Представителите на френската социологическа лингвистична школа и проблемът за фонетичните закони

The sharp confrontation about the essence of phonetic laws and their exceptionless character ended a long time ago. The question, however, remains an open one. The author reviews the assumptions on the problem of the basic representatives of one of the most prominent schools in the history of linguistics (the school of A. Meillet) against the background of the contradictory opinions of linguists from various countries. It is pointed out in the conclusion that it is not crucial what name will be given to certain language phenomena – laws or tendencies. What is decisive is the content included in the term itself, not necessarily the form of the label.