Solomon Katznelson, an outstanding theorist, is by right recognized as a classic of the Russian linguistics. His publications, spanning half a century beginning from 1934, provide a holistic vision of a broad range of issues in general linguistics, linguistic typology, Indo-European and Germanic studies. These include relationships between language and thought, the theory of meaning, the morphology and syntax theory, problems in psycholinguistics, child speech, comparative and historical research into Indo-European and Germanic languages. While explaining his theory, K. also promoted an original view on the history of linguistic theories and a critical scrutiny of modern concepts. His analyses in the planes of both synchrony and diachrony also include interpretation of findings from the realms of philosophy, logic, psychology, ethnography – invariably observed through a linguistic lens.

Biography

S. D. Katznelson was born on August 12, 1907 in the city of Bobruisk. Graduating from school in 1923, he worked for the following four years as a teacher. In 1928, he entered the Pedagogical Faculty of the Moscow State University II and also worked as a metal worker in Moscow and Magnitogorsk. In 1932, K. was accepted as a fellow to the Research Institute of Nationalities and in 1934, as a postgraduate student to the Institute of Language and Thought of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IYaM) in Leningrad. In 1935, he defended his Cand. of Science thesis K genezisu nominativnogo predlozheniya [On the origins of the nominative sentence] and in 1939, his doctoral dissertation Nominativnyy stroy rechi. I. Atributivnyye i predikativnyye otnosheniya [The nominative system of speech. I. Attributive and predicative relations]. In 1940, K. was confirmed as a Dr. of Linguistics, professor and a senior fellow of the IYaM. In July 1941, K. joined the People’s Volunteer Army, served under the Political Directorate of the Leningrad Front and after the victory, with the Soviet Army corps in Germany. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class and a number of military medals. In 1946, K. resumed his work as a senior fellow at the IYaM and as a professor at the Leningrad University. Following the notorious “discussion of the 1950”, K. was screened out of his job and worked for three years as a professor of the Ivanovo Pedagogical Institute. As of 1957 and until his demise, he worked at the Institute of Linguistics of the Leningrad Department of the USSR Academy of Sciences where he headed the Sector of Indo-European Languages as of 1971, and the Sector of the Theory of Grammar and Typology Research in 1976 – 1981. For many years, K. served as a Deputy Chair of the Scientific Council for the Theory of Soviet Linguistics at the USSR Academy of Sciences Department for Literature and Language.

One of K.’s first works was the monograph K genezisu nominativnogo predlozheniya [On the origins of the nominative sentence] [1936] that was instrumental in the emergence and development of the historical typology line in linguistic studies. Of considerable interest are his analyses of suppletives, personal pronouns, impersonal verbs and voice constructions provided in the monograph.   

In 1949, K. published another book, Istoriko-grammaticheskiye issledovaniya. I. Iz istorii atributivnykh otnosheniy [Historical and grammatical research. I. From the history of attributive relations] based on Old Icelandic material (in many cases, in comparison with Indo-European and other languages). This work already traces (drawing on the philosophic and linguistic traditions going back to Humboldt) some general outlines of the idea of differentiation and simultaneous synthesis of the two levels of content expressed – that of the categories of thought and that of the linguistic meaning rendered in words and in grammatical forms. The book proposes remarkable interpretation of such issues as the difference between flexional and flexionless morphologies, the relationship and unity of the vocabulary and grammar, the essence and grammatical significance of lexical and grammatical categories, the origins of adjectives, the partitive and predicative attributes, the syntactic valency of words (the notion of valency was introduced by K. for the first time  in his 1948 paper  O grammaticheskoy kategorii [On the grammatical category] [Katznelson 1948; 1986]). The book was an important milestone for the development of historical typology and comparative historical studies in the syntax of ancient Indo-European languages.

In his book Soderzhaniye slova, znacheniye i oboznacheniye [Word: content, meaning and denotation] [1965], K. proposes a lexical semantics theory covering a set of interconnected issues. These include: correlation between lexical and grammatical words; the "deictic field of language"; meanings and notions (unity and distinctionsя); formal and substantive notions; the object identification (naming) function and the function of characterization; the process of lexis and semantic structure formation in child speech; correlation between the empirical and abstract/theoretical approaches to the issue of polysemy; a critical review of the theory of “common meanings”; meaning actualization in a context; polysemy and homonymy; meaning and significance; conceptual field structure; semantic divergence of languages vs. the unity of human thought; meaning and denotation.

