Cognitive attributes of preclassical phonology

Abstract Cognitive phonology, as a development of cognitive linguistics, is one of the most interesting fields of research in the twenty-first century. It is often opposed to so-called “classical phonology”, since the latter mainly builds on structuralist foundations. This chapter considers the proposals made between 1889 and 1921 concerning the concept of “phoneme”, which coincide in many basic assumptions with contemporary cognitive phonology. Among these proposals, those of Jan Baudouin de Courtenay are especially relevant, together with those of Edward Sapir. Basic concepts of cognitivism, such as mental representation, similarity, social use and frequency, can be found in them, both explicitly and implicitly.