Merritt Ruhlen

Merritt Ruhlen
Born	(1944-05-10)May 10, 1944 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	January 29, 2021(2021-01-29) (aged 76) Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Known for	Genetic classification of languages
Scientific career
Fields	Linguistics

Merritt Ruhlen (May 10, 1944 – January 29, 2021) was an American linguist who worked on the classification of languages and what this reveals about the origin and evolution of modern humans. Amongst other linguists,^{[citation needed]} Ruhlen's work was recognized as standing outside the mainstream of comparative-historical linguistics. He was the principal advocate and defender of Joseph Greenberg's approach to language classification.