Happy Second Anniversary to Linear B, Knossos & Mycenae! Now the largest Linear B blog on the Internet
We are delighted to announce that Linear B, Knossos & Mycenae
reaches its second anniversary on May 1 2015.
What have we accomplished in the past two years? A great deal indeed. Here are the highlights.
1. The discovery, extrapolation, collation and classification of supersyllabograms in Mycenaean Linear B, of which there are 34 (to date) out of 61 syllabograms in Linear B, excluding counting homophones (with the sole exception of RAI = saffron).
2. We have entered into close partnership with The Association of Historical Studies, Koryvantes (Athens, Greece), here:
where we have been assigned our own category for posting on their blog,
WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BLOG, AND URGE YOU ALL TO FOLLOW THE IMPRESSIVE RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY KORYVANTES.
3. As a direct result of 1. & 2. above, Richard, our blog moderator, has been invited to give his talk
at the Conference, “Thinking Symbols” (June 30-July 2 2015), sponsored by The Association of Historical Studies (Koryvantes), Athens:
at the Pultusk Academy of the Humanities, just outside of Warsaw.
His talk, and those of all other presenters at the Conference will be published by the University of Warsaw. The University of Warsaw also plans to publish the General of Supersyllabograms and its application to the translation of some 700+ Mycenaean Linear B tablets across the board, in a book to be titled, The Decipherment of Supersyllabograms in Mycenaean Linear B, to appear sometime in 2016.
4. In the past two years, Richard and his research colleague, Rita Roberts of Crete, have translated in excess of 100 Linear B tablets, most of them from Knossos, along with some from Pylos, Mycenae and Thebes.
5. Richard has compiled the following elements in his ongoing project to reconstruct as much as possible of Mycenaean Greek grammar from the ground up:
5.1 the complete table for the conjugations of the active voice, present, future, imperfect, aorist & perfect of Mycenaean verbs;
5.2 the table of adjectives and nouns ending in the archaic “eus” in the nominative singular.
5.3 Richard plans to continue with the compilation of Mycenaean Greek grammar throughout the remainder of 2015 and into 2016.
6. Richard has translated most of The Catalogue of Ships from Book II of the Iliad by Homer, and will finish off his translation this year (2015). This will be followed by his translation of Book I of the Iliad in its entirety (2015-2016).
7. We are in the process of compiling the largest Lexicon of both attested and derived Mycenaean Greek in Linear B ever to have appeared anywhere, in print or on the Internet. We have already finished with the draft of the first Section on Military Affairs, which is to appear on our blog and on the blog of The Association of Historical Studies, Koryvantes (Athens, Greece) sometime in the summer or autumn 2015. It is to be subdivided into several primary Sections, (1) Agriculture (2) Crafts, Trade and Commerce (3) Military Affairs (4) Domestic Affairs, including the production of vessels and pottery & (5) Religious Affairs. This is such a huge undertaking that it is unlikely that we will be able to complete it before 2018.
8. Richard has offered his services as Professor to Rita Roberts, Crete, who is now in her first year of university, working towards her three-year Bachelor of Arts in Linguists (BAL) in the field of Mycenaean Linear B. Both Rita and I can assure you that the curriculum is of the highest order and extremely demanding. Already, in her first semester of her first year, Rita has been tasked with the tough chore of translating several difficult Linear B tablets from Knossos on military affairs, and this is just the beginning! As far as we can tell, this online university undergraduate course, specifically focusing on Mycenaean Linear B, will be the first ever of its kind ever to have been offered worldwide. I am of course open to inviting others who are seriously committed to learn Mycenaean Linear B, but just as Rita has had to do, new students will have to first finish their secondary school level in Linear B before moving onto university studies. It took Rita two years to fulfill the requirements for a secondary school matriculation in Linear B. This and the full course of studies (secondary school and a bachelor’s degree) requires 5 full years of unstinting commitment to the mastery of Mycenaean Linear B. At the end of these five years, the student (Rita being our first) will possess the credentials to be an expert in the field.
9. We have begun posting on Arcado-Cypriot Linear C, having already translated 3 tablets in that syllabary. We have also made available for the first time ever the standard keyboard layout for Arcado-Cypriot Linear C, which you may download free at your convenience. We plan on continuing with posts on Linear C throughout 2016 & 2016, eventually tackling the famous Idalion Tablet of the 5th. Century BCE. Throughout 2015 and 2016, Arcado-Cypriot Linear C, the closest cousin dialect to Mycenaean Linear B, will play a significantly greater rôle than it presently does on our blog. Both Linear B and Linear C will be thoroughly cross-compared with the archaic grammar and vocabulary of the Catalog of Ships in Book II of the Iliad, the latter generally being considered as an indirect descendant of the Mycenaean & Arcado-Cypriot Greek dialects, at least in these two respects. This cross-comparative study will help us to properly situate the Mycenaean & Arcado-Cypriot Greek dialects in the diachronic time line of ancient Greek dialects.
