Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas
During the Bronze Age, the inhabitants of regions of Crete, mainland Greece, and Cyprus inscribed their languages using, among other scripts, a writing system called Linear A. These symbols, mainly characterized by combinations of lines, have, since their discovery, remained a mystery. Not only is t...
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/15/2/73 |
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| author | Aaradh Nepal Francesco Perono Cacciafoco |
| author_facet | Aaradh Nepal Francesco Perono Cacciafoco |
| author_sort | Aaradh Nepal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the Bronze Age, the inhabitants of regions of Crete, mainland Greece, and Cyprus inscribed their languages using, among other scripts, a writing system called Linear A. These symbols, mainly characterized by combinations of lines, have, since their discovery, remained a mystery. Not only is the corpus very small, but it is challenging to link Minoan, the language behind Linear A, to any known language. Most decipherment attempts involve using the phonetic values of Linear B, a grammatological offspring of Linear A, to ‘read’ Linear A. However, this yields meaningless words. Recently, novel approaches to deciphering the script have emerged which involve a computational component. In this paper, two such approaches are combined to account for the biases involved in provisionally assigning Linear B phonetic values to Linear A and to shed more light on the possible connections of Linear A with other scripts and languages from the region. Additionally, the limitations inherent in such approaches are discussed. Firstly, a feature-based similarity measure is used to compare Linear A with the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. A few Linear A symbols are matched with symbols from the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. Finally, using the derived phonetic values, Linear A is compared with Ancient Egyptian, Luwian, Hittite, Proto-Celtic, and Uralic using a consonantal approach. Some possible word matches are identified from each language. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:27:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-438c0ed3447e4809ad37be7b6dfdd321 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-2489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:27:29Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-438c0ed3447e4809ad37be7b6dfdd3212024-02-23T15:21:02ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892024-01-011527310.3390/info15020073Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea AreasAaradh Nepal0Francesco Perono Cacciafoco1School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 639798, SingaporeDepartment of Applied Linguistics (LNG), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou 215123, ChinaDuring the Bronze Age, the inhabitants of regions of Crete, mainland Greece, and Cyprus inscribed their languages using, among other scripts, a writing system called Linear A. These symbols, mainly characterized by combinations of lines, have, since their discovery, remained a mystery. Not only is the corpus very small, but it is challenging to link Minoan, the language behind Linear A, to any known language. Most decipherment attempts involve using the phonetic values of Linear B, a grammatological offspring of Linear A, to ‘read’ Linear A. However, this yields meaningless words. Recently, novel approaches to deciphering the script have emerged which involve a computational component. In this paper, two such approaches are combined to account for the biases involved in provisionally assigning Linear B phonetic values to Linear A and to shed more light on the possible connections of Linear A with other scripts and languages from the region. Additionally, the limitations inherent in such approaches are discussed. Firstly, a feature-based similarity measure is used to compare Linear A with the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. A few Linear A symbols are matched with symbols from the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. Finally, using the derived phonetic values, Linear A is compared with Ancient Egyptian, Luwian, Hittite, Proto-Celtic, and Uralic using a consonantal approach. Some possible word matches are identified from each language.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/15/2/73Linear AMinoancryptanalysiscomputational linguisticslanguage decipherment |
| spellingShingle | Aaradh Nepal Francesco Perono Cacciafoco Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas Information Linear A Minoan cryptanalysis computational linguistics language decipherment |
| title | Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas |
| title_full | Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas |
| title_fullStr | Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas |
| title_short | Minoan Cryptanalysis: Computational Approaches to Deciphering Linear A and Assessing Its Connections with Language Families from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea Areas |
| title_sort | minoan cryptanalysis computational approaches to deciphering linear a and assessing its connections with language families from the mediterranean and the black sea areas |
| topic | Linear A Minoan cryptanalysis computational linguistics language decipherment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/15/2/73 |
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