Linear B syllabary with correspondances to the ancient Greek alphabet including digamma

Linear B syllabary with correspondances to the ancient Greek alphabet including digamma:

This table of the Linear B syllabary with correspondances to the ancient Greek alphabet including digamma outlines how each series of syllabograms, e.g. A E I O U, DA DE DI DO DU, KA KE KI KO KU, MA ME MI MO MU, TA TE TI TO TU etc. corresponds with the ancient Greek letter series, including the archaic Greek letter digamma, very common in Mycenaean Greek but absent from Classical Greek which are common to them. In some cases, the first consonant of the syllabogram series exactly matches the consonant + vowels of the Greek letters to which that series corresponds. These are:

DA DE DI DO DU = da de dei dh di dh do dw du

MA ME MI MO MU = ma me mei mh mi mh mo mw mu

NA NE NI NO NU = na ne nei nh ni nh no nw nu

SA SE SI SO SU = sa se sei sh si sh so sw su

But there is one significant problem. The Linear B syllabary cannot distinguish between short and long Greek vowels, or Greek double-vowel combinations. Thus,

DE DI DO = de dei dh di dh do dw

ME MI MO = me mei mh mi mh mo mw

NE NI NO = ne nei nh ni nh no nw

SE SI SO = se sei sh si sh so sw

must account for 2 or 3 vowel variations in the ancient Greek alphabet, as seen above. For example, as seen in the D series of syllabograms above, DE = any of 3 = de dei dh DI for either di dh & DO for either do dw. The list of syllabogram series and their Greek alphabetic equivalents above provides several examples of these vowel variations.

Syllabogram series representing multiple consonants + vowels:

Syllabogram series representing multiple consonants + vowels are more complex. These are:

KA KE KI KO KU corresponding to:

ga ge gei gh gi gh go gw gu

ka ke kei kh ki kh ko kw ku

xa xe xei xh xi xh xo xw xu

PA PE PI PO PU corresponding to:

pa pe pei ph pi ph po pw pu

fa fe fei fh fi fh fo fw fu

ya ye yei yh yi yh yo yw yu

QA QE QI QO corresponding to:

ba be bei bh bi bh bo bw bu

ga ge gei gh gi gh go gw gu

RA RE RI RO RU corresponding to:

la le lei lh li lh lo lw lu

ra re rei rh ri rh ro rw ru

TA TE TI TO TU corresponding to:

ta te tei th ti th to tw tu

qa qe qei qh qi qh qo qw qu

Plenty of examples of all of the consonant + vowel variations explained in all instances above are found in the table, following the table of syllabogram series, at the top of this post.

CONVENTIONS in Linear A and ancient Greek orthography:

Linear B is also unable to account for the presence of consonants in the ancient Greek alphabet, especially in the case of final or ultimate consonants, which are extremely common in ancient Greek, and de rigueur in masculine and neuter nouns and adjectives, and in the conjugations of several persons, singular and plural, in all cases of ancient Greek verbs (present, future, imperfect, aorist, perfect and pluperfect in all moods, indicative, optative and subjunctive). But only the present and aorist (CHECK) in the indicative and the present in the optative occur in Linear B.

I shall be posting the Greek equivalents to Linear B nouns, adjectives and verbs in an upcoming post.

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Why I consider the Linear B syllabary to be a streamlined refinement of the Linear A syllabary and not a new syllabary

Why I consider the Linear B syllabary to be a streamlined refinement of the Linear A syllabary and not a new syllabary:

Keyboard assignments Linear A:

Note that this verifies that the Linear A syllabary has at least 49 syllabograms and homophones in common with Linear B.

Keyboard assignments Linear B:

Note that this verifies that the Linear B syllabary has at least 49 syllabograms and homophones in common with Linear A. Since the Linear B table of syllabograms contains 49 syllabograms and homophones in common with Linear A out of a total of 67, the total percentage of Linear A syllabograms and homophones in common with Linear B = 49/67 or 73 %. This percentage is high enough to justify the hypothesis that the Linear B syllabary is a direct descendant of Linear A, such that for all intents and purposes, the base syllabary plus a few homophones of both is close to equivalent in both syllabaries. This is why I consider the two syllabaries actually to be one, with Linear B a refinement of Linear A. We note in particular the the syllabogram WE was added to Linear A just before that syllabary was abandoned in favour of the newer streamlined Linear B syllabary. We also note that Linear B abandoned scores of ideograms and a few numeric syllabograms in Linear A, which are themselves indecipherable, because we do not know their phonetic values. This makes them irrelevant to the Linear B syllabary.

The implications of this hypothesis for the decipherment of Linear A are highly significant.

