John Osborne
Hist 302
Prof. Howe
5/17/07

At the dawn of the 20th century Sir Arthur Evans discovered three different writing systems on the island of Crete. He dated the scripts he found as being used from the 19th century to the 13th century B.C.E. He arbitrarily gave the three scripts the following names, Hieroglyphics, Linear A, and Linear B1. The Hieroglyphic or pictographic inscriptions were predominately carved into stone, and to-date have not been translated. Linear B, with the most prolific sampling of clay tablet inscriptions, has been deciphered as an early Greek dialect deemed Mycenaean Greek. Linear A was written on many mediums, including pots, stone, clay bars, and clay tablets, but with fewer surviving samples than Linear B; this has contributed to its still undeciphered state. Other factors that have limited the ability to decipher Linear A are that the language which it represents is unknown, and the inconsistency of arithmetic fractions. While many scholars admit that Linear A should or does have some logograms2 none have approached the language with a logographic lens. The goal of this paper is to use the logographic framework of the Chinese written script3 in attempt to shed new light on Linear A.

At present, when scholars approach Linear A, they first try to assign phonic values to individual symbols (henceforth referred to as characters). This technique worked for Egyptian Hieroglyphics because the language was semi-known. The deciphering of Linear B in the early 1950’s further encouraged this behavior, but again because the language was discovered as being early Greek. Because Linear A is assumed to be the parent script of Linear B4 and unrelated to any other known script, the practiced technique is to take the phonic values in Linear B and apply them to Linear A, when the characters are the same. Unfortunately, when there is no overlap, scholars are forced to guess. To assist in guessing scholars use a language as a model and attempt to fill in the blanks. Presently Indo-European and Semitic are the two languages being tested. Both languages have equally legitimate claims for cultural connections with Crete at the time when Linear A was used, and both families have had small breakthroughs with words that fit in the context of the documents.

Cyrus Gordon has lead the way for Semitic Linear A since the late 1950’s, focusing on Akkadian as the specific Semitic language5. His strongest evidence in support of Akkadian is a word often found at the bottom of Linear A tablets interpreted as the word for total, “KU-RO”. Sydney Davis is using the same Linear B phonic values as Gordon but using the Hittite language6. J.P. Olivier takes a neutral stance on whether Linear A represents Hittite or Akkadian, preferring to see it as representing an ancient Cretan language, Minoan7. Olivier is unconvinced that applying Linear B phonic values will lead to any discoveries unless the true language itself can be unmasked. Like Etruscan, reading a script without the known language only reveals place names8. Olivier’s viewpoint liberates the Linear A scholar from trying to fill in the blanks based on a language family and allows them to discover what is written in the samples available. The core of Gordon’s argument is that Crete was very cosmopolitan during the timeperiod when Linear A was used, allowing cultural and linguistic influence from the Akkadian empire. What he does not conclude is that a writing system based upon logograms would be ideal in a cosmopolitan Crete. This would allow information to be transferred without a standard spoken language. This further provides the need for a review of Linear A through a logographic lens.

One thing all scholars have agreed upon with respect to Linear A is the number system used, at least the integers. Briefly, a vertical line has the quantity of 1; eight vertical lines in a group therefore represent the quantity of 8. A dot represents 10, five dots equals the quantity 50. Five dots and eight vertical lines represent the quantity 58, etc. The problem is fractions. Like Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Linear A uses fractions with their number system9. Linear B converted to using subdivided units (i.e. tons, pounds, ounces, etc.) and therefore is of no assistance10. The fractions of Linear A wouldn’t prove to be so difficult if there was consistency. The problem which prevents the fractions from being fully established is that when certain fractional values are applied using a guess and check method to one tablet they disagree with another tablet’s designations. One quick response to this is human error. This is an undeniable proposition, but when it is listed as a reason for a fraction value proposal’s discrepancy, the argument is weakened. Jon Billigmeier presents the collective efforts of past scholars in a recent article, but limits himself to viewing the fractions as we would with numerators and denominators.

The people groups of China have been reading and writing logograms since the 17th century B.C.E., which qualifies it as a contemporary of Linear A11. It would be beneficial to briefly describe the Chinese logographic writing system. To point out the applicable qualities to a cosmopolitan state, here is a story of a man who was in the Cantonese dialect dominated region of Southern China attempting to buy groceries at an outdoor market. Because he was from Beijing and only spoke Mandarin he was having a difficult time purchasing basic foods from a vendor who only spoke Cantonese. When gestures and futile spoken words failed to produce the desired result of purchased groceries, the man found some paper and a writing utensil and wrote down the requested items. Within minutes the transaction was complete and both sides were pacified. The reason the man and the vendor were able to smoothly do business had to do with the Chinese character system used China and other East Asian countries.

