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High Correlation Linear A―Linear B vocabulary, grammar and orthography in Linear A
by Richard Vallance Janke and Alexandre Solcà
ISBN 978-0-9868289-1-1
Board of Editors/Conseil des rédacteurs
Richard Vallance Janke, University of Western Ontario, Emeritus
Editor-in-Chief
Alexandre Solcà
Associate Editor-in-Chief, Université de Genève, independent researcher
Spyros Bakas,
Chief Associate Editor, University of Warsaw
Associate Editors:
John Bengtson, University of Minnesota
Julia Binnberg, University of Oxford, Classical Archaeology
Nic Fields, University of Newcastle, England
Jean-Philippe Gingras, Royal Military College of Canada
Roman Koslenko, Mykolaiv National University & National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine
Haris Koutelakis, Kapodistrian University of Athens
Massimo Perna, Università degli Studi di Napoli Suor Orsola Benincasa
Philipp Schwinghammer, Universität Leipzig, Historisches Seminar
Olivier Simon, Université de Lorraine, independent researcher, PIE
Helène Whittaker, University of Gothenburg, Department of Historical Studies
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High Correlation Linear A―Linear B vocabulary, grammar and orthography in Linear A and
Linear B
Any researcher who cannot constructively criticize his or her own research with the greatest scrutiny is not
properly worthy of invaluable criticism from other researchers. Richard Vallance Janke 2018
ABSTRACT:
Over the past 118 years since the discovery of the first Linear A tablets at Knossos,
innumerable attempts have been made to decipher Linear A, all of them falling short of
expectations in academia, or being outright abject failures. We propose a multi-pronged
approach to the decipherment of the Mycenaean-derived superstrate in Linear A, otherwise
known as New Minoan (NM), with the implicit understanding that we, like all other
researchers past and present, are not in a position to decipher the Minoan substrate language,
a.k.a. Old Minoan (OM), onto which Mycenaean-derived New Minoan (NM) vocabulary is
grafted. The primary thrust of this monograph is to demonstrate the high correlation which
obtains only between Mycenaean-derived Linear A and Linear B vocabulary, a.k.a. New
Minoan (NM) in Linear A, between the grammar and orthography in Linear A and Linear B
and between their syllabaries. To this end we have adopted a multi-pronged approach, which
consists of the following methodologies: (a) the establishment of high correlation between
Mycenaean-derived Linear A and Linear B vocabulary, wherever applicable (b) the
confirmation of high correlation between the Linear A and Linear B syllabaries (c)
demonstration of high correlation between the orthography of Mycenaean-derived Linear A
terms and their Linear B counterparts and (d) corroborating evidence of the possible
derivation of much of Mycenaean, archaic and Homeric Greek grammar from foundational
archaic Minoan declensions.
Keywords: syllabary, Linear A, substrate, Linear B, superstrate, correlation, high correlation,
derivation, derivative analysis, vocabulary, orthography, syllabaries, grammar, archaic Greek,
Homeric Greek
1. Introduction:
Over the past 118 years since the discovery of the first Linear B and Linear A tablets by Sir
Arthur Evans at Knossos, innumerable attempts have been made to decipher Linear A, almost
all of them based on the assumption that the script represents a single language with no
substrate or superstrate, and with only a few decipherments attesting to an adstrate. As
Richard Vallance Janke emphatically stressed in Archaeology and Science, Vol. 12 (2016):
So many philologists grappling with the decipherment of Minoan Linear A make the
practically universal assumption, which I for one reject as spurious, that if we are to
succeed in deciphering Minoan Linear A at all, we must first come in contact with an
actual “known” proto-language upon which practically all philologists insist, Linear A
must be based. The fundamental problem inherent to this approach is that each and
every one of these would-be decipherers has boxed himself into a particular proto-
language which he assumes, in utter faith and with all too often cavalier confidence,
simply has to be the proto-language upon Minoan Linear A must be based. 1 ... passim ...
... S0-called decipherments run the gamut from a few proto-languages, some of them
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Indo-European (such as Proto-Slavic and the extinct Anatolian languages), others non
proto-Indo-European, running the gamut from Uralic (proto-Finnish) to proto-Niger
Congo, proto-Semitic and Sumerian all the way through to proto-Altaic and proto-
Japanese! While it is patently impossible that all of these proto-languages could be at the
base of the Minoan language, it is conceivable that one of them might be. But which one?
Given the tangled mass of contradictions these so-called decipherments land us in, we
are left with no alternative but to conclude that none of these so-called proto-languages
is liable to stand any linguistic test of verisimilitude.
The worst pretension of a few of these authors of monographs and tractata claiming to
have deciphered Minoan Linear A is the untenable claim that they have all but fully
deciphered it. How is it even remotely possible that all of these soi-disant decipherers of
Minoan Linear A can claim to have discovered the so-called magic bullet in the guise of
the proto-language upon which their decipherment has been based, when the proto-
languages they invoke are so wildly disparate? But no one has ever come up with a
convincing decipherment. 2
Hence, unravelling Linear A is a much more complex affair than merely “deciphering” it at the
surface level.
The phenomenon of the presence of a superstrate in any language, in this case, in the
language represented by the Linear A syllabary:
To date, no linguists exploring the phenomenon of the superstrate have ever properly taken
this paramount criterion into consideration, namely, that any superstrate word introduced
into a substrate language must conform to the standard orthographic and syntactical
conventions of the substrate language, and that is why all of their efforts at decipherment of
so-called “Greek-like” vocabulary have more or less failed. It must be understood from the
outset that all researchers and decipherers of Linear A, including Gregory Nagy 3 and Iurii
Mosenkis 4, who have ever attempted to assign “Greek-like” lexicographical values to the
decipherment of Linear A have made the fundamental and critical error of retrospectively
extrapolating Greek words from later Homeric and, worse yet, much later classical Greek,
without taking this axiomatic criterion into consideration. This issue can be summarized in a
nutshell: the so-called Greek-like words imported into the Minoan language can only be early
(ca. 1600 BCE) or later (ca. 1500-1450 BCE) Mycenaean-derived and nothing else. They are
not derived from any Greek dialect subsequent to Mycenaean Greek, not even from Arcado-
Cypriot Linear C, the kissing cousin of the Mycenaean dialect and not even necessarily from
Homeric Greek (but with a considerable number of notable exceptions of Linear A lexemes
closely linked with Homeric Greek). We must clearly distinguish the New Minoan (NM)
Mycenaean-derived superstrate from what we call Old Minoan (OM), the underlying Minoan
substrate, which as yet remains by and large undeciphered. 5
It absolutely essential to recognize that so-called Mycenaean-derived words in their own right
on multiple Linear A tablets must conform with the strictures imposed by the orthographic,
grammatical and syntactical norms of the Minoan substrate, i.e. the original Minoan language
in which they are ensconced, regardless of the fact that the greatest portion of the Minoan
language itself has by far never been successfully deciphered. If there exists Mycenaean-
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derived vocabulary on Linear inscriptions, its grammatical and syntactical form and function
is structurally Minoan.
Over the past two years, Richard Vallance Janke and Alexandre Solcà have attempted to
extract what they consider to be a subset of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary from Linear A
tablets and inscriptions. To date, we have discovered some 199 Linear A exograms, written
words which may qualify as being probably and, in a few cases at least, definitely Mycenaean-
derived. The exogram is a new linguistic construct, the neologism the renowned
anthropologist, Colin Renfrew, has coined, as seen here 6 :
The fifth and final stage ... is the ‛theoretic’ stage, which is characterised by ...
‛insitutionalised paradigmatic thought’ ― i.e. by the development of a new kind of
theory that gives the stage its name ― and by massive external memory storage. This
normally involves writing... [contrasting] ... the internal memory record (or ‛engram’)
― implying the storage of memory within our brains, which had to serve all humans
until the development of writing systems ― with the external memory record (or
‛exogram’) as implied by written archives and by other methods of large-scale data
storage and data recall. These are external because they lie outside the human brain
and beyond the human body. And, as we know, the first such writing systems
appeared around 3500 BCE.”
Further clarification of Colin Renfrew’s constructs is in order. What is the difference between
engrams and exograms? This distinction is critical, because it is fundamental.
1.1 Engram:
Now it is imperative to understand that the engram is understood to be either:
(a) the cognitive map or memory medium , i.e. the oral language per se in which intelligible
oral units are couched or
(b) the intelligible unit itself in prehistoric oral languages in remote antiquity anterior to
proto-historic written ones, as well as in oral languages surviving to this day. Each engram is
the oral or spoken equivalent of the mind image which it represents. Examples of engrams in
any and all oral languages, past and present, range across the entire spectrum of their
vocabulary from sheep, wheat, field, river, rain, sun, moon, gods etc. etc. and on through
thousands of other words. Of course, since the unit engrams for vocabulary are language-
specific, traversing the borders of language classes, they are rarely if ever the same from one
oral language to the next. The commonplace term for engram is the spoken word. Engrams in
oral languages are preserved by being passed down from generation to generation, but if any
particular oral prehistoric language has never moved on into the written stage, it is referred to
as a lost language. It is impossible to determine how many oral languages have been lost
forever in the foggy abyss of prehistory, but there must be thousands.
1.2 Exogram:
The exogram is understood to be either:
(a) the permanent record of the cognitive map or memory medium or language per se in
which the basic intelligible medium (i.e. language) is inscribed or
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(b) the inscribed or written intelligible unit of mind images in proto-historic and historic
languages. The exogram or permanently inscribed massive external storage system ensures
that all bodies of extant written records in proto-historic and historic languages survive to this
day. Exograms are instrinsic to every conceivable kind of proto-historic or historic writing
system whatsoever, from logosyllabic Chinese, one of the most ancient of oriental scripts,
frequently hand-written, to Mayan glyphs inscribed in stone, and Egyptain hieroglyphs, either
inscribed on stone or hand-written on papyrus, to the cuneiform script common to Sumerian
and Akkadian, incised in clay, to syllabaries such as Linear A and Mycenaean Linear B, also
incised in clay, all the way through to the earliest alphabets, such as archaic, Homeric and
Attic Greek, and inclusive of all written scripts we may have overlooked. Thus the exogram or
written word invariably survives to this day, but only in extant inscriptions or records.
Exograms are characterized by massive external memory storage. When Renfew speaks of
massive external memory storage, he is not referencing modern computer or supercomputers
at all. His concept of massive external memory storage refers to inscribed or hand-written
ancient and modern manual systems only, as opposed to modern electronic. In modern
languages, books and the vocabulary they contain are exograms. By the proto-historic era,
large-scale data storage and data recall systems were already hand-written as in Egyptian
hieroglyphics or inscribed, and as attested to by the Linear A and Linear B syllabaries, among
other scripts contemporaneous with them. In comparison with prehistoric engram storage
(which is oral and evanescent), these new systems of extant writing were and remain
permanent massive storage records.
Examples of exograms in Linear A and Linear B:
There are of course instances where both engrams and exograms appeared on the scene, the
exograms diachronicaly pursuant to engrams. In the tradition of Homer, the Iliad and the
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Odyssey were initially couched in the oral tradition, their content consisting of engrams only,
then eventually transcribed into writing (exograms). The consequence of this scenario is
perhaps not so surprising. Because the engrams were transformed into exograms, the
contents of the Iliad and Odyssey have survived to this day. Otherwise, if these epics had
remained solely in the realm of engrams, they would have perished. What a fortunate
happenstance for literary enthusiasts of the greatest epic poetry ever encountered in this
word, past or present.
As a matter of course, we shall frequently be referring to written words as exograms in the
course of this study.
Of the 199 exograms we have extracted from Linear A, we have isolated a subset of 67 or
almost 34 % appearing to exhibit a high correlation with apparent Mycenaean-derived
vocabulary. The 67 high correlation Linear exograms or words appear in the table below.
1.3
High Correlation Linear A ― Linear B words in the
Glossary of Mycenaean superstrate vocabulary in Linear A
This lexicon of High Correlation Linear A ― Linear B words in the Glossary of Mycenaean
superstrate vocabulary in Linear A consists of intact Linear A words only. While Prof. John G.
Younger’s Linear A Reverse Lexicon ostensibly contains over 900 words, in actuality it
encompasses far fewer. It includes so many terms containing numeric syllabograms (*034
*047 *118 *305 *306 *308 *310 *311 *312 *529 *532 *3011 etc.), none of which can properly
be phonetically deciphered, that the actual number of intact Linear A words is considerably
lower. Moreover, broken strings of syllabograms (e.g. *118-A-•-DA, *301-A, JU-•-DA+*309c,
I-ZU-I-•-•-NU-KU-PA-NA-KU-JU, MA-RI-•-I, RE-•-DU-TE-TE-KI-DI-A, RO+RO+*504 etc.),
words truncated, left, right or on both sides, and strings greater than 15 syllabograms drive
the sum total even lower, leaving us with our sub-lexicon with its emphasis squarely on intact
words alone.
Thus, this sub-lexicon of 67 High Correlation Linear A ― Linear B words in the Glossary of
Mycenaean superstrate vocabulary in Linear A consists of only intact words in John G.
Younger’s Linear A Reverse Lexicon (which is far from comprehensive). Since Prof. Younger,
founding his data on the statistical surveys by Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier (to whom
he ascribes the acronym, Gorila) has already realized a thoroughly detailed cross-contextual
and cross-tabular data analysis of around 3/4 of the Linear A repertoire, we see no need to
rehash his research here, in others words, to re-invent the wheel. It is for this reason that we
have entirely abstained from repeating the statistical data enumerating all of the tablets on
which each and every Linear A word he has isolated appears, with the exception of intact
words we have singled out. For all such statistical data I refer the reader to Prof. Younger’s
site. We also need scarcely point out that the vast majority of Linear A words appear on just
one or two tablets or fragments, (See section 6.1.1.5 Hapax Legomenon: below for further in-
depth clarification), yet another cogent reason why it is a waste of time rehashing their
original tabular context(s) here.
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PGS = pre-Greek substratum? TOP = toponym ANT = anthroponym LIG = ligature LP (L.R.
Palmer) JY = John G. Younger
NOTES:
1. Cretan is partly a very ancient (archaic) West Greek dialect, according to C.D. Buck. The
Greek Dialects. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, © 1955 & 1998 ISBN 1-85399-556-8.
xvi, 373 pp. pp. 169-172
2. TOP = toponym + ANT = anthroponym + theonyms etc. probably fall in the pre-Greek
substrate, and hence do not prove that these are proto-Greek.
3. Mycenaean-derived word -> (archaic) Greek
4. Digamma #, which was very common in Linear A and Linear B, remained in use in the
Cretan dialect until the second century BCE.
5. It must be made crystal clear that all spellings of Mycenaean-derived Linear A and
Mycenaen Linear B words conform with the orthographic conventions of Chris Tselentis’
Linear B Lexicon,
https://www.academia.edu/15310428/Linear_B_Lexicon_by_Chris_Tselentis_Greece_
In light of the observations we made above, we proceed to the phenomenon of the presence of
a superstrate in any language, in this case, Mycenaean-derived Greek etymological roots
superimposed on the language represented by the Linear A syllabary:
Essentially, a superstrate is a spectrum of vocabulary imposed on or infiltrating any language,
such as the Minoan language, from another language coterminous with it, in this case,
Mycenaean-derived vocabulary penetrating it.
It is absolutely critical to understand that the Homeric and much later ancient Greek
orthography for each of the Linear A Mycenaean-derived words below can at best merely
approximate the Linear A orthography, since the corresponding ancient Greek words, even if
archaic and Homeric, generally appeared on the scene much later than Linear A did in Crete.
The majority of the later ancient Greek words apparently corresponding to their much earlier
Linear A counterparts we have spelled out in either Homeric (where possible) or Ionic
orthography, for the sake of convenience. The obvious drawbacks of this sort of retrogressive
extrapolation from much later archaic and Homeric (ca. 800 BCE) to ancient (ca. 700-400
BCE) Greek to Linear A words with which they appear to correspond are:
1. Since there are so many ancient Greek dialects with such wide variations in orthography,
how on earth can we be sure that the ancient Greek orthography we have adopted in
preference for any given Mycenaean-derived Linear A word is in fact the most accurate
reflection of the latter? However, in spite of this glaring deficiency, artificial Epic Homeric, the
extremely archaic Cretan and the Aeolic dialects best reflect what we characterize as latter-day
Mycenaean-derived orthography based on the conventions of Old Minoan (OM) orthography.
2. What if any particular apparently Mycenaean-derived word merely looks superficially
somewhat like its so-called archaic or ancient Greek equivalent, but is not related at all to the
latter? Here the phenomenon of pareidolia, the marked tendency to visualize patterns where
they do not exist, comes into play. Linguistic researchers and philologists, just as researchers
in other scientific disciplines, are particularly prone to this fundamental cognitive error. This
is precisely why the so-called decipherments of Linear A to date have crumbled to pieces.
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Researchers invariably see patterns in Linear A which are simply not there. It is of course
obvious that we may very well have fallen prey to the same cognitive-sensorial defect. In the
table below, there are three ways to interpret pareidolia:
a. Pareidolia NO: This particular interpretation does not appear to be an instance of
pareidolia.
b. Pareidolia P: This interpretation may very well be an instance of pareidolia.
c. Pareidolia B: Since this word totally harmonizes with its Linear B counterpart,
pareidolia probably does not enter into the equation.
3. Given that Mycenaean-derived words in Linear A apparently derived from Linear B must
perforce conform with the orthographic, grammatical and syntactical conventions of the
Minoan substrate, a.k.a. Old Minoan (OM), the underlying Minoan language, it is more likely
than not that a few, and indeed probably all of our cross-correlations between their Linear A
format and multi-various corresponding ancient Greek orthographies are doubtless open to a
wide spectrum of phonetic interpretations, many of which may or may not adequately reflect
the actual phonetics of their archaic, Homeric or ancient Greek counterparts. We have tagged
instances of this persistent phenomenon in the table below.
** after an entry = probable or even certain correspondence between Linear A and B
NOTE: nira HT 23+HT 150 is Late Old Minoan (OM), LM 1b (Minoan for fig(s))
1. akarakitanasijase PE Zb 3 ** a1karaki/rtanisia = a field with terebinth trees + ideogram for
man, i.e. a man in a field with terebinth trees. This particular interpretation does not appear
to be an instance of pareidolia. Pareidolia NO:
2. amaja KH 14 LM 1 b (used in conjunction with barley, i.e. a wagon load of barley). See also
amata LM 1 b See also amaja + a3/rmata -> a3/rma = wagon (plural). This interpretation may
well be an instance of pareidolia, because the orthographies do really match all that well.
Pareidolia P:
3. apero ** a1mpeloj = a vine Cf. Linear B apero. Since this word corresponds precisely with
its Linear B counterpart, pareidolia probably does not enter into the equation. Pareidolia B:
4. arako KO ? Zf 2 ** a0ra/c = weaver. Cf. Linear B arakateya a0laka/teiai = weavers. Because
the Linear B is a compound, this is an instance of Pareidolia P:
5. aripa ** a1leifar = cream, ointment Cf. Linear B arepa: orthography is almost identical.
Pareidolia B:
6. arura/arurata ** HT 11 a0rou/ra = unit of land – or – plough. Cf. its probable etymological
roots in Linear B arura. Pareidolia B:
7. Asara2 ** HT 89 TOP = Linear B Asaro A0sa/roj – or - may refer to Assur, hence Assyria
-or- asara2 (asarai) = (a privative) without barley– or - OM = white, Hittite asara. Because
there are too many alternatives, Pareidolia P:
8. Asuja2 ** HT 11 LM 1 b A0sui/ua = onomastics TOP. Cf. Linear B Asiwiya A0si/#ia Pareidolia
P:
9. atare Cf. Linear B, ataro PY An 35 a0ta=lei/ -> a0ta=lo/j = tender; delicate (of crops?) - or -
a0qa/lei <- a0qa/loj = without a branch, twig; without an olive branch – or - a9dro/j = full-grown
– or – a0qa/rh = groats, meal, green fodder, forage, provender Cf. kupari = galingale - or - OM
= blue, Hittite, antara. Because there are too many alternatives, Pareidolia P:
10. atiru ** KN Dv 1272 B ZA 4 LM I b Cf. Linear B, atiro a0ti/lu -> a0te/loj = (a privative)
without boundaries Pareidolia P/B:
8
11. auta ** au0ta/ = self, oneself; alone + deponiza (see below) = the mistress herself
in the phrase: arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza Pareidolia NO:
12. damate ** KY Za 2 (peak sanctuary of Haghios Georgios) Da/mate = Damater (Demeter) Cf.