Standard keyboard template layout for the Mycenaean Linear B font by Curtis Clark

Standard keyboard template layout for the Mycenaean Linear B font by Curtis Clark:



NOTE: the keyboard template layout for Mycenaean Linear B as posted here is only 620 pixels wide, to conform to the narrow exigencies for images post on Word Press. The full format standard keyboard layout, which is 1200 pixels wide,  is the only one which is truly legible. You will need to request it from me here:

vallance22@zoho.com

You can download the Mycenaean Linear B font by Curtis Clark here:



The standard keyboard template layout for the Mycenaean Linear B font by Curtis Clark is beautifully laid out and very logical. The keyboard layout makes all of the following quite clear. But I repeat all of the key sequences here for your benefit.

For the vowels
A E I O U, type
q w e r t, 

and for the homophones:
tiya pte ai riyo siya, type:
Q W E R T

For the homophones:
ha nwa pu2 rai riya, type:
! @ # $ %

For the homophones:
dwe kwe, type:
+ =

For the homophones:
dwo two, type:
| \

I have made it even easier for you to use it by assigning mnemonics to several syllabogram series, as follows:

You will notice that to the immediate RIGHT of the DA DE DI DO DU series of syllabograms I have typed DA, then
to the immediate right of the TA TE TI TO TU series of syllabograms I have typed TA.
That makes it very easy to remember which series of keys you need to type for the DA series of syllabograms, and which for the TA, i.e.

A S D F G for DA
a  s  d  f  g for TA

DA + TA = DATA!

The same applies for the NA and SA series, for which the mnemonics are NASA. Thus, you type:

Z X C V B for NA +
z  x  c v  b  for SA +

Likewise, for 
MA ME MI MO MU
H J K L :
and for
PA PE PI PO PU 
h j k l ;

A few pointers:
[1] To type the syllabograms QA QE QI and QO, you type Y U I O
[2] To type the syllabograms ZE ZE ZO and the homophone DWO, you type P { } |
[3] To type the syllabograms WE WE WI WO, you type y u i o
[4] To type the syllabograms YA YE YO and the homophone TWO, you type p [ ] \

Even though it takes a little getting used to, it is all very logical.

You do not want to miss this Fantastic Twitter account, FONT design company of the highest calibre!

You do not want to miss this Fantastic Twitter account, FONT design company of the highest calibre!

I have just fortuitously come across what I consider to be the most fantastic font site or Twitter account on newly designed, mostly serif, extremely attractive fonts, some of which they offer for FREE!!!

You simply have to check them out. Click here to follow typo graphias:




Here is a composite of some of the astonishing font graphics on this amazing site!



 

Serendipitously happening on this account put a bee in my bonnet. I simply had to send you all on the fast track to downloading and installing the Minoan Linear A, Mycenaean Linear B & Arcado-Cypriot Linear C + several beautiful ancient Greek fonts, of which the most heavily used is SPIonic, used for Ionic, Attic, Hellenistic and New Testament writings and documents.  Hre are the links where you can download them, and much more besides!

Colour coded keyboard layout for the Mycenaean Linear B Syllabary:

 

includes font download sites for the SpIonic & LinearB TTFs



The first ever keyboard map for the Arcado-Cypriot Linear C TTF font!



which also includes the direct link to the only site where you can download the beautiful Arcado-Cypriot Linear B font, here:




How to download and use the Linear B font by Curtis Clark:



Easy guide to the Linear B font by Curtis Clark, keyboard layout:
 

Here is the Linear B keyboard. You must download the Linear B font as instructed below:

 

And here is the actual cursive Linear B font as it actually appears on the most famous of all Linear B tablet, Pylos Py TA 641-1952 (Ventris):

 

What’s more, you can read my full-length extremely comprehensive article, An Archaeologist’s Translation of Pylos Tablet Py TA 641-1952 (Ventris) by Rita Roberts, in Archaeology and Science (Belgrade) ISSN 1452-7448, Vol. 10 (2014), pp. 133-161, here: 



in which I introduce to the world for the first time the phenomenon of the decipherment of what I designate as the supersyllabogram, which no philologist has ever properly identified since the initial decipherment of Mycenaean Linear B by Michael Ventris in 1952. Unless we understand the significance of supersyllabograms in Linear B, parts or sometimes even all of at least 800 Linear B tablets from Knossos alone cannot be properly deciphered. This lacuna stood out like a sore thumb for 64 years, until I finally identified, categorized and deciphered all 36 (!) of them from 2013 to 2014. This is the last and most significant frontier in the complete decipherment of Mycenaean Linear B. Stay posted for my comprehensive, in-depth analysis and synopsis of The Decipherment of  Supersyllabograms in Linear B, which is to appear early in 2017 in Vol. 11 of Archaeology and  Science. This ground-breaking article, which runs from page 73 to page 108 (35 pages on a 12 inch page size or at least 50 pages on a standard North American page size)  constitutes the final and definitive decipherment of 36 supersyllabograms, accounting for fully 59 % of all Linear B syllabograms. Without a full understanding of the application of supersyllabograms on Linear B tablets, it is impossible to fully decipher at least 800 Linear B tablets from Knossos.
  

