Chapter 3

La place du Bulletin de la société de Linguistique de Paris parmi les principales revues de linguistique de son temps

In 2005 the Société de Linguistique de Paris (S.L.P.) was to celebrate the appearance of the 100th volume of its Bulletin, which had long since become a major, internationally recognized journal. In preparation of this event, a conference was held at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, 19–20 November 2004. My original task hd been to evaluate the place of the Bulletin within linguistic periodicals in general. This goal however could not be attained within the short time allotted. A comparison of the Bulletin of the Société de Linguistique de Paris (BSLP) with the journals outside of France over the past 100 years, not even for the first ten or so years of its long life, 1869–1879, could only scratch the surface. The first decade was arguably the most important period, during which the journal had to define itself and develop its status as the central voice of linguistics in France. Indeed, 1876, the year the Bulletin was given a more precise direction (and definition of its coverage) by ministerial decree, stands out as a singular point in time in the history of linguistics as a science as we know it (cf. Koerner 1976, for details) – from Verner’s Law being published in April that year to Saussure’s arrival in Leipzig in October, and much beyond (mention must be made of the books by Leskien, Sievers, and Winteler or the papers by Brugmann, Osthoff and others, and, perhaps also, Saussure’s first submission to the BSLP). Instead of fulfilling the original task, the present chapter, after some general remarks on the importance of journals for the health of the discipline, offers yet another (cf. Meillet 1930, Vendryes 1955, Benveniste 1971, Bergounioux 1996, 1997) historical account – this time not from a presiding secretary of the S.L.P. – of the early years of the Bulletin and its relations with other journals inside and, in particular, outside of France. It concludes with a presentation of a select chronologil list of philological and linguistic periodicals published between 1841 and 1891.