TY - JOUR
T1 - The Minoan Challenge
T2 - An External Analysis Approach to the Linear A Decipherment
AU - YAO, Yuetong
AU - PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco
AU - CAVALLARO, Francesco Paolo
N1 - YAO, Yuetong, and Francesco PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco Paolo CAVALLARO. (2022). The Minoan Challenge: An External Analysis Approach to the Linear A Decipherment. Annals of the University of Craiova: Series Philology, Linguistics / Analele Universității Din Craiova: Seria Ştiințe Filologice, Linguistică, 44, 1 / 2: 456-475
Funding Information:
This study has been funded by the MOE AcRF Tier 1 Research Grant 2017-T1-002-193 Giving Voice to the Minoan People: The Decipherment of Linear A (Perono Cacciafoco).
Funding Information:
We wish to acknowledge the funding support for this project from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) under the Undergraduate Research Experience on CAmpus (URECA) Programme.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Editura Universitaria Craiova. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/11/18
Y1 - 2022/11/18
N2 - The language (or languages) of the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete, developed in the European Bronze Age, was written using the so-called Cretan Hieroglyphs and the Linear A writing system. To this day, the Minoan language and its writing systems, Cretan Hieroglyphs as well as Linear A, are undeciphered. The main obstacle in deciphering Linear A is the lack of knowledge of what language it transcribes. This article presents an ‘external analysis’ and a ‘lexicographic’ approach in an attempt to compare Linear A with Linear B and Egyptian, aiming at identifying a known language that Linear A may represent. The paper starts by introducing Minoan civilization and its writing system, Linear A, followed by a brief literature review on deciphering attempts. An overview follows, on the relationship between the Minoan and ancient Egyptian Bronze Ages, provided in order to support the hypothesis that there are possible interconnections between Linear A and Egyptian. The subsequent section further describes the method of using corresponding Linear B phonetic values to identify Linear A words or phrases in a few examples and match them to Egyptian. Finally, the possibilities and limitations of employing this method to decipher Linear A are discussed.
AB - The language (or languages) of the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete, developed in the European Bronze Age, was written using the so-called Cretan Hieroglyphs and the Linear A writing system. To this day, the Minoan language and its writing systems, Cretan Hieroglyphs as well as Linear A, are undeciphered. The main obstacle in deciphering Linear A is the lack of knowledge of what language it transcribes. This article presents an ‘external analysis’ and a ‘lexicographic’ approach in an attempt to compare Linear A with Linear B and Egyptian, aiming at identifying a known language that Linear A may represent. The paper starts by introducing Minoan civilization and its writing system, Linear A, followed by a brief literature review on deciphering attempts. An overview follows, on the relationship between the Minoan and ancient Egyptian Bronze Ages, provided in order to support the hypothesis that there are possible interconnections between Linear A and Egyptian. The subsequent section further describes the method of using corresponding Linear B phonetic values to identify Linear A words or phrases in a few examples and match them to Egyptian. Finally, the possibilities and limitations of employing this method to decipher Linear A are discussed.
KW - Language Decipherment
KW - Linear A
KW - Linear B
KW - External Analysis
KW - History of Writing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151429234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://anale-lingvistica.reviste.ucv.ro/index.php/laucv/article/view/78
U2 - 10.52846/aucssflingv.v44i1-2.78
DO - 10.52846/aucssflingv.v44i1-2.78
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85151429234
SN - 1224-5712
VL - 44
SP - 456
EP - 475
JO - Analele Universitatii din Craiova - Seria Stiinte Filologice, Lingvistica
JF - Analele Universitatii din Craiova - Seria Stiinte Filologice, Lingvistica
IS - 1-2
ER -