Colour-coded keyboard layout & FONT for the Mycenaean Linear B syllabary

Colour-coded keyboard layout & FONT for the Mycenaean Linear B syllabary:



I originally posted this colour-coded keyboard layout for the Mycenaean Linear B syllabary in 2014, but it bears re-posting, because it is so very helpful to people learning how to type in Mycenaean Linear B. Simply right-click on the image of the keyboard above, then SAVE AS + whatever name you wish to give it, then print it out on your printer.

NOTE that it is vital that you download the Mycenaean  Linear B FONT before you can even use the Linear B keyboard! You can download the font from here:



You can also download several ancient Greek fonts from the same site, but I highly recommend you select the SPIonic font, as it is the one which was used by the Athenians in the fifth century BCE. However, the font as downloaded appears in both upper and lower case and features all of the Greek accents. The original Athenian alphabet was in upper case only.  

Examples of the preliminary steps by our second full-time student, Thalassa Farkas (Canada) to set out on the exciting journey of learning Mycenaean Linear B

Examples of the preliminary steps by our second full-time student, Thalassa Farkas (Canada) to set out on the exciting journey of learning Mycenaean Linear B:

Here we see the first truly remarkable steps Thalassa Farkas of Canada has taken in just the first few days of her apprenticeship in learning Mycenaean Linear B:





I am particularly impressed by her keyboard template of the Mycenaean Linear B keyboard layout, which she has designed to fit right on top of the standard keyboard:





While I designed the Mycenaean Linear B keyboard layout back in 2013, it never dawned on me to cut a Linear B keyboard template to fit my own keyboard. What a clever little elf Thalassa is!

She is off to a great start. Let us all wish her the best in her exciting quest to master Linear B.  Although she doesn’t yet realized it, she will have to decipher hundreds of Linear B tablets to meet her eventual goal. And that will take at least two years. But we all know she will attain it.

PS to all our visitors, what does Thalassa, which is written as tarasa in Mycenaean Linear B, mean? Easy, if you know any Greek at all. 

Learn How to Type Linear B FAST! – well, at least much faster than usual: Click to ENLARGE

 

Learn How to Type Linear B FAST! - well, at least much faster than usual: Click to ENLARGE



Typically, keyboard layouts for Mycenaean Linear B are so abstruse that they actually confuse us more than they help us. I hope to remedy this messy state of affairs with this brand new keyboard layout for Mycenaean Linear B which I have just devised, with its own mnemonics and other guidelines for easy learning. Here are the keys to this keyboard layout:

KEYS:

Your first time round, you must download & install the Linear B Font by Curtis Clark, here: Click to go to the site and download the font:



Once you have installed the Linear B Font, you can then proceed to type anything you like in Linear B, by following these steps in order. 

(a) First you must change your Font from your default (Times New Roman, Georgia etc.) to Linear B
(b) Next, you should increase the size of your Linear B font 2 points up from your default font size in (a). Thus, if you default font size is 12 points, you should set the Linear B font to 14 points. You may also need to set the Linear B font to BOLD if it does not appear clearly enough to your satisfaction. This is up to you.

(c) SYLLABOGRAMS:

Syllabograms: If you start typing any linear series of 5 q w e r t y keyboard keys from the left to the right, you will be typing the entire series of a particular group of syllabograms from [consonant + a + e + i + o + u], as illustrated in the examples here:

If you type A S D F G, you will automatically get DA DE DI DO DU. Try it!
If you type a s d f g, you will automatically get TA TE TI TO TU.
If you type Z X C V B, you will automatically get NA NE NI NO NU.
If you type z x c v b, you will automatically get SA SE SI SO SU.
Etc.

NOTE the mnemonics, DATA & NASA, for the syllabogram series DATA = DA... + TA... and NASA for the syllabogram series NASA = NA... + SA... Think about it for a second or two, and you will get it. From then on in, it will be a cinch for you to  type DA... from A... & TA... from a... (DATA) + NA... from Z & SA from z... (NASA). Anyway, it is for me. If you don ’t like using mnemonics (memory reminders, the string on an elephant ’s trunk), you can just skip this part.

The only exception to this is the series: q w e r t (lower-case LC), which gives you the 5 vowels in order: a e i o u.

