Information AboutLinear A |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LINEAR A | |
| undeciphered writing systems | |
| syllabary writing systems | |
| bronze age writing systems | |
| history of crete | |
| minoan civilization | |
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Linear A is an Undeciphered Script used in ancient Crete . Its Decipherment is one of the " Holy Grail s" of ancient scripts. A related script, Linear B , was deciphered in the 1950s by Michael Ventris as representing an ancient form of Greek . Though the two scripts share many of the same symbols, using the Syllables associated with Linear B in Linear A writings produces words that are unrelated to any known Language . This language has been dubbed Minoan or Eteocretan , and corresponds to a period in Cretan History prior to a series of invasions by Mycenean Greeks around 1400 BC . As the Minoan language is lost to the modern day, it is hard to be certain whether or not a given decipherment is the correct decipherment, or merely . Since it is undeciphered, it is difficult to ascertain specific features of this language. A connection has already been noted between the sequence ''(Y)A-SA-SA-RA-ME'', found in an oft-repeated formula inscribed on libation tables and a West Semitic fertility goddess known as Ashtoreth Yam (or "Lady of the Sea"). A possible marker for the genitive (or possessive) case may exist: -NA or -NE. In , claiming to demonstrate how and why Linear A notates an archaic form of Phoenician . This was a continuation of attempts by Cyrus Gordon in finding connections between Minoan and West Semitic languages. His methodology drew widespread criticism. While, some words may indeed
Around the same time, M. Tsikritsis, a Greek computer scientist and a text analysis specialist used a statistical and machine comparison of Linear A and Linear B symbols to conclude that Linear A was an early Aeolic dialect of Greek, and essentially a form of Linear B with a variety of Archaism s. Critics of this theory state that Linear A shows no detectable signs of the prototypical features recognizable from the Indo-European language group to which Greek belongs, let alone features resembling Greek itself. Usually, it is a more or less accepted viewpoint, to group the 'Minoan' language of the linear A inscriptions together with Eteocretan , (its likely descendant), and Eteocypriot , into the group of Aegean Languages , but without any precise knowledge about the underlying languages, their relationships, or grammatical structure. SAMPLE TEXTS TRANSLITERATED USING LINEAR B VALUES A stone ladle from Troullos may read: a-ta-no-?-wa-ja o-su-ga-re ya-sa-sa-ra-me u-na-ka- {Link without Title} na-?-si
Another inscription (on a tablet) may read: ''qe-? ideogram . ?-ru-ja 3 me-ri-ja 4 ?-na-ko da-re te-ro2 1'' The first word is most likely to be a name of a person or place. The second sign seems to depict a man with his hands bound behind his back. Then follows to words one reading ''?-ru-ja'' with the numeral 3, the other reading ''me-li-ja'' and the numeral 4. The ''-ja'' ending also occurs in Linear B, meaning "women of", so ''me-li-ja 4'' may mean "4 women of Meli". ''Meli'' once the ''i'' from the declension has been removed, if similar to Linear B, would read ''melu'' or ''melo'', which may be the name of the Aegean island of Melos where Linear A tablets have been unearthed. The 'Haghia Triada tablet 13' may read: ''ka-u-de-ta ideogram . te. re-za 5½ te-ro2 56 te-ki 27½ ku-do-ni 18 da-si-dja 19 ?-su-?-si 5 ku-ro 130½'' ''ka-u-de-ta'' like above is probably a name. This is followed by an ideogram almost identical to one in Linear B meaning 'wine'. The sign following this may be the syllable ''te'' and may be related to the Hittite ''ta'' meaning 'take' or ''da'' 'give' meaning that the sentence would read ''wine taken from'' or ''wine distributed to'', it may also be related to the Greek ''te'' 'take'. These words are followed by a list of seven names each followed by a numeral. One name ''ku-do-ni'', as mentioned below, may be the name of the Minoan town of Kydonia. The following word (likely another place-name) can be (highly tentatively) transliterated as da-si-dja ?= ''Lasithia?'' Another name, ''te-ki'' may, though less likely than the above, be the name of the settement of Tegea on Crete. The last word is ''ku-ro'' which, as again mentioned below, probably means 'total' or whole''. GLOSSARY OF TERMS FROM THE ABOVE INSCRIPTIONS (note. the following transliterations and translations are not confirmed, only experimental)
A SHORT GLOSSARY OF TERMS DECIPHERED WITH MORE OR LESS CERTAINTY
SITES YIELDING LINEAR A INSCRIPTIONS
REFERENCES
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