10. We have begun a thorough-going investigation of the relationship between the Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B syllabaries, which are almost identical in most respects, the latter being derived from the former with other major Bronze Age scripts and alphabets, including the Phoenician and Proto-Hebrew alphabets, soon the Proto-Arabic, and any others which bear up well under comparison with Linear A & Linear B.
12. We have posted some information on Minoan Linear A, but it is not our intention to attempt to decipher this unknown language – at least for the next five years. However, certain aspects of Linear A itself are of prime importance to our concerns, especially its intimate relationship with Linear B, as well as its place in the development of ancient scripts in the context of 10. above.
13. We have begun exploring the possibilities for the application of Linear B & C to extraterrestrial communication. If this sounds wacky or even peculiar to you, think twice. NASA itself has already begun its own investigation of such intriguing prospects for Linear B and Linear C.
As the direct result of our unflagging commitments to these areas of research into Mycenaean Linear B, Arcado-Cypriot Linear C and several other areas relating to these, our blog has grown to be the largest on the entire Internet devoted to the study of Mycenaean Linear B. I had hope for 50,000 visitors in the first two years, but these were exceeded, as we have had over 51,000. We thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your interest in what is manifestly an extremely specialized and narrow area of interest in the vast sea of linguistics, ancient and modern, and we look forward to seeing more of you visit our site throughout our third year, May 2015-April 2016. I am confident that we shall exceed 100,000 visits by the end of our third year. With our gratitude. Richard
ALL OF THE ABOVE NICHES IN THE FIELD OF LINGUISTIC RESEARCH INTO LINEAR B, LINEAR C AND THEIRS APPLICATION TO ARCHAIC GREEK, ESPECIALLY IN THE CATALOGUE OF SHIPS OF BOOK II OF THE ILIAD, CAN BE DIRECTLY ACCESSED BY CATEGORY ON OUR BLOG, as seen here:
These are the primary concerns of our Blog, but there are others, which are intriguing to special interest groups. Our goals are ambitious but we mean to fulfill them.
At the same time, our Twitter account has attracted some 920 followers, compared with about 500 at the end of first year (May 1 2014). We have sent out over 13,600 tweets in the past 2 years. Click here to visit our Twitter account:
Our research colleague, Rita Roberts, now has over 380 followers on her Twitter account, here:
This makes for some 1,300 followers for us both on Twitter, a considerable number indeed, in light of the fact that the study of Linear B and the specialized interests in archaeology and similar arcane fields which Rita follows are rare birds indeed!
I also urge you to follow Rita’s superb blog, here:
Finally, we have set ourselves up on Google +, where you can find our page here:
We started up on Google + just a couple of months ago, and we already have 383 followers in our Circle.
Richard
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This lexicon adopts the conventions followed by L.R. Palmer in his ground-breaking work on Linear B, The Interpretation of Mycenaean Greek Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, © 1963, 1998. ix, 488 pp. ISBN 0-19-813144-5 (1998). For Palmer’s glossary, which follows these conventions, see pp. 402-473. We have adopted these conventions to make the vocabulary of Linear A accessible to any and all, from lay persons not yet familiar with Linear A and non-linguists (somewhat) familiar with Linear B and/or A all the way to professional linguists adept in Linear B, and possibly also in Linear A, in order that everyone, regardless of education or scholastic background may readily access our Linear A Lexicon and come to familiarize him- or herself with at least the rudiments of Linear A, or in the case of professional linguists, with the intricacies of the syllabary. This Lexicon represents all of the vocabulary Alexandre Solça and I myself have compiled, plus around 100 additional exograms deciphered by Peter van Soebergen in his superb 4 volume set, Minoan