The general theory of language of Mikolaj Kruszweski (1851-1887) is, this book argues, a "lost paradigm" in the history of linguistics. The concept of 'paradigm' is understood in a broadly construed Kuhnian sense, and its applicability to linguistics as a science is examined.It is argued that Kruszewski's theory was a covert paradigm in that his major work, Ocerk nauki o jazyke ('An Outline of the Science of Language', 1883), had the potential to be seminal in the history of linguistics, i.e. to achieve the status of a 'classical text', or 'exemplar'. This potential was not realized bec