Gretchen Leonhardt’s commentary on Minoan Linear A noduli


Gretchen Leonhardt’s commentary on Minoan Linear A noduli:

Gretchen Leonhardt has posted her comments on Minoan Linear A noduli on her site, Konosos.net:

NODULI in Minoan Linear A


Although I do not agree with all of the points she raises in her analyses of these noduli, her explanation of the transposition of morae (which in Minoan Linear A amount to two adjacent syllabograms within a word) is right on the money. In fact, this phenomenon does occur in Minoan Linear A. It was first identified by Andras Zeke on the Minoan Language Blog as ligatures:

Linear A logograms ligatures


However, we cannot be sure whether or not the supposed transpositions actually occurred in Minoan Linear A. In other words, while kasi may be interchangeable with sika, and sere with rese, this is by no means guaranteed. It may have been that the Minoans meant kasi to mean kasi alone or vice versa, i.e. that sika was the actual meaning. Likewise, sere alone may have been attributed to the overlay of the syllabogram se on re, or on the other hand, rese may have been the sole meaning. We shall never know. We can operate on the assumption that the ligatures or morae were interchangeable, but that is all it is, an assumption. In the event, we fully acknowledge Ms. Leonhardts invaluable contribution to the furtherance of our understanding of Minoan Linear A.
 
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