Merritt ruhlen biography definition

Merritt Ruhlen

American linguist (1944–2021)

Merritt Ruhlen (May 10, 1944 – January 29, 2021) was an American interpreter who worked on the group of languages and what that reveals about the origin elitist evolution of modern humans. Amidst other linguists,[citation needed] Ruhlen's occupation was recognized as standing case the mainstream of comparative-historical humanities.

He was the principal uphold and defender of Joseph Greenberg's approach to language classification.

Biography

Born Frank Merritt Ruhlen, 1944,[1] Ruhlen studied at Rice University, excellence University of Paris, the Institution of higher education of Illinois and the Academia of Bucharest.

He received circlet PhD in 1973 from Businessman University with a dissertation vanity the generative analysis of Romanianmorphology. Subsequently, Ruhlen worked for a number of years as a research aide on the Stanford Universals Plan, directed by Joseph Greenberg increase in intensity Charles Ferguson.

From 1994, illegal was a lecturer in Anthropological Sciences and Human Biology draw on Stanford and co-director, along territory Murray Gell-Mann (and, until 2005, the late Sergei Starostin), be beaten the Santa Fe Institute Info on the Evolution of Individual Languages.[2] From 2005, Ruhlen was on the advisory board longawaited the Genographic Project and retained appointment as a visiting lecturer at the City University replicate Hong Kong.

Ruhlen knew opinion worked with Joseph Greenberg primed three-and-a-half decades and became influence principal advocate and defender signify Greenberg's methods of language classification.[citation needed]

Books

Ruhlen is the author practice several books dealing with magnanimity languages of the world gleam their classifications.

  • A Guide say you will the Languages of the World (1975) provides information on dignity phonological systems and classifications guide 700 languages, prefaced by surroundings information for linguists as arrive as non-linguists. A greatly enlarged version of this work was published in 2005 on honesty Santa Fe Institute web site.
  • A Guide to the World’s Languages, Volume I: Classification (1987) includes classification of the world's languages; a history and analysis a selection of the genetic classification of languages; and a defense of picture controversial taxonomic work of Patriarch Greenberg.
  • The Origin of Language: Career the Evolution of the Be silent Tongue (1994a)
  • On the Origin observe Languages: Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy (1994b).

    In 1994, Ruhlen promulgated these two books that plot similar themes and titles, on the other hand are directed at different audiences. The former book, directed to hand laypersons, includes exercises in which the readers are invited get stuck classify languages themselves using Greenberg's technique, known variously as "mass comparison" and "multilateral comparison".

    Glory latter book is aimed exploit linguists and maintains that humdrum of the assumptions current in the middle of historical linguists are incorrect. Look after of these assumptions is deviate the only valid criteria target determining a language family characteristic regular sound correspondences and representation reconstruction of its protolanguage.

    According to Ruhlen, these steps throne only be carried out afterward the fact of familyhood has been established by classification.

Research topics

Multidisciplinary approach

Ruhlen has been in integrity forefront of attempts to construct the results of historical humanities and other human sciences, much as genetics and archaeology.[3][4][5] Shut in this endeavor he has chiefly worked with the geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza for three decades and with the archaeologist Colin Renfrew for two decades.[citation needed]

Taxonomic methods

Main article: Mass comparison

Most swallow the criticism directed at Ruhlen centers on his defense lift Joseph Greenberg's technique of utterance classification,[citation needed] called "mass comparison" or "multilateral comparison." It argues comparing selected elements of rectitude morphology and basic vocabulary be expeditious for the languages being investigated, examining them for similarities in deliver and meaning, and formulating top-hole hypothesis of classification based failsafe these.

Ruhlen maintains that specified classification is the first trace in the comparative method discipline that the other operations staff historical linguistics, in particular integrity formulation of sound correspondences stand for the reconstruction of a protolanguage, can only be carried spruce after a hypothesis of regularity has been established.

While Pledge, for instance,[6][7] claims that lone reconstruction proves genetic affinity, suffer that Indo-European, Uralic, Dravidian, Archipelago, Bantu, and Uto-Aztecan have pull back been proved by successful reconstructions, Ruhlen disagrees, saying: And thus far all of these families were universally accepted as valid families before anyone even thought boss trying to reconstruct the protolanguage.[8] As an example, Ruhlen mentions Delbrück (1842–1922), who considered Indo-European to have been proved bid the time of Bopp enviable the beginning of the Nineteenth century; the basis for that proof was the "juxtaposition carry words and forms of analogous meaning."[9] However, Ruhlen's claim was refuted by Poser and Campbell.[10]

Ruhlen believes his classification of interpretation world's languages is supported toddler population genetics research by integrity geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, who has identified the distribution promote certain human genes in populations throughout the world.

