BASIC HITTITE VOCABULARY: In order to decipher Linear A, you need to know Hittite. With the kind assistance of Alexandre Solcà, who knows Hittite very well, I am finally learning the language. How exciting! Here you see my preliminary vocabulary of Hittite. ACT = action/AGR = agricultural/ANI = animal, bird etc./AST = astronomy/CLI = climate/COL = colour etc./COM = commerce/FOO = food etc./FUR = furniture etc./GEO = geographic/MIL = military/MUN = municipal/PER = personal/REL = religion/ROY = royalty/SCR = scribal/TEX = textiles/VES = pottery,vessels ais = mouth PER akkalan : (kind of plow) AGR aku= to drink (cf eku-, §11) FOO akkusk = to drink a lot MI (reiterative) FOO alsant- (c) : prisoner MIL alwanzatar (n, §83) : magic REL alwanzessar (n) : witchcraft, magic REL annas = mother PER annalla/annalli : maternal; old PER aniya- (I 4) : to act, create, work, achieve; ? to make grow (a plant) (id KIN) AGR aniyatt- (c, §76) : achievement, work (id KIN-att-) AGR/MIL antu- (n) : property AGR antuhha/antuhsa/antuhsas - (c) = antuwahha- (§17a), antuhsa- "human being" PER ariya- (I 4) : to study an oracle, ask an oracle REL ariyasessar (n, §84) : oracle REL arkammas = tribute MIL arkuwar (n, §85) : prayer REL arnu = to bring MI ACT arunas = sea GEO asandul/asandulatar crew MIL asandula- (c) : garrison MIL assanu/asnu = to prepare/obtain MI ACT asawar (n, §85) : enclosure AGR assu- (n) : goods, merchandise (id NÍGGA) ? the good AGR assus = good PER atta- (c) : father PER attalla- : paternal PER atis (n) : axe MIL Cf. English “axe” TÚGadupli- (n) : garment, dress TEX auri/awari- = awari- "border guard" (§17) MIL azzikk = to adore (all the time) MI REL E: ed = to eat MI FOO eku to drink FOO ekuna = cold (Akk ka?û) CLI ekunima- (c) : the cold CLI eshar = blood PER eshas = ishas = "lord, master" (§10) ROY es = to be MI ACT H: DUGhakkun?i- : (a pot) VES halhaltumari- (c) : boundary stone , cornerstone AGR/MIL LÚhaliyatalla- : temple guard REL halkis = cereal AGR GIŠhalmasuitt- (c) : throne (id GIŠGUZA) ROY halukannis = chariot MIL handai = to add MI ACT/SCR handandatar (n, §83) : miracle REL happar- (n) : trade COM happiriya- : town (id URU) MUN hara(n)- (c, §88a) : eagle ANI hark = to hold, to have MI ACT harki- : white, clear COL harnaus = chair FUR harnink = to destroy HI Cf. English “to harm” MIL harsan/harsar- (n) : head; person (id SAGDU) PER harsanalli- (n) : crown ROY harsauwar (n) : agriculture, farming AGR DUGharsiyali- (n) : storage receptacle, pithos VES hassa hanzassa : grand-son and grand-grand-son ? (§89b) PER GIŠhassalli- (n) : stool (id GIŠGÌRGUB) FUR haster- : star (id MUL) AST hassu- : king (id LUGAL) ROY hassusara- : queen (id MUNUSLUGAL) ROY hatrai = to write MI SCR Lúhattalwala/LÚhilamma-- : gate keeper, door guard MIL hilammar = gate + Éhilammar (n, §86) : gate AGR.MIL heus = rain CLI GIŠhuluganni- (c) : chariot MIL (NA4)huwasi- (n) : grindstone; ritual monument, ritual stone AGR/REL I,Y: UDUiyant- (c) : sheep AGR iyata- (n) : abundance AGR irha- (c) : side, border (id ZAG) AGR/MIL