Linear B Damate Cf. damate = Earth Mother (Pelasgian) Cf. Linear B mate(re) ma/ter
Pareidolia NO:
13. depa/depu ** de/paj de/pu= cup Cf. Linear B dipa di/paj & Homeric de/pa (Luwian = bowl,
cup) Pareidolia B: + dipaja PH 7+20+21 MM II a/b di/paia (gen. sing.) -> di/paj de/paj = from
a cup (genitive singular, alternate?)
14. deponiza ** de/spoina = mistress, lady KO? Zf 2 Cf. Linear B deponiya. Because of
divergent spelling in the phrase: arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza Pareidolia P + B:
15. dideru = einkorn wheat, Cf. Linear B didero. See also kunisu (Semitic) for emmer wheat.
Pareidolia B:
16. dija/dije Di/ #a Cf. Linear B Diwija Di#i/a = priestess of Zeus. Pareidolia P:
17. Idamate = mother goddess of Mount Ida, from the Arkalochori Cave Cf. Linear B mate(re)
ma/ter. Pareidolia B:
18. ijate ** KN Zb 4 PH Zb 4 LM I b i0a/ter = doctor, physician Etymologically derived from
Linear B iyate i0a/ter. Pareidolia B:
19. iruja HT 7 LM Ib i0e/ruia = priestess Cf. Linear B iyereya i0e/reia. Pareidolia B:
20. jarisapa (agglutinative) OM = some kind of dress? Cf. Linear B sapa = a dress. Because
the Linear A is a compound of Old Minoan (OM) jari and New Minoan (NM) sapa, Pareidolia
P:
21. kaki HT 37 LM 1b = with copper + kaku (copper) ** [HT 62 + 73 (joins)] xalku/ ->
xalko/j = copper, bronze Cf. Linear B, kako xalko/j. Pareidolia B:
22. kami ** ka/mi (dat./instr. sing.) <- ka/ma = on a unit of land (locative) Cf. Linear B kama,
ka/ma. Pareidolia P/B:
23. kanaka ** kna/ka = saffron Cf Linear B kanako kna/koj. Pareidolia B:
24. kapa = fruit, ripe crops, Cf. Linear B kapo = fruit LA = ka/rpa. Pareidolia B:
25. kati ** HT 63 HT 88 LM 1 b See also kadi ka/rtij = a kind of pot, hydria (water flask)
Etymologically derived from Linear B kati hydria (water flask). Pareidolia B:
26. kera/kero ** ke/raj = horn (ivory) -or- khr/oj = bees-wax Cf. Linear B kera. Pareidolia B:
27. kidaro **kidaro ke/dron = juniper berry-or- kedri/a = oil of cedar Cf. Linear B kidaro.
Pareidolia B:
28. kireta2 (kiretai) ** HT 85 HT 114 HT 121 HT 125 HT 129 all = LM 1 b kri/qai = barley +
kiretana ** HT 2 HT 8 HT 108 HT 120, all = LM 1 b kriqani/aj = like barley, barley
(attributive) + kiretaiwinu kri/qai = barley + winu #i/nu = wine Cf. Linear B wono #oi/noj,
hence kiretaiwinu = kri/qai#i/nu = barley wine, i.e. beer Cf. Linear B kirita + wono = kriqa/ +
#oi/noj = barley wine, i.e. beer. Unattested, but most likely correct. Pareidolia B:
29. kitanasija/kitanasijase ** kitanisija (instrumental or ablative pl.), Petras PE Zb 3 and also
on edges of pithoi from Petras = ki/rtanasia <- ki/rtanoj = terebinth tree Cf. Linear B kitano
ki/rtanoj. Pareidolia B:
30. kitina ** - on a Minoan decorated ceramic ktoi/na/ktoina/siaj = border of a plot of
land/territory Cf. Linear B kotona kotoina ktoi/na = plot of land. Pareidolia B:
31. kumina HT Wc 3013 LM 1 b + kuminaqe * HT 54 LM 1b HT Wc 3014 = and cumin See
also Linear B kumino ku/minon. Pareidolia B:
32. kupari KH 29 – truncated kupa/ri -> kupa/rissoj = cypress plant, made of cypress, Cf.
Linear B kuparo = ku/pairoj = cypress plant. Pareidolia B:
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33. madi HT 69 HT 85 HT 97 HT 118 – all =LM I b ma/di (unknown) Cf. L.R. Palmer, Linear B,
madi (multiple occurrences). Some kind of livestock, possibly a lamb, or the name of a
shepherd. Pareidolia B:
34. maru mallo/j = flock of wool Cf. Linear B mari mali/ = wool. Pareidolia B:
35. materi PH 5 MM II a/b ma/teri = for mother Definitely etymologically derived from Linear
B, mate/matere ma/tere. Pareidolia B:
36. mera **me/la = honey Cf. Linear B meri me/lin = honey. Pareidolia B: + adameri = with a
portion/serving of honey (instr. sing.) LM 1 b Cf. Linear B, meri me/lin. Pareidolia B:
37. meza ** HT 10 HT 85 LM 1 b me/za (fem. sing.) = greater, bigger Cf. Linear B mezo me/zwn
me/zoj. Pareidolia B:
38. mita mi/nqa = mint Definitely etymologically derived from Linear B mita. Pareidolia B:
39. piminate HT 116 LM 1 b spi/mina te/ -> spe/rma = and seed (used in conjunction with grain)
Cf. Linear B pema = spe/rma>. Pareidolia P:
40. posi -or- sipo LIG posi/ = on, upon Cf. Linear B posi -or- sipo = si/fwn = reed, straw,
siphon. The first interpretation is less likely than the second, since it is highly unlikely that the
Old Minoan (OM) preposition for “on, upon” is posi, and the latter has no corresponding
term in Linear B. Pareidolia P:
41. puko HT 19 OM = tripod Cf. Linear B pukoso pu/coj = box-wood. But the Linear A and
Linear B exograms are apparently unrelated. Pareidolia P:
42. punikaso ** funi/kasoj = crimson, red (of wine). Cf. Linear B ponikiya ponikiyo foini/kioj
= crimson (of Phoenician origin). In spite of divergent spelling, Pareidolia B:
43. qeti ** HT 7 = a very large pot, pithos Cf. Linear B qeto pi/qoj Pareidolia B:
44. sasame * HT 23 sasa/me = sesame. Cf. Linear B sasama sasa/ma. Pareidolia B:
45. Sikira/Sikirita ** HT 8 LM Ib PH Wa 32 MM II b PGS ANT/TOP – or - si/kera = sweet
fermented liquor LB sikiro. Because of ambiguity, Pareidolia P:
46. Sima ** PH Zb 4 LM I b PGS TOP Si/ma = Sima Cf. Linear B Sima – or - sh=ma = sign, mark,
token; omen; mound; grave, tomb Cf. sama/samaro above. Because of ambiguity, Pareidolia
P:
47. simita = mouse? Cf. Linear B Simiteu HT 96 LM 1 b Simi/ta -> Sminqeu/j = epithet of the
god Apollo. Pareidolia P:
48. sipiki ZA 4 LM I b ZA 5 LM I b ** (ZA 5 is definitely a military tablet) ZA 15 LM I b Cf.
Linear B qisipe(e) ci/fee = swords -or- = band, bracelet, necklace <- sfiggi/ <- sfiggi/on (If it
is the latter, there is no correlation at all). Pareidolia P:
49. situ HT Wa 1019 LM 1 b + sita2 KH 9 LM 1 b ZA 20 si/tu si/tun = wheat. Cf. Linear B sito
si/ton + site si/te (dat. sing.) ZA 26 LM I b. Pareidolia B:
50. suzu su/zuc = yoked together; paired Cf. Linear B zeukesi zeu/gesi = yoked (instr. pl.).
Pareidolia B:
51. taikama ** HT 11 OM tai + ka/ma = a unit of land, something like an acre? Cf. Linear B
kama k/ama = unit of land, plot. Pareidolia B + P:
52. terikama ** te/leika/ma = extent of land, i.e. something like acreage, lit. land to its extent or
boundary. Pareidolia B + P:
53. tero/teroa KT zg 2 sinistrograde ** Cf. Linear B kama k/ama = unit of land, plot te/loj =
end, boundary. Pareidolia P:
54. toraka ** qw/rac = breastplate, cuirass = Linear B toraka. Pareidolia B:
55. turunu ** qo/rnoj = throne Cf. Linear B torono Pareidolia B: qo/rnoj + turunuseme HT
128+134 LM 1 b + OM = room. Because of ambiguity, Pareidolia P:
10
56. wanaka ** (found on a Linear A seal) #a/nac = king Cf. Linear B wanaka. Pareidolia B:
57. wasato ** #a/stu a1stu = town Cf. Linear B wato #a/stu. See also, Luwian, ati wati = in the
town - or - OM = cattleman? to Luwian wastara + Wasatomaro + OM TOP = the town of
Maro(s)? in the phrase: arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza. Because of ambiguity, Pareidolia
P:
58. winu ** #i/nu = wine Cf. Linear B wono #oi/noj Cf. Luwian wainu + winijant & Hittite,
wiyana. Pareidolia B:
59. wireu ** #i0eru/ -> #i0ero/j = priest Cf. Linear B iyero i0ero/j. Pareidolia B:
We can be forgiven if we experience a sense of déjà vu with these Linear A and Linear B
words, with most if not all of the former echoing their Linear B counterparts.
Pre-Greek substrate: none of these words can count towards the Mycenaean superstrate in
Linear A, but almost all of them appear in the same or a similar format in Linear B:
60. Dawa ** KN Za 10 PGS = place name. Cf. LB Dawo Da/#oj / Da/#on. Pareidolia B:
61. Kosaiti ** PGS TOP Cf. Linear B Kutaito Ku/taistoj (not necessarily the same place).
Pareidolia P:
62. Kudoni ** HT13 (PS,II,I,64) Kudwni/ = PGS TOP at Kudoni (locative sing.) HT 85 LM 1 b
+ Kudona (PS,II,I,124) LM 1 b Cf. Linear B Kudonija Kudw/nia = from Kudonia. Pareidolia P:
63. Kutiti ** PGS TOP (locative sing.) Kutaistos Cf. LB Kutaito. Pareidolia P:
64. Paito ** HT 97 LM 1 b HT 120 PGS Phaistos Faisto/j = Phaistos. Linear Paito Faisto/j Is
definitely etymologically derived from the Pre-Greek substrate. See also Payata (Luwian).
Pareidolia B:
65. Rukito ** PGS TOP Cf. Linear B Rukito Lu/kinqoj Lykinthos – or – Lycians . Pareidolia B:
66. Setoija ** PR Za 1 MM III + LM I a PGS TOP Cf. Linear B Setoiya Shtoi/a. Pareidolia B:
67. Sikine ** PGS TOP loc. sing. of Sikinos PGS TOP = Sybrita Cf. Linear B Sukirita Su/grita
Pareidolia P:
TOTAL = 67/199 = i.e. almost 34 % total vocabulary in the Glossary of Mycenaean
superstrate vocabulary in Linear A.
The grand total for Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary of 199 terms in Linear A
accounts for only about 23 % of the approximately 1,100 intact words in Linear A, while the
high correlation vocabulary accounts for only about 7 % of the latter. So in effect, this means
that the decipherment of Linear A as a whole is still largely out of our reach, since Linear A
comprises both Old Minoan (OM), the original substrate language, with its some 886
exograms (words), more or less, accounting for some 77 % of the entire language and the
Mycenaean-derived superstrate, which represents 23 % of the whole. It must also be
understood that our statistical paradigm is entirely arbitrary. Any other researcher pursuing
the very same line of investigation as ourselves is bound to come up with different
percentages, on the assumption that they will necessarily reject some of our interpretations of
Linear A vocabulary closely correlated to Linear B, and discover others we have overlooked.
This is a perfectly normal outcome.
These are the major sites where Mycenaean-derived vocabulary, including the high
correlation, is found (Table 1):
11
From Linear A tablets exhibiting a high correlation with their Linear B counterparts, it can be
circumstantially demonstrated that there probably exists a Mycenaean-derived superstrate in
Linear A. All of these words are probably early Mycenaean, with the caveat that their
orthography and grammatical structure must have been adjusted to reflect the exigencies of
the orthography and grammatical structure of the Minoan substrate language (Old Minoan,
OM), the original Minoan language onto which they have been grafted. Allow me to explain
how this phenomenon transpires.
1.4 What is a superstrate and how does Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A qualify?
1.4.1 Comparison between the Norman French and French superstrate in English with the
apparent Mycenaean-derived superstrate (NM = New Minoan) in the original Minoan
language, the Old Minoan (OM) substrate:
12
If we compare the incursion of Mycenaean-derived words into Linear A with the much later
enormous influx of Norman French and French vocabulary into English, we can glean a much
clearer picture of what is happening here. It is our belief that the introduction of Mycenaean-
derived vocabulary into the Minoan substrate language, Old Minoan (OM) from around 1550
to 1450 BCE mirrors to some extent the massive influx of Norman French and French
vocabulary into English after the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 AD.
Norman French vocabulary flooded into English from ca. 1100 – 1450 AD, followed by an
even more massive influx of French vocabulary from the Renaissance onward, until the
French superstrate swelled to its present-day mass of some 200,000 + French words adapted
to English. These account for 29 % of all English vocabulary, 3 % more than the Germanic
substrate vocabulary at 26 %.
The key word here is adapted. But what do we mean by this?
Reconciliation of the orthography of the superstrate language with that of its substrate:
English with its Norman French and French superstrate:
Before the conquest of English by William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant) in 1066
AD, the English language substrate language was Anglo-Saxon, of which all the vocabulary
was Germanic. But once William the Conqueror arrived on the scene in 1066 AD, everything
was to change dramatically thereafter. We can see this right off the top with the
transformation of Guillaume le Conquérant into William the Conqueror in English. They both
mean the same thing. They are in essence the same vocabulary, with this important caveat:
the spelling of the English translation of the name must conform to the orthography and
syntax of English, not of French. The situation was to change dramatically in the 3 centuries
after the conquest, 1066-1450 AD, when French became the official language of the English
royal court and of the judiciary system. In fact, modern English vocabulary is 29 % French, 29
% Latin and 6 % Greek, accumulating to a sub-total of 64 %, whereas the Germanic substrate
vocabulary constitutes only 26 % of English. The remaining 10 % of English is derived from
several other languages. This breakdown of the English lexicon is startling, insofar as no other
Germanic language has such a huge superstrate of non-Germanic vocabulary (74 %).
When the superstrate vocabulary from French was absorbed by the English language,
inevitable adjustments had to be made in French orthography to conform with standard
English spelling, syntax and grammar. We can demonstrate this phenomenon with the
majority of the 200,000 + French-derived words imported into English from 1066 AD to the
present day. Allow me to provide just a few examples to illustrate my point. First of all, we
find William the Conqueror from Guillaume le Conquérant. Now it is obvious even from this
first example that adjustments had to be made to make the Norman French spelling conform
to standard English orthography. Guillaume becomes William, a major adjustment, while
conquérant morphs into Conqueror, with the standard French acute accent dropped and the
ultimate changed from ant to er, such that the final syllable conforms to standard English
orthography, syntax and grammar. This phenomenon is known as elite dominance, meaning
that the superstrate dominates the substrate, while the substrate maintains demography
subsistence, meaning that the grammatical and orthographic conventions of the substrate are
de rigueur adhered to, in spite of the incursion of vocabulary from the superstrate.
13
In Prehistory: the Making of the Human Mind, Colin Renfrew has this to say,
“The linguistic map must have been complicated, however, by such processes as elite
dominance, where a small group of incomers seize power in an already well-established
society, and gradually impose their language upon it. Since the incoming group would
be very small in such a case, the molecular genetic effects might be difficult to detect.
The linguistic map is complicated further by processes of convergence, where the
languages spoken by the two groups in close contact begin to share common features.
(all italics mine)” 7
This linguistic premise closely mirrors my own, which I arrived at independently and without
foreknowledge of Renfrew’s book, which I read about a year after I drew my own conclusions
incidentally echoing his own.
Here we find 20 examples of the elite dominance of French in English, with the grammatical
and orthographic conventions of the Anglo-Saxon Old English substrate left intact:
French superstrate, with orthography and syntax adjusted to the English substrate
(all major changes italicized):
albâtre (Norman = albastre) alabaster
biscotte biscuit
cérémonieux ceremonious
côte coast
dédaigneux disdainful [1]
délinéer delineate
diminuer to diminish [2]
embuer to imbue
enflammer to inflame
exploitant exploitive
loutre otter
maître master
nouveauté novelty
obligatoire obligatory
portatif portable
redoublement redoubling [3]
satisfaisant satisfactory
sous-estimer understimate [4]
surpayer to overpay [5]
testamentaire testamentary
NOTA BENE: In [1] through [5] above, we find Germanic substrate syllables combined with
French superstrate syllables. This phenomenon is not uncommon in English. Likewise, in
Linear A, many tablets, especially from Haghia Triada and Zakros, contain words which are
combinations of Old Minoan (OM) syllables from the original Minoan substrate language
and of Mycenaean-derived syllables. This phenomenon is just as common in Linear A as it is
in English, and must under no circumstances be overlooked. It is in fact impossible to import
any vocabulary from any superstrate language (in this example, Norman French and French),
14
without adjusting the orthography and syntactical structure of the original superstrate words
to conform to the strict orthographic and syntactical conventions of the substrate language, in
this case, English.
1.4.2 The Mycenaean-derived superstrate:
Several tablets support our thesis of a Mycenaean-derived superstrate in Linear A:
Subsequent to our analysis of the phenomenon of Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary
in Linear A, we shall now consider just a few of the Linear A tablets which illustrate the high
correlation of some of these Linear A/Linear B terms.
First we have Linear A tablet ZA 20 (Zakros), which illustrates the correlation of the Linear A
word for wheat with its Linear B counterparts:
Figure 1: Linear A tablet ZA 20 (Zakros)
Does the Linear A word situ mean “wheat”? Ostensibly so, given that its resemblance with the
Linear B word for “wheat” is remarkable. Oddly enough, situ does not appear on any Linear A
tablets from Haghia Triada, all of which deal instead with specialized grain crops, such as
15
dideru = einkorn wheat and kunisu = emmer wheat, while sitetu, which is probably derived
from situ, may possibly be an ablative absolute in the Minoan language.
Figure 2: Minoan Linear A Seals = SITU
Figure 3: KITINA
Of course, it goes without saying that wheat and other grain crops were grown on plots of
16
land, and so this decipherment makes eminent sense. Kitina appears to be etymologically
derived from Linear B koto(i)na. Since this is a seal, we imagine that it was used as a token
belonging to the owner of this plot of land, which he could show as proof of his ownership to
the local palace administration.
Moving on, we find a number of Linear A tablets dealing with barley, which is scarcely
surprising:
Figure 4: HT 8 & HT 114
Figure 5 is on the next page.
17
Figure 5: HT 85 & 96
Of these 4 tablets, 3 (HT 8, 85 and 114) deal primarily with kireta = barley & kiretana =
barley-like, while HT 96 appears to reference mice getting into the barley store. Crops of
course were grown in fields, and the Linear A word for “field” appears to be akaru, which is
Figure 6: HT 86 & HT 95
18
remarkably similar to the Linear B word akoro (See 7. orthography below). In addition, Linear
A dideru is practically identical to Linear B didero: Now the word kunisu, which appears to
mean “emmer wheat”, is Semitic. Thanks to Cyrus G. Gordon, who makes the following
statement:
... Linear A ku-ni-su must mean some kind of wheat because it is followed by the
WHEAT determinative. Now kunnisu is a Semitic word for “emmer wheat” so that
Linear A ku-ni-su WHEAT “emmer wheat” not only adds a word to our Minoan
vocabulary but it also establishes Ventris’s readings of the ku, ni and su signs. (italics
mine).
we feel confident that kunisu does mean emmer wheat, just as we had initially suspected.
