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Minoan Language Linear A Linked to Linear B in Groundbreaking Research

posted by janrinok on Thursday May 19 2022, @05:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the something-to-write-home-about dept.

taylorvich writes:

https://greekreporter.com/2022/04/20/minoan-language-linear-a-linear-b/

The Minoan language known as "Linear A" may finally be deciphered with the help of the internet which can be used to uncover previously-hidden links to the much-better understood Linear B language. Linear B developed later in the prehistoric period.

The puzzle of Linear A has tormented linguists for many decades, as they attempted to link it somehow to Linear B, which was translated successfully for the first time in the 1950s. Linear B was used on the Greek mainland and Crete 50-150 years later than Linear A.

Understanding the link between them and decoding the secrets of Linear A would allow experts to paint a much more complete picture of Minoan civilization going back as far as 1,800 BC.

Linear A, which was used by the Minoans during the Bronze Age, exists on at least 1,400 known inscriptions made on clay tablets. The language has baffled the world's top archaeologists and linguistic experts for many years.

Professor Tim Whitmarsh, the A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture and Fellow of St. John's, had high praise for Salgarella's work and said that "cracking Linear B was a huge post-war triumph for Classics, but Linear A has remained elusive."

"Dr. Salgarella has demonstrated that Linear B is closely related to its mysterious and previously illegible predecessor. She has brought us one step closer to understanding it. It's an extraordinary piece of detective work," praises Whitmarsh.

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by zocalo on Thursday May 19 2022, @07:34PM (2 children)

    by zocalo (302) on Thursday May 19 2022, @07:34PM (#1246367)
    Funnily enough, a lot of the tablets containing the examples of Linear B used to decipher it were not far from being just that. They turned out to be tallies of things like livestock or people, often associated with placenames, and the repetition of the latter was the crack that was used to not only decipher the language but also to get a pretty good handle on what it might have sounded like.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @03:55AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @03:55AM (#1246489)

    turned out to be tallies of things like livestock or people, often associated with placenames

    Ah, so they were ancient punch cards then? I would love to see the machine that ran them

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Friday May 20 2022, @01:13PM

      by driverless (4770) on Friday May 20 2022, @01:13PM (#1246558)

      turned out to be tallies of things like livestock or people, often associated with placenames

      Ah, so they were ancient punch cards then? I would love to see the machine that ran them

      Here you go [wikipedia.org].