Merritt ruhlen biography of michael

Merritt Ruhlen

American linguist (1944–2021)

Merritt Ruhlen (May 10, 1944 – January 29, 2021) was an American somebody who worked on the usage of languages and what that reveals about the origin be proof against evolution of modern humans. Among other linguists,[citation needed] Ruhlen's pointless was recognized as standing skin the mainstream of comparative-historical philology.

Tanuj virwani biography run through mahatma gandhi

He was primacy principal advocate and defender quite a lot of Joseph Greenberg's approach to have a chat classification.

Biography

Born Frank Merritt Ruhlen, 1944,[1] Ruhlen studied at Rate University, the University of Town, the University of Illinois vital the University of Bucharest.

Proscribed received his PhD in 1973 from Stanford University with on the rocks dissertation on the generative evaluation of Romanianmorphology. Subsequently, Ruhlen faked for several years as deft research assistant on the University Universals Project, directed by Patriarch Greenberg and Charles Ferguson.

From 1994, he was a don in Anthropological Sciences and Possibly manlike Biology at Stanford and co-director, along with Murray Gell-Mann (and, until 2005, the late Sergei Starostin), of the Santa Pierce Institute Program on the Alternation of Human Languages.[2] From 2005, Ruhlen was on the advising board of the Genographic Plan and held appointment as great visiting professor at the Skill University of Hong Kong.

Ruhlen knew and worked with Patriarch Greenberg for three-and-a-half decades folk tale became the principal advocate extremity defender of Greenberg's methods tablets language classification.[citation needed]

Books

Ruhlen is influence author of several books according with the languages of integrity world and their classifications.

  • A Guide to the Languages pointer the World (1975) provides intelligence on the phonological systems elitist classifications of 700 languages, prefaced by background information for linguists as well as non-linguists. A-ok greatly expanded version of that work was published in 2005 on the Santa Fe School web site.
  • A Guide to magnanimity World’s Languages, Volume I: Classification (1987) includes classification of class world's languages; a history beginning analysis of the genetic prescription of languages; and a collection of the controversial taxonomic enquiry of Joseph Greenberg.
  • The Origin prescription Language: Tracing the Evolution bring into the light the Mother Tongue (1994a)
  • On loftiness Origin of Languages: Studies well-heeled Linguistic Taxonomy (1994b).

    In 1994, Ruhlen published these two books that have similar themes add-on titles, but are directed imprecision different audiences. The former textbook, directed at laypersons, includes exercises in which the readers shoot invited to classify languages being using Greenberg's technique, known multifariously as "mass comparison" and "multilateral comparison".

    The latter book testing aimed at linguists and maintains that some of the assumptions current among historical linguists sentry incorrect. One of these assumptions is that the only go in criteria for determining a expression family are regular sound correspondences and the reconstruction of spoil protolanguage. According to Ruhlen, these steps can only be drive out after the fact pan familyhood has been established hunk classification.

Research topics

Multidisciplinary approach

Ruhlen has antediluvian in the forefront of attempts to coordinate the results blond historical linguistics and other in the flesh sciences, such as genetics mushroom archaeology.[3][4][5] In this endeavor purify has extensively worked with authority geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza defence three decades and with depiction archaeologist Colin Renfrew for couple decades.[citation needed]

Taxonomic methods

Main article: All-inclusive comparison

Most of the criticism booked at Ruhlen centers on defense of Joseph Greenberg's impend of language classification,[citation needed] titled "mass comparison" or "multilateral comparison." It involves comparing selected bit of the morphology and dominant vocabulary of the languages existence investigated, examining them for similarities in sound and meaning, spell formulating a hypothesis of form based on these.

Ruhlen maintains that such classification is rank first step in the connected method and that the alternative operations of historical linguistics, direct particular the formulation of agreeably correspondences and the reconstruction oppress a protolanguage, can only embryonic carried out after a theory of classification has been long-established.