The monograph Tipologiya yazyka i rechevoye myshleniye [Linguistic Typology and Speech Thinking] [1972] is one of the most quoted and referenced theoretical works by K.  The typological concept laid out in this book aims to distinguish and correlate the universal and idioethnic components of the substance of language categories and units. The work proposes deep insights into issues like the correlation between substantive and formal functions, "implicit categories", thinking and communicative foundations of a grammatical system, and mechanisms of verbal and cogitative activities. The typological concept by K. attracted the attention of a broad linguistic community both in Russia and abroad. In 1974, the book was published in German [Katznelson 1974].

The typological analyses proposed in K.’s works cover all aspects/levels of the language system, including accentology. His monograph Sravnitelnaya aktsentologiya germanskikh yazykov [A comparative accentology of the Germanic languages] [1966] provides a comparative historical summary of the prosody systems of modern Germanic dialects with a new reconstruction of the Germanic prosodic system.

K. also made important contribution into the study of Russian and world linguistic traditions in their connection to modern theories. He traced/investigated the emergence of various lines of linguistic research in the world, including the ideas of the universal grammar, the concepts by W. Humboldt, H. Steinthal, A. Potebnya as well as a range of later theories (see the chapters  Istoriya tipologicheskikh ucheniy [A history of typology theories] and  Teoretiko-grammaticheskaya kontseptsiya A. A. Potebni [A theoretical grammar concept by A. A. Potebnya] in the collective volume he edited:  Grammaticheskiye kontseptsii v yazykoznanii XIX veka [Grammatical theories in the XIX century linguistics] [Katznelson 1985a; 1985b]).

K. did not share his ideas through his writings alone, but also by engaging in various teaching activities. For a long time, he gave lectures in Germanic studies and general linguistics and led a workshop for postgraduate students.

It is with grateful remembrance that K.’s friends, colleagues and students speak of their discussions with him that invariably revealed the scale of his profound linguistic thinking. As Yu. S. Maslov aptly put it, Solomon Katznelson has been Teacher with a big “T” for several generations of Russian linguists who took every meeting with him as an opportunity to see new horizons and have a new vision of language facts.

We shall also remember Solomon Katznelson for his extraordinary kindness and deference to people, and for the extreme modesty that coexisted in him with firm, uncompromising integrity. To quote Yu. S. Maslov’s initial variant of the obituary, “He was a full-hearted person who could manly, with dignity withstand the various blows of fortune and the severe, cruel illness that attacked him in his last years."

Even now, re-reading Solomon Katznelson’s works makes one realize that their relevance only grows with time.

Selected works

• Katsnelson S. D. K genezisu nominativnogo predlozheniya [On the origins of the nominative sentence] Cand. of Sc. dissertation, Leningrad, 1936.
• Katsnelson S. D. O grammaticheskoy kategorii [On grammatical category]// Vestnik LGU. 1948. N 2 (also see: Katsnelson S. D. Obshcheye i tipologicheskoye yazykoznaniye [General and typological linguistics]. L., 1986).
• Katsnelson S. D. Istoriko-grammaticheskiye issledovaniya. I. Iz istorii atributivnykh otnosheniy [Historical and grammatical research. I. On the history of attributive relations]. M.; L., 1949.
• Katsnelson S. D. Soderzhaniye slova, znacheniye i oboznacheniye [Word: content, meaning and denotation]. M.; L., 1965 (also see: Katsnelson S. D. Obshcheye i tipologicheskoye yazykoznaniye [General and typological linguistics]. L., 1986).
• Katsnelson S. D. Sravnitelnaya aktsentologiya germanskikh yazykov [A comparative accentology of the Germanic languages]. M.; L., 1966.
• Katsnelson S. D.  Tipologiya yazyka i rechevoye myshleniye [Linguistic Typology and Speech Thinking]. L., 1972.
• Katsnelson S. D.  Istoriya tipologicheskikh ucheniy [A history of typology theories]// Grammaticheskiye kontseptsii v yazykoznanii XIX veka [Grammatical theories in the XIX century linguistics]. L., 1985 a.
• Katsnelson S. D.  Teoretiko-grammaticheskaya kontseptsiya A. A. Potebni [A theoretical grammatical concept by A. A. Potebnya] // Grammaticheskiye kontseptsii v yazykoznanii XIX veka [Grammatical theories in the XIX century linguistics]. L., 1985 b.
• Katznelson S. D. Sprachtypologie und Sprachdenken. Berlin, 1974.

(Compiled by A. V. Bondarko)