The study of phonology as it exists today is defined by the formative studies of the 19th-century Polish scholar Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, who (together with his students Mikołaj Kruszewski and Lev Shcherba in the Kazan School) shaped the modern usage of the term phoneme in a series of lectures in 1876–1877. The word phoneme had been coined a few years earlier, in 1873, by the French linguist A. Dufriche-Desgenettes. In a paper read at 24 May meeting of the Société de Linguistique de Paris,Anon (probably Louis Havet). (1873) "Sur la nature des consonnes nasales". Revue critique d'histoire et de littérature 13, No. 23, p. 368. Dufriche-Desgenettes proposed for phoneme to serve as a one-word equivalent for the German Sprachlaut.Roman Jakobson, Selected Writings: Word and Language, Volume 2, Walter de Gruyter, 1971, p. 396. Baudouin de Courtenay's subsequent work, though often unacknowledged, is considered to be the starting point of modern phonology. He also worked on the theory of phonetic alternations (what is now called allophony and morphophonology) and may have had an influence on the work of Saussure, according to E. F. K. Koerner.E. F. K. Koerner, Ferdinand de Saussure: Origin and Development of His Linguistic Thought in Western Studies of Language. A contribution to the history and theory of linguistics, Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn [Oxford & Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press], 1973. thumb|right|upright=0.75|Nikolai Trubetzkoy, 1920s An influential school of phonology in the interwar period was the Prague school. One of its leading members was Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy, whose Grundzüge der Phonologie (Principles of Phonology), published posthumously in 1939, is among the most important works in the field from that period. Directly influenced by Baudouin de Courtenay, Trubetzkoy is considered the founder of morphophonology, but the concept had also been recognized by de Courtenay. Trubetzkoy also developed the concept of the archiphoneme. Another important figure in the Prague school was Roman Jakobson, one of the most prominent linguists of the 20th century. Louis Hjelmslev's glossematics also contributed with a focus on linguistic structure independent of phonetic realization or semantics.
The study of phonology as it exists today is defined by the formative studies of the 19th-century Polish scholar Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, who (together with his students Mikołaj Kruszewski and Lev Shcherba in the Kazan School) shaped the modern usage of the term phoneme in a series of lectures in 1876–1877. The word phoneme had been coined a few years earlier, in 1873, by the French linguist A. Dufriche-Desgenettes. In a paper read at 24 May meeting of the Société de Linguistique de Paris,Anon (probably Louis Havet:). (1873) "Sur la nature des consonnes nasales". Revue critique d'histoire et de littérature 13, No. 23, p. 368. Dufriche-Desgenettes proposed for phoneme to serve as a one-word equivalent for the German Sprachlaut.Roman Jakobson Selected Writings: Word and Language, Volume 2, Walter de Gruyter, 1971, p. 396. Baudouin de Courtenay's subsequent work, though often unacknowledged, is considered to be the starting point of modern phonology. He also worked on the theory of phonetic alternations (what is now called allophony and morphophonology) and may have had an influence on the work of Sauss:ure, according to E. F. K. Koerner.E. F. K. Koerner, Ferdinand de Saussure Origin and Development of His Linguistic Thought in Western Studies of Language. A cont,ribution to the history and theory of linguistics Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn [Oxford & Elmsford, N.Y. Pergamon Press], 1973. thumb|right|upright=0.75|Nikolai Trubetzkoy, 1920s An influential school of phonology in the interwar period was the Prague school. One of its leading members was Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy, whose Grundzüge der Phonologie (Principles of Phonology), published posthumously in 1939, is among the most important works in the field from that period. Directly influenced by Baudouin de Courtenay, Trubetzkoy is considered the founder of morphophonology, but the concept had also been recognized by de Courtenay. Trubetzkoy also developed the concept of the archiphoneme. Another important figure in the Prague school was Roman Jakobson, one of the most prominent linguists of the 20th century. Louis Hjelmslev's glossematics also contributed with a focus on linguistic structure independent of phonetic realization or semantics.