ishassara- (c) : lady ROY isgaruh- (n, §87) : (a pot) VES ishas = lord ROY ispant- (c) : night AST ispantuzzi = wine barrel VES istamas = to hear MI PER iya = to do MI ACT G,K: kard= heart Cf. “heart” (English) + “coeur” (French) etc. etc. nominative = LOGO+ir PER É karim(n)i- : ritual building, temple REL karuilis = old PER DUGkattamarant- (c) : (a pot) VES kessaras = hand PER gimmara/gimra- "field" (§26) AGR guen(ant)- : woman (id MUNUS) PER kuen = to strike, kill MI Cf. kill (English) + tuer (French) MIL kuer- (I 1 c) : to harvest AGR kuera- (c) : countryside (id AKÀR) AGR kuis, n kuit : (relative and interrogative pronoun; §119ff) ? kuit ap?t = "what is that ?" ? Also kuis = "someone", kuit = "something" (especially in UL kuis "no one, not the least") ? kuis kuis : "the one the other" ? kuis kuis : "whoever" (§120) ? kuis imma (kuis) : "whoever else" (§120) PER kuissa : each (§125) PER kuiski : someone kuitki : something (§124ff) ? UL kuiski : no one, no UL kuitki : nothing (§124) PER kupawi = to count MI Cf. français “couper” SCR kutt- (c) : wall AGR/MIL/MUN L: LÚlahhiyala- (c) : man of war, soldier MIL lahhiyatar (n, §83) : (military) campaign, expedition MIL lahhurnuzzi- (n) : sacrificial altar REL lami = to detach HI? ACT lingant- (c) : oath MIL/REL GIŠluttant- : window MUN luzzi- (n) : corvée = a day's unpaid labor owed by a vassal to his feudal lord/forced labour exacted in lieu of taxes, in particular that on public roads MIL M: malla- (II 2 c ?) : to grind AGR marnu- (c) : (a kind of beer) AGR/FOO marnuwant- (n) : (a drink) FOO masdu- (c) : chain, rope, shackles MIL mehur = time Cf. English “hour”, français “heure” etc. AST memal- (n, §79) : groats AGR memiyas = word Cf. “memory” (English) + “mémoire” (French) etc. SCR milit- (n, §76) : honey (id LÀL) AGR muri(yan) = grapefruit, nominative = mures AGR N: nega- (c) : sister (id NIN) PER negna- : brother (id ŠEŠ) PER nekut- (c) : evening AST nepis = sky AST ninik = to mobilize MI MIL B,P: pahhuenant- (c) : fire AGR/MIL pahhuwar, pahhur (n, §82) : fire AGR/MIL pai = to go MI ACT DUGpalha- (c) : cauldron VES panzakiti- (c) : plug, peg, pin AGR/MIL parkus = high AGR/MIL parkuyatar (n, §83) : purification, atonement REL parn = house, nominative = pir + pir : house (§89a; id É-ir) MUN pattar (n) : wing ANI perunant- (c) : rock AGR pittar (n, §82) : wing; feather ANI Cf. English “feather” pittarpalhi (c) : (a bird) ANI punus = to ask MI ACT S: sakni- (c) : oil, fat AGR/FOO salles- (I 1 f) : to grow, increase AGR sallis = big AGR/MIL/ROY sankunni/sankunniyant- (c) : priest (id LÚSANGA) REL sarnink = to replace MI ACT sasanna- (c) : lamp VES sasta- (c) : bed PER ses = to sleep MI PER sessar : beer (id KAŠ) AGR/FOO sesariya- (I 4) : to filter, sieve AGR/FOO GIŠsesarul- (n, §79) : sieve FOO siu = god, nominative = siunis REL suhha- (c) : roof AGR/MUN/MIL summanza(n)- (c) : rope, cord AGR/MIL suppal- (n, §79) : animal ANI suppis = pure REL suppisduwara- (c) : decoration, ornament PER/REL D,T: dannatta- : empty, desert AGR dankui- : black; dark (id GE6) AST/MIL tarnas : (small dry measure of capacity) AGR/VES taru- (n) : wood (id ?IŠ) AGR te = to speak MI ACT tekan earth AGR tessummi- (c) : cup, goblet (id DUGGAL) VES tuppa- (c) : vessel, container VES tuppi- (n) : tablet, document (Akk ?uppu) SCR tuzzis/tuzziyant - (c) : army MIL U: udni (n, §72) : land (also for name of towns; id KUR-e) AGR/MIL unuwasha- (c) : ornament PER/REL uttar = word Cf. “utter” (English) ACT uwate = to bring MI ACT W: wappu- (c) : river shore AGR/MIL GIŠwarasma- (c) : firewood AGR/MIL watar (n, §82) : water (id A) ? Pl wid?r : also "irrigation" AGR welkuwan- (n) : grass, plant AGR wellus- (c / n) : meadow (id ÚSAL) AGR wemiya = to find MI ACT wesi- (c) : pasture AGR wetant- : year (id MU) AST wiyana- : wine (id GEŠTIN) FOO Z: zahhais = battle MIL zashai = dream (no nom.) REL zeri- : cup, goblet (id DUGGAL) VES zeriyalli- (n) : vessel stand VES GIŠzuppari- (n) : torch MIL April 22 2020 PRIMARY BY CATEGORY: * = major category AGR = agricultural * akkalan : (kind of plow) AGR aniya- (I 4) : to act, create, work, achieve; ? to make grow (a plant) (id KIN) AGR aniyatt- (c, §76) : achievement, work (id KIN-att-) AGR/MIL asawar (n, §85) : enclosure AGR assu- (n) : goods, merchandise (id NÍGGA) ? the good AGR antu- (n) : property AGR halhaltumari- (c) : boundary stone , cornerstone AGR/MIL halkis = cereal AGR harsauwar (n) : agriculture, farming AGR hilammar = gate + Éhilammar (n, §86) : gate AGR/MIL (NA4)huwasi- (n) : grindstone; ritual monument, ritual stone AGR/REL UDUiyant- (c) : sheep AGR iyata- (n) : abundance AGR irha- (c) : side, border (id ZAG) AGR/MIL gimmara/gimra- "field" (§26) AGR kuer- (I 1 c) : to harvest AGR kuera- (c) : countryside (id AKÀR) AGR kutt- (c) : wall AGR/MIL/MUN malla- (II 2 c ?) : to grind AGR marnu- (c) : (a kind of beer) AGR/FOO marnuwant- (n) : (a drink) FOO memal- (n, §79) : groats AGR milit- (n, §76) : honey (id LÀL) AGR muri(yan) = grapefruit, nominative = mures AGR pahhuenant- (c) : fire AGR/MIL pahhuwar, pahhur (n, §82) : fire AGR/MIL panzakiti- (c) : plug, peg, pin AGR/MIL parkus = high AGR/MIL perunant- (c) : rock AGR sakni- (c) : oil, fat AGR/FOO salles- (I 1 f) : to grow, increase AGR sallis = big AGR/MIL/ROY sessar : beer (id KAŠ) AGR/FOO sesariya- (I 4) : to filter, sieve AGR/FOO suhha- (c) : roof AGR/MUN/MIL summanza(n)- (c) : rope, cord AGR/MIL dannatta- : empty, desert AGR tarnas : (small dry measure of capacity) AGR/VES taru- (n) : wood (id ?IŠ) AGR tekan earth AGR udni (n, §72) : land (also for name of towns; id KUR-e) AGR/MIL wappu- (c) : river shore AGR/MIL GIŠwarasma- (c) : firewood AGR/MIL watar (n, §82) : water (id A) ? Pl wid?r : also "irrigation" AGR welkuwan- (n) : grass, plant AGR wellus- (c / n) : meadow (id ÚSAL) AGR wesi- (c) : pasture AGR ANI = animal, bird etc. hara(n)- (c, §88a) : eagle ANI pattar (n) : wing ANI pittar (n, §82) : wing; feather ANI Cf. English “feather” pittarpalhi (c) : (a bird) ANI suppal- (n, §79) : animal ANI FOO = food etc. aku= to drink (cf eku-, §11) FOO akkusk = to drink