The Origin of Language: Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue

Merritt Ruhlen

Published by Gorgias Press 2023

The Origin of Language

Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue

Merritt Ruhlen

Volume 14 in the series Harvard Oriental Series - Opera Minora

https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463244965

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book, The Origin of Language: Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue, originally published in 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, was written in a more popular style, accessible to an educated general audience, than the more scholarly and academic tome of a similar title, On the Origin of Languages: Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy, published the same year. In The Origin of Language Ruhlen laid out the principles of linguistic genetic classification, i.e., classifying languages into families according to common origins rather than typological features. Ruhlen showed how simple this can be, especially for languages that have diverged for a few millennia, by juxtaposing short lists of basic (non-cultural) words like eye, fire, and tongue. He also showed that the same methods can be used to postulate older and deeper families, often called “macro-families” or “macrophyla,” by comparing reconstructed forms from lower-level families. Such deeper families (e.g., Nostratic, Dene-Caucasian, Nilo-Saharan, Austric) are generally more controversial than lower-level families, but Ruhlen did not shy from discussing them if he thought the evidence supported them. Ruhlen was also interested in other fields of anthropology, such as archaeology and human genetics, and brought these fields into play.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface 2010 Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface 1994 Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Prologue: What Do We Mean by the Origin of Language? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Language and History: Voices from the Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
2 Language Families: What is Known Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
3 Controversy: What is Debated Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
4 Native Americans: Language in the New World Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
5 The Origin of Language: Are There Global Cognates? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
6 A Window on the World: What Has Been Resolved Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
7 Genes: Biology and Language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
8 The Emerging Synthesis: On the Origin of Modern Humans Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Epilogue: Reconstruction, Sound Correspondences, and Homelands Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
An Annotated Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Appendices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Gorgias Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 319
Keywords: Ancient languages; General; Foreign Language Study

eBook

Published: February 16, 2023
ISBN: 9781463244965