Linear. Amsterdam, Brave New Books, © 2016. ISBN 9789402157574 Originally published 1987 801. rosa 802. rosasiro 803. rotau 804. roti 805. rotwei 806. rua 807. rudedi 808. ruiko 809. Rujamime 810. ruka/rukaa/ruki/rukike 811. Rukito 812. ruko 813. rukue 814. ruma/rumu/rumata/rumatase 815. rupoka 816. ruqa/ruqaqa 817. rura2 (rurai) 818. rusa/rusi 819. rusaka 820. rutari 821. rutia 822. ruzuna 823. sadi 824. saja 825. sajama/sajamana 826. sajamadi 827. sajea 828. saka 829. samidae 830. samuku 831. sanitii 832. sapo/sapi 833. saqa 834. saqeri 835. sara2 (sarai)/sarara/saro/saru 836. saradi 837. sarara 838. sareju 839. saro/saroqe 840. saru/sarutu 841. sasaja 842. sasame 843. Sasara(me) 844. sasupu 845. sato/sata 846. sea/sei 847. sedina 848. sedire 849. seikama 850. Seimasusaa 851. seitau 852. Sejarapaja 853. Sejasinataki 854. Sekadidi 855. Sekatapi 856. sekidi 857. Sekiriteseja 858. sekutu 859. semake 860. semetu 861. senu 862. sepa 863. sere -or- rese 864. sesapa3 865. Sesasinunaa 866. sesi -or- sise 867. setamaru 868. Seterimuajaku 869. Setira 870. Setoija 871. sezami 872. sezanitao 873. sezaredu 874. sezatimitu 875. sia 876. side/sidi/sidare 877. sidate/sidatoi 878. sidija 879. sii/siida/siisi 880. siitau 881. sija 882. Sijanakarunau 883. sika 884. siketapi 885. sikine 886. Sikira/Sikirita 887. sima 888. simara 889. simeki 890. simita 891. sina 892. sinada 893. sinae 834. sinakanau 895. sinamiu 896. sinatakira 897. sinedui 898. sipiki 899. sipu3ka 900. sire/siro/siru/sirute 901. siriki 902. sireneti 903. sirumarita2 (sirumarita1) 904. sita2 (sitai) -or- ta2si (taisi) 905. sitetu 906. situ 907. situra2re 908. siwamaa 909. sodira 910. sokanipu 911. sokemase 912. sudaja 913. suja 914. sukinima 915. Sukirita/Sukiriteija 916. suniku 917. supu2ka 918. supa3 (supai)/supa3ra (supaira) 919. supi/supu/supu2 (supui) 920. sure 921. suria 922. suropa 923. sutu/sutunara 924. suu 925. suwaresu 926. suzu 923. taa 924. tadaki/tadati 925. tadeuka 926. taikama 927. Tainaro 928. tainuma 929. tainumapa 930. Ta2merakodisi (Taimerakodisi) 931. ta2re (raire) 932. ta2reki /ta2riki (aireki/tairiki) 933. Ta2rimarusi (Tairimarusi) 944. tai2si (taisi) 945. ta2tare 946. ta2tite 947. ta2u 948. tajusu 949. takaa/takari 950. taki/taku/takui 951. Tamaduda 952. Tanamaje 953. Tanarateutinu 954. tanate/tanati 955. Tanunikina 956. tamaru 957. tami/tamia/tamisi 958. tani/taniria/tanirizu 959. tanika 960. taniti 961. Tanunikina 962. tanurija 963. tanuwasa... 964. tapa 965. tapiida 966. tapiqe 967. tara/tare 968. tarasa 969. tarawita 970. tarejanai 971. tarikisu 972. tarina (tawena) 973. taritama 974. taro 975. tasa/tasaja 976. tasaza 977. tasise 978. tata/tati 979. tatapa3du (tatapaidu) 980. ta2tare (taitare) 981. ta2tite (taitite) 982. Tateikezare... (truncated) 983. tedasi/tedatiqa 984. tedekima 985. teepikia 986. teizatima 987. teja(i)/teija 988. teijo 989. tejare 990. tekare 991. teke/teki 992. tekidia 993. temada/temadai 994. temeku 995. temirerawi 996. tenamipi 997. tenata/tenataa 998. Tenatunapa3ku 999. tenekuka 1000. teneruda 1001. teniku 1002. tenita(ki) 1003. tenu/tenumi 1004. tepi 1005. tera/tere 1006. teraseda 1007. tereau 1008. tereza 1009. teri (tewe)/teridu 1010. terikama 1011. tero/teroa 1012. terota -or- rotate -or- tatero 1013. terusi 1014. tesi/tesiqe 1015. Tesudesekei 1016. tetita2 (tetitai) 1017. tetu 1018. Tewirumati 1019. Tidama 1020. tidata 1021. tidiate 1022. tiditeqati 1023. tiduni/tiduitii 1024. tiisako 1025. tija 1026. tika 1027. titiku 1028. tikiqa 1029. tikuja 1030. tikuneda 1031. timaruri/timaruwite 1032. timasa 1033. timi 1034. timunuta 1035. tina 1036. Tinakarunau 1037. tinata/tinita 1038. tinesekuda 1039. Tininaka 1040. tinu/tinuka/tinuja 1041. tinusekiqa 1042. tio 1043. tiqatediti 1044. tiqe/tiqeri/tiqeu 1045. tiraduja 1046. tira2 1047. tirakapa3 (tirakapai) 1048. tire 1049. tisa 1050. tiri 1051. tiriadidakitipaku 1052. tisiritua 1053. tisudapa 1054. tita 1055. titema 1056. titiku 1057. titima 1058. titisutisa 1059. tiu 1060. tiumaja 1061. tizanukaa 1062. toipa 1063. tome 1064. toraka 1065. toreqa 1066. toro 1067. totane 1068. tuda 1069. tui 1070. tujuma 1071. tukidija 1072. tukuse 1073. tuma/tumei/tumi 1074. tumitizase 1075. tunada 1076. tunapa 1077. tunapa3ku 1078. tunija
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