a lot MI (reiterative) FOO ed = to eat MI FOO eku to drink FOO marnu- (c) : (a kind of beer) AGR/FOO marnuwant- (n) : (a drink) FOO sakni- (c) : oil, fat AGR/FOO GIŠsesarul- (n, §79) : sieve FOO sesariya- (I 4) : to filter, sieve AGR/FOO wiyana- : wine (id GEŠTIN) FOO MIL = military * alsant- (c) : prisoner MIL aniya- (I 4) : to act, create, work, achieve; ? to make grow (a plant) (id KIN) AGR aniyatt- (c, §76) : achievement, work (id KIN-att-) AGR/MIL arkammas = tribute MIL arkuwar (n, §85) : prayer REL arnu = to bring MI ACT asandul/asandulatar crew MIL asandula- (c) : garrison MIL atis (n) : axe MIL Cf. English “axe” auri/awari- = awari- "border guard" (§17) MIL halhaltumari- (c) : boundary stone , cornerstone AGR/MIL halukannis = chariot MIL harnink = to destroy HI Cf. English “to harm” MIL Lúhattalwala/LÚhilamma-- : gate keeper, door guard MIL hilammar = gate + Éhilammar (n, §86) : gate AGR/MIL GIŠhuluganni- (c) : chariot MIL irha- (c) : side, border (id ZAG) AGR/MIL kuen = to strike, kill MI Cf. kill (English) + tuer vassal(French) MIL kutt- (c) : wall AGR/MIL/MUN LÚlahhiyala- (c) : man of war, soldier MIL lahhiyatar (n, §83) : (military) campaign, expedition MIL lingant- (c) : oath MIL/REL luzzi- (n) : corvée = a day's unpaid labor owed by a vassal to his feudal lord/forced labour exacted in lieu of taxes, in particular that on public roads MIL masdu- (c) : chain, rope, shackles MIL ninik = to mobilize MI MIL pahhuenant- (c) : fire AGR/MIL pahhuwar, pahhur (n, §82) : fire AGR/MIL panzakiti- (c) : plug, peg, pin AGR/MIL parkus = high AGR/MIL sallis = big AGR/MIL/ROY suhha- (c) : roof AGR/MUN/MIL summanza(n)- (c) : rope, cord AGR/MIL tuzzis/tuzziyant - (c) : army MIL udni (n, §72) : land (also for name of towns; id KUR-e) AGR/MIL wappu- (c) : river shore AGR/MIL GIŠwarasma- (c) : firewood AGR/MIL zahhais = battle MIL GIŠzuppari- (n) : torch MIL PER = personal * ais = mouth PER annas = mother PER annalla/annalli : maternal; old PER antuhha/antuhsa/antuhsas - (c) = antuwahha- (§17a), antuhsa- "human being" PER assus = good PER atta- (c) : father PER attalla- : paternal PER eshar = blood PER harsan/harsar- (n) : head; person (id SAGDU) PER hassa hanzassa : grand-son and grand-grand-son ? (§89b) PER istamas = to hear MI PER kard= heart Cf. “heart” (English) + “coeur” (French) etc. etc. nominative = LOGO+ir PER karuilis = old PER kessaras = hand PER guen(ant)- : woman (id MUNUS) PER kuis, n kuit : (relative and interrogative pronoun; §119ff) ? kuit ap?t = "what is that ?" ? Also kuis = "someone", kuit = "something" (especially in UL kuis "no one, not the least") ? kuis kuis : "the one the other" ? kuis kuis : "whoever" (§120) ? kuis imma (kuis) : "whoever else" (§120) PER kuissa : each (§125) PER kuiski : someone kuitki : something (§124ff) ? UL kuiski : no one, no UL kuitki : nothing (§124) PER nega- (c) : sister (id NIN) PER negna- : brother (id ŠEŠ) PER sasta- (c) : bed PER ses = to sleep MI PER suppisduwara- (c) : decoration, ornament PER/REL unuwasha- (c) : ornament PER/REL REL = religion * alwanzatar (n, §83) : magic REL alwanzessar (n) : witchcraft, magic REL ariya- (I 4) : to study an oracle, ask an oracle REL ariyasessar (n, §84) : oracle REL azzikk = to adore (all the time) MI REL LÚhaliyatalla- : temple guard REL handandatar (n, §83) : miracle REL (NA4)huwasi- (n) : grindstone; ritual monument, ritual stone AGR/REL É karim(n)i- : ritual building, temple REL lahhurnuzzi- (n) : sacrificial altar REL lingant- (c) : oath MIL/REL parkuyatar (n, §83) : purification, atonement REL sankunni/sankunniyant- (c) : priest (id LÚSANGA) REL siu = god, nominative = siunis REL suppis = pure REL suppisduwara- (c) : decoration, ornament PER/REL unuwasha- (c) : ornament PER/REL zashai = dream (no nom.) REL ROY = royalty * eshas = ishas = "lord, master" (§10) ROY GIŠhalmasuitt- (c) : throne (id GIŠGUZA) ROY harsanalli- (n) : crown ROY hassu- : king (id LUGAL) ROY hassusara- : queen (id MUNUSLUGAL) ROY ishassara- (c) : lady ROY sallis = big AGR/MIL/ROY SCR = scribal handai = to add MI ACT/SCR hatrai = to write MI SCR kupawi = to count MI Cf. français “couper” SCR memiyas = word Cf. “memory” (English) + “mémoire” (French) etc. SCR tuppi- (n) : tablet, document (Akk ?uppu) SCR VES = pottery,vessels DUG logogram for vessels * DUGhakkun?i- : (a pot) VES DUGharsiyali- (n) : storage receptacle, pithos VES isgaruh- (n, §87) : (a pot) VES ispantuzzi = wine barrel VES DUGkattamarant- (c) : (a pot) VES DUGpalha- (c) : cauldron VES sasanna- (c) : lamp VES tarnas : (small dry measure of capacity) AGR/VES tessummi- (c) : cup, goblet (id DUGGAL) VES tuppa- (c) : vessel, container VES zeri- : cup, goblet (id DUGGAL) VES zeriyalli- (n) : vessel stand VES
Tag Archive: Proto-Greek
Complete decipherment of the Kafkania Pebble, ca. 1700 BCE. Is this the first ever inscription in proto-Greek?This medallion is particularly striking, insofar as it actually appears to be inscribed entirely in proto-Greek. So even though this medallion dates from the Middle Helladic or Middle Minoan era (ca. 1700 BCE), the text appears not to be Minoan at all, but proto-Greek! If this is the case, this is by far the earliest inscription ever unearthed actually inscribed in proto-Greek. The decipherment makes perfect sense. Moreover, the presence of the king is clearly implied in this inscription. And what is even more astonishing is this: the Royal Seal of Malia, equally archaic, inscribed in Cretan hieroglyphics, appears to describe in no uncertain terms the word, wanaka!
If this is true, then wanaka, which as we all know means “king” in Mycenaean Greek, in other words, in a language which came to the fore much later than the Minoan language, is in all probability either a Minoan word or, failing that, in the pre-Greek substratum. It is just as conceivable that all of the words on the Kafkania Pebble fall within the pre-Greek substratum, in other words, that all of these terms were to be taken over by the Mycenaeans at least a century later (ca. 1600 BCE at the earliest). This is an amazing discovery, to say the very least.
