, basing himself on the ideas of Baudouin de Courtenay, he elaborated the concept of the phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
, defined by him as the grouping of sounds into "sound types". In 1912 he defended his master's thesis and in 1915 received his doctorate from St. Petersburg University, where he was a professor from 1916 to 1941. He became the founder of the so-called "Leningrad school" of phonology, which included M. I. Matusevich and L. R. Zinder among others and carried on a polemic with the "Moscow school." However, he spent the last few years of his life in Moscow, where he died. He became an academician
Academician
The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy.In many countries, it is an honorary title. There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated Corresponding Member or Associate Member, .-Eastern Europe and China:"Academician" may also be a functional...
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
in 1943.
Beyond phonology, Shcherba made significant contributions to the wider fields of linguistics and lexicography. In distinction from Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics...
, he recognized three rather than two objects of study: speech activity, language systems, and language material. He placed emphasis on the question of the capacity of the speaker to produce sentences never previously heard, a question which would become important to the linguistics of the later twentieth century. He also emphasized the importance of experiments in linguistics, particularly that of negative results, developing methods which became important for field study. He was the teacher of the lexicographer Sergei Ozhegov
Sergei Ozhegov
Sergey Ivanovich Ozhegov was a Russian lexicographer who in 1926 graduated from the Leningrad University where his teachers included Lev Shcherba and Viktor Vinogradov....
, author of the most widely used Russian dictionary.
Shcherba is the author of the glokaya kuzdra
Glokaya kuzdra
Glokaya kuzdra is a reference to a meaningless but grammatically correct Russian language phrase, similar to the English language phrase "Gostak". It was suggested by Russian linguist Lev Shcherba. The full phrase is: "Гло́кая ку́здра ште́ко будлану́ла бо́кра и кудря́чит бокрёнка"...
phrase, which consists of words with meaningless word stems, but has correct construction in terms of Russian grammar
Russian grammar
Russian grammar encompasses:* a highly synthetic morphology* a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements:** a Church Slavonic inheritance;...
.
Works
- Russkie glasnye v kachestvennom i kolichestvennom otnoshenii [Russian vowels in their qualitative and quantitative relationships] (1912).
- Vostochnoluzhitskoe narechie [An Eastern Sorbian dialect] (1915).
- "O chastyakh rechi v russkom yazyke" [On the parts of speech in the Russian language] (1928).
- Fonetika frantsuzkogo yazyka [Phonetics of the French language] (1937).
- "Opyt obshchei teorii leksikografii" [Attempt at a general theory of lexicography] (1940).
- Russko- francuzskij slovar’ — Dictionnaire russe- française, 1st edition Moskva 1936.