Consequently, since these two types of wheat appear conjointly and very close together on HT
86, we are inclined to draw the conclusion that dideru means einkorn wheat. Now dideru
appears 4 times on HT 86 & 95, while kunisu appears once on HT 10 & HT 79, and 4 times on
HT 86 & 95, for a total of 6 times. So it pretty much goes without saying that these two grains
were staples in the Minoan diet. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Late
Neolithic and Bronze Age Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diets, since these two grains
were predominant in all societies in these regions. Although kunisu does not at all correlate
with Mycenaean-derived vocabulary, the fact that it is used in conjunction with dideru on HT
86 and 95, with each of these grains tallied at precisely the same amount, allows us to safely
deduce that dideru should mean “einkorn wheat”, since these were unquestionably the two
principal grain crops cultivated all around the Mediterranean and Aegean seas in the middle
to late Bronze Age, as revealed by an exhaustive Google search we ran leaving nothing to
chance. (See the scores of entries on emmer and einkorn wheat in the ancient world in the
bibliography).
But there is much more to the Mycenaean-derived superstrate Linear A than just crops. The
Mycenaean-derived vocabulary on Linear tablets runs the gamut from pottery (qeti) to the
military or ornamental (sipiki), to religion, with a priestess (iruja) and the goddess (Idamate),
and even to terebinth trees (kitanasija(se)), as illustrated on the following pages, beginning
with qeti and iruja. The Mycenaean-derived vocabulary on Linear A HT 11 (Haghia Triada)
points to sacerdotal blessing of newly-ploughed land. On line of the recto, the word arura,
which is an exact etymological match with its Linear B counterpart arura a0rou/ra = unit of
arable land ― or ― plough, is actually polysemiotic in this instance, combining both meanings
in a single word, such that we have before us a “(freshly) ploughed plot of arable land”. This
interpretation can equally well be applied to the equivalent Linear B exogram. On line 3, the
word Asujua appears, and this is almost certainly a feminine anthroponym, A 0sui/a. The role
played by a female priestess in this context would probably have to be sacerdotal. In other
words, Asujua is blessing the freshly ploughed plot of arable land.
This makes quite a lot of sense in context, because Minoan society was presumably
matriarchal, with priestesses rather than priests normally presiding over blessing ceremonies.
And it was common practice in the ancient world, right on through from the early Bronze Age
on to the early and late Iron Age, as late as ancient Rome, for priests or priestesses to bless
newly ploughed land in the spring, to ensure crop prosperity. It is notable that the single
syllabogram I appears right after her name. This is a supersyllabogram (for the significance of
19
Figure 7: HT 7 & 11: QETI
supersyllabograms, see 2. What are supersyllabograms? below) and in the context of the
tablet, the I is the first syllable of the word it represents. It calls to mind the Linear A word
iruja i0e/ruia, which corresponds to Linear B iyereya i0e/reia, priestess. If this interpretation of
the supersyllabogram I is correct, then the context is clinched. On the verso we find ruzuna
r9uzu/na (orthography naturally Minoan), which may be the Minoan participial equivalent of
the later ancient Greek word r9izo/w = to plant, hence, “planted” (present participle passive), so
that now we have the priestess Asujua blessing a (freshly) ploughed plot of arable land which
has just been planted. The context is building to make more and sense. Finally, we have
saqeri, sa/keri -> sa/kion = small bag – or Akkadian saqqu = sack. This would appear to imply
that seeds in a small bag (instrumental singular) are been poured out to plant in the ground.
20
While this global decipherment is entirely conjectural, it does make eminent sense. And at
least three words are potentially deciphered: arura, Asujua and saqeri.
Figure 8: Linear A tablet ZA 4 (Zakros):
The Linear A bronze axe (a.k.a. the Boston Axe) from the Arkalochori Cave is inscribed with
the inscription IDAMATE. Now Idamate = mother goddess of Mount Ida as such does not
appear in Linear B, but mate(re) = (for) mother does. There appears to be little doubt that Ida
is Mount Ida, hence we have the mother goddess of Mount Ida.
For this, see Figure 9 on the next page.
21
Figure 9, Idamate
Next we have two inscriptions from Petras, one on a vase shard and one on a vase rim. The
preoccupation with growing terebinth trees on the Petras inscriptions might prima facie
appear a bit strange, but since these words appear on both inscriptions, we are inclined to
accept this interpretation tel quel, such as it is.
As it so happens, a great deal of significance was attached to terebinth trees in Minoan Crete.
According to Sabine Beckmann,
The terebinth must have been a tree with an important religious function in Minoan
Bronze Age Crete – and not only because some of the trees shown in Minoan/
Mycenaean iconography have a clear resemblance to the terebinth’s shape. All around
the ancient Eastern Mediterranean from Crete to the Levant trees had some kind of
ritual function. Although no Minoan/Mycenaean religious texts are currently known,
examples from ritual scenes depicted on artifacts show the importance of trees in their
spiritual world... In general trees may not have been seen as object of worship in their
own right but as a focus of cultic activities and as symbols of gods or sacred powers,
mainly fertility. 8
22
Figure 10: terebinth trees
But there is much more to the cultivation of the terebinth tree in the Bronze Age Aegean than
just religious symbolism, howsoever paramount this was. Terebinth trees were used for the
production of unguents, perfumes, as medicine, as a preservative for alcohol such as wine, and
23
for inlays in ivory, among other things, A highly versatile tree? ― to say the very least.
Chadwick classifies the terebinth tree as kitano in Linear B, which is surely the same word as
Linear A, kitanasija(se), the latter being in an oblique case.
On Petras PE 2, we find the word, aripa, which is etymologically derived from Linear B,
arepa, a1leifar, signifying “ointment” 9:
Figure 11: ARIPA
Another mere co-incidence? Scarcely. We note in passing that some Linear A linguists, such as
Peter van Soesbergen, make the egregious error of confusing Linear A RI with Linear B WE,
but they are not the same, even though they look almost identical. On the surface, they are
much the same syllabogram, but their phonetic values greatly diverge. Van Soesbergen
invariably reads Linear A darida, a type of vase, as daweda. But this is impossible, because
the syllabogram WE does not exist in Linear A.
The pièce de résistance:
But the most amazing with an apparent Mycenaean-derived superstrate is Linear A tablet KO
(?) Zf 2 (Knossos). This tablet reveals a remarkable array of apparent Mycenaean-derived
superstrate vocabulary. While arako is the most in doubt, auta and deponiza have the definite
ring of authenticity about them.
Figure 12 is on the next page.
24
Figure 12: KO (?) Zf 2 (Knossos) = deponiza
Linear A tablet HT 18 (Haghia Triada) and the phenomenon of the supersyllabogram in
Linear A and Linear B:
Figure 13: Linear A tablet HT 18 (Haghia Triada)
25
Linear A tablet HT 18 (Haghia Triada) is one of the most significant of all Linear A tablets
bearing Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary expressed simply by means of
supersyllabograms alone, these being QE = qera2u = “roasted wheat kernels?”, plus the
ideogram KI = kiretana/kireta2, the ideogram for “barley” and NI = nira, the ideogram for
“figs”. Appearing on the tablet, KI conveys in the most condensed manner possible an
interpretation of Mycenaean-derived KI, which is clearly the supersyllabogram for
kiretana/kireta2 = “barley” kriqani/aj. Since it is enclosed in a square, NI, the
supersyllabogram for figs ― and this is a clever little trick the scribe resorts to ― represents
fig trees in a field (the field being the square). In other words we have here not just figs, but
fig trees in a field. In the case of this tablet, the high correlation between Linear A and Linear
B is not prima facie apparent, unless one knows what a supersyllabogram is (See 2. What are
supersyllabograms?).
These words are two of the attested alternatives for grains in Linear A. These terms, and
others cited immediately below, are represented by an ideogram + a supersyllabogram (See 2.
What are supersyllabograms? immediately below), the first being a combination of the
ideogram for “grain” + the single syllabogram da, which signifies dame = a chickpea
condiment, a Semitic/Arabic word. The second consists of the ideogram for “grain” + the
single syllabogram qe, signifying qera2u = roasted wheat kernels. Then we have sara2, first
followed by the ideogram for “barley”, and secondly preceding the ideogram for “wheat”. Now
sara2 is an Old Minoan (OM) Semitic adstrate, as it clearly deals with grains or cereals,
appearing as it does on multiple Linear A tablets from Haghia Triada on that very subject, viz.
HT 18 90 92 101 105 114 121 and 125 in conjunction with the ideogram for “grains”, and alone
on HT 30 32 33 34 99 100 102 and 130, as well as with the ideogram for “olive oil” on HT 28.
In this last instance, it may be conjectured that we are dealing with either olive oil barley or
olive oil wheat bread. On the other hand, kireta2 is to be found on HT 85 114 121 and 129,
while kiretana appears on HT 28 and 108. The whole point of this little exercise is to
demonstrate that, while the Linear A scribes had a clear choice between sara2 on the one
hand and kireta2/kiretana on the other, sara2 predominates. This implies that the Linear A
scribes resorted to sara2 in preference to the Mycenaean-derived kireta2/kiretana, simply
because as an Old Minoan Semitic adstrate word, it was on the scene well before the
appearance of the latter terms, kireta2/kiretana, which were introduced into Linear A just as
that syllabary was drawing its last breaths. So in effect, kireta2/ kiretana overtook sara2 right
around the cross-over nexus between the demise of Linear A and the first appearance of the
Linear B syllabary. This is attested to by the fact that the Mycenaean Linear B word for
“barley” is none other than kirita kriqa/ = barley. The Linear A and Linear B exograms are
quasi-identical. Thus, the low incidence of kireta2/kiretana on relevant Linear A tablets from
Haghia Triada suggests that these variants were late-comers to Linear A, appearing right in
the transition period between Linear A and Linear B, when the Linear B term kirita arose to
replace them.
2. What are supersyllabograms?
In his article, The Decipherment of Supersyllabograms in Linear B 10 (various paginatons), Richard
Vallance Janke defines supersyllabograms as:
But what is a supersyllabogram? Supersyllabograms are my own definition for what
26
previous researchers have all tagged as “(surcharged) adjuncts”. While most
supersyllabograms appear to be mere “adjuncts”, none are by nature, and many are
not adjuncts at all. pg. 76
... passim ...
... the Linear B scribes always resorted to specific determinative terminology
equivalent to a supersyllabogram which was invariably descriptive of a major,
never a minor, aspect of the métiers, activities, commodities and end-products
intrinsically proper to any of the four primary sectors of the Minoan/Mycenaean
economy, be it the military, vessels and pottery, textiles or the agricultural sector. pg.
83) all italics mine
... passim ...
Supersyllabograms in every single sector of the Minoan/Mycenaean economy effectively
operate as shorthand. pg. 105
To summarize then, a supersyllabogram is the first syllable, i.e. the first syllabogram of any
particular Linear B word invariably descriptive of a major, never a minor, aspect of the
métiers, activities, commodities and end-products intrinsically proper to any of the four
primary sectors of the Minoan/Mycenaean economy, be it the military, vessels and pottery,
textiles or the agricultural sector. While this concept may appear difficult to grasp ab initio, its
sheer elegance cannot be understated. If you are still in doubt concerning the primary
functions of supersyllabograms in Mycenaean Linear B, and for that matter, in Linear A, it is
highly advisable to assiduously read the aforementioned article in its entirety, in order to
preclude any lingering doubts in your mind.
Examples of supersyllabograms in Linear B, with all spellings conforming to Chris Tselentis’
Linear B Lexicon:
KI = kitimena = a plot of land ktime/na (agricultural sector) + chiton xi/ton (military sector)
KO = Konoso = Knossos Knwsso/j (all sectors)
MO = monos = single, spare (wheel) mo/noj (military sector)
O = onato = lease field o1naton (agricultural sector)
PA = Paito = Phaistos Faisto/j (all sectors)
PU = pukatariya = a type of cloth fugata/ria (textile sector)
QE = qero = wicker shield ge/rron (military sector)
RI = rino = linen li/non (textile sector)
U = udoro = water jug u3droj (vessels sector)
ZE = zeukesi = yoked together (instrumental plural) zeu/gesi (military sector)
But the Mycenaeans did not invent the supersyllabogram. The Minoans did. The Mycenaeans
inherited this construct lock-stock-and-barrel. While there are 36 supersyllabograms in
Linear B, astonishingly accounting for fully 59 % of all 61 Linear A syllabograms + 1
homophone (AI), for a total of 62 11 , there exist no fewer than 27 in Minoan Linear A, with
some of them representing Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary. This is not the place to
27
discuss Linear A syllabograms in exhaustive detail. We have to choice but to postpone their
in-depth treatment to a later study. But suffice it to say that of the 27 supersyllabograms in
Linear A, many are probably etymologically Mycenaean-derived, as we can see in Table 2:
Table 2: supersyllabograms in Linear A
28
For the possible/probable meanings of those some of the supersyllabograms flagged MD, see
the complete Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A, with entries from that
glossary flagged as follows: A = 1. 3. 7. 10. 18. 22. 29. 30. 34. 44. DI 54. KA 87.-90.+92. + 94.-
99. KI 108. 112. 114. KU 125. MI 141. QE 179. RA 182. SA 193.-195. SI 201. 212. TA 215.-216.
TU 221. U. 223. WA 226. WI 228. 229.
Examples of Supersyllabograms in Linear A:
A = aripa = ointment, unguent Cf. Linear B arepa a1leifar
DI =dipaja = from a cup Cf. Linear B dipa = a cup di/paj de/paj (vessels sector)
KA = kapa = fruit(s), ripe crops karpa/ (agricultural sector) - or - kati = a kind of pot, hydria
(water flask) Cf. Linear B kati hydria (water flask) ka/rtij (vessels sector)
KI = kireta2 + kiretana = barley-like, barley Cf. Linear B kirita kriqa/ (agricultural sector)
KU = kupari = cypress plant kupa/ri -> kupa/rissoj = cypress plant Cf. Linear B kuparo =
ku/pairoj = cypress plant - or - kuruku kro/koj = crocus, saffron (agricultural sector)
QE = qeti = a very large pot, pithos Cf. Linear B PGS qeto pi/qoj (vessels sector)
SA = saro = broom, threshing floor sa/ron - or - sasame sasa/me = sesame Cf. Linear B sasa/ma
(agricultural sector)
SI = situ = wheat si/tu si/tun = wheat Cf. Linear B sito si/ton (agricultural sector)
U = unaa = wine vessel, wine jar oi0nai/a (vessels sector)
WI = winu = wine #i/nu Cf. Linear B wono #oi/noj (vessels sector)
3.1
Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A
Preliminary Observations:
This lexicon adopts the conventions followed by L.R. Palmer in his ground-breaking work on
Linear B, The Interpretation of Mycenaean Greek Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, © 1963, 1998. ix, 488 pp. ISBN 0-19-813144-5 (1998). For Palmer’s glossary, which
follows these conventions, see pp. 402-473 in his volume. We have adopted his conventions
to make the vocabulary of Linear A accessible to anyone, from lay persons not yet familiar
with Linear A and non-linguists (somewhat) familiar with Linear B and/or A all the way to
professional linguists expert in Linear B, and possibly even in Linear A, in order that
everyone, regardless of education or scholastic background, may readily access our Linear A
Lexicon and come to familiarize him- or herself with at least the rudiments of Linear A, or in
the case of professional linguists, with the intricacies of the syllabary. The only difference
between Palmer’s conventions and our own is that, whereas Palmer hyphenates Linear B
words, we do not.
KEYS:
PGS = pre-Greek substratum? = lacG = later archaic or Classical Greek TOP = toponym ANT
= eponym LIG = ligature LP (L.R. Palmer) JY = John G. Younger
NOTES:
1. Cretan is a very ancient (archaic) West Greek dialect, according to C.D. Buck. The Greek
29
Dialects. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, © 1955 & 1998 ISBN 1-85399-556-8. xvi, 373
pp. pp. 169-172
2. TOP = toponym + ANT = anthroponym + theonyms etc. probably fall in the pre-Greek
substrate, and hence do not prove in the least that some or any of these are proto-Greek.
3. Mycenaean-derived Linear A lexeme ―> (archaic) Greek. The right arrow ―> indicates
that, according to our observations and analyses through circumstantial evidence alone, the
Mycenaean-derived Linear A lexeme to the left of the right arrow etymologically appears to be
a primordial form or version of the Mycenaean Linear B or later (archaic) Greek form(s) to the
right. It is absolutely vital to understand that it is a extremely tricky matter to retrogressively
extrapolate Mycenaean-derived Linear A words from their Mycenaean Linear B or later
archaic and so-called Homeric counterparts, since there were so many, sometimes highly
divergent, archaic ancient Greek dialects. Any Mycenaean-derived word in Linear A, which
looks like a later Greek lexeme, may not in actuality accurately reflect the latter. It all depends
on the luck of the draw. So in essence, based on mere circumstantial evidence, we must in at
least some instances take some Mycenaean-derived Linear A vocabulary with a grain of salt.
Digamma # remained in use in the Cretan dialect until the second century BCE.
Wikipedia: proto-Greek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Greek_language
NOTE: nira HT 23+HT 150 is LM 1b Minoan for fig(s). This supersyllabogram was adopted by
Mycenaean Linear B without any perceptible change whatsoever.
1. adakisika KH 5 LM 1 b = lacG a0dakissi/ka = adorned with ivory
2. adu HT 85 HT 86 HT 88 HT 92 (with the huge quantity 680) HT 99 = lacG a0dhn = to the
full, abundantly, i.e. in a large quantity, in the case of grain crops, being a standard unit of
measurement something like a bale, although we must understand that it is impossible to
accurately determine standard units of measurement in either Linear A or Linear B, since the
Middle and Late Minoan and Mycenaean periods are so historically remote. But it is a fair and
acceptable approximation.
3. adara KN Zf 31 LM I a /adaro AK 5 LM I b = lacG a9dro/j = in full growth, stout
4. adukumina ZA 10 LM I b first part OM = portion + last part, Mycenaean-derived = kumina
= a large portion or amount of cumin, presumably large because cumin was ostensibly in very
high demand in the Middle and Late Minoan and Mycenaean periods. See 2. adu above.
5. aisaki HT 114 LM 1 b = lacG ai1za = with a goat (used in conjunction with sheep)
6. Akanu PGS TOP = lacG A0rxa/nej = Archanes (Crete) - or - a large bowl, to Semitic akanu
+ akanuzate -or- akanuwee (variations) MM III Here cf. KN Zc 7, akanuzati durare azura
jasaraanane wipi. NOTE: “This painted inscription in semi-circular registers in the interior of
a short conical cup, the top of the signs oriented toward the bottom of the cup (basement of
Monolithic Pillars, MM III?; PM I 588 fig. 431b, 613-16, fig. 452), the signs oriented upside
down (basement of Monolithic Pillars, MM III?) This inscription would fit with the
interpretation of Akanu as Archanes, since the form is similar to the classical Greek, Αθήναζε
«to Athens» (cf. LSJ, p.30). Akanuzati would mean “from/to Archanes”.
7. akara/akaru HT 2 HT 86 x 2 LM 1 b = lacG akaru a0gro/j = field or plough, as in Hittite,
akkalan = a kind of plough a1kra - or - = end, border
8. akarakitanasijase PE Zb 3 = lacG a1kraki/rtanisia = a field with terebinth trees + the
30
ideogram for man, i.e. a man in a field with terebinth trees
9. akiro ARKH 4 LM Ib = lacG a1kairoj = not in season, unseasonable – or - = lacG a1grioj =
living in the fields; uncultivated, unreclaimed.
10. amaja KH 14 LM 1 b (used in conjunction with barley, i.e. a wagon load of barley) See also
amata = lacG a3maca = wagon. Cf. Linear B amo = wheel/chariot (undercarriage). Corresponds
to classical Greek a3rma. But since the orthography of the Linear A word does not correspond
all that well to its so-called Linear B counterpart, this interpretation is suspect.