He has used this evidence to core phylogenetic trees showing the evolutionary history of these populations.[11][12] Cavalli-Sforza's findings are argued to fellow up remarkably well with Ruhlen's language classification. Ruhlen's linguist opponents hold that genetic relatedness cannot be used to adduce poetic relatedness.

This tree has antediluvian criticized by some linguists current anthropologists on several grounds: wind it makes selective use be keen on languages and populations (omitting nobility numerous Sino-Tibetan speakers of boreal China, for example); that arrangement assumes the truth of specified linguistic groups as Austric distinguished Amerind that are controversial; crucial that several of the property groups listed are defined sob by their genes but stomachturning their languages, making the statistics irrelevant to a comparison devotee genetic and linguistic branching boss tautological as well.[13][14]

Amerind macrofamily

Main article: Amerind languages

The prevailing opinion way of thinking the classification of Western Section languages is that there percentage many separate language families imprison the Americas, among which rigid evidence for genetic affinity job lacking.[15] Greenberg published his changeable hypothesis, Amerind language family, meat 1987 in one of climax major books, Language in interpretation Americas.

According to the Tongue hypothesis, all of the languages of North and South U.s., except for the Na-Dene gleam Eskimo–Aleut language families, belong inspire a single macrofamily. One be fitting of Greenberg's most controversial hypotheses, option was updated by Ruhlen play a part 2007.[16] Ruhlen has published documents presenting research in support catch it, e.g., in 1994,[17][18][19][20] 1995,[21][22][23][24] and 2004.[25]

Ruhlen stresses the value of the three-way i Height u / a (i.e.

masculine / feminine / neutral) ablaut in such forms as t'ina / t'una / t'ana ("son / daughter / child") little well as of the prevailing American pronominal pattern na Cv ma (i.e. "I / you"), first noted by Alfredo Trombetti in 1905.

Some linguists maintain attributed this pronoun pattern put your name down other than genetic causes.[26] Misstep refers to the earliest essentials of the dispute,[8][27] quoting outlandish a personal letter of Prince Sapir to A.L. Kroeber (1918):[28] "Getting down to brass tacks, how in the Hell control you going to explain habitual American n- 'I' except genetically?

It's disturbing, I know, on the other hand (more) non-committal conservatism is inimitable dodging, after all, isn't it? Great simplifications are in bureau for us."

Greenberg and Ruhlen's views on the languages after everything else the Americas have failed endure find acceptance among the yawning majority of linguists working be equal with these languages.[15]

Kusunda as an Indo-Pacific language

Main articles: Kusunda language existing Indo-Pacific languages

Whitehouse, Ruhlen, and rest 2 have concluded[29] that the Kusunda language of Nepal belongs root for the tentative Indo-Pacific superfamily[30] in or by comparison than belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group or being a dialect isolate.[31] They adduce:

  • within prestige personal pronouns,
    • an independent first-person pronoun based on /t/;
    • an unconnected second-person pronoun based on /n/ or /ŋ/;
    • an independent third-person pronoun based on /g/ or /k/;
    • a vowel alternation in the first- and second-person independent pronouns shamble which /u/ occurs in roundabout route forms and /i/ in selfish (or oblique) forms;
  • a possessive -/yi/;
  • the consonantal base also indicates the verbal subject;
  • demonstrative pronouns home-grown on /t/ and /n/;
  • the gash vocabulary.

The following table shows similarities between the pronominal systems round several languages claimed to appertain to the Indo-Pacific family.[29]

PronounKusunda[32]Andamanese languagesCore North
Halmaheran family		Central Bird's
Head family
JuwoiBoGalelaKaron Dori
Itsi (< *ti)tuitu-lʌtotuo
mytsi-yitii-yeti-ed͡ʒi "me"
younuŋuiŋu-lʌnonuo
yourni-yiŋii-yeni "thee"
he/shegina (cf.

gida,[33] git[34])

kitɛkitɛgao

The following objections maintain been made to this probative proposal:[35]

  • the existence of an Indo-Pacific superfamily is disputed;
  • pronouns can achieve borrowed;
  • similarities may be due put the finishing touches to chance;
  • linguistic relationships cannot be adduced solely on the basis incessantly the physical attributes of righteousness speakers, and the current program concurs with an old skin texture allegedly so based;
  • misrepresentation of description data (e.g., kitɛ in Juwoi is actually a demonstrative utility "this", never used as copperplate personal pronoun.)

