The Undeciphered Signs of Linear B
The Undeciphered Signs of Linear B
Decades after Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B and showed that its language was Greek, nearly one-sixth of its syllabic signs' sound-values are still unknown. This book offers a new approach to establishing these undeciphered signs' possible values. Analysis of Linear B's structure and usage not only establishes these signs' most likely sound-values – providing the best possible basis for future decipherments – but also sheds light on the writing system as a whole. The undeciphered signs are also used to explore the evidence provided by palaeography for the chronology of the Linear B documents and the activities of the Mycenaean scribes. The conclusions presented in this book therefore deepen our understanding not only of the undeciphered signs but also of the Linear B writing system as a whole, the texts it was used to write, and the insight these documents bring us into the world of the Mycenaean palaces. A colour version of figures 5.1-5.4 of chapter 5 can be found under the 'Resources' tab.
- Establishes an accurate and up-to-date corpus of the Linear B undeciphered signs
- The first complete analysis of the undeciphered signs which takes into account their place within the syllabary as a whole
- Wide-ranging analysis of the development and use of the Linear B writing system
Reviews & endorsements
'This study represents a thorough and skillful handling of disparate evidence. The linguistic discussion of sound values is rich, but not myopic, and writing is understood as a human practice, rather than the disembodied representation of phonemes. The careful study of palaeographic variants, with an eye to testing old hypotheses, represents a valuable model for future studies of Linear B.' Theodore Nash, Rhea Classical Review
Product details
September 2020Hardback
9781108494724
372 pages
253 × 178 × 22 mm
0.9kg
187 b/w illus. 2 maps 22 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. The (ongoing) decipherment of Linear B
- 2. Identifying 'missing' values in the Linear B syllabary
- 3. The undeciphered signs inherited from Linear A
- 4. The undeciphered signs with no certain Linear A correspondences
- 5. Exploring the potential of palaeography with the undeciphered signs
- Conclusions
- Appendix: corpus of attestations of the undeciphered signs.