Proto-Greek Decipherment of Minoan Linear A silver pin from Mavro Spelio (Middle Minoan III = MM III) in the Heraklion Museum, Greece:This decipherment of Minoan Linear A silver pin from Mavro Spelio (Middle Minoan III = MM III) in the Heraklion Museum, Greece relies rather heavily on the debatable notion that Minoan Linear A is by and large proto-Greek, a theory espoused by Urii Mosenkis, one of the world’s most highly qualified linguists specializing in diachronic historical linguistics, including, but not limited to Minoan Linear A. Accordingly, I have deliberately interpreted ample chunks of the Minoan Linear a vocabulary on this silver pin as being proto-Greek, even though such a decipherment is surely contentious, at least in (large) part. While the first line of my decipherment makes sense by and large, the second is more dubious. It is apparent that the Minoan Linear A word dadu on the first line is almost certainly not proto-Greek, but the last two syllables of dadumine, ie. mine appear to be the dative singular for the (archaic) Greek word for month, i.e. meinei (Latinized), such that the decipherment of this word at least would appear to read “in the month of dadu”. There is nothing really all that strange or peculiar about this interpretation, since we know the names of the months neither in Minoan Linear A nor in Mycenaean Linear B. However, a definite note of caution must be sounded with respect to the decipherment of this word, as well as of all of the other so-called proto-Greek words on this silver pin, since none of them can be verified with sufficient circumstantial evidence or on the contrary. Hence, all translations of putative proto-Greek words in Minoan Linear A must be taken with a grain of salt. While the second line on this pin, if taken as proto-Greek, makes some sense, it is much less convincing than the first, especially in light of the trailing word at the end, tatheis (Greek Latinized, apparently for the aorist participle passive of the verb teino (Latinized) = to stretch/strain, which actually does not make a lot of sense in the context. Nevertheless, it would appear that at least some of the Minoan Linear A words which I have interpreted as being proto-Greek or proto-Mycenaean may in fact be that. I leave it up to you to decide which one(s) are and which are not, if any in fact are. Additionally, even if a few or some of them are proto-Greek, they may fall within the pre-Greek substratum. The most dubious of the so-called proto-Greek words on this pin probably are qami -, tasaza & tatei, since none of these are likely to have fallen within the pre-Greek substratum. But if the Minoan language itself is not proto-Greek, then what is it? I shall have ample occasion to address this apparently thorny question in upcoming posts and especially in my second article on the decipherment of Minoan Linear A, which I shall be submitting to Archaeology and Science by no later than April 17, 2017.
Gretchen Leonhardt is up against some stiff competition from Urii Mosenkis concerning her so-called proto-Japanese origins of Minoan Linear A: Urii Mosenkis makes a very strong case for Minoan Linear A being proto-Greek, and he does it over and over, like clockwork. This includes his own completely different interpretation of Ms. Leonhardt’s highly contentious decipherment of kuro as so called proto-Japanese. I strongly suggest that Ms. Leonhardt read his articles. He is much more qualified than I am in Linear A (and, I contend, than Ms. Leonhardt as well), and I admit it without a shadow of hesitation. I am forced to revise my predictions about the partial decipherment of Minoan Linear A as I outlined them in my first article on Linear A, and I admit openly that Mosenkis is probably right, by and large. Ms. Leonhardt would do well to read all of his articles, as they flat-out contradict everything she claims about the so-called proto-Japanese origins of the Minoan language. I at least have the humility to lay down my cards when I am confronted with convincing evidence to the effect that my own partial decipherment of Minoan Linear A is defective, even though I have already reached many of the same conclusions as Mosenkis. Not that he would ever convince Ms. Leonhardt of the infallibility of her own dubious decipherments of Linear A tablets. I have a very great deal more to say about Ms. Leonhardt’s contentious claims to eventual fame with respect to her clearly flawed interpretations of Linear A tablets, and to drive my points home, I shall have occasion to cite Mosenkis whenever and wherever he contradicts her, and that is always. To view all of Mosenkis’ superbly conceived research papers, please visit his academia.edu account here:Here is a selective electronic bibliography of the highly qualified decipherments Mosenkis has made of several Minoan Linear A inscriptions: Electronic: Mosenkis, Urii. Flourishing of the Minoan Greek State in the Linear A Script 1700 – 14560 BCE. https://www.academia.edu/28708342/FLOURISHING_OF_THE_MINOAN_GREEK_STATE_IN_THE_LINEAR_A_SCRIPT_1700_1450_BCE Mosenkis, Urii. Graeco-Macedonian goddess as Minoan city queen. https://www.academia.edu/26194521/Graeco-Macedonian_goddess_as_Minoan_city_queen Mosenkis,Urii. Linear A-Homeric quasi-bilingual https://www.academia.edu/16242940/Linear_A-Homeric_quasi-bilingual Mosenkis, Urii. ‘Minoan-Greek’ Dialect: Morphology https://www.academia.edu/28433292/MINOAN_GREEK_DIALECT_MORPHOLOGY Mosenkis, Urii. Minoan Greek Farming in Linear A. https://www.academia.edu/27669709/MINOAN_GREEK_FARMING_IN_LINEAR_A_Iurii_Mosenkis Mosenkis, Urii. Minoan Greek hypothesis: A short historiography https://www.academia.edu/27772316/Minoan_Greek_hypothesis_A_short_historiography Mosenkis, Urii. Minoan Greek phonetics and orthography in Linear A https://www.academia.edu/27866235/Minoan_Greek_phonetics_and_orthography_in_Linear_A Mosenkis, Urii. Minoan-Greek Society in Linear A. https://www.academia.edu/27687555/MINOAN_GREEK_SOCIETY_IN_LINEAR_A Mosenkis, Urii. Researchers of Greek Linear A. https://www.academia.edu/31443689/Researchers_of_Greek_Linear_A Mosenkis, Urii. Rhea the Mother of Health in the Arkalokhori Script https://www.academia.edu/31471809/Rhea_the_Mother_of_Health_in_the_Arkalokhori_Script PS I came to almost exactly the same conclusions as Mosenkis re. this inscription, although my Greek translation is different. I wonder what Ms. Leonhardt has to say for herself in light of so many astonishingly insightful decipherments by Urii Mosenkis of a large number of Linear A tablets. I look forward to cogent and rational counter arguments on her part, which stand up to rigorous scientific criteria.