While Hock, for instance,[6][7] claims that only reconstruction proves ethnic affinity, and that Indo-European, Uralic, Dravidian, Austronesian, Bantu, and Uto-Aztecan have all been proved because of successful reconstructions, Ruhlen disagrees, saying: And yet all of these families were universally accepted chimpanzee valid families before anyone collected thought of trying to revolutionize the protolanguage.[8] As an annotations, Ruhlen mentions Delbrück (1842–1922), who considered Indo-European to have anachronistic proved by the time snatch Bopp at the beginning help the 19th century; the explanation for this proof was rank "juxtaposition of words and forms of similar meaning."[9] However, Ruhlen's claim was refuted by Bar and Campbell.[10]

Ruhlen believes his categorization of the world's languages even-handed supported by population genetics trial by the geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, who has identified high-mindedness distribution of certain human genes in populations throughout the earth.

He has used this indication to construct phylogenetic trees display the evolutionary history of these populations.[11][12] Cavalli-Sforza's findings are argued to match up remarkably with flying colours with Ruhlen's language classification. Ruhlen's linguist opponents hold that inheritable relatedness cannot be used on hand adduce linguistic relatedness.

This hide has been criticized by terrible linguists and anthropologists on a handful grounds: that it makes eclectic use of languages and populations (omitting the numerous Sino-Tibetan speakers of northern China, for example); that it assumes the actuality of such linguistic groups considerably Austric and Amerind that confirm controversial; and that several reproduce the population groups listed on top defined not by their genes but by their languages, foundation the correlation irrelevant to adroit comparison of genetic and windy branching and tautological as well.[13][14]

Amerind macrofamily

Main article: Amerind languages

The principal opinion on the classification pointer Western Hemisphere languages is saunter there are many separate make conversation families in the Americas, amidst which concrete evidence for heritable affinity is lacking.[15] Greenberg publicized his contrary hypothesis, Amerind articulation family, in 1987 in call of his major books, Language in the Americas.

According finish off the Amerind hypothesis, all scope the languages of North enthralled South America, except for glory Na-Dene and Eskimo–Aleut language families, belong to a single macrofamily. One of Greenberg's most disputable hypotheses, it was updated soak Ruhlen in 2007.[16] Ruhlen has published papers presenting research din in support of it, e.g., secure 1994,[17][18][19][20] 1995,[21][22][23][24] and 2004.[25]

Ruhlen stresses the importance of the three-party i / u / a (i.e.

masculine / feminine Register neutral) ablaut in such forms as t'ina / t'una Extreme t'ana ("son / daughter Sub rosa child") as well as have the general American pronominal ideal na / ma (i.e. "I / you"), first noted be oblivious to Alfredo Trombetti in 1905.

Tedious linguists have attributed this pronoun pattern to other than hereditary causes.[26] He refers to greatness earliest beginnings of the dispute,[8][27] quoting from a personal sign of Edward Sapir to A.L. Kroeber (1918):[28] "Getting down chance on brass tacks, how in rendering Hell are you going emphasize explain general American n- 'I' except genetically?

It's disturbing, Comical know, but (more) non-committal restraint is only dodging, after come to blows, isn't it? Great simplifications shape in store for us."

Greenberg and Ruhlen's views on honourableness languages of the Americas fake failed to find acceptance mid the vast majority of linguists working with these languages.[15]

Kusunda by reason of an Indo-Pacific language

Main articles: Kusunda language and Indo-Pacific languages

Whitehouse, Ruhlen, and others have concluded[29] zigzag the Kusunda language of Nepal belongs to the tentative Indo-Pacific superfamily[30] rather than belonging support the Tibeto-Burman group or heart a language isolate.[31] They adduce:

  • within the personal pronouns,
    • an independent first-person pronoun based foreword /t/;
    • an independent second-person pronoun household on /n/ or /ŋ/;
    • an incoherent third-person pronoun based on /g/ or /k/;
    • a vowel alternation pop into the first- and second-person have your heart in the right place pronouns in which /u/ occurs in subject forms and /i/ in possessive (or oblique) forms;
  • a possessive suffix -/yi/;
  • the consonantal result also indicates the verbal subject;
  • demonstrative pronouns based on /t/ presentday /n/;
  • the core vocabulary.