11. amawasi KT Zf 1 (golden pin) = lacG a3mai#asi = with violets
12. amita ZA 10 LM I b = lacG a0mi/sqa (fem.) -> = unpaid, not without mint, because why
would a scribe offer a recipe without mint? -or- amita could be a word connected to classical
Greek a1mij a1mhtoj, a kind of milk cake
13. aranare HT 47 LM 1 b = lacG 0a=la/nare (dative sing.) -> a0la=ra/ (f.) = sweet, delicious
14. anati IO Za 8 = lacG a=na/ti -> a=nastado/n = upright, standing? (could make sense in
context)
15. api KN Ze 16 LM I b, II = lacG a0spi/j = sword – or- as incised on the south stone door
jamb of the stomion, Kephala tholos = Hittite/Hurrian aapi, a trench or pit for offering
libations to the dead ). There are lateral niches in the dromos and 4 cisterns in the floor of the
chamber. Also, api, in Hittite, may be a necromantic sacrificial pit used for summoning up
infernal deities or revenants, sometimes personified as D Api-, (e.g. KUB XXIX 4 IV 34 api
pedanzi “they dig a pit”. D Api GI\R-it ginuzzi “he opens up a pit with a knife”; KUB XLI 8 III
16-17 1
16. apaki KN Zb 40 LM 1 b See also kipaa, unaa = lacG a0parxh/ = first part of a sacrifice,
firstlings for sacrifice, first-fruits or – or- kipaa (below) - or - apaki is a Cretan variant of
pork. To be very precise, salted and sometimes smoked pork. See the actual location of this
fragment: KN Zb 40 (HM 21391), LM II pithoid jar (Minoan Unexplored Mansion; Kadmos
15, 1976, 102-107, LM II destruction, the storage jars were all LM II, with one LM I), the 2nd
latest Linear A inscription (the latest being PO Zc 1), inscribed: 1. apaki 2. unaa
Cf. https://1historyofgreekfood.wordpress.com/tag/cretan-food/
illustration, apaki
31
And we cite: “This is apaki, salted and -optionally-smoked lean pork, which is very popular
in Crete until nowadays. The 12th century Ptochoprodromos’ satire is testimony to it. The
poet had found his father cooking a piece of slightly salted apaki which was well covered
with fat. “I salted my apaki and 30 days later I smoked it at 100 C for 10 hours, using olive
wood together with oregano, marjoram, thyme and sage for smoke. The meat shrinked
(sic)” = shrank.”
17. apero PGS = lacG a1mpeloj = a wine Cf. Linear B apero
18. arako KO ? Zf 2 = lacG a0ra/c = weaver Cf. Linear B arakateya a0laka/teiai = weavers
See KO ? Zf 2 arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza See also auta + deponiza + wasatomaro
+ arakokuzu OM+ = weaver’s establishment? (agglutinative), where kuzu is Old Minoan
(OM).
19. aresana THE Zb 2 LM I a + THE Zb 4 = lacG a1leisana -> a1leison = an embossed cup
(arch. acc.) = de/paj (Homeric) Cf. Linear B arisu a1leisu <- a1leison = embossed cup
20. aripa PE 2, Siteia Mus. 91033= lacG a1leifar = cream, ointment Cf. Linear B arepa
21. arokaku = lacG a1ro xalku/ = o0rei/xalkoj, oreikhalkos (o1roj, oros, mountain and xalko/j
chalkos, copper), meaning “mountain copper”. Cf. Linear B kako xalko/j
22. arotu/arote2 KT Zg 2 Minoan = lacG άρτος = bread
23. arura/arurata HT 11 = lacG a0rou/ra = unit of land - or - plough – or – a freshly ploughed
plot of land (polysemiotic) Cf. Linear B arura
24. arudara HT 28 = lacG a1lutra -> a1lutron = threshing instrument
25. aruma TY Zg 1 LM I b (sinistrograde) = lacG a3rwma (neuter) = spice. But we should
exercise extreme caution in this interpretation, since the inscription is not complete.
26. asadaka = lacG a1staxa -> a1staxu (Minoan nom. sing.)= ear of corn
27. Asara2 HT 89 TOP = Linear B Asaro A0sa/roj asara2 (asarai) = without flax - or - OM =
white, to Hittite asara
28. asona (Kafkania pebble, 1,700 BCE) = lacG a1sona -> a1cona = axe Cf. Linear B, akosone
a1conej = axles + Akkadian = hasinnu
29. atade KT Zf 1 (golden pin) = lacG a1ttade = (to/from) father
30. atare ZA 8, Cf. Linear B, ataro PY An 35 = lacG a0ta=lei/ -> a0ta=lo/j = tender; delicate (of
crops?) - or - = lacG a0qa/lei a0qa/loj = without a branch, twig; without an olive branch - or -
= lacG a9dro/j = full-grown – or – a0qa/rh = groats, meal, green fodder, forage, provender Cf.
kupari = galingale - or - = blue, Hittite, antara. A clear instance of Pareidolia P.
31. atu LM 1 b = lacG a1stu/ = town See also Luwian atiwati = in the town
32. aturisiti KN Zb 5 artu-turo-siti, therefore by contraction = aturisiti: cheese-cake food or
grains of cheese-cake (Cf. σιτία, corn, food + τυρός cheese Cf. arotu, Minoan for bread, άρτος
33. auta = lacG au0ta/ = self, oneself; alone + deponiza (see below) = the mistress herself in the
phrase: arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza
34. damate KY Za 2 (peak sanctuary of Haghios Georgios) PGS = lacG Da/mate = Damater Cf.
Linear B Damate Cf. damate = Earth Mother (Pelasgian)
35. datu HT 123+124/datara HT 6 LM Ib/datare HT 88 LM 1 b = lacG da=ta/ra da=ta/rei ->
da=th/rioj = date(s) -> da/ktuloj = date/fig
36. Dawa KN Za 10 PGS = place name Cf. LB dawo Da/#oj Da/#on. This word could mean
“village”.
37. depa/depu PGS = lacG de/paj de/pu= cup Cf. Linear B dipa di/paj & Homeric de/pa (Luwian
= bowl, cup) + dipaja PH 7+20+21 MM II a/b = lacG di/paia (gen. sing.) -> di/paj de/paj =
32
from a cup (alternate?)
38. deponiza = lacG de/spoina = mistress, lady KO? Zf 2 Cf. Linear B deponiya
in the phrase: arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza
39. dewa LIG = lacG de/#a = goddess? Cf. Linear B diwe, diwo (masc.)
40. dija/dije = lacG Di/ #a Cf. Linear B diwija Di#i/a = from the priestess of Zeus
41. Dikate PGS TOP = Mount Dikte Cf. Linear B Dikatade Diktai/ade = towards Mt. Dikte
42. Dupu3re KO Za 1 TOP Cf. Linear B Dupu2razo Dupurai/zoj
43. ero = lacG e0llo/j = young deer, fawn (one actually appears on a Linear A seal.)
44. esija = lacG e3sti/a = hearth of a house
45. ia = lacG i0a/ (n. pl.) = an arrow (sing.) - or - i1a (n. pl.) = violets/ija ? See i0a/ (n. pl.) = an
arrow (sing.) & i1a (n. pl.) = violets (variation) - or - = to make silver, to Hittite iya. Pareidolia
P:
46. Ida ZA 21 ZA 27/Idaa/Idada KN Zg 2 /Idapa3 CR Zg 4 ZA 21 LM I b = Mount Ida PGS
TOP
47. Idamate/Idamete AR Zf 1 (PS, II,I, 35 ) MM III, LM I? + labrys found in the Arkalochori
Cave AR Zf 2 PGS ANT = lacG 0Idama/te = Mother goddess of Mount Ida. Cf. Idaian Mother
(Pelasgian) + Idami (variation) & ZA 24 (truncated right) LM I b
48. Idunesi HT 13 = lacG I 0du/nesi = Idunesi (topomastics) = in/at Idunesi – or – with
sweeteners (instrumental plural, debatable)
49. Idarea ANT PGS = lacG 0Idar9ea = Rhea, goddess of Mount Ida
50. ijaredija IO Za 5 = lacG i0a/rej Di/ #a = goddess of healing
51. ijate KN Zb 4 PH Zb 4 LM I b = lacG i0a/ter = doctor, physician Cf. Linear iyate i0a/ter
52. ima = lacG i9ma/c = leather strap, thong; (lash of) a whip
53. Idorinita PH 6 MM II a/b = lacG I 0dori/nita = Idononita (onomastics)
54. inawa PH 6 MM II a/b = lacG h0na/#a →h0ni/a= = rein, bridle
55. ipinama AP Za 2, IO Za 2, IO Za 15, KO Za 1; VR Za 1/ipinamina KO Za 1 = lacG i0pneume/na
(fem. sing.) = baked (bread)
56. iruja HT 7 LM Ib = lacG i0e/ruia = priestess Cf. Linear B iyereya i0e/reia
57. ita LM I b = lacG i1ta →i1tuj = rim of a wheel, edge of a sword (used in conjunction with –
sipiki, with apparently means “with swords”. See also – sipiki - below.
58. itisapuko OM+ = lacG i1tija = round + = lacG pu/coj = box-wood -or- =i1tija= round +
puko OM = tripod = round tripod Cf. puko below (agglutinative). But puko almost certainly
does not mean “box-wood” in Linear A, but rather “tripod”, hence, round tripod.
59. jamauti i1amauti = as a means of healing <- i1ama i1amatoj = healing, remedy
60. jarisapa (agglutinative) OM PGS = lacG = some kind of dress? Cf. Linear B sapa = a kind
of dress
61. jasaja KN Zg 55 = lacG 0Ia=sai/a <- 0Ia=sw/ of/from the goddess of healing and health
62. jasidara = lacG i0a=sida=la/ = healing torch/firebrand
63. jasea/jasepa = lacG i0a=sea = healing, goddess of healing
64. jasie KE Zb 4 = lacG i0a=sie = for healing, for the goddess of healing (dative sing.)
65. jate/jateo = lacG i0a=th/r = physician
66. jatimane = lacG i0a=th/j mannei= = with the bread of healing (instrumental) But this is
conjectural.
67. kade LIG = lacG ka/de (instr. sing.) <- ka/doj = pitcher, jar, pail See also kati + kadi ZA 15
LM I b = lacG kadi/ (instr. sing.) <- ka/doj = with a jar or vessel for water or wine ZA 4 LM I b
+ kadusi (instrumental plural = with pitchers) on the damaged tablet, Gournia = ka/dusi ->
33
ka/doj = with buckets or pails (instr. pl.)
68. kairo ZA 8 LM I b = lacG kairo/j = due measure
69. kaki HT 37 LM 1b = with copper/kaku [HT 62 + 73 (joins)] = lacG xalku/ -> xalko/j =
copper, bronze. Cf. Linear B kako xalko/j
70. kami = lacG ka/mi (dat./instr. sing.) <- ka/ma = (on a) unit of land Cf. Linear B kama ka/ma
71. Kana HT 23+HT 150 joins LM 1b/Kananiti KH Wc 2005 /kanau HT 123+124 x 2 TOP =
lacG Ka/nna Kanna
72. kanaka PGS = kna/ka = saffron Cf Linear B kanako kna/koj
73. Kanijami KT Zf 1 (golden pin PGS = lacG Kania/mij = onomastics, Kaniamis (fem.)
74. kapa HT 102 HT 105 /kapaqe HT 6 HT 94 LM 1b /kapaqe HT 140+143+145+153_154 x 2
LM 1 96. + kapi (instrumental sing.) LM 1b HT 8 HT 45+71 (joins) HT 105 HT 140 = lacG
karpa/ +kapaqe + karpa/te\ = with fruit, and fruit, with fruit-or-ripe crops Cf. Linear B kapo
karpo/j = + kaporu HT 115 LM 1 b + = lacG karpo/ru -> karpoj = fruit, corn, harvest,
produce (used in conjunction with grain). Pareidolia P:
75. kara/karu HT 75 HT 97 = lacG kara/ = head Cf. Linear B kara(pi) kara/afi
76. karona HT 11 = lacG ka=lona -> ka=lon = wood
77. kasi HT Wa 1027 HT Wa 1028 = lacG kasi/ -> kasi/a= = with “Arabian” spice
78. kataro = lacG ka/nqa=roj = scarab (Egyptian) + drinking cup + katare KH 41
= lacG ka/nqa=rei = with a scarab (instrumental sing.) As Alexandre Solcà points out, this
reading of “scarab” is a bit conjectural. Under the lexeme κάνθαρος, we do find that this word
is quoted in Aeschylus as a kind of beetle, and has a second sense as a small drinking vessel
“scarabeus”. The only problem is there is no direct relation with an Egyptian word meaning
“scarab”.
79. kati HT 63 LM 1 b See also kadi = lacG ka/rtij = a kind of pot, hydria (water flask) Cf.
Linear B kati hydria (water flask)
80. Kekiru HT 94 LM 1 b PGS TOP = lacG Ke/kru = Kekros
81. kera/kero = lacG ke/raj = horn (ivory) -or- khr/oj = bees-wax Cf. Linear B kera
82. kidata (present participle passive) HT 40 kidate HT 27 + HT 48 (joins) LM1 b = lacG
kida/ta -> date/omai = divided, shared
83. kidaro = lacG ke/dron = juniper berry – or - kedri/a = oil of cedar Cf. Linear B kidaro
84. kikiraja HT 85 LM 1 b = lacG ki/kiraia (gen. Sing. = made of/from castor oil) - > ki/ki =
castor-oil, castor-plant
85. kimira2 HT 54 LM 1 b = lacG xi/miria -> xi/maira = she-goat, nanny-goat
86. Kina PGS TOP = lacG Ki/nna =Kinna
87. kipaa LM I-II = lacG kh=paa -> kh=poj = orchard See also apaki, unaa
88. kira SY Zb 7 MM III b – LM I a (sinistrograde) = lacG Ki/ra = onomastics. Appears on a
Linear B tablet as Kira (onomastics). Complements of Rita Roberts - or - = xei/ra - > lacG xei/r
= hand, handy-work – or- - > lacG xeiri/j = covering for the hand, glove – or – keiri/a =
bandage, swathing-band; cord, sacking of a beadstead. Paredolia P:
89. kiro HT 55 (fragment) xei=loj = edge, brim, rim (on a potsherd) - or- xhlo/j = chest, box,
coffer - or - xi=lo/j = grass, green fodder, forage – or- khro/j = bees-wax, wax, Pareidolia P:
90. kireta2 (kiretai) HT 85 LM 1 b HT 114 HT 121 HT 125 (PS,II,I,195) HT 129 = lacG kri/qai =
barley + kiretana HT 2 HT 8 HT 108 HT 120 LM 1b = lacG kriqani/aj = like barley, barley
(attributive) + kiretaiwinu kri/qai = barley + winu #i/nu = wine Cf. Linear B wono #oi/noj,
hence kiretaiwinu = lacG kri/qai#i/nu = barley wine, ie. beer Cf. Linear B kirita + wono = kriqa/
+ #oi/noj = barley wine, i.e. beer (unattested)
34
91. kiso = lacG kisso/j = ivy
92. kitai/kitei HT 123+124 LM 1 b = lacG kestai/ kestei/ = embroidered (lit.), but in context =
basketry, basket(s) (used in conjunction with olives) + kiti (instrumental sing.) = lacG ki/sth =
in a chest, box
93. kitanasija/kitanasijase kitanisija (gen. sing. or instrumental plural) = lacG ki/rtanasia - >
ki/rtanoj = terebinth tree Cf. Linear B kitano ki/rtanoj
94. kitina - on a Minoan decorated ceramic = lacG ktoi/na/ktoina/siaj = border of a plot of
land/territory Cf. Linear B kotona kotoina = lacG ktoi/na = plot of land
95. Kosaiti TOP Cf. Linear B Kutaito Ku/taistoj (not necessarily the same place)
96. Kudoni HT13 = lacG Kudwni/ = at Kudoni (dative sing.) HT 85 LM 1 b + Kudona LM 1 b
Cf. Linear B Kudonija Kudw/nia = Kudonia
97. kumina HT Wc 3013 LM 1 b + kuminaqe HT 54 LM 1b HT Wc 3014 = and cumin See also
Linear B kumino ku/minon
98. kunite LM 1 b See also adameri = lacG xou/neti (dat. sing.) -> xou/j = with a liquid
measure of a portion (of honey)
99. kupari KH 29 – truncated = lacG kupa/ri -> kupa/rissoj = cypress plant Cf. Linear B
kuparo = ku/pairoj = cypress plant
100. kuro/kurotu HT 9 x 2 HT 11 HT 13 HT 25 x 2 HT 27 HT 39 HT 40 HT 46 HT 67 HT 74
HT 85 HT 88 HT 89 HT 94 x 2 HT 100 HT 102 HT 104 HT 109 HT 110 HT 116 HT 117 HT 118
HT 119 HT 122 x 2 HT 123+124 x 5 HT 127 x 2 ZA 15 = lacG = ku=rwn = reaching, attaining i.e.
= total Cf. Linear B tosa to/sa Cf. kol = total (Semitic)
101. kura ARKH 2 + kuramu (inflected) HT 117 ZA 20 LM I b = lacG ku=ra = totals
102. Kuta... (truncated right) = Kutato LM 1 b (topomastics) = lacG Ku/tasto -> Ku/tastoj
(Ku/taiatoj) Cf. Linear B Kuta(i)to = Ku/taistoj
103. kuto/kutu = lacG ku/toj = shield, cuirass
104. kuruku HT 87 9 LM 1 b PGS = lacG kro/koj = crocus, saffron
105. kuruma HT 115 = lacG kouru=/ma -> koura/= shearing (used in conjunction with sheep) See
also sekutu
106. Kutiti PGS TOP (locative sing.) Kutaistos Cf. LB Kutaito
107. kutu = lacG ku/tu -> ku/toj = vase, jar, pot, urn
108. madi HT 69 HT 85 HT 97 HT 118 LM 1 b = lacG ma/di Cf. L.R. Palmer, Linear B, madi
(multiple occurrences, meaning unknown, possibly = lamb or an anthroponym?)
109. mare (dative) HT 55 PH 30 MM II a/b/maro/maru HT 24 x 3 HT 117 KH 43 LM 1 b PH 3
MM III (used in conjunction with wool)/maruku/marure KH 43 LM 1 b (used in conjunction
with wool) + maru = lacG mallo/j = flock of wool Cf. Linear B mali mali/ = wool = mari
110. masa/masaja = lacG ma/=ssa ma/=ssaia <= ma/=sswn = larger, bigger - 0r – masuri = goat,
Hittite + mallu/ri -> mallo/j = with fleece
111. materi PH 5 MM II a/b = lacG ma/teri = for mother Cf. Linear B, mate/matere
112. maza/mazu ZA 10 LM I b = lacG ma=za = kneaded or unbaked bread, barley bread/cake
113. meki = lacG me/ki -> me/kwn = with poppy seed HT 6 LM Ib + mekidi ZA 14 LM I b = lacG
meki/di = with poppy seed (instr. sing.) - or - OM = income, revenue, Hittite melkitu. Pareidolia
P:
114. mera = lacG me/la = honey + adameri LM 1 b a0dame/li, where ada is Old Minoan for
“part” or “portion”, hence, with a portion of honey (dat. sing.) See also kunite
115. meto = lacG mesto/j = full, filled
116. meza HT 10 HT 85 LM 1 b = lacG me/za (fem. sing.) = greater, bigger Cf. Linear B mezo
35
me/zwn me/zoj
117. mijo -> jomi (dextrograde) KH Wc 2054 + KH Wc 2005 LM 1 b+ mijo (sinistrograde) KH
Wc 2054 + KH Wc 2005 LM 1 b= on a strip of land (dat. sing.) jomi = = lacG o=0imi -> o=0imoj =
strip of land
118. mireja = lacG mhle/a = apple tree – or - mh/leia (gen. sing.) = belonging to a sheep
119. miru= lacG mh=lon = a sheep or goat – or - mh1lon = apple, tree fruit + mirutarare HT 117
LM 1b= lacG mh1lon = apple, tree fruit + tarare= qalla/re -> qallo/j= with a young shoot,
sprouting twig(dative sing., agglutinative), hence a young shoot of an apple. Pareidolia P:
120. mita + mitu (inflected) HT 117 LM 1 b = lacG mi/nqa = mint Cf. Linear B mita
121. miturea = lacG mi/toj 9Re/a= thread of a warp for Rhea (?) (agglutinative, Rhea dat. Sing.)