漢子 (hanzi) could literally be translated as Chinese characters. The Japanese refer to 漢子 as Kanji or the Koreans say Hanja12. The main principle of a logographic script is that each image, or character, contains its own meaning and can be combined to form more complex or detailed meanings. For example 車 (pronounced che in Mandarin) means vehicle, originally it meant chariot and the resemblance is quite visible to a chariot viewed from the top. This brings up another quality of logograms; simple logograms will resemble their meaning. Since we drive cars instead of chariots in the 21st century a word for car needed to be developed. The Chinese did this by combining 汽 (qi) meaning steam with 車 (che; vehicle). Seeing that the first cars were steam powered this is a logical solution. The word for bus is 公共汽車 (gonggongqiche) combining 公共 (gonggong; public) and 汽 車 (qiche; motorized vehicle). The logographic system is not limited by meaning though. Trying to think of the Chinese word for latte, a word creation six characters long (hot-steam-milk-brewed-coffee, coffee being two characters long) is not practical. To deal with this problem, the Chinese adopted the sound of a word and assigned characters with the particular phonic values. The word for motorcycle is 摩托車 (motouche). The Chinese took a non-Chinese term motorcycle, kept the core sound “moto”, and added the Chinese 車 to prevent against logographic confusion. Using 車 as an example not only shows logographic versatility but also the history of the word goes back as far as the first emperor. You can actually take texts from the Qin Dynasty court and read the word 車 as easily as in a Chinese newspaper today. This only works because the words and their values have been passed down. Unfortunately the meaning of Linear A’s logograms have not been preserved.

Now applying a logographic lens to Linear A we will first approach character 95. William Brice provides a great resource for Linear A in his 1961 publication Inscriptions in the Minoan Linear Script of Class A, and so his numbering system will be used (unless stated otherwise). Character 9513 resembles an animal’s head with concrete lines outlining a head with eyes and ears. This distinct resemblance calls for a logographic interpretation, but resemblance does not suffice as evidence due to its interpretive nature, other qualities of a logograms are needed. First is the complexity of the character and second is the radical potential14. Complexity of the character can be described through comparison. The Chinese character for dragon is 龍 which is not only complex because of the number of strokes15 needed to write it but also because of the number of directional changing lifts required of the brush, or stylus in the case of Linear A. When writing character 95 the writer would first need to complete a circle then lift, draw a bisecting line, lift twice for two dotted eyes, and lift twice again to complete the ears, with each component having particular placement. If 95 only represents a vowel sound with an accompanying consonant, then the writer would surely dread using words containing this letter. If instead 95 is a logogram representing an animal of some kind the effort to write the character would be worthwhile, as opposed to spelling out the word.

Beyond complexity 95 also contains radical potential. When the Chinese were developing their over 50,000 character writing system, they began using radicals to assist in easy recognition of the characters. To illustrate this, the radical for mouth (口) will be used. Many characters that contain 口 (kou) are related to the mouth, i.e. 吃, to eat; 喝, to drink; 唱, to sing; etc. Kou, as a radical also plays another role, it signifies a phonetic. The character used to indicate a simple question in Chinese is 嗎 (note the kou radical) pronounced ma. The character for horse is 馬 ma. Indicating a question has nothing to do with horses. But the sound used to indicate a question (ma) needed a character and therefore the Chinese used the well known character 馬 and wrote “it sounds like” 馬 by writing 嗎, signified by the kou (口). Three different radicals modify Character 95. The first radical is a dot present below or above the “animal face”16, this particular radical should be approached with caution due to the high possibility that the writer slipped with his stylus, or the dot was made by other unintentional means. The second radical is character 55 which is placed above the “animal face” possibly resembling a set of antlers. The third radical is character 29. 29 can be described as an “encircled cross” closely resembling the much later Greek/Phoenician theta. 29 is placed below the “animal face”. It is not the intention of this paper to speculate interpretations of the proposed radicals, but rather to bring to light the logographic qualities of Linear A.

Taking a closer look, the three proposed radicals have key radical features. The radicals are simple, requiring less than three strokes. Referring back to the kou example we also see this characteristic in the Chinese writing system. A simple character, with an independent meaning, is added to the more complex base character (in the example the Chinese character for horse would be the base character). The proposed radicals also have consistent logical location. The “antlers” are always above the head, while the “encircled cross” is always below. When kou is recognized as the radical in Chinese it is positioned on the left.