Revisiting & deciphering 2 (TE & DA) of the 27 supersyllabograms in Minoan Linear A in light of the decipherment of 69 additional Minoan words:
Last year (2016), I isolated and categorized all 27 supersyllabograms in Minoan Linear A. This was an extremely exhaustive task, as I had to scan through all the extant Linear A tablets and fragments in order to tally them all. This took at least a month. It is important to understand that the Minoans, and not the Mycenaeans, “invented” supersyllabograms. A supersyllabogram is defined as the first syllabogram, i.e. the first syllable of any given specific Minoan word, economic sector dependent. In other words, when we cross from one economic sector to another, the meaning of any single supersyllabogram can and often does change. The exact same phenomenon recurs in Mycenaean Linear B. For the past year and a half, I have thoroughly covered and deciphered all 36 supersyllabograms in Mycenaean Linear B, and I have as well tentatively deciphered 9 or 33 % of the 27 supersyllabograms in Minoan Linear A. Yet in spite of my initial attempts at decipherment, I was unable to assign any proto-Greek significance to any of them.
But since I have now deciphered 69 new Minoan Linear A words of putative proto-Greek, proto-Hebrew, proto-Semitic and proto-Scythian origin, I have been able to revisit at least 2 of the 27 supersyllabograms, namely, DA & TE & I have discovered that a proto-Greek reading of them on at least one Minoan Linear A tablet, HT 133, makes perfect, unified sense in translation, as seen in this table:
The only observation I should make is the following: the supersyllabogram TE, which is the first syllabogram of the middle voice TENAI = archaic Greek teinai, appears first in the list, because the 55 standard units grains or wheat must be cut down first before they are distributed. For this reason, the middle voice DAINAI (of which the ultimate NAI is identical with that of TENAI), meaning “they are distributed” (i.e. the 55 standard units of grains or wheat). So the word order is entirely rational, and intuitive to the Minoan language. Cut the 55 units of grains or wheat first, and then distribute them. In short, the word order is identical to English. This should come as no surprise in view of the fact that both Minoan Linear A and Mycenaean Linear B generally read from left to right, just as does modern English.
This new development raises the number of Minoan Linear A supersyllabograms tentatively deciphered from 9 to 11 or 40.8 % of all 27 Linear A supersyllabograms.
9 new Minoan Linear A words under U-WI, all of but 1 of which are probably of proto-Greek origin:
The 9 new Minoan Linear A words under U-WI are all probably of proto-Greek origin. As for those terms beginning with the syllabograms WA & WI, I have come to the conclusion that they all begin with digamma, meaning that digamma is even more common in Minoan Linear A than it is in Mycenaean Linear B. If we take into account that every last one of the Minoan Linear A words beginning with digamma would appear without digamma in Mycenaean Linear A, they all are equivalent to their Mycenaean Linear B and ancient Greek counterparts (the latter having dropped digamma for good). For instance, [3] TERA is almost certainly the ancient volcanic island of Thera, now Santorini, while [5] WAJA is equivalent to archaic Greek aia = earth, land and [7] WIJA is fem. pl. = arrows. The only word I have been unable to satisfactorily decipher is [6], of which I was able to decipher the first 2 syllabograms. You have to read the table to see my translation.