122. muko = lacG mu=xo/j = innermost place, inmost nook, corner, recess. Cf. Linear B muko
123. murito = lacG mu/lito -> mu/lac = with a millstone
124. muru HT 3 LM IB = lacG mu/ron = sweet oil extracted to plants; sweet oil; unguent;
perfume
125. naka = lacG na/ka -> na/koj = sheep’s fleece
126. naridi = lacG na/ridi <- na/rdoj = with (spike)nard (instrumental sing.)
127. nerapa/nerapaa = lacG neura/=pa neaura/=fa <- neura/= (with a) sinew, tendon, bow-string,
sling shot
128. oteja PK 1 LM I b = lacG o1steia -> o1streia = oyster pigment; oyster purple Cf. Linear B
otawero o1streioj
129. Paito HT 97 HT 120 LM 1 b Phaistos = lacG Faisto/j = Phaistos Cf. Linear Paito
Faisto/j See also Payata (Luwian)
130. paku = lacG paxu/j = great, large; rich, wealthy - or - paku = holy, sacred, Hittite, parkui
131. pasarija HT 24 LM 1b = of/from a part or portion = lacG fa/rsaria
132. pase HT 18 HT 25 + paseja (genitive) HT 93 + HT Wc 3001-3002 LM 1b = lacG fa/rse ->
fa/rsoj = with a part, portion. See also, adu + pasu = lacG fa/rsuj <- fa/rsoj = a large part,
portion
133. piku/pikudo LM I b/pikui/pikuzu/pika KH Wc 2123 LM 1 b = lacG fhgu/j -> fhgo/j = a
species of oak (Notice this tree is in conjunction with a bird on Linear A seal KH Wc 2123)
134. piminate HT 116 LM 1 b = lacG spi/mina te/ -> spe/rma = and seed (used in conjunction
with grain) Cf. Linear B pema = spe/rma
135. pisa HT 113 LM 1 b = lacG pi/ssa = pitch
136. pitaja HT 6 LM Ib = lacG pistai/a -> pista/kion = pistachio-nut
+ pitakase HT 21 LM 1b/pitakesi HT 87 LM 1 b = lacG pista/kesi = with pistachio-nuts (instr.
pl.) (used with grains and olive oil, i.e. pistachio-nut bread). Note that pistachio-nut was a
staple of the Minoan diet.
137. pirueju PH 2 LM I b = lacG pi=luei/uj -> pi=loj = “felt cuirass”, numbered as a total of 60
and used in conjunction with – raodiki – below
138. piwaja = lacG pi#ai/a = land division/divided land/shared land/shared plots?
139. posa = lacG po/sa= -> poi/si=j = drink(ing), beverage
140. potokuro HT 122 LM 1 b, with a total of 96 & HT 131 with a total of 452 = lacG poto/n +
ku/rwn = reaching a full drink, a full draught. (My colleague Alexandre Solcà would like to add
we may see that potokuro fits within the numbers produced above the list where this lexeme is
used and therefore would more analyse this lexeme as *ποτο, an early form for posos : a
certain quantity and kuro: total, so in all, lit. “total of quantity”, quantity amount)
141. puko HT 19 OM = tripod Cf. Linear B pukoso = lacG pu/coj = box-wood. Apparently
36
unrelated. In Linear A puko definitely means tripod and not box-wood.
142. punikaso PGS = lacG funi/kasoj = crimson, red (of wine) Cf. Linear B ponikiya ponikiyo
foini/kioj = crimson (of Phoenician origin)
143. qajo = lacG ba/i"on = a palm branch (Kafkania pebble, 1700 BCE)
144. qero = lacG be/loj = arrow, dart -or- beryl - vaidūrya (Sanskrit, Dravidian)
145. qeti HT 7 OM/PGS = a very large pot, pithos Cf. Linear B PGS qeto pi/qoj
146. radu/rade = lacG r9a/bdu <- r9a/bdoj = rod, switch; spear-staff or shaft
147. raodiki PH 2 LM I b = lacG lao/j + di/khn = «in the fashion of the host», “defenders of
people”, i.e. of soldiers, used in conjunction with the no. 60, so that we have the sense that 60
people acted like soldiers, i.e. valiantly. Cf. Linear B, rawo la#o/j = lao/j (used in context with
the ideogram for sheep, which in this case would appear to mean that 60 valiant soldiers
sacrificed 1 sheep)
We may also quote the famous Greek name Λαοδίκης and also Λαοδίκη.
148. ra2ti (raiti) = lacG r9aisth/r = a hammer, crusher
149. Raja/Raju PGS ANT TOP = lacG 9Rai/a = Raia Cf. Linear B Raja
150. raka/rakaa/raki SY Zb 7 MM III b – LM I a (dextrograde) = lacG r9axa/ -> r9axo/j = thorn
bush - or - berry = raka r9ac in Linear B (Palmer, 451). It fits the context quite well.
151. rea PGS = lacG r9e/a = goddess, Rhea
152. rima = lacG lei=mac = garden -or- lei=mma = remnant, remains, chaff - or - = lacG lh=mma =
income, receipts. Pareidolia P:
153. roika = lacG 9roika/ (fem. sing.) = crooked Cf. Linear B roiko 9roiko/j
154. roke/roki/roku = lacG = lo/foj = crest of a helmet
155. ruja KN? Wc 26 pomegranate tree LIG = lacG, archaic Greek r9oi=/a
156. Rukito PGS TOP Cf. Linear B Rukito = lacG Lu/kinqoj – or – Lycians
157. ruma HT 64 LM 1 b/rumarita2 HT 90 LM 1 b/rumu/rumata HT 99 LM 1 b/rumatase ZA
20 = lacG lu=matase -> lu=ma = offscourings of grain, i.e chaff... NOTE: in HT 90 this word is
used with the ideogram for grain, and so it suits the context very well.
158. rutari = lacG r9utari/ <- r9utw/n = with a drinking cup (running to a point with a small
hole through which wine ran)
159. saka = lacG sa/kka -> sa/kkoj = coarse cloth of hair to goats; sackcloth – or - sa/ka <-
sa/koj a shield made of wicker See also saqqu (Akkadian) See also – saqa - below
160. saqa + saqeri HT 11 LM I b = lacG sa/keri -> sa/ki/on = small bag - or - = sack Cf. saqqu
(Akkadian)
161. saro HT 17 LM 1b/saru/sarutu HT 9 HT 19 [HT 42 + 59 (joins)] HT 94 = lacG sa/ron =
broom, threshing floor - or - barley (for wine), saru (Semitic)
162. sasame HT 23 PGS = lacG sasa/me = sesame Cf. Linear B sasa/ma
163. sea = lacG se/a se/ei (dat. sing.) = goddess. This word is common to certain, primarily
archaic, ancient Greek dialects.
164. sekutu HT 115 LM 1 b = lacG shku/tu -> shko/j = pen, stable, enclosure (used in
conjunction with sheep) See also kaporu
165. sere HM 570.1 g (nodule sealing) NOTE: this makes perfect sense for a nodule sealing
LIG = lacG seirei/ -> seira/ = with a cord or rope (instrumental sing.)
166. Setoija PR Za 1 MM III + LM I a PGS TOP Cf. Linear B Setoiya Shtoi/a
167. side/sidi/sidija si/dia = pomegranate tree HT 126 /sidare/sidaro/sidate LM Ib/sidatoi HT
17 GO 2 = lacG si/dh = pomegranate tree, pomegranate fruit. Pomegranate trees feature
prominently on the Linear A seal in Figure 14 below.
37
168. Sidona = lacG Sidw=na = Sidona (ancient Phoenician city)
169. sija = lacG si/a -> si/a = goddess – or - seed, Hittite siya
170. sika HT Wa 1014-1018 LM 1 b = lacG shka/ -> shko/j = fold, enclosure; (sheep) pen; sacred
precinct, shrine = <- zhka/zw = to pen in Cf. Linear B periqoro peri/boloj = sheep pen
171. Sikine PGS TOP loc. sing. of Sikinos Siki/noj
172. Sikira/Sikirita HT 8 LM Ib PH Wa 32 MM II b PGS ANT/TOP or = lacG si/kera = sweet
fermented liquor LB sikiro
173. Sima PH Zb 4 LM I b (LP) PGS TOP = lacG Si/ma = Sima Cf. Linear B Sima
- or - = lacG sh=ma = sign, mark, token; omen; mound; grave, tomb Cf. sama/samaro above +
simeki HT 24 LM 1b = lacG sh=meki (dat. sing.) -> sh=ma = seal, mark (used with the ideogram
TAL = gold, so we can envision a gold stamp). Pareidolia P:
174. simita Cf. Linear B Simiteu HT 96 LM 1 b = lacG Simi/ta -> Sminqeu/j = epithet of the god
Apollo, i.e. mouse, used in conjunction with grains, so that we have mice getting into grain
stores. Pareidolia P:
175. sipiki ZA 4 LM I b ZA 5 LM I b (used in conjunction with - ita - ZA 5 is definitely a
military tablet) ZA 15 LM I b = lacG cifi/si (dat. pl.) -> cifo/j = with swords
176. sipo LIG = lacG = si/fwn = reed, straw, siphon
177. siru HT 55 LM 1 b Pk Za 12 (truncated right...) = lacG shru/ -> shrikoj = silken NOTE:
used in conjunction with wool + sirute PK Za 11 shru/ te/ = and silken
178. situ HT Wa 1019 LM 1 b + sita2 KH 9 LM 1 b ZA 20 = lacG si/tu si/tun = wheat Cf. Linear
B sito si/ton + site = lacG si/te (dat. sing.) ZA 26 LM I b
179. Sukirita PH wa 32/Sukiriteija HT Zb 158 LM 1b PGS TOP = Sybrita Cf. Linear B Sukirita
Su/grita
180. suzu = lacG su/zuc = yoked together; paired Cf. Linear B zeukesi zeu/gesi = yoked (instr.
pl.)
181. taikama HT 11 OM tai + = lacG ka/ma = a unit of land, something like an acre? See Linear
B kama = a plot of land
182. tarina = lacG qalli/na -> qallo/j = a young shoot, twig; festive olive-branch
183. terikama = lacG te/leika/ma = extent of land, i.e. something like acreage, lit. land to its
extent or boundary i.e. tero/teroa KT zg 2 sinistrograde = lacG te/loj = end, boundary + kama
= unit of land, hence, the boundary of a unit of land. Cf. Linear B kama = unit or plot of land
184. toraka PGS = lacG qw/rac = breastplate, cuirass = Linear B toraka
185. toro = lacG tau/roj = bull - or - qolo/j = dome or circular vault; vaulted building
186. tuma HT 94 LM 1 b/tumei/tumese ZA 4 LM I b/tumi = lacG qumi/a = with incense
(instrumental sing.)
187. turunu PGS = lacG qo/rnoj = throne Cf. Linear B torono qo/rnoj + turunuseme HT
128+134LM 1 b + Old Minoan (OM) seme = room, hence, throne room. Cf. photos of the
throne room at Knossos.
188. unaa KN Zb 40 LM I-II See also apaki, kipaa = lacG oi0nai/a = wine vessel, wine jug, wine
jar
189. una(ru)kanasi AP Za 2 MMIII-LM Ib KO Za 1 KO Za 9 IO Za 2 IO Za 9 PK Za 10 SY Za 2
MM III b - LM I a TL Za 1 + unarukanajasi K Za 12 TOP = lacG u 0narukanai/asij
- or – LacG We may suppose that kanasi in unarakanasi would stand for γανάω (Liddell and
Scott, pp. 299-300, to shine, glitter for metal). So that we might interpret unarakanasi as a
shining, gleaming dream.. - or - = lacG u1narkananai=asij = dream or vision zealot ->
o1narkananai=oj = zealot (on religious tablets, used in conjunction with libations, reduplication
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of na missing in proto-Greek) Cf. Calchas, the seer or reader of oracles in Homer’s Iliad (Book
I,1,85) “... for by Apollo, dear to Zeus, to whom you, Calchas, pray when you reveal oracles to
the Danaans,...” ... ou0 ma\ ga\r A 0po/llwna Di&i fi/lon w=9 te su\ Ka/lxan eu0xo/menoj Danaoi=si
qeopropi/aj a0nafai/neij, ... 25
190. utaise KH 7 LM b1 = lacG u2state -> u2statoj = last (dat. sing.) (used in conjunction with
barley, i.e. last harvest?)
191. wanaka PGS = lacG #a/nac = king Cf. Linear B wanaka (appears on a Linear A seal)
192. wasato = lacG #a/stu a1stu = town Cf. Linear B wato #a/stu. See also, Luwian, ati wati =
in the town) - or - OM = cattleman? - or - Luwian wastara + Wasatomaro + OM TOP = the
town of Maro? in the phrase: arakokuqawasatomaroautadeponiza
193. winu = lacG #i/nu = wine Cf. Linear B wono #oi/noj Cf. Luwian wainu + winijant &
Hittite, wiyana
194. winumatari = lacG #i/numa/tari = wine dedicated to Mother Earth (agglutinative)
195. wireu = lacG #i0eru/j -> #i0ero/j = priest Cf. Linear B iyero i0ero/j
196. wisasana KH 5 LM 1b = lacG i0sa/sane (a Minoan participle) -> i0sa/zw = balanced
(Minoan present participle passive), used in conjunction with barley
197. wono HT 93 LM 1 b = lacG o1noj = millstone (used in conjunction with the ideogram for
grain
198. zokutu = lacG zogwto/j = yoked, with a cross-bar
199. zuma = lacG zw=ma girdle, belt; girded tunic
Figure 14 dates/figs, pomegranate trees and labrys (double axes) on a Minoan seal
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The figures (images) on this Minoan seal strongly suggest that our decipherments of all 3 of
these Mycenaean-derived Linear A terms are right on the mark. This in turn reinforces our
hypothesis that there exists a substantive Mycenaean-derived superstrate in Linear A.
3.2 Possible Linear A vocabulary correlated with L.R. Palmer, Linear B, excluding Linear B
vocabulary we have already potentially, probably or definitely deciphered:
We have scanned every last entry in L.RS. Palmer’s Glossary (pp. 403-466) in The
Interpretation of Mycenaean Greek Texts. There are far more Linear B words which look
strikingly like their Linear A counterparts than Prof. John G. Younger or any other linguist to
date have ever accounted for. In fact, there appear to be no fewer than 141 entries, in addition
to the 199 already itemized above, for a potential total of 340. However, since only about 30 %
of the Linear A words ever pan out in Linear B, the potential maximum total is likely to fall in
the range of 250-270. In the list below, the Linear A words appear on the left, while the Linear
B ones appear on the right, after – to. Although we have yet to investigate the validity of most
of the Linear A words in this list, it is extremely revealing, insofar as it illustrates how scant
attention previous linguists and philologists have paid to the potential links between the
Linear A and Linear B lexemes below. Additionally, we have been able to pinpoint, at least
with some degree of accuracy, the meanings of many of the Linear A words correlating with
their Linear B equivalents in Linear B in Palmer. One has to wonder why previous researchers
did not root out such frequent parallels. Linear A words which bear the most striking
resemblance to their Linear B counterparts are flagged with an asterisk (*). Linear A and
Linear B words which are absolutely identical bear double asterisks (**). Some of these words
are identical in Linear A and Linear B, while some appear in the Glossary of Mycenaean-
derived vocabulary in Linear A above. The very fact that there are so many corresponding
terms in the two syllabaries lends further credence to our theory that there very likely exists a
Mycenaean-derived superstrate in Linear A.
adara/adaro/adaru – to adararako
+ aka – to aka ** – apparently a toponym in Linear B (Palmer, pg. 178)
+ ake – to akee * – aorist passive in Linear B (Palmer, 404), unlikely to correlate with Linear
A, since verbs as such rarely appear on Linear A tablets.
+ akiro – to aikara apa3di... - to apa3daro *
+ ara – to are * – divinity in Linear B (Palmer, 409), unlikely to correlate with Linear A.
+ araju - to arejo * + arako – to arako ** – weaving?
+ arakokuzu – to arako + kusu * (2 words in Linear B) – with weaving?, since kuzu cu\n is a
preposition in Linear B. But it is almost certain that the preposition for “with” is not kuzu in
the Old Minoan (OM) substrate language.
+ aranare/aranarai – to aranaro *
+ aratiatu – to areta2 + aretato * (2 words in Linear B) – missing part of a chariot in Linear B
(Palmer, 409)
+ aratu/aratumi... to arata + aratua * aredai – to aradajo ari/arinita – to a2rie – a class of
men (Palmer, 409)
+ arija – to arijato * – man’s name (Palmer, 409)
+ aripa – to aripa3 * – bronze smith (Palmer, 409)
+ arisu – to a2risa * – geographical name? (Palmer, 409)
+ asamune – to asami + asara2 – to asaro * + ase/asi – to asee *
+ asona – to asona ** – man’s name or place name, or possibly an axe (Palmer, 410)
40
+ atare – to atara * – some kind of vessel or utensil (Palmer, 411), probably correlates well
with Linear A.
+ atika – to atika ** + atiru – to atiro * + atu – to a2to
+ awapi – to awipoto See also potokuro in Linear A, no. 174 in the Glossary of Mycenaean-
derived vocabulary in Linear A above.
+ dame/dami/daminu * – to dame ** + dasi – to dasi(.)so * + dawa – to dawano/dawi/ dawo *
+ depa/depu – to dipa * See also no. 51 in the Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in
Linear A above.
+ dika/dikaki.../dikatare (right truncated) – to dikatade/dikataro * – Dikatade (Chris
Tselentis) is Di/ktande, a mountain name in Linear B, likely to correlate well with Linear A.
+ dikate – to dikatajo * Dikatai/w + Di#ei/ in Linear B, related to Zeus, likely to correlate well
with Linear A (Palmer, 413)
+ diqe – to diqo * + dirasa – to dira * + diru – to diro * + disa – to diso * + dumaina – to
duma + dupu3re – to dupu2razo + dura2 – to dureu/duro + durui... (truncated) – to
dureu/duro * + duti – to duto * + duwi – to duwo * + iduti – to idu
+ ikuta – to iketa * ike/thj = suppliant, likely to correlate well with Linear A.
+ isari – to isawo + itaja – to itaja ** + jamauti – to jamuta * + jara/jare/jaremi – to jaru * + +
jari/jarina/jarinu – to jaru * + kae/kai – to kaeseu + kaji/kaju – to kajo *
+ kami - to kama/kamo * – name of a weaver, unlikely to correlate with Linear A (Palmer,
424)
+ kanita – to kanito *
+ kaporu – to kapara – some kind of measurement or container for wine, used with tosa and a
wine entry in Linear B (Palmer, 424)
+ karero – to karai
+ karu – to karo * – probably a place name (Palmer, 425)
+ kasi – to kaso *
+ kataro – to kataro ** (Egyptian scarab?) Almost certainly the same word in Linear A and
Linear B.
+ kati – to kati ** – some kind of vase or jug, an interpretation absolutely acceptable in Linear
A as well as in Linear B Palmer, 425)
+ kaudeta – to kauda – place, personal name, god? (Palmer, 425)
+ keire – to kere * + kekiru – to keki + kereza – to kereza ** + keta/kete/ketu – to keta ** +
kimu – to kemeu * + kira - to kira(qe) ** SY Zb 7 66. + kopu – to kopi * + kuda – to kudajo +
+ kujude – to kujo + kuka – to kuka **
+ kukudara – to kukadaro * – personal name (Palmer, 431)
+ kupa3nu – to kupanuweto – personal name? (Palmer, 431)
+ kuparo – to kuparo/kupariso ** Kupari/ssioi – ethnic name of Kyparisos (Palmer, 431),
correlates well with Linear A. See also no. 120 in the Glossary of Mycenaean-derived
vocabulary in Linear A above = kupari KH 29 – truncated = lacG kupa/ri -> kupa/rissoj =
cypress plant Cf. Linear B kuparo = ku/pairoj = cypress plant, hence in Linear B = the place of
the cypresses or a cypress grove, almost certainly equivalent to Linear A.