95 is not the only Linear A character that shows logographic qualities. The next phase though is not to discuss every possibility, but instead to approach the Linear A sample as transcribed and detailed by Brice and identify a list of radicals and base characters. Upon initial examination four radicals frequently modify various base characters. Character number 29 which has already been described, 64 which resembles three legs, 89 which resembles a hand, and 91 which resembles a shield. Character 55 only modifies character 95, and therefore is not included. These four radicals were identified because base characters are rarely modified by just one radical; instead the base characters are modified by multiple radicals, in separate writing conditions. The radicals also have consistent location and almost appear to be assigned to certain radical locations. The explanation of these diminished characters becomes difficult if the scholar is using a primitive alphabet system. If there were only one or two radicals with limited examples and limited modifications, then the logographic lens would prove not to be useful. However, because there are multiple examples with various combinations in Linear A of characters containing components with radical qualities, the logographic lens can assist in producing new data on Linear A.

In addition to four common radicals there are three common base characters, which are often modified by the common radicals. These three are characters 42, 62, 103. 62 and 103 are in the same class of logographic modification. Both are modified by the same set of proposed radicals and both are modified by the entire set of radicals. In addition to being modified, both also appear in their standard forms unmodified by radicals. When 62 and 103 are modified, they are typically a part of a list containing numbers. This fact would lead to the possibility of 62 and 103 being commodities or trade goods with varieties that are easily distinguished by adding certain radicals. 42 has various unique qualities which put it into a class of its own. First, it is modified by its own special set of radicals. These “42 radicals” do not modify any other characters outside of 42, and 42 is not modified by any of the common radicals. Secondly, whenever large quantities are represented in the commodity lists they are always assigned with 42. The majority of numbers written in the Linear A sample have a quantity of less than ten, rarely do the numbers go above the quantity of 50. But, every time the quantity written down goes above 100, 42 is involved. Character 42 is often written alone next to numbers with only its unique set of radicals accompanying it. This would support a logogram, unless the word it represents is a simple sound one syllable long, but the radical modifications would be difficult to explain using the phonic value method. The existence of the base characters supports the logographic lens in the same manner as the radicals.

The idea of Linear A primarily being used for record keeping is not contested. Many of the tablets are laid out in a list form with numbers and a total at the bottom. Unfortunately Linear A doesn’t always add up, and when it doesn’t add up usually fractions are involved. The way fractions are written in the 21st century is a part written above a line which is drawn over a whole. Linear A does not consistently work with this model. The two most common fraction parts are the “7” and the “L”17. These can be found written alone as accompanying a number, or grouped together with a number. When they are grouped together they are put one on top of the other. What has not been addressed by scholars is that the “7” “fraction” modifies character 42 in the same way as a radical. Using the logographic lens this would mean that the fractions could possibly represent radicals, and instead of representing a part over a whole, they could mean “half” and “quarter”. Perhaps applying this principle to all of the fractional quantities will assist in the deciphering of Linear A fractions.

Is Linear A a strictly logographic writing system? No. There are almost one hundred Linear A characters which do not show logographic qualities. These non-logograms are arranged in a fashion that would be expected of a primitive alphabet. Assigning phonic values to these characters may eventually be the answer to the Linear A riddle once a root language can be found. With that said, though, it cannot be ignored that some Linear A characters show logographic qualities. Combined with the theory of Crete being a cosmopolitan hub and the potential for a lingual melting pot, a logographic interpretation becomes valid. Scholars can read almost as much Linear A as they could a hundred years ago, which is very little. The logographic lens provides a new method to interpret the Linear A sample. The method used in this paper and the conclusions are only the first steps. Using the logographic lens Linear A needs to be re-examined and re-categorized. Charts should be re-assigned based on radicals instead of the current systems semi-based on phonic values. These charts and research are beyond the scope of this paper, the only intent was to provide evidence for the validity of using a logographic lens. The final crucial link to solving Linear A though lies in the hands of the individuals and institutions who have access to the original source material. A new and updated publication showing high definition digital images, and all possible transcriptions is needed. Individuals who own private collections need to disclose their information so that Linear A may one day be deciphered. Once this publication is produced a new evaluation through the logographic lens may allow everyone to read Linear A.

Appendix Linear A Character Reference

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