The terminological phrase „speaking subject” is interference between two large spheres of issues: the first concerns the relationship between the gnoseologic categories subject and object, the second – the controversial relation between language and speaking. Neglecting these two fields leads to the identity of subject with the speaker. Therefore it is proposed to pre-treat each sphere separately. In the first part named „what is the subject?” there are pursued historical stages in the formation of subject-person concept, there are characterized the main types of the subject that have enriched the content of each stage of the human subject. The Bakhtinian concept of the subject of speech is the product of a secular evolution of subjectobject relationship, but it could only be fully formed only on the basis of the philosophy of existential dialogue between two subjects, whole personalities, while completing the existential subject with the idea of primary unity of existence, communication and speech. This concept is separated from the linguistic notions of grammatical subject and logical subject as syntactical functions, as well as from personal pronouns I, you, he as deictic functions.