+ kuro/kurotu – to kuro2 *
+ kuruku – to kuruka * See also no 125. kuruku HT 87 9 LM 1 b PGS = lacG kro/koj =
“crocus, saffron” in the Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A above, almost
certainly equivalent to Linear A.
+ kutu – to kuto *
+ kuwa – to kuwano * – kua/nw = with cyanus, possibly correlated with Linear A (Palmer, 43)
41
+ kuzu – to kusu *– preposition cu\n = with, may possibly correlate with Linear A (Palmer,
432), but this is highly unlikely, as the preposition for “with” is almost certainly not equivalent
to cu\n.
+ madi – to madi ** HT 3 x 2 HT 69 HT 85 HT 97 HT 118. Common in Linear A, also appears
in Linear B (Palmer, 432), meaning unknown, possibly a personal name or “lamb”.
+ makaita – to makata * + makarite - to makera
+maniki – to maniko * – personal name (Palmer, 432)
+ maro/maru/maruku/maruri – to maro x 2 ** + masa/masaja – to masa ** + masi/ masidu
– to masidwo * + maza/mazu - to mazi/mazu * + meturaa – to metura **
+ meza – to mezo * – definitely = greater, larger in both Linear A and Linear B. See also meza
on HT 10 HT 85 LM 1 b = lacG me/za (fem. sing.) = greater, bigger Cf. Linear B mezo me/zwn
me/zoj in the Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A above (Tselentis)
mini – to miniso + miru – to mira * + muko – to muko ** + narepirea – to naperewa
(metathesis) * + neqa – to neqeu + nesasawi – to neseewe (metathesis) * + nuti/nutini – to
nuto + padaru – to pa2daro
+ pade – to pade ** – a divinity (Palmer, 440), probably correlates well with Linear A.
paja/pajai/pajare – to pajaro * + paka – to paka ** + pata/patada/pataqe/patu – to pata ** +
pija/pijani/pijawa – to pija **
+ pimata – to pimeta * – possibly = pimento (Palmer, 445)
+ pirueju – to pirijao/pirije (metathesis) * – used in conjunction with ivory (Palmer, 445).
Does this possibly mean “polished”?
pu2reja – to pu2rijako + pu2su/pu2sutu – to puso + pusa/pusi – to puso/pusijo * +
qeria/qeriu – to qerijo *
+ qero – to qero/qero2 ** – dual, item first listed in inventories of suits of armour, name of a
two-piece corslet (Palmer, 450), may possibly correlate with Linear A. See also no 178. qero =
lacG be/loj = arrow, dart -or- beryl - vaidūrya (Sanskrit, Dravidian) in the Glossary of
Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A above
+ qeti – to qeto * – name of a vessel with handles on its shoulders (Palmer, 450). See also no.
179. qeti HT 7 OM/PGS = a very large pot, pithos Cf. Linear B PGS qeto pi/qoj in the Glossary
of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A above. The correlation with Linear A is
absolute.
+ raka/rakaa – to raka ** – part of an aromatic plant, berry r9ac in Linear B (Palmer, 451)
See also no. 184. raka/rakaa/raki SY Zb 7 MM III b – LM I a (dextrograde) = lacG r9axa/ ->
r9axo/j = thorn bush – or - berry r9ac in Linear B (Palmer, 451) in the Glossary of Mycenaean-
derived vocabulary in Linear A above. Note that since many berry plants have thorns on them,
either or both interpretations (polysemiotics) fit the Linear A context as well.
+ rani – to rani ** + rekau – to reka * + rese/resi/resu - to resiwo
+ risa – to risapi * + ritaje – to rita * – adjective describing pawea, a type of cloth in Linear B,
possibly risa = li=ta = linen (Palmer, 453), may also stand up to scrutiny in Linear A.
+ rodaa – to rudea2 – context in articles of leather (Palmer, 453)
+ roke/roki/roku – to roko * + rotau - to ruta2 * + ruko – to ruko ** + saja/ sajama/sajamana
– to sajo/saju + samidae – to samada *
+ sapo/sapi – to sapa – a kind of or clothing or dress. See also no. 80. jarisapa OM PGS =
lacG = some kind of dress? in the Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A
above & in Tselentis.
+ sato/sata – to sati + senu – to seno * + sija – to sijama * + sima – to sima ** PH Zb 4 ** 123.
+ sipu3ka – to sipu3 * + suja – to sujato *
42
+ tanate/tanati - to tanato * (but this resemblance is most likely accidental)
+ tanika – to taniko * + tata/tati – to tatata
+ tejai – to teija * – used with matere, matere teija Matrei\ Qei/ai = to the Divine Mother
(Palmer, 456). The correlation with Linear A appears sound.
+ tejare – to tejaro * – place of the gods? (Palmer, 456). If this correlates with Linear A, then
tejare is locative singular in Linear A = in the place of the gods.
+ tepi – to tepai * + tereau – to teraureo (metathesis) *
+ teri/tero/teroa – to teroa * HT 91 – may mean “boundary” te/loj
+ tetu – to teteu * + tikuja – to tikijo
+ tisa – to tise * – possibly the name of a man (Palmer, 458)
+ tome – to tomeo * + urewi – to ureu * + uro – to uro2 * + waduko – to wadako *
+ waduna – to waduna ** + waja – to waje *+ winadu – to winato *
Total = 141
Quite apart from the fact that 67 Linear A words exhibiting high correlation with their Linear
B counterparts, there exist at least 199 Linear A words, and possibly as many as 270, which
appear to be Mycenaean-derived, as illustrated in the comprehensive Glossary of
Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A. The 67 words with high correlation are a small
subset of the greater Linear A Glossary of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary. But if this is the
case, then why did the majority of the Mycenaean-derived Linear A terms in the wider
glossary simply disappear with the eventual demise of the Linear A syllabary, never again to
resurface on Linear A tablets and inscriptions? What is the source of this dilemma? Or is there
more than one reason for the marked discrepancy? We really shall never know why, but at
least two explanations may be forthcoming:
a. Most Linear A tablets are vertical in their orientation, whereas most Linear B tablets are
horizontal and elongated. While this factor may not seem to be of any significant import, it
may well play a role in the disappearance of a large number of so-called Mycenaean-derived
words found on Linear A inscriptions, but nowhere in sight in Linear B. Vertically oriented
tablets seem to allow for a greater diversity of vocabulary in each of the sectors of the Minoan
economy, agricultural, military, textiles (if any) and vessels and pottery. This is certainly the
case with Linear A tablet HT 31 (Haghia Triada), which affords greater scope for greater detail
on the vessels it itemizes than does Linear B tablet Pylos Py TA 641-1952 (Ventris). 12
b. Linear A tablets almost invariably specialize in more specific terminology than do their
Linear B counterparts. We have already witnessed this phenomenon in numerous examples in
the Figures of Linear A tablets and inscriptions above. See supra for multiple examples of
specialized Linear A vocabulary. If a trove of new Linear A tablets and inscriptions were to
surface at some point the future, we should expect this pattern to repeat itself.
But the question remains why do so many Linear A tablets and inscriptions bear down on
more specific vocabulary than Linear B ones? This is a mystifying state of affairs. It may
simply be a matter of volume. Faced with high volumes of inventories, the Linear B scribes
may have simply resorted to more generalized statistics based on umbrella terms such as
akoro, arura, dipa (but not kunisu, which is Semitic anyway, and Linear B tablets rarely, if
ever show forth Semitic vocabulary), kanako, mate (but not Damate), sito and wono, to get
right to the heart of the statistics and their totals as efficiently as possible. One would surely
expect that most of the Mycenaean-derived Linear A terms would resurface in Linear B.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that a large portion of so-called Mycenaean-derived Linear A
43
terms simply vanished from the scene with the demise of the Linear A syllabary, and all this in
the space of a mere 50 years or so (ca. 1500 – 1450 BCE).
4. The foundation of the Linear A and Linear B syllabaries:
But there is even more to the phenomenon of high correlation between Linear A and Linear B
than merely the co-incidence of at least 67 so-called Mycenaean-derived Linear A exograms
(and by extension any words in any script). The two syllabaries, Linear A and Linear B, are
uncannily similar, so much so that one can be forgiven for posing the question, are they in fact
the same syllabary? Is Linear B simply a more streamlined version of Linear A, and can we
draw the conclusion that they are in actuality one and the same syllabary? But before we
address this phenomenon, we need to face the hotly contested question head on, is Linear A
even a syllabary? Some linguists and philologists, professional and amateur alike, many on
the fringe, vociferously insist that it is not. But if not, then what are they, symbols? ―
pictographs, glyphs, hieroglyphs or some other esoteric writing system? The point we would
like to make here is that it almost seems as if said proponents of alternative writing systems
for Linear A assiduously seek out these solutions to this apparent dilemma merely because
they simply cannot bring themselves to accept the ineluctable, that Linear A is indeed a
syllabary. They loudly insist, syllabary, no! ― anything else, definitively, but never a syllabary.
Such persons are simply tilting at windmills. The evidence, which is more than merely
circumstantial, does not bear out these alternative views.
If we compare the Linear A and Linear B syllabaries head on, this is what we find.
As Table 3 below so clearly demonstrates, no fewer than 40 of the syllbograms in the bases of
Linear A and Linear B are either identical, nearly identical or so strikingly similar that one has
to ask oneself the particularly a propos question, are these really separate syllabaries? Given
that there are only 51 base syllabograms in Linear A, and in light of the fact that 49 or 90 %
overlap so closely with their Linear B counterparts, of which there are 61 minus 7 which do
not appear in Linear A =54, it very much looks like the Linear B syllabary is a standardized
refinement of its immediate forbear, Linear A. The progression is from slightly less complex
in Linear A to slightly more in Linear B. Some observers may object, yes, 90 %, but what
about the remaining 10 %? We are of the opinion that the designers of the Linear B syllabary,
whosoever they may have been, and however long (probably no longer than around 50 years)
it took them to devise the latter, diligently strove to streamline the former in the latter. It is
readily apparent that the Linear B syllabary did not simply appear overnight. In fact, some of
the very last Linear A inscriptions actually appear to have been inscribed almost entirely in
Mycenaean-derived Greek, relying on the Linear A syllabary instead of the Linear B, simply
because the latter had not quite yet made its official appearance. This particularly appears to
be the case with the Linear A inscriptions in Figures 1 2 3 7 9 10 11 and 12 supra.
Table 3, the Linear A-B syllabaries, are they 2 different syllabaries or are they a more than
merely a close match?
Table 3 is on the next page.
44
Table 3: Linear A-B syllabaries
5. Minoan Linear A grammar and syntax:
The decipherment of any unknown ancient language squarely depends on a multi-pronged
approach. We must investigate the tablets and inscriptions of such languages using every
conceivable methodology. These approaches include:
5.1.1 determining what kind of script the language is written in, if at all possible. In the case of
Linear A, at least that problem has been faced head on, and resolved to the best of our ability,
as outlined in the previous section, 4. The foundation of the Linear A and Linear B syllabaries:
5.1.2 relying as far as humanly possible on context in the presence of multiple ideograms, as is
the case with Linear A tablet HT 31 (Haghia Triada) 14, passim, perhaps the sole Linear A tablet
inscribed mostly in Old Minoan (OM), the original substrate Minoan language, precisely
45
because so many ideograms are present to assist us in its satisfactory decipherment. Relying
solely on the process of cross-correlative retrospective extrapolation (CCRE), we were able to
effect a satisfactory decipherment of the genus of the two inscriptions as outlined in (b) above,
by means of direct comparison between two tablets, one in Linear A and the other in Linear B,
viz. Linear A tablet HT 31 (Haghia Triada) and Pylos tablet PY TA 641-1952 (Ventris) in Linear
B, on which the vocabulary appears to be and in fact is strikingly similar. In this fashion, we
are even able to decipher at least one Linear A tablet inscribed entirely in Old Minoan (OM),
but only because of the proliferation of practically identical ideograms on both tablets 14, bis.
5.1.3 where Mycenaean-derived vocabulary on any number of Linear A tablets directly
parallels the same vocabulary on Linear B tablets, this affords us the opportunity to decipher
the Linear A vocabulary with reasonable and sometimes complete accuracy. See High
Correlation Linear A ― Linear B words in the Glossary of Mycenaean superstrate vocabulary
supra for the practical application of this procedure.
5.1.4 Even in the absence of direct cross-correlation of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in
Linear A with its counterparts on Linear B tablets, as outlined in (c) above, it is possible to
extract numerous possible/probable Mycenaean-derived words from Linear A tablets on
which these terms find no counterpart in Linear B, precisely because the terms readily lend
themselves to interpretation as Mycenaean-derived, as outlined in the Glossary of
Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A above.
5.1.5 As it so happens, on Linear A tablets which combine Old Minoan (OM) vocabulary of the
original Minoan substrate language with Mycenaean-derived vocabulary, it is even possible to
decipher at least a few Old Minoan (OM) words, perhaps as many as 25, via the context in
which these OM terms are set. This procedure, though never tested by previous linguists
specializing in Linear A, can reap rich rewards. As it so happens, the presence of more than 50
% Mycenaean-derived New Minoan (NM) vocabulary over Old Minoan (OM) vocabulary in
the original Minoan language on any particular Linear A tablet or inscription facilitates this
process, whereas less than 50 % of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary versus more than 50 % Old
Minoan (OM) substrate vocabulary impedes it. In other words, the greater the percentage of
Mycenaean-derived vocabulary on any single Linear A tablet, the greater are our chances of
deciphering at least some of the remaindered Old Minoan (OM) vocabulary. If the percentage
of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary is very high (75 % >), then the chances of deciphering the
remaining corresponding Old Minoan vocabulary in context are significantly greater. As is
always the case in the decipherment of unknown words in an uncharted ancient language, the
key here is context. Context is everything. Context determines just how far we can manage to
go in deciphering even a small portion of a hitherto unknown language. If the proportion of
Old Minoan (OM) substrate over Mycenaean-derived New Minoan (NM) vocabulary is high
(50 % >), then the chances of decipherment of Old Minoan terms are correspondingly lower.
In other words, the presence of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary is in approximate inverse
proportion to that of Minoan. This can be mathematically illustrated as follows (where MDV
= Mycenean-derived vocabulary and OMV = Old Minoan vocabulary):
If MDV > 50 % - 75 %, then OMV is far more likely to be susceptible to decipherment. If OMV
is > 50 % - 75 %, then OMV is much less susceptible to successful decipherment.
As it so happens, the vast majority of Linear A tablets with a high presence of Mycenaean-
derived Linear A vocabulary effecting decipherment of at least a few Old Minoan (OM) words,
perhaps as many as 25, again, and we stress, in context, are almost all clustered around the
46
site of Haghia Triada. It is highly significant that the majority of decipherable tablets are of
Haghia Triada provenance, because this set of circumstances strongly suggests that Haghia
Triada was the primary centre of the Minoan economy in the Late Minoan periods (ca. 1550 –
ca. 1480 BCE), just prior the the ascendance of Knossos, with the arrival of the Mycenaeans
during the late Minoan I b period (ca. 1480 – ca. 1425 BCE). The overlap between the end of
LM III a and the early years of LM III b is most revealing. A turnover period of ca. 1480 –
1450 BCE between the final demise of the Linear A syllabary and the adoption of the more
streamlined Linear B syllabary is sufficiently implied, with the overlap between the two
syllabaries probably occurring in that critical 30 year period, as attested in Table 1 above. A
few more tablets from Zakros also meet this criterion.
6. mathematical model: categorical novum: permutations and combinations:
This references the application of our entirely novel methodology of the categorical novum,
mathematical permutations and combinations of the approximate 1,100 words in Linear A,
which we are the first ever researchers into Linear A to have applied. No other linguists, past
or present, have ever even considered this approach, but its rewards more than pay off.
Astonishingly, the approximate 1,100 intact words in Linear A lexicon yield some 5,000
mathematical permutations and combinations. The results of these far-reaching findings have
enabled us, for the first time in the 118 year history of the sedulous quest for decipherment of
the recalcitrant Linear A substrate language, Old Minoan (OM), and indeed of the
Mycenaean-derived superstrate, New Minoan (NM), to be able to make the first ever inroads
into meticulously and comprehensively analyzing the deeper structure of the grammar and
syntax of the Old Minoan (OM) language itself, a.k.a. the Old Minoan (OM) substrate. And
the results of our research have afforded us some startling revelations, not only about the
grammar and syntax of the Minoan substrate language, but astonishingly, over that of
Mycenaean Greek in Linear B, and even of archaic and much later classical Greek.
6.1 Minoan Linear A grammar and syntax:
6.1.1 Declensions = inflections in Linear A exhibiting high correlation with Linear B, with
examples from each syllabary:
There is a lot more to high correlation between Linear A and Linear B than just vocabulary. As
it so happens, at least one case, namely, thousands of permutations and combinations of
Linear A vocabulary have decisively demonstrated to us that the dative/instrumental/locative,
both singular and plural, exhibits characteristics in Linear A which are strikingly similar to the
terminations for the same case in Linear B and, what is even more significant, in common
with the dative/instrumental/locative in archaic, Homeric and Aeolic Greek. In fact, both the
singular and plural ultimates in Linear A suggest that the Mycenaean cases, hence, the later
archaic and Homeric declensions of this instance are in all probability derived from Old
Minoan (OM), the original Minoan substrate language. If this is indeed the case, then at least
the dative/instrumental/locative inflections in ancient Greek, right from Mycenaean Greek
onward, appear to have been derived, not from Greek, but from a foreign language, namely,
Minoan. If this is the case, the implications for our greater understanding of ancient Greek
declensions are staggering. Still, we must make a clear distinction between Mycenaean-
derived vocabulary in Linear A and Minoan inflectional cases possibly or probably inherited
47
by Mycenaean Linear B, archaic and Homeric Greek, because these two phenomena have
absolutely nothing to do with one another. Whereas adoption of a limited number of
Mycenaean-derived words by Linear B is a retrospective process (from later Mycenaean
Linear B to earlier Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A), the probable inheritance of at
least some Old Minoan (OM) substrate cases in Mycenaean Linear B, archaic and Homeric
Greek is a diachronically prospective process (from much earlier Old Minoan to Mycenaean
Linear B, and much later archaic and Homeric Greek). The two processes are diametrically
opposed.
As it so happens, we can isolate a great many examples which appear to draw on irrefutable
evidence of the presence of the scores of singular terminals e and i in the Old Minoan (OM)
language, which point to the hypothetical presence of a singular dative/instrumental/locative
in that language. We have fortuitously stumbled on what appear to be highly consistent and
predictable patterns, some of which may reveal recurrent standardized orthographic
conventions, accounting for at least some of the syntax and grammar of the Minoan language.
Among these revelations we count the following:
6.1.1.1 the apparent existence of the dative, instrumental and locative singular terminating in
either e or i even as early as the Minoan language, which proliferate in Linear A. It would be
rather too time-consuming and labour intensive to reference all of the actual tablet numbers
in which all of these ultimates are found, but it is a relatively easy matter to ferret all of them
out on Prof. John G. Younger’s site. We provide multiple examples below, with tablet
assignations for at least some of them:
asidatoi (a privative), datare = with figs, kati = in a hydria (water flask, HT 63, HT 88,
Haghia Triada), Idamate = to the Mother goddess of Mount Ida, Kanijami (apparently to a
girl or woman by that name), kitanite = with/on a terebinth tree, pitakase = with pistachio
(HT 21) and turunuseme = in a throne room?, with the first 3 syllables in this exogram
Mycenaean-derived new Minoan (NM) and the last 2 Old Minoan (OM), and (all
undeciphered) akipiete, aparane, aranare, arenisidi, asasumaise, aturisiti, dadumine,
dikaki (HT 52), daki (HT 6), dame (HT 86), dare (HT 7, HT 10 x 2, HT 85), dumedi (HT 19),
jasararaane, jasasarame (IO Za 2, 6, 9, 10, 16), jasasaramene, kirisi,, kunite, madi (HT 3,
HT 69, HT 85) mikisane, pajare (HT 8), parane, paiki, qatikipiteri, qatidate (HT 12),
qesite, qeti (HT 7) raodiki, redise (HT 85), rimisi, sidare (HT 17), sakeri (HT 11), sikine,
tanaratanati, temedai, teki (HT 13), and itaise/utaisi, among others.