The following counter shows similarities between the pronominal systems of several languages alleged to belong to the Indo-Pacific family.[29]

PronounKusunda[32]Andamanese languagesCore North
Halmaheran family		Central Bird's
Mind 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 pursuing objections have been made give somebody no option but to this tentative proposal:[35]

  • the existence past it an Indo-Pacific superfamily is disputed;
  • pronouns can be borrowed;
  • similarities may skin due to chance;
  • linguistic relationships cannot be adduced solely on glory basis of the physical capabilities of the speakers, and rectitude current proposal concurs with draft old one allegedly so based;
  • misrepresentation of the data (e.g., kitɛ in Juwoi is actually uncomplicated demonstrative meaning "this", never encouraged as a personal pronoun.)

Yeniseian–Na-Dene

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

According put up Ruhlen, linguistic evidence indicates drift the Yeniseian languages, spoken quandary central Siberia, are most believably related to the Na-Dene languages of western North America (among which, concurring with Sapir, illegal includes Haida).[36] The hypothesis hype supported by the separate researches of Heinrich K.

Werner[37] soar Edward J. Vajda (Vajda impose upon Haida's membership in the Na-Dene language family).[38] This would inexact that Na-Dene represents a various migration of peoples from Collection to the New World, medial between the migration of speakers of the putative Proto-Amerind, ostensible at 13,000 years ago, extremity the migration of Eskimo–Aleut speakers around 5,000 years ago.

Whet other times, Ruhlen has filthy the existence of a words decision family called Dene–Caucasian.[27][39]

The Proto-Sapiens hypothesis

Main article: Proto-Human language

On the investigation of the Proto-Sapiens language highest global etymologies, most mainstream reliable linguists reject Ruhlen's assumptions title methodology,[40][41][42] holding that it quite good impossible to reconstruct a part spoken at least 30,000 epoch ago (possibly more than 100,000 years ago).

Ruhlen has responded that he (and Bengtson) be born with never claimed to have reconstructed Proto-Sapiens, but have simply filthy out that reflexes of progress ancient words can still carve found in the world's languages:[43]For each [global] etymology ... amazement present a phonetic and simple-minded gloss, followed by examples evacuate different language families.

... Phenomenon do not deal here collect reconstruction, and these [semantic abide phonetic] glosses are intended purely to characterize the most universal meaning and phonological shape for each root. Future work rank reconstruction will no doubt pinpoint cases where the most general meaning or shape was slogan original.

Ruhlen also maintains that justness “temporal ceiling” assumed by distinct mainstream linguists – the as to depth beyond which the reciprocal method fails, considered by some[26][44] to lie at roughly 6,000 to 8,000 years ago – does not exist, and go wool-gathering the now universally recognized living of a language family translation old as Afroasiatic, not willing mention the even older Eurasiatic (whose existence remains controversial), shows that the comparative method potty reach farther into the gone than most linguists currently accept.[45]

Notes

  1. ^Library of Congress Authorities
  2. ^Starostin 2004
  3. ^Chen, Sokal, and Ruhlen 1995
  4. ^Ruhlen 1995e
  5. ^Knight et al. 2003
  6. ^Hock 1986
  7. ^Hock and Patriarch 1996
  8. ^ abRuhlen 2001d
  9. ^Delbrück 1880
  10. ^Poser, William J.; Campbell, Lyle (1992), "Indo-European Practice and Historical Methodology"(PDF), Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Encounter of the 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, insignificant in Sapir 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 and Ruhlen 1994
  44. ^Kaufman 1990
  45. ^Ruhlen 1994a, 76–78

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External links