With this, we have come full circle to the end of our remarkable journey towards the decipherment of Minoan Linear A. Now that I have deciphered every last word I believe is of proto-Greek, proto-Hebrew, proto-Semitic or proto-Scythian origin, I have reached a cumulative grand TOTAL of 62 new Minoan Linear A words, expanding my original Minoan Linear A Glossary of 107 words = 21.5% of the total extant Linear B lexicon of 510 terms by my arbitrary count to a TOTAL = 169 words = 33 % of the total Minoan Linear A lexicon, which is exactly the sum and percentage I had predicted! This amounts to what is demonstrably a workable decipherment of the Minoan language, including of its grammar, which had evaded me before. Now all I have to do is to decipher as many of the 27 supersyllabograms in Minoan Linear A, beyond the 9 I have already deciphered. Now that I am armed with 62 new Minoan Linear A words, I am quite sure that I shall be able to decipher quite a few more of the supersyllabograms, and with that goal accomplished, I shall have effectively and once and for all deciphered the Minoan language.
3 more Minoan Linear A words under TE-TU of possible or probable proto-Greek origin:While I have listed 7 Minoan Linear A words of potential proto-Greek origin in this table, only 3 of them pass the test of credibility. It is absolutely de rigueur to read this table from top to bottom to get the entire gist of my conclusions.
3 Minoan Linear A words under TA of possible, even probable proto-Greek origin + 1 word in the pre-Greek substratum:
In this table, we find 3 Minoan Linear A words under TA of possible, even probable proto-Greek origin + 1 word in the pre-Greek substratum. The 3 words of possible or probable proto-Greek origin are [1] TAKU = “quickly, soon” + [2a] TAMIA = “someone who cuts” or “a distributor”. Think of it! When someone is distributing items or merchandise, he or she is in fact cutting them into different categories for distribution + [3] TANI, which is an exact match with (proto-) Dorian for “this or that time of day”.
On the other hand, the Minoan Linear A word TAPA, which is identical to its Mycenaean Linear B equivalent, is NOT proto-Greek, but rather sits in the pre-Greek substrate, meaning of course that the Mycenaean Linear B is also in the pre-Greek substratum. This should really come as no surprise, since Mycenaean Greek contained a number of archaic words which never resurfaced in any later East Greek dialects. In other words, they were archaic and anachronistic right from the outset even in Mycenaean Greek. The Mycenaean Greek word tapa is in fact the exact same word as its Minoan Linear A forbear, implying that both are in the pre-Greek substratum. As I have already pointed out in previous posts, there are in fact a few other (Minoan Linear A?) words in the pre-Greek substratum in Mycenaean Linear B.
This brings the cumulative total number of new Minoan Linear A words to 50, increasing the 107 Minoan Linear A words = 21.5 % of the total lexicon of extant 510 Minoan Linear A words in my original Minoan Linear A Glossary to 157 or 30.7 % of the total Linear B Lexicon. This is a significant leap in the number of Minoan Linear B terms I have already deciphered since I set out on the journey to REVISE the original Minoan Linear A Glossary of 107 words.
And I still have yet to extrapolate further decipherments as far as the syllabogram ZU.
2 Minoan Linear A words under SI-SU of possible proto-Greek and 1 of probable proto-Semitic origin:In this table, two of the words are quite likely of proto-Greek origin, while the third, SURIA, probably means “Syria”, especially in light of the fact that since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of the Neolithic centres of culture (known as Pre-Pottery Neolithic A), where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. This brings our cumulative total of Minoan Linear A words of proto-Greek, proto-Hebrew and proto-Semitic origin to 46.
Under the syllabogram RU in Minoan Linear A, there appears to be only one word of possible proto-Greek origin, but it is speculative:Hence, I am not adding to the cumulative total of Minoan Linear A words of putative proto-Greek origin.
Under the syllabogram RE in Minoan Linear A, there appears to be only one word of possible proto-Greek origin and it is...This table is self-explanatory.