Upon closer examination the Minoan dative singular reveals that these two ultimates, e and i,
ostensibly represent different genders. It would appear, prima facie, that ultimate e is
feminine, while ultimate i is masculine/neuter. Analysis or the dative singular in Linear B
strongly suggests that Mycenaean and indeed some archaic Greek dialects, especially Linear C
Arcado-Cypriot and the artificial construct, Homeric Greek, as well as archaic Aeolic, directly
inherited the terminals for this case, as illustrated in the following examples of the dative
singular in Linear B:
arepate a1leifarat
e
= with cream, ointment
didakare didaska/le
i
= at the place of the practitioner, priest, doctor
erepate e0lefa/nte
i
= with ivory
48
kerae ke/rae
i
= with horn (material)
matere ma/ter
e
= to/for/with mother
pomene poime/ne
i
= for/with a shepherd (see also, Iliad, below)
ponike foini/ke
i
= decorated with a griffin or palm trees
pu2tere fu/ter
i
= to/for/with a planter
wanakate #ana/kte
i
= to, for/with the king
We note in particular that the dative singular uniformly terminates with e, which is highly
reminiscent of the ultimate e and in Linear A. The same trend continues unabated right
through the entire Iliad, where these terminals are just as common as later Ionic-derived
forms. Almost all of the ultimates are also Aeolic, a very ancient dialect at least as old as the
artificial epic, Homeric. Accordingly, for the dative singular in the Iliad we find:
A0game/mnoni a1nakti di"i/ e1ridi kh/ruki Ne/stori poime/ni Pe/lopi filoth/ti
- all of them terminating in i
and translated as, for/to Agamemnon, for/to/with a lord, for/to a god, in strife, to/with a
herald, to/for/with Nestor, to/for/with a shepherd, to/for/with Pelops, with hospitality
b) But there is more, much more... the apparent existence, relatively common, of the dative,
instrumental and locative plural, as for example in akarakitanasijase (PE Zb 3), ananusijase
(HT Zb 159), amawasi (CR (?) Zf 1), danasi (HT 116), didikase (ZA Zb 3), enasi (KH 7) ,
idunesi , japarajase, mizase, otanizasi, pitakase/pitakesi (HT 87), sekanasi (SY Za 3),
timitizase, uminasi (HT 28, HT 117) and unakanasi (IO Za 9, Ko Za 1, SY Za 2), among
others. It is clear from all of these ultimates which, with the exception of idunesi (HT 13),
pitakesi, rimisi (HT 117), terminate in asi, that there appears to have been a gradual shift
from asi in the original Minoan language, Old Minoan (OM) to esi in Mycenaean and later
archaic and Homeric Greek. Examples from Homeric Greek are: klaggh=|si (with sounds,
songs, shouts), deinh=|si (adj., with the fearful, formidable, mighty, pl.), with Minoan asi
morphed to the parallel Homeric terminals eisi, slightly varying from esi. Indeed, the
resemblance of these ultimates to Mycenaean and later archaic and Homeric Greek dative,
instrumental and locative plural ultimates is truly remarkable. It is from these examples that
we draw the tentative conclusion from the hypothesis that Mycenaean and later archaic and
Homeric Greek dative, instrumental and locative plural ultimates may very well have been
directly inherited from the Minoan language. The alternative hypothesis that
akarakitanasijase may have been derived from Hittite seems simply untenable, in light of the
fact the all of the other words in this class in the original Minoan substrate, Old Minoan (OM)
do not adhere to this pattern and also because the declension endings in Hittite are different.
This word may instead by in a conjectural ablative absolute in the Minoan substrate language.
And since we are dealing with what appears to be a Mycenaean-derived superstrate, even for
words which are not Mycenaean-derived, all of which bear very similar ultimates, the
tentative conclusion we draw seems to bear out this assumption as plausible, according to the
circumstantial evidence, that Mycenaean and later archaic and Homeric Greek dative,
instrumental and locative singular and plural ultimates, which also conclude with these
ultimates, may very well have been derived the original Minoan substrate, Old Minoan (OM).
Naturally, we should expect the patterns e and i, asi and esi, dative/instrumental/locative
singular and plural, to repeat themselves in Linear B and as a matter of course they do. And if
49
the dative/instrumental/locative singular in Linear A are at the root of the same case(s) in
Linear B, is it not reasonable to assume that the masculine and neuter nominative singular
may have also migrated from Linear A to Linear B? Once again, we can readily cite many
examples.
For the dative singular in Linear B, we find:
aikiewe/aiqewe A0igeu/#ei = in the Aegean fashion
akorewe a0gro# ei = in a field (locative)
amota a0/rmotei = with a wheel or undercarriage of a chariot
apuke a0/mpukei = with a headband or tiara
Atamanewe A0qameu/#ei= to/for/with Athameneus
Atimite A0rtimi/tei = to/for/with Artemis
didakare didaska/lei = at the place of the practitioner or teacher
diwijiwe di#i/ #ei = to/for/with the priest of Zeus
diwoijewe dio/j 0ie#ei = to/for/with the son of Zeus
Enesidaoni E 0nesida/onei = to/for the earth-shaker, i.e. Poseidon
eqetai e0pe/tai = to/for/with an attendant, follower (of the king)
erepate e0lefa/ntei = (decorated) with ivory
Erinuwe E 0rinu/#e = to/for the goddess Erinys (the Fury)
Ewitewe E 0 #ite/ #ei = at Eviteus (toponym)
ijerewe = i0ere#ei = to/for/with the priest
kakeusi xalkeu/si = to/for/with a coppersmith (This is not plural, in spite of appearances,
because the nominative for coppersmith is xalkeu/j).
kamaewe kamae/#ei = to/for/with the owner of a plot of land
kanapewe kanapeu/ #ei = to/for/with the cloth or wool-carder
matere ma/terei = to/for/with mother
patere pa/terei = to/for/with father (unattested but definitely Mycenaean)
rawaketai la#age/tai = to/for/with the leader of the hosts, i.e. commander-in-chief
wanakate #a/nakte = to/for/with the king
NOTE the multiple instances of the insertion of digamma # in the dative/instrumental/
locative singular in Linear B.
For the dative plural in Linear B, we find, among others:
desomo desmoi/j = with straps (irregular)
ekesi e1gxensi = with spears
kunakisi gunaici/ = for/with women
kakeusi xalkeu/si = for/with copper workers
pawesi fa/r#esi = with textiles
pirietesi prie/tesi = for ivory workers
Posidaijeusi Posidai"geu/si = for/to priests of Posidao
turateusi qhrateu/si = with door-keepers
zeukesi zeu/gesi = with a pair (of wheels), with wheels on axle
50
Notice that in many instances, the dative plural is esi, which is exactly as we would expect,
closely following the pattern asi/esi in Linear A. For the dative plural in the Iliad, we hit upon
the same consistent pattern:
a1nqesin khru/kessi mhro/pessi nh/essi Tro/essi fresi/n a0perei/si koi/lhsin xers/in
- all of them terminating in esi, essi, eise and ersi (some with movable n, which is irrelevant)
translated as, with flowers, with/to/for heralds, on the thighs, with/on ships, to/for the
Trojans, with their hearts/minds, with innumerable (hosts), with/in hollow ships, with/for
arms or force.
From these several examples we have drawn the relatively sound conclusion that at least some
of the Mycenaean and Homeric Greek dative, instrumental and locative singular ultimates
may indeed have been directly inherited from the Minoan language. Once again, the
implications for the possible or probable inheritance in Mycenaean Linear B, archaic and
Homeric Greek of the dative singular and plural alike from the Old Minoan (OM) substrate
language are truly mind-boggling.
6.1.1.2 Ultimates in U:
To cite some of the Linear A words terminating in u, regardless of the presence of a
Mycenaean-derived superstrate or not, but with correlation to Linear B words where these do
occur, we have:
akaru – the masculine nominative singular of Linear A word for “field”. Cf. Linear B akoro.
amidau (see also, amidao below)
arisu atiru daminu
datu – apparently the neuter singular word for “fig” in Linear A. See also datare/datara below,
in which case the first form is probably dative or instrumental singular, and datara is the
plural “figs”. The word for fig(s) is also frequently designated by the supersyllabogram NI,
which is attested as nira in Linear A, and appears in both Linear A and Linear B.
inataizu jasamu jasumatu
kaku – the Linear A word for “copper/bronze”, corresponding to Linear B kako
kaporu kasaru
kunisu – the Linear A word for “emmer wheat” (Semitic)
kuruku – the Linear A word for “crocus/saffron”. Cf. Linear B kanako “saffron/safflower”
maru nijanu nitinu pirueju qatiju
saru – (see also saro below)
site – the dative or instrumental Linear A word for “wheat”, corresponding to Linear B sito
situ – the Linear A word for “wheat”, corresponding to Linear B sito
tetu usu winadu zusu
6.1.1.3 Ultimates in O:
Here we cite most of the Linear A words terminating in o, regardless of the presence or not of
a Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary, since as we have already pointed out, the
presence of Old Minoan (OM) cases in Linear B, archaic and Homeric Greek is utterly
unrelated to the presence of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A. Before we proceed
51
to the discussion of the ultimate o, it is absolutely critical to draw your undivided attention to
the total absence of these 7 Linear B syllabograms, do no mu no qo so & wo, in Linear A, since
this lacuna goes a long way towards explaining why at least as many Linear A words terminate
in ultimate u as in final o. We therefore postulate that Old Minoan resorted to ultimate u in
the absence of these 7 syllabograms (with the exception of final mu, which also is absent from
Linear A), and this hypothesis is borne out by the examples above. Moreover, as the terminals
in o below attest to, the very same 7 Linear B syllabograms are totally absent from Linear A.
Clearly then, the Old Minoan (OM) substrate language had no vocabulary whatsoever
containing these 7 syllabograms. This is a highly significant finding in and of itself, because it
should eventually reveal more about the deep structure of Minoan grammar. See Table 3 in
The foundation of Linear A and Linear B, their syllabaries supra for the 90 % overlap of
syllabograms in Linear A and Linear B.
Here are the ultimates in O:
amidao akiro atikaaduko dare/daro dawa/dawato
didero – the Linear A word for “einkorn wheat” Cf. Linear B didero.
dinaro kairo kidaro kiro kumaro
kuro – the Linear A word for “total” Cf. Linear B toso.
Paito – the Linear A word for Phaistos Cf. Linear B Paito. This is a pre-Greek substrate word.
potokuro puko
punikaso – the Linear A word for “purple, crimson, Phoenician” Cf. Linear B ponikeya
“crimson”. The Linear A word “punikaso” is the one and only lexeme in Linear A which
contains the syllabogram SO.
qareto sapo samaro saro/saroqe
sidare/sidaro – in the case of this Linear A word, sidare is almost certainly the dative/
instrumental singular of the masculine singular sidaro.
utaro witero
6.1.1.4 The proliferation of ultimate A in Linear A:
But if there are quite a lot of Linear A words terminating in U and O, there are well over 100 of
them with the ultimate A. This lopsided ratio of ultimates in A over those in U and O would
appear, upon initial examination, not to make much if any sense at all. Does this mean that
there are many more feminine than masculine or neuter words in the Minoan language? Far
from it. In the first case, are we to positively assume that ultimate A in the Minoan language
necessarily denotes feminine nouns? Let us scrutinize this assumption more closely. First off,
we find a rather large number of Minoan words terminating in A which in all probability are
feminine singular, regardless of the presence of a Mycenaean-derived superstrate or not. For
instance, to cite just a few examples, we find:
aripa: a1leifar = cream, ointment Cf. Linear B arepa
arudara arura daqera
darida (Old Minoan = a type of vase)
daropa datara/datare dirana ida/idaa/idada idara ipinima itinisa kana kapa kinima kira kupa
kura kuruma patada pitara/piteri sajama sama Setoija sika sikira sima simita tarina tasaza
titima turusa
52
Then there all of those words terminating in aja, which clearly bear the hallmarks of a Minoan
feminine genitive singular, and if this is the case, then first Mycenaean, then archaic and
Homeric Greek also appear to have inherited the feminine genitive singular from the Minoan
language, once again with staggering implications for the origins of several Linear B, archaic
and Homeric Greek declensions. Here you find almost all of the examples of feminine Minoan
words terminating in aja, regardless of the presence of a Mycenaean-derived superstrate or
not:
ari/arija dipaja ipasaja iruja itaja kikiraja kapa3rija kupa/kupaja pasarija paseja pitaja
sidija tasaja tinuja
As we can clearly see, there are more than just a few of them in the Minoan language,
regardless of the presence of Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary or not. Moving on,
we find even more intriguing examples of Minoan ultimates in A. Words with the following
endings appear to be (present or aorist passive?) participles:
arinita dadumata kidata kiretana izurinita ruzuna tanunikina tupadida wisasana zurinima
These all appear to be participles, but in which voice or tense we cannot be quite sure of.
However, we tentatively draw the conclusion that all of these participles are passive, some
possibly present and others presumably aorist. But for the time being, we cannot be sure of
the validity of this assumption. To summarize, we are faced with the prospect that Mycenaean
Linear B, archaic and Homeric Greek may very well have inherited a good measure of their
case systems and possibly even some conjugated verbal forms (notably passive participles) in
some form or another from Old Minoan (OM), i.e. the Minoan substrate language itself. If that
is the case, the implications for our greater grasp of both Minoan grammar and syntax on the
one hand, and Mycenaean Linear B, archaic and Homeric Greek on the other hand are indeed
staggering. So in conclusion, there appear to be several variations in the functions of the
ultimate A in the Minoan language.
6.1.1.5 Hapax Legomenon:
The adequate decipherment of numerous so-called Mycenaean-derived exograms in Linear A
is further compromised by the inescapable fact that so many Linear A words in the repertoire
of intact Linear A terms are hapax legomenon, ancient Greek, παξ λεγόμενονἅ, meaning
“(something) being said (only) once”, whether or not these fall within the Old Minoan (OM)
substrate or in Mycenaean-derived New Minoan (NM) vocabulary. Here we see a substantial
subset from hundreds of hapax legomena in Linear A extracted from Prof. John G. Younger’s
Linear A Reverse Lexicon,
http://www.people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/lexicon_reverse.html:
6.1.1.5.1 Hapax legomenon, probable Old Minoan (OM) substrate vocabulary:
adai, anau, dadai, dadana, asijaka, asikira, dadipatu, darida, datapa, dide, didi, disipita,
dunawi, dusima, dusu, duti, imetu, inaimadu, jami, januti, jarete, jarinu, jasaja, jaru(i), jasaja,
jasapai, jasea, juka, juma(ku), kada, kanita, kumapu, kuramu, kureda, maniki, matu, midai,
53
mide, midiu, minumi, musaja, namine, naridi, nazuku, nedia, neka, nekisi, neqa, nesa(ki)(mi),
nidiki, niro, niru, nisi, nisudu, nude, nuki, nutu, paria, paroda, qaka, qapaja, qaro, rada(a),
radakuku, radami, rani, rasasaa, rasasaja, rasi, rata(da), redana, rema, remi, renara, reradu,
retaa, retada, retaka, retema, rira, risa, romaku, romasa, ronadi, rore(ka), ruki, rusaka, rusi,
rutari, sati, sato, seitau, sekadidi, sekatapi, semetu, senu, setira, sinakase, siriki, sokanipu,
tadaki, tadati, takari, tami(a), tamisi, tedasi, temada, tenata(a), tera, tere, tereau, teroa, tete,
tinuka, tire, titema, tuda, tukuse, tunada, tunapa, zadeu, zama, zapa, zuma
6.1.1.5.2 possible New Minoan (NM) Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary:
aruma, asidatoi, datara, depa, depu, dii, ero, Idamete, Idarea, ima, kapi, kara, kero, kikadi
(pre-Greek substrate?), kitina (See Figure 3 above), kuruku (pre-Greek substrate?), maru(ku),
miniduwa (2 months?), muko, piku(i), pimata, rea, repa, roika, saka, seikama, sima, tejai,
uridiriki, wanaka (apparently inscribed on a Minoan seal), winu, winumatari and wireu
For actual the actual inscription numbers of the all of the exograms above on tablets,
fragments, seals, pendants and nodules above, consult Younger’s Linear A Reverse Lexicon,
http://www.people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/lexicon_reverse.html
6.1.1.5.3 There are two thorny problems posed by hapax legomenon:
6.1.1.5.3.1 The linguistically global and generic template for any so-called Mycenaean-derived
exogam. This global template applies to any and all exograms in any and all ancient
languages, undeciphered or partially deciphered, let alone Linear A. Whether or not the
terms in the lists above are Old Minoan (OM) substrate or New Minoan (NM) Mycenaean-
derived, how is it possible to decipher said words when they appear once and once only, and
all too frequently out of context on fragments, seals, pendants or nodules?
6.1.1.5.3.2 If the New Minoan (NM) exogram appears once and one only in Linear A alone,
and in no other ancient script, how can we be sure at all that it is even Mycenaean-derived at
all or that, at least in a few cases, it actually correlates with an apparent Mycenaean Linear B
counterpart? It is even possible, however remotely, that a very few instances of hapax
legomenon in the Old Minoan (OM) substrate vocabulary in 6.1.1.5.1 may indeed turn out to
be prototypes or exemplars of either proto-Greek or very archaic Mycenaean-derived Greek
which fell out of general use before the advent of the Linear B syllabary? If this sounds
improbable, all we need do is pause for a moment to consider the fact that some Linear B
exograms, above all in the realm of textiles, utterly disappeared even from archaic Greek. To
drive our point home, we cite, pawea fa/r#ea, peneweta pne/#enta, pekoto pe/koton, pukateria
fukateri/a, sapa sa/pa, tomika tomi/ka and tunano tuna/non, all types of textiles in Mycenaean
Greek. Yet all of these words appear nowhere in archaic or classical Greek. Where did they go?
No one will ever know. It is even possible that some of these exograms were inherited from
Old Minoan (OM), the Minoan substrate in Linear A. If any such instances were to have
existed, the progression would have been OM (Old Minoan) ―› NM (Mycenaean-derived New
Minoan) ―› Mycenaean Linear B.
Closer examination of Old Minoan (OM) Linear A exograms in 6.1.1.5.1 above reveals yet
another possibility. Notice how many of these Old Minoan (OM) substrate words terminate in
54
e or i. Does this look familiar? Indeed it does. If our initial assumption that e or i ultimates in
Linear A are instances of the presence of the Old Minoan dative/locative/instrumental
singular (if such existed), and asi of the dative/locative/instrumental as outlined in section
6.1.1.1 above, then we may have further evidence here of the dative/locative/instrumental
singular and plural inherited by Mycenaean Linear B and archaic Greek, including Homeric,
from these very same constructs in the Old Minoan (OM) substrate. This in turn could imply
that at least a few of the exograms in 6.1.1.5.1 might have been proto-Greek or proto-
Mycenaean, in compliance with the template in 6.1.1.5.3.2 above.
6.1.1.5.3.3 The ratio of Old Minoan (OM) to New Minoan (NM) Mycenaean-derived terms in
any given Linear A inscription.
But there is more. Based on the mathematical algorithm proposed in section 5.1.5 above, viz.
If MDV > 50 % - 75 %, then OMV is more likely to be susceptible to decipherment.
it is possible, however remotely, that at least some of the Old Minoan (OM) exograms in
6.1.1.5.1 above may be amenable to decipherment, in those instances where the
aforementioned criterion is met: If MDV > 50 % - 75 %, then OMV is more likely to be
susceptible to decipherment. Or put another way, if there are far more Mycenaean-derived
New Minoan (NM) exograms than Old Minoan (OM) substrate terms on any given Linear A
inscription, then it is possible that the latter, even where some are hapax legomenon, may be
decipherable.
