Pre-Greek languages

[X99Lynx at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/30/99 8:49:01 AM, kurisuto at unagi.cis.upenn.edu wrote:

<<Actually, we can say with pretty fair certainty that Linear A is not Greek
nor any other Indo-European language.

First of all, the script appears to be designed for a language with a much
simpler syllable structure than that of the Indo-European languages. >>

But this is precisely the same objection that was made to Linear B as Greek.
And as you observe it is the common reason given for the difficulty in making
out the nuances of Mycenean as it appears in Linear B: <<Linear B is actually
a very bad script for representing Greek; it doesn't represent the
distinction between voiceless, voiceless aspirated, and voiced stops.>>

Just as Linear B might be bad for Greek, Linear A might be worse.  But that
definitely does not mean it is not Greek.  And the term "designed for a
language" assumes something about the skill and purpose of scribes who were
matching symbols to meanings and perhaps sounds when writing technology was
primitive to say the least.

<<It seems that what happened was something like this: when the pre-Greeks
invaded the areas where Linear A was used, they adapted the existing script
for their own use.>>

But the Greek memory of things is different.  The version we are handed down
suggests "Minoan" domination in Greece.  And this might explain the Greeks
adopting the Linears as a prestige form of writing, perhaps enforced by a
dominant bureaucracy. (cf. Theseus)  It would also explain the transitional
examples of Linear A-B being found in such areas as Canaan, which I posted
earlier.  The use of the scripts as an administrative tool for a
multi-national, multiregional power in the eastern Mediterrean might suggest
that there was a period of conversion of which we only have snapshots.  But
all of this would not necessarily exclude that the Greeks were using a "bad"
script for Greek to write Greek before Linear B came along.

<<If the sound values in Linear B are any indication, it appears that an
extemely large number of the Linear A words end in -u, whatever this means
(in any case, it isn't what you generally find in IE languages).>>

As you note this is evidence but not conclusive.  A shift in vowel sounds
(e.g., from -u to -i or -oi) that might have prompted the change from A to B
would actually work the other way.

<<Actually, we can say with pretty fair certainty that Linear A is not Greek
nor any other Indo-European language...Undeciphered texts attract crackpots
like a flame attracts moths.  This doesn't mean that we won't ever succeed in
deciphering Linear A, but it's just another thing to muddy the waters
further.>>

It is also another thing to muddy the waters with a certainty we simply don't
have.  This was the cardinal sin that happened with Linear B and it seems
that we haven't learned our lesson yet.  Too much certainty about the
ancioent past is probably a bad thing:

<<In 1949 Ventris had sent out a questionnaire on Linear B to over 40 leading
authorities on Aegean questions (including archaeologists, linguists and
historians); he privately distributed the replies in 1950 as The Languages of
the Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations (known as the "Mid-Century Report").>>
Not even one suggested that the texts might be in Greek.

But most were CERTAIN it wasn't.

Regards,
Steve Long