A Ukrainian linguist has achieved a minor sensation - the decipherment of Linear A under the assumption that, like Linear B, the texts are written in the Greek language.
Iurii Leonidovich Mosenkis is a professor at the Institute of Philology of Kyiv University, in the Department of Ukrainian Language and Applied Linguistics. His scientific interests include, in particular, the evolution of languages and comparative linguistics [1].
In recent years he published on the Academia.edu website more than 260 papers ranging from notes to elaborated documents to a book (all except the book [2], unfortunately, without specification of a publication year). Among the languages he studied and partially compared are Ukrainian, the Slavic and Baltoslavic languages, (Ancient) Greek, Pelasgic, Phrygian, Proto-Arian, Italic, Umbrian, Old Irish, Celtic, Proto-Indo-European, Georgian/Kartvelic, Daghestan, Hurro-Urartian, Sumerian, Hattic, Kassitic, Guanche, Basque, Etruscan, Burushaski, Dravidian, Altaic, Uralic, Yenisean, Ainu. In addition, his interests were focused on archaeology, especially of the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture, genetics as a means of determining lineages, the origins of fairy tales and myths, and astronomy as a means of retrocalculated chronological placement of events.
Cretan hieroglyphs were influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs. Arthur Evans showed clear evidence of the Egyptian origin of several Cretan hieroglyphic characters, and Vladimir Ivanov Georgiev identified traces of their translation from Egyptian into Greek. The absence of the l/r distinction in Linear A and B is a typical feature of Egyptian writing [3].
The two Linear scripts are, in contrast to the Cretan hieroglyphic script, syllabic scripts, supplemented by number signs and more (Linear A) or less (Linear B) additional word signs. There are only open syllables with which words of the form CVCV and longer can be formed (C = consonant, V = vowel). Such words are found in Old Macedonian, Luwian, Akkadian, and Dravidian languages, as well as in a pre-Sumeric substrate [4]. Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew have frequent words in the forms CVCVC and VCCVC. Ancient Greek, on the other hand, is characterized by frequent multiple consonants (like German). The best known example is the Greek word ανθροπος / anthropos, which was approximated in Linear B as a-to-ro-po.
“Linear B does not consistently distinguish between voiced and voiceless plosives (except in the dental series) and between aspirated and unaspirated stops even when these distinctions are phonemic in Mycenaean Greek. [5]”
“(KA/KHA/GA are written with ka and PA/PHA/BA with pa). Only for the voiced dental D there is a separate set of syllable signs, so that DA is written with da and TA/THA with ta. [6]”
This distinction (voiceless/aspirated/voiced) is typical of the Indo-European languages, thus also of ancient Greek, but also of the Semitic languages; the absence of this distinction, on the other hand, is found in the Hurrian-Urartian languages and the Eteocyprian and Cypriot-Minoan languages, which may be related to them or at least influenced by them [7].
Therefore, the Cretan linear scripts are conceivably unsuitable for the rendering of an Indo-European language such as ancient Greek, but hardly less suitable for the rendering of a presumed Semitic language.
A particular difficulty also lies in distinguishing between phonetic peculiarities of the “Minoan dialect” of whatever language and the orthographic rules of Linear A/B enforced by the available syllable supply [8]. For example, the final -se, common in classical Cypriot syllabary, is absent in Linear B (although a syllabic se exists). This was considered an ‘argument’ against the Greek language of Linear B. The final -o, typical in Linear B, is again absent in Linear A - which is now considered an ‘argument’ against the Greek language of Linear A [9].
Moreover, the syllable inventories are not complete - not all combinations of the consonants d j k r m n p q r s t w z with the vowels a e i o u occur. In Linear B a few syllables on -i and -u are missing (up to now?), in Linear A the syllables on -e and especially -o are incomplete - do, jo, mo, no, qo, so, wo are missing [10].
Evans considered the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations both non-Greek, although he had read a Greek word in Linear B: using classical Cypriot syllabic writing, the scholar read the word po-lo = πῶλος / pōlos, “foal,” written near horse imagery on a Linear B tablet. Michael Ventris’ decipherment confirmed the hypothesis of Paul Kretschmer, S. Luria, and V. Georgiev that Linear B (15th-13th century B.C.) – and thus Mycenaean culture – was Greek, while earlier Cretan hieroglyphs, the Phaistos Disc, Linear A, and later Eteocretan inscriptions are considered undeciphered [11].
As early as 1800, two years before the publication of the decipherment of Linear B, but perhaps aware of Ventris’ work, Georgiev had published his conjecture, supported by several word equations, that Linear A represented the Greek language or a Greek dialect [12]. Especially because of the continuously used open syllables and the lack of distinctions b/p/ph, g/k/kh and t/th (see above), other researchers looked for words from other languages and found Semitic and Luwian words. The main proponent of the hypothesis that the language of Linear A was a Semitic one became Cyrus Herzl Gordon [13], although closed syllables also predominate in Semitic languages and the distinction of the three classes of closing sounds often bears meaning. The Hittite-Luwian hypothesis was first advanced by Leonard Robert Palmer [14]. The argument that the words now read as Greek are probably loanwords could equally apply to the words read as Semitic as well as to those read as Luwian.
Subsequently, there was no lack of attempts to find either further Semitic or Luwian or Greek words in Linear A. Maurice Pope wrote about this in 1808: “For Minoan to contain some Semitic words would not be surprising. Bronze Age Crete belonged to the same culture as the contemporary Near East. It is natural that technical terms of accountancy and of articles of commerce such as pots should have been borrowed. [15]” He considered it conceivable that “Minoan” was a Semitic language, but proof was “still” a long way off - the “clearest piece of evidence” was the legend that Minos was a grandson of Phoinix, king of Tyre [16]. In contrast, for him it was certain: “The only Minoan word whose meaning is certainly known is kuro or kulo = «total». There is no doubt that this could be Semitic (Akkadian kalu, kullatu; Hebrew kôl; etc.). [17]”
Relationships with languages such as Abkhaz-Adyghic, Etruscan, Hurrian, Indo-Iranian and Lycian, as well as a lost branch of Indo-European and an unknown language family, were also discussed but did not find recognition [18].
Strong arguments for a Greek language were found by Gregory Nagy, who identified many place names and other words written the same or almost the same in Linear A and Linear B and considerably expanded the Greek word list in Linear A [19]. Nagy identified the Linear A words pa-i-to = Linear B pa-i-to = Φαιστός / Phaistós, Linear A qe-tu = Linear B qe-to = πίθοι / pithoi, Linear A i-ta-nu = Linear B u-ta-no = Ἴτανος / Itanos (Cretan city), i-ja-te = ιατηρ / iatēr, “doctor”, ki-ro = χρέος, χρή / chreos, chrē, “debt”, “need”, ka-pa = καρποι / karpoi, “fruits”, ma-ka-ri-te = Μακαρίτης / Makarítēs, “the blessed”, ka = καί / kaí, “and”, Linear A wo-no = Linear B wo-no = (ϝ)οῖνος / (w)oinos, “wine”, the suffixes Linear A -qe = Linear B -qe = -τε / -te (= Lat. -que) and morphological elements as in the juxtaposition of “Linear A su-ki-ri-ta