Some series of syllabograms are incomplete. In these cases, you do not have to type as far across the keyboard. For example:

If you type Y U I O, you will automatically get QA QE QI QO
If you type y u i o, you will automatically get WA WE WI WO

Examples of actual Linear B text (Latinized):

If you type .Vv, you get the word, KONOSO (Knossos)
If you type hef, you get the word, PAITO (Phaistos)
If you type Ep, you get thew word, AIZA (goat)
If you type qXLe[, you get the word, ANEMOIYERIYA (Priestess of the Winds)
 

(d) NUMERICS:

These are easy. Once you are in Linear B, 1 = 1, 2 = 2, 3 = 10... 5 = 100 8 = 2,000 etc. The only thing you need to remember is how many times to press each number key to write a large number in Linear B, e.g. for 43,537, type: 0 0 8 7 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1    

(e) HOMOPHONES:

Some series (some of which are also incomplete) yield only homophones. For example:

SHIFT 1 2 3 4 5 = ! @ # $ % yield the homophones: ha nwa pu2 rai riya.
[ ] \ yield the syllabograms YE & YO + the homophone -two- & when shifted to upper case (UC)
{ } | yield the syllabograms ZE & ZO + the homophone -dwo- (lower case! LC)

You will be typing homophones very rarely; so you don’t really need to learn these keys. Just refer to the chart when you need to type homophones (at a ratio of some 100 syllabograms per homophone, i.e. 100:1)

CLOSING THE LINEAR B FONT & SWTICHING BACK TO YOUR DEFAULT FONT:	

(A) You MUST follow these steps after you have finished typing text in Linear B.
(a) SAVE your document immediately in .doc or .docx format!
(b) SWITCH to your default font (e.g. Times New Roman or Georgia) and reduce your font size by 2 points (also remove BOLD if you used BOLD to type in Linear B).
(c) You may now continue typing in your default font. If Linear B still appears, and your default font does not, you have incorrectly followed this procedure. 

TO SWITCH BACK TO THE LINEAR B FONT:

(B) You MUST follow these steps to switch to the Linear B font, after you have finished typing text in your default font (Times New Roman or...)
(a) SAVE your document immediately in .doc or .docx format!
(b) SWITCH to the Linear B font and increase your font size by 2 points (also add BOLD if you want your Linear B text to stand out).
(c) You may now continue typing in Linear B. If your default font still appears, but Linear B does not, you have incorrectly followed this procedure.

Simply alternate from (A) to (B) to switch back and from your default font & Linear B. DO NOT OMIT ANY STEPS!

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TYPE LOGOGRAMS & IDEOGRAMS USING THE LINEAR B FONT.

Oh, and don’ t forget to print out this template of the Linear B font, laminate it in plastic and pin it to the wall above your computer for quick reference!

I shall illustrate how to insert these in your Linear B text in the next post. 


Richard

 

 

 

Linear B Keyboard Layout: to date the best on the Internet! (REVISED Oct. 30 2014)

Linear B Keyboard Layout: to date the best on the Internet! (REVISED Oct. 30 2014) Click to ENLARGE:



In the first version of this new Linear B keyboard, which I posted this summer, I made an egregious error. The Linear B syllabogram produced when you type UC Y is QA, and the logogram PHU, as once bellieved. It is absolutely essential you understand this. QA is in fact a syllabogram. 

The first thing I would like to point out is that it took me no less than 4 hours (!) of meticulous work to produce this fine chart of the Latin to Linear B Keyboard, just as it takes me between 1 g and 5 (!) hours to produce all the high quality Linear B tablet & fragment translations, illustrations etc. I work very hard on our blog to make sure that all illustrations for all posts are as clear and informative as possible. Most of the illustrations of Linear B tablets and fragments, and most of the rest of Linear B varia on the Internet are frequently of poor or fair quality at best, although plenty of them are of at least good quality, or even excellent. But good is never enough for me, because I want to make certain that any and all students, translators and researchers in Linear B have access to the highest possible quality illustrations for Mycenaean Greek & Linear B. That is why I scanned well over 3,000 Linear B tablets and fragments in Scripta Minoa, sharpened them, converted them to clear B&W and blew them up so that the Linear B characters would be very easy to read. I do sincerely hope people really appreciate the work I put into illustrations and indeed the explanatory text in our posts, which often goes to great lengths to make sure that folks who visit us have the clearest possible idea of whatever topic we are dealing with.

Suggestion: Feel free to download this chart, which is in .jpg format. You can then print it out and, to be sure it does not get all messy if you happen to pour coffee, tea or worse on it, laminate it and post it on the wall right behind your computer. This will expedite the learning process for the Linear B font.

In order to use the Linear B Font, you must of course first download it. By far the best site to download SPIonic, the standard for ancient (Attic) Greek, be sure to visit Dr. Shirley’s site, Greek fonts, here:

Dr Shirleys Font List Greek




The next page features a complete explanation by Dr. Curtis Clark himself on how he came to create this fine font.

Richard