6.1.1.5.3.4 Examples of hapax legomenon in 6.1.1.5.2, possible New Minoan (NM)
Mycenaean-derived superstrate vocabulary, are even more likely to be susceptible to
decipherment. For instance,
aruma, asidatoi, datara, depa, depu, dii, ero, Idamete, Idarea, ima, kara, kero, kikadi (pre-
Greek substrate?), kitina (See Figure 3 above), kuruku (pre-Greek substrate?), maru(ku),
miniduwa (2 months?), muko, piku(i), pimata, rea, repa, roika, saka, seikama, sima, taikama,
tejai, uridiriki, wanaka (apparently inscribed on a Minoan seal), winu, winumatari and wireu
Some are so obvious that it is all but incontestable that they are indeed Mycenaean-derived.
All of these exograms are cross-referenced to their respective Glossaries by Section no. 1.3.1 or
3.1.
To cite just a few of these, we have:
From 1.3.1:
13. depa/depu PGS = lacG de/paj de/pu= cup Cf. Linear B dipa di/paj & Homeric de/pa (Luwian
= bowl, cup) From 1.3.1 above
26. kera/kero = lacG ke/raj = horn (ivory) -or- khr/oj = bees-wax Cf. Linear B kera From 1.3.1
above
30. kitina ** - on a Minoan decorated ceramic ktoi/na/ktoina/siaj = border of a plot of
land/territory Cf. Linear B kotona kotoina ktoi/na = plot of land. Pareidolia B: Figure 3,
KITINA From 1.3.1 above
55
From 3.1:
52. ima = lacG i9ma/c = leather strap, thong; (lash of) a whip From 3.1 above
35. datu HT 123+124/datara HT 6 LM Ib/datare HT 88 LM 1 b = lacG da=ta/ra da=ta/rei ->
da=th/rioj = date(s) -> da/ktuloj = date/fig From 3.1 above
133. piku/pikudo LM I b/pikui/pikuzu/pika KH Wc 2123 LM 1 b = lacG fhgu/j -> fhgo/j = a
species of oak (Notice the tree in conjunction with a bird on Linear A seal KH Wc 2123) From
3.1 above
And if that were not enough, once again, as evidenced in several examples of single
occurrences in Linear A, a great many appear to be couched in Old Minoan (OM)
dative/instrumental/ locative singular and plural, in 6.1.1.5.1 Hapax legomenon probable Old
Minoan (OM) substrate vocabulary:
adai, dadai, dide, didi, dunawi, duti, jami, januti, jarete, jaru(i), jasapai, maniki, midai, mide,
minumi, namine, naridi, nekisi, nesa(ki)(mi), nidiki, nisi, nude, nuki, radami, rani, rasi, remi,
ronadi, ruki, rusi, rutari, sati, sekadidi, sekatapi, sinakase, siriki, tadaki, tadati, takari, tamisi,
tedasi, tere, tete, tire, tukuse
while quite a few in 6.1.1.5.2, possibly New Minoan (NM) Mycenaean-derived superstrate
vocabulary, also seem to be couched in Old Minoan (OM) dative/instrumental/locative, these
being:
asidatoi, dii, Idamete, Idarea, kikadi (pre-Greek substrate?), piku(i), tejai, uridiriki and
winumatari.
Thus, it would seem that there probably are more Linear A exograms susceptible to (eventual)
decipherment that we might have initially suspected.
7. High correlation orthography in Linear A and Linear B:
Once again, it is essential to underline in no uncertain terms the total absence of these 7
Linear B syllabograms do mu no qo (so, except once) on & wo in Linear A, since this lacuna
goes a long way towards explaining why at least as many Linear A words internally contain or
terminate with ultimate u standing in o. We therefore postulate that Old Minoan frequently
resorted to initial, internal or ultimate u in the absence of these 7 syllabograms (with the
exception of final mu, which also is absent from Linear A), and this hypothesis is borne out by
the examples below.
But why is this so? It is simply because these phonetic values did not exist in the Old Minoan
(OM) language, and so they were never utilized. Instead, the Minoan language naturally
substituted other syllabograms beginning with the same consonants, d n q s & w in their
place. This phenomenon is readily explained by the fact that, as we have already emphasized
in no uncertain terms, just as the French language orthography in its superstrate vocabulary
absorbed by the English language inevitably had to be adjusted to conform with standard
English spelling, syntax and grammar, this same phenomenon applies to the incursion of
Mycenaean-derived Linear B words into Linear A. Any misunderstanding of this core
principle of the absolute necessity of adapting the spelling of practically all superstrate
vocabulary, in this case Mycenaean-derived Linear B, to the standard orthographic and
grammatical conventions of the substrate, in this case, Old Minoan (OM), the Minoan
56
substrate language, can and does lead to disastrous consequences. As has already be
demonstrated, this phenomenon is known as elite dominance, meaning that the superstrate
dominates the substrate, while the substrate maintains demography subsistence, meaning
that the grammatical and orthographic conventions of the substrate are adhered to, in spite of
the incursion of vocabulary from the superstrate.
Consequently, it is entirely natural that the orthography of practically all Mycenaean-derived
words infiltrating the Minoan language must be adapted to the orthographic conventions of
the latter, with the understandable exception that where spelling in the two languages is
entirely compatible, no modification in orthography is called for. So it is naturally inevitable
that the absence of syllabograms terminating in o beginning with the consonants d n q s & w
in the Minoan language necessitate an adaptation to another vowel in absolutely every
instance. And as the Minoan language conventions applied to all of the vocabulary below
clearly demonstrate, this is precisely what inevitably happens without exception. We draw all
of our examples of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A from High Correlation Linear
A ― Linear B words in the Glossary of Mycenaean superstrate vocabulary in Linear A
above, including all vocabulary derived from L.R. Palmer’s The Interpretation of Mycenaean
Greek Texts. Here then are the most pertinent examples from these two sources, categorized
by the vowels a e i and u respectively following Linear A consonants.
KEY to sources:
HCAB = Linear A from High Correlation Linear A ― Linear B words in the Glossary of
Mycenaean superstrate vocabulary in Linear A
PALM = L.R. Palmer
The Linear A word is on the left and the Linear B italicized on the right.
Terminal o, identical orthography, no change from Linear B to Linear A:
apero – apero HCAB
arako – arako = weaving? PALM
kataro – kataro (Egyptian scarab?) PALM
kidaro – kidaro ke/dron = juniper berry-or- kedri/a = oil of cedar - Linear B kidaro HCAB
kuparo/kupariso – ** Kupari/ssioi – ethnic name of Kyparisos (Cf. Linear B kuparo =
ku/pairoj = cypress plant & also Linear B = the place of the cypresses, almost certainly
equivalent to Linear A. PALM
muko – muko PALM
punikaso funi/kasoj = crimson, red (of wine) – Linear B ponikiyo foini/kioj = crimson HCAB
Paito Faisto/j – Paito Faisto/j = Phaistos HCAB (identical in Linear A and Linear B)
qero – qero/qero2 PALM
Rukito – Rukito Lu/kinqoj = Lykinthos HCAB
ruko – ruko PALM
For the syllabograms do no qo so & wo in Linear A missing in Linear B, any syllabic changes
from one script to the other are italicized. If the entire word is altered from Linear B to Linear
A, it is italicized as a whole.
57
Linear B do absent in Linear A (Linear A to the left of – and Linear B to the right):
waduko – wadako PALM
winadu – winato PALM
Linear B no absent in Linear A:
senu – seno PALM
turunu qo/rnoj = throne – Linear B torono HCAB
winu #i/nu = wine – Linear B wono #oi/noj HCAB
Linear B qo absent in Linear A:
diqe – diqo PALM
Linear B so absent in Linear A:
kasi – kaso PALM
Linear B wo absent in Linear A:
duwi – duwo PALM
isari – isawo PALM
wireu #i0eru/ -> #i0ero/j = priest – Linear B iyero i0ero/j HCAB
The practice of replacing medial or ultimate o in Linear B with medial or ultimate u in Linear
A or of substituting a syllabogram terminating in a vowel different in Linear A from its Linear
B counterpart is often extended and generalized to the Linear B syllabograms jo ko ro and to,
as might be expected, even when the same syllabogram exists in both syllabaries, since the
Minoan language tends by preference to opt for u instead of o in so many but not all instances.
This process we designate as assimilation, whereby each Linear A word derived from Linear B
is parallel to its Linear B counterpart. Multiple examples are:
jo:
araju – arejo PALM
pirueju – pirijao (metathesis) PALM
ko:
akaru – akoro HCAB
kaki = with copper/kaku xalku/ -> xalko/j = copper, bronze – Linear B, kako xalko/j HCAB
kitina – kotona/kotoina HCAB
maniki – maniko PALM
tanika – taniko PALM
po:
kopu – kopi PALM (but note that in this case initial ko is retained in Linear A.)
ro:
aranare/aranarai – aranaro PALM
atare – Linear B, atiro a0ti/lu -> a0te/loj (metathesis) = without boundaries HCAB
kupari kupa/ri -> kupa/rissoj = cypress plant, made of cypress – Linear B kuparo = ku/pairoj
58
= cypress plant HCAB
diru – diro PALM
karu – karo PALM
maru mallo/j = flock of wool – mari mali/ = wool HCAB
roke/roki/roku – to roko PALM
to:
duti – duto PALM
kanita – kanito PALM
kutu – kuto PALM
nuti – nuto PALM
qeti = a very large pot, pithos – qeto pi/qoj HCAB
situ si/tu si/tun = wheat – sito si/ton HCAB
tanate/tanati – tanato PALM
It would appear then that uniform standardized Linear A orthographic conventions tend to
confirm our hypothesis that all of these Linear words above actually are closely or exactly
parallel to their Linear B counterparts, implying that their meanings are either similar or
identical in both syllabaries. If this is the case, then orthographic conventions in Linear A and
Linear B serve to buttress our initial general hypothesis that Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in
Linear A is indeed the same as or (very) similar to that in Linear B. In other words, one
methodology applied to deciphering Mycenaean-derived vocabulary in Linear A may very well
validate another, viz. high correlation orthography versus high correlation Mycenaean-
derived vocabulary, and vice versa. It is as though the two approaches were virtually mirror
images of one another.
8. CONCLUSIONS:
In order to properly attest to high correlation between Linear A and Linear B vocabulary,
grammar and orthography in Linear A and Linear B, we must adopt a multi-pronged
approach, as we have so thoroughly demonstrated above. We have adopted several
methodologies to examine every aspect of Linear A and Linear B we have delved into so
meticulously and exhaustively. We have attempted to demonstrate the presence of marked
varieties of a Mycenaean-derived vocabulary superstrate in Linear A. It is absolutely essential
to distinguish between the Mycenaean-derived superstrate, also known as New Minoan (NM)
and the Minoan substrate, also known as Old Minoan (OM) in Linear A. While the former
appears to have been largely deciphered, the latter (Old Minoan) has largely remained
stubbornly recalcitrant to decipherment. As I so emphatically pointed out in my article, The
Mycenaean Linear B “Rosetta Stone” to Minoan Linear A Tablet HT 31 (Haghia Triada)
Vessels and Pottery, in Archaeology and Science, and I quote in full 15:
“Anyone who dares claim he or she has “deciphered” the Minoan language is
skating on very thin ice. Any attempt to decipher the Old Minoan language is
severely trammelled by the incontestable fact that no one knows what the language
is or even what language family or class it belongs to, if any. All we can hope to do
at the present juncture is to decipher a very small subset of its vocabulary, that and
nothing else. This has been made possible because the syllabary has already been
59
deciphered. It is precisely because the syllabary itself has been deciphered that we
have any access at all to Old Minoan vocabulary. We must recall that for Michael
Ventris, the decipherment of Mycenaean Linear B was a far more daunting travail
from the outset, because no one in the world, including himself, knew what the
Linear B syllabic signs signified. It took him some three years to figure them out
and he never actually nailed them until he finally realized in June 1952 that Linear
B was a very early form of Greek, which we now know as Mycenaean Greek. But the
situation is far different with Minoan Linear A. We can “read” the syllabary. We can
“read” the words, even if we have not understood what the vast majority of them
mean... at least to date. The only exception to the obdurate wall of indecipherable
Minoan words appears to be the vocabulary of Linear A tablet HT 31 (Haghia
Triada), which is susceptible to decipherment only because we have been able to
cross-correlate its vocabulary, as qualified by attendant ideograms, with similar
vocabulary-cum-ideograms on Linear B tablet Pylos Py TA 641-1952 (Ventris).”
On the other hand, as this monograph has so fittingly demonstrated, we have found and will
probably continue to find plenty of examples of Mycenaean-derived vocabulary, also known as
New Minoan (NM), overlaid as the superstrate in Linear A. Conquest of a prior civilization
entailing the assimilation of a foreign source language’s vocabulary into the target language of
origin is referred to as elite dominance. Suzerainty without conquest is called demography
subsistence. In either case, the result is substantially the same. In the case of Linear A, the
conquest of Minoan Crete by the Mycenaeans occasioned the absorption of the so-called
Mycenaean-derived superstrate into the Old Minoan (OM) substrate. This does not in the
least imply that the original Minoan language (Old Minoan or OM) simply died out. Nothing
could be further from the truth. But it would be presumptuous for any linguist, professional or
amateur, to profess that he or she has solved the riddle of the Old Minoan (OM) substrate
language. So the quest for gold at the end of the rainbow is still on where the decipherment of
the Minoan language is concerned. And many are the researchers currently engaged in this
formidable, seemingly insurmountable, task. We lay no claim to having been able to decipher
the original Minoan language, a.k.a. Old Minoan (OM); yet we may anticipate that someday,
perhaps someday soon, someone will at last be able to crack through the obdurate wall of the
persistent dilemma of the Old Minoan (OM) language, at least in part. Is this a quixotic quest?
Let us hope not.
References and Notes: bibl = entry no. in the bibliography
1. bibl 36, pg. 77
2. bibl 36, pg. 79
3. bibl 71
4. bibl 63-69
5. bibl 36
6. bibl 87, pg. 106
7. bibl 87
8. bibl 6
9. bibl 6
10. bibl 34, various paginations
11. bibl 34, pp. 103-104
12. bibl 36
60
13. bibl 36, pg. 91
14. bibl 36, passim
15. bibl 36, pg. 91
Bibliography:
1. Adu, Michael. Stay green in wheat: Comparative study of modern bread wheat and ancient
wheat cultivars
https://www.academia.edu/32352362/Stay_green_in_wheat_Comparative_study_of_mode
rn_bread_wheat_and_ancient_wheat_cultivars
2. ANCIENTSCRIPTS.COM. Linear A http://www.ancientscripts.com/lineara.html
3. Anon. Some Examples of Similar Names in Linear A and Etruscan.
Linear_A-Etruscan-Sumerian-Linear_A-simi.pdf
4. Beckmann, Sabine. A-RE-PA, Minoan-Mycenaean Scents ― a view from 2000 B.C.E. To
A.D. 2015
https://www.academia.edu/16572171/A-RE-PA_Minoan-Mycenaean_Scents_-
_a_view_from_2000_B.C.E._to_A.D._2015
5. Ibid. The Regeneration of Dikataian Zeus: broadening the perspective on ancient myths,
modern findings, ― and how they might improve Lasithi-tourism
https://www.academia.edu/23324381/Sabine_Beckmann_The_regeneration_of_Diktaian_
Zeus
6. Ibid. Resin and Ritual Purification: Terebinth in Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age Cult
(International Archaeological Conference, Rhodes, 2009)
https://www.academia.edu/2210130/Resin_and_Ritual_Purification_Terebinth_in_Eastern
_Mediterranean_Bronze_Age_Cult
7. Beneš, Jaromír. Kernel Weights of Triticum, Hordeum, Avena, Secale and Panicum Species
can be used for Better Estimation of Importance of Different Cereal Species in
Archaeobotanical Assemblages
https://www.academia.edu/31109189/Kernel_Weights_of_Triticum_Hordeum_Avena_Seca
le_and_Panicum_Species_can_be_used_for_Better_Estimation_of_Importance_of_Differe
nt_Cereal_Species_in_Archaeobotanical_Assemblages
8. Bennet, John, Ferrara, S. Jasink, A.M. & Weingarten, Judith. Final Reflections, Non-scribal
Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas: The semantics of a-
literate and proto-literate media, pp. 247-253
https://www.academia.edu/36081622/Final_Reflections
9. Brice, W. C. 1961 Inscriptions in the Minoan Linear Script of Class A. Oxford: 1961.
10. Cole, Sara E. Memphis, Minos, and Mycenae: Bronze Age Contact between Egypt and the
Aegean.
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12. Ibid. Two New Linear A Inscriptions on Libation Vessels from Petsophas
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sels_from_Petsophas
13. Davaras, Costis. “Two New Linear A Inscriptions on Libation Vessels from Petsophas”,
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37. Karnava, Artemis. “Review of Corpus Hieroglyphicarum Inscriptionum Cretae, by Olivier,
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39. Ibid. “On Sacred Vocabulary and Religious Dedications: the Minoan ‘Libation
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41. La Marle, Hubert. 2010 Reading Linear A: Script, Morphology and Glossary of the
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46. Ibid. “Sobre los Orígenes de los Comparativos Indoeuropeos en – Teros”, Revista
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49. Militello, Pietro Maria. “Riconsiderazioni preliminari sulla documentazione in lineare A
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50. Ibid. “Gli scribi di Hagia Triada”, Parole del Passato (44:2), 1989. pp. 126-47.
51. Ibid. “Un peso (?) con segno inciso da Haghia Triada (HT Zg 163)”, ASAtene 66-67: pp.
163-72. 1988-1989
52. Ibid. “A Notebook by Halbherr and the Findspots of the Ayia Triada Tablets”, Creta
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53. Militello P. 2011 “Some Eccentric Linear A Tablets from Ayia Triada”, in H. Oniz – P.
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54. Montecchi B. 2010 “A Classification Proposal of Linear A Tablets from Haghia Triada in
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56. Ibid. Linear A Banqueting Lists?
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ASAtene, 86: 313–336
59. Ibid. “Planning a Feast in Neo-Palatial Crete: a Look at the Linear A Evidence”, Annuario
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60. Ibid. “An Updating Notes on Minoan Fractions, Measures, and Weights”, AIIN, STUDI E
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61. Monti O. 2002 “Observations sur la langue du linéaire A, KADM 41: 117–120.
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67. Ibid. Hellenic Origin of Europe: Formation of the Greeks 4600–2600 BC
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68. Ibid. Indo-European Greek Morphology in Linear A
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74. Palmer, L.R. The Interpretation of Mycenaean Greek Texts. Oxford: Oxford at the
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77. Palmer, Ruth. Linear A Commodities: a Comparison of Resources. Linear A commodities
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80. Petrolino, Tommaso, Petrolino, Ruggero, Winterstein, Grégoire and Cacciafoco,
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81. Poupet, Pierre. Approche pédoarchéologique des espaces de production agricole à l’âge du
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86. Ibid. “The Origins of Indo-European Languages”, Scientific American, October, 1989, pp.
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87. Ibid. Prehistory: the Making of the Human Mind. London: Folio Society. © 2013. xxiii,
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89. Rutter, Jeremy. “Late Minoan IIIB at Kommos Aegis 12 2017”, Aegis: actes de colloques.
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93. Ibid. Molecular Diversity at 18 Loci in 321 Wild and 92 Domesticate Lines Reveal No
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94. Stein, Gil. Isotope evidence for agricultural extensification reveals how the world’s first
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http://www.people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/lexicon_reverse.html
117. Zapata, Lydia. Hulled wheats in Spain: history of minor cereals
https://www.academia.edu/33394959/Hulled_wheats_in_Spain_history_of_minor_cereals
118. Ibid. Measuring grain size and assessing plant management during the EPPNB, results
from Tell Qarassa (southern Syria)
https://www.academia.edu/33337133/Measuring_grain_size_and_assessing_plant_manage
ment_during_the_EPPNB_results_from_Tell_Qarassa_southern_Syria_
119. Ibid. The spread of agriculture in northern Iberia: New archaeobotanical data from El
Mirón cave (Cantabria) and the open-air site of Los Cascajos (Navarra)
https://www.academia.edu/32531730/The_spread_of_agriculture_in_northern_Iberia_Ne
w_archaeobotanical_data_from_El_Mir%C3%B3n_cave_Cantabria_and_the_open-
68
