Linear A

Linear A and Linear B, linear forms of writing used by certain Aegean civilizations during the 2nd millennium bc.

Linear A is attested in Crete and on some Aegean islands from approximately 1850 bc to 1400 bc. Its relation to the so-called hieroglyphic Minoan script is uncertain. It is a syllabic script written from left to right. The approximate phonetic values of most syllabic signs used in Linear A are known from Linear B, but the language written in Linear A remains unknown. It must have been a pre-Hellenic language of Minoan Crete. Its eventual relation with the Eteocretan language of the 1st millennium bc is also unknown.

Linear B is an adapted form of Linear A, which was borrowed from the Minoans by the Mycenaean Greeks, probably about 1600 bc. Its language is the Mycenaean Greek dialect. Linear B script is attested on clay tablets and on some vases, both dating from about 1400 bc to roughly 1200 bc. The script was exclusively used for the economic administration of the Mycenaean palaces, such as those at Knossos and Khaniá in Crete, and Mycenae, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns in continental Greece. Linear B’s 90 syllabic signs express open syllables (i.e., syllables ending in a vowel), generally beginning without a consonant or with only one consonant; because of this, the script is unable to represent groups of consonants or final consonants clearly. For instance, sperma ‘seed’ is spelled pe-ma, and stathmos ‘stable’ is spelled ta-to-mo.

The Linear B texts are extremely important for Greek linguistics. They represent the oldest known Greek dialect, elements of which survived in Homer’s language as a result of a long oral tradition of epic poetry. Linear B was deciphered as Greek in 1952 by Michael Ventris.