Peshkovskii, Aleksandr Matveevich

Born Aug. 11 (23), 1878, in Tomsk; died Mar. 27, 1933, in Moscow. Soviet linguist and specialist in the theory of grammar, the theory of syntax, and the methodology of teaching grammar.

Peshkovskii graduated from Moscow University in 1906. He was a professor at both the First Moscow State University and the V. Ia. Briusov Higher Literary Institute from 1921 to 1924 and at the Second Moscow State University from 1926 to 1932.

Peshkovskii, a representative of the Russian formal-grammatical school, developed a theory of language forms, grammatical means of expression, and types of meanings. He studied the nature and functions of intonation, the interaction of grammatical and nongrammatical linguistic means of expression and the conditions for their functional coordination and mutual compensation, and other subjects. His principal works include Russian Syntax: A Scholarly Treatment (1914; 7th ed., 1956) and Intonation and Grammar (1928). Various articles are collected in The Methodology of the Native Language: Linguistics, Stylistics, and Poetics (1925) and Issues in the Methodology of the Native Language, Linguistics, and Stylistics (1930). The works School Grammar and Scientific Grammar (1914), Syntax in the School (1915), and Our Language (fascs. 1-3, 1922-27) are aimed at bridging the gap between school grammar and grammatical theory.