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(Abstract of a seminar held at Rethymnon in November 1997, in the frame of the Post-Graduate programme of the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Crete) Linear A is one of the oldest scripts in Europe. It is the Minoan forerunner of Linear B used by the Greek speaking Mycenaeans after the collapse of the Minoan power on Crete and in the Cyclades. Hubert La Marle, a French scholar, presents a new methodology about Linear A. He starts with three main questions : -can we read the majority of the common signs and can we deduce any structure from the 'possible phonetic values' of this syllabary (i.e. several close values for every phonetic sign) ? -with more precise 'conventional values', can we recognize the type of the language through its grammar ? -if it is possible, can we read and understand a few words ? After a few examples of comparative epigraphy and phonology with other ancient scripts around the Eastern Mediterranean, La Marle explains that the plurality of the vowels, the type of dentals, labials and sibilants, can be connected to an Indo-European language rather to a Semitic language, in all likelihood. In order to define 'conventional phonetic values' for 95 common signs (i.e. one value for every syllabogram), it is necessary to test them with an internal study of coherence and with the frequencies of each sign in three positions in words (global, initial and final frequency). The two methods (he comparative palaeography and the mathematic one) give the same conclusions about the nature of the phonemes, at least when the frequency is significant (i.e. for 84 signs among the 95 signs under review). Then the documents on stone 'libation tables' from sanctuaries, which contain longer sentences than the clay tablets, enable to identify an accusative, and more generally five cases (a sixth one has been brought to light since). All the nominal and verbal flexions closely resemble to those of ancient Indo-Iranian. Hubert La Marle, 1997 |
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