Pre-Greek languages

[Rick Mc Callister]

	There is a compilation of Cretan vocabulary by R. A. Brown. I've
always wondered how it was received by specialists
	Here's a bit from my notes
	Brown relies heavily on Hesykhios, pointing out that there are 224
Cretan citations in his compilation and that 25% of them are non-Greek,
with some showing connections with pre-IE and pre-Semitic sources.
	He states that 40% of Cretan place names are pre-Greek. He adds
that some "formative elements" are shared with Anatolian place names
	He sees elements of common substrate in Greek, Anatolian and
Armenian and that a common substrate may have been spoken in the Aegean,
Greece, Crete, Anatolia and the Balkans
	He cites Classic historians on the early/pre-history of Crete
	He claims there are no obvious connections between Eteo-Cretan,
Cypro-Minoan and Lemnian
	He sees no Semitic place names in Crete and no Semitic influence
except for Linear B sa-sa-me and ku-mi-na and 3 pot terms that show up in
Ugaritic [but no other Semitic languages]
	There are terms that are cognate with pre-Greek, with pre-IE
substrate [including Etruscan]
	He includes examples of Praisian and Eteo-Cretan inscriptions
	There is an inscription from Psychro/Psuxro that ends with 3 Linear
A type symbols,which may be mere imitations
	The phonological inventory given for Eteo-Cretan is
a e i o u [short and long]
ai oi au eu
t/d
k/g
p/b or f/p
s
S/tsw
r l m n
y w [semi-vowels]

	He feels that Linear B came from a "mainland version" of Linear A.
he notes that A & B share about half their signs
	Based on Linear script and loan words, the phonological inventory
for Minoan is
a e i o u
ai oi au eu
stops were contrasted as non-marked, palatalized and labialized
they were voiced, unaspirated unvoiced and aspirated unvoiced
e.g. /t/ /ty/ /tw/
labial stops may have shifted /p > ph/, /b > p/
the only voiced vs unvoiced contrast in stops occurs in dentals with
alternation of t-d-l in Greek borrowings
liquids were syllabic l r m n
consonant clusters were limited to possible /s + stop/
/stop + r, l/ is common
/ps/ is common

[ moderator snip ]

Rick Mc Callister
W-1634
Mississippi University for Women
Columbus MS 39701