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

The Origin of Language

A critically acclaimed journey back through time in search of the Mother Tongue and the roots of the human family

"Invites the reader to learn and apply the common process used by linguists." —Science News

"This book represents exactly the kind of thinking that is needed to pull historical linguistics out of its twentieth-century doldrums. . . . [W]ithout a doubt, a very readable book, well adapted to its popularizing aim." —LOS Forum

"Believing that doing is learning, Ruhlen encourages his readers to try their hand (and eye) at classifying languages. This exercise helps us appreciate the challenges inherent in this fascinating and controversial science of comparative linguistics." —Booklist

"Ruhlen is a leader in the new attempt to write the unified theory of language development and diffusion." —Library Journal

"A powerful statement [and] also a wonderfully clear exposition of linguistic thinking about prehistory. . . . [Q]uite solid and very well presented." —Anthropological Science

MERRITT RUHLEN, Ph.D., is one of the world's foremost linguists, and his work has been featured in nearly every recent major article on the history of language. Dr. Ruhlen received his Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford University, and studied linguistics at the University of Paris, the University of Bucharest, and the University of Illinois. He has published more than forty articles, monographs, and books on various topics in linguistics.