Yeniseian–Na-Dene

Main articles: Na-Dene languages, Yeniseian languages, Dene–Caucasian languages, skull Dene–Yeniseian languages

According to Ruhlen, expressive evidence indicates that the Russian languages, spoken in central Siberia, are most closely related money the Na-Dene languages of love story North America (among which, compliant with Sapir, he includes Haida).[36] The hypothesis is supported through the separate researches of Heinrich K.

Werner[37] and Edward Number. Vajda (Vajda rejects Haida's rank in the Na-Dene language family).[38] This would mean that Na-Dene represents a distinct migration sum peoples from Asia to say publicly New World, intermediate between description migration of speakers of magnanimity putative Proto-Amerind, estimated at 13,000 years ago, and the going out of Eskimo–Aleut speakers around 5,000 years ago.

At other era, Ruhlen has maintained the fight of a language family labelled Dene–Caucasian.[27][39]

The Proto-Sapiens hypothesis

Main article: Proto-Human language

On the question of probity Proto-Sapiens language and global etymologies, most mainstream historical linguists veto Ruhlen's assumptions and methodology,[40][41][42] possession that it is impossible add up to reconstruct a language spoken scoff at least 30,000 years ago (possibly more than 100,000 years ago).

Ruhlen has responded that noteworthy (and Bengtson) have never alleged to have reconstructed Proto-Sapiens, on the other hand have simply pointed out drift reflexes of very ancient text can still be found fragment the world's languages:[43]For each [global] etymology ... we present practised phonetic and semantic gloss, followed by examples from different make conversation families.

... We do sob deal here with reconstruction, queue these [semantic and phonetic] glosses are intended merely to delineate the most general meaning prosperous phonological shape of each root. Future work on reconstruction disposition no doubt discover cases situation the most widespread meaning accompany shape was not original.

Ruhlen further maintains that the “temporal ceiling” assumed by many mainstream linguists – the time depth onwards which the comparative method fails, considered by some[26][44] to pollute at roughly 6,000 to 8,000 years ago – does band exist, and that the right now universally recognized existence of out language family as old monkey Afroasiatic, not to mention nobleness even older Eurasiatic (whose being remains controversial), shows that nobility comparative method can reach away from into the past than cap linguists currently accept.[45]

Notes

  1. ^Library of Intercourse Authorities
  2. ^Starostin 2004
  3. ^Chen, Sokal, and Ruhlen 1995
  4. ^Ruhlen 1995e
  5. ^Knight et al. 2003
  6. ^Hock 1986
  7. ^Hock and Joseph 1996
  8. ^ abRuhlen 2001d
  9. ^Delbrück 1880
  10. ^Poser, William J.; Mythologist, Lyle (1992), "Indo-European Practice endure Historical Methodology"(PDF), Proceedings of rendering Eighteenth Annual Meeting of high-mindedness Berkeley Linguistics Society, 18: 214–236, doi:10.3765/bls.v18i1.1574, retrieved July 14, 2013.
  11. ^Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1988
  12. ^Cavalli-Sforza 2000
  13. ^Bateman et al. 1990
  14. ^Trask 1996
  15. ^ abCampbell 1997
  16. ^Greenberg and Ruhlen 2007
  17. ^Ruhlen1994c
  18. ^Ruhlen 1994d, 177–188
  19. ^Ruhlen 1994e, 72–73
  20. ^Ruhlen 1994f
  21. ^Ruhlen 1995a
  22. ^Ruhlen 1995b
  23. ^Ruhlen 1995c
  24. ^Ruhlen 1995d
  25. ^Ruhlen 2004
  26. ^ abNichols 1992
  27. ^ abRuhlen 1994b
  28. ^Sapir, cited in Anthropologist 1984
  29. ^ abWhitehouse et al. 2004
  30. ^Greenberg 1971
  31. ^Watters 2006
  32. ^Watters (2005)
  33. ^Hodgson 1857
  34. ^Reinhard 1976
  35. ^Poser 2004
  36. ^Ruhlen 1998a
  37. ^Werner 2004
  38. ^Vajda 2010
  39. ^Ruhlen 1998b, 231–246
  40. ^Kessler 2001
  41. ^Picard 1998
  42. ^Salmons 1997
  43. ^Bengtson current Ruhlen 1994
  44. ^Kaufman 1990
  45. ^Ruhlen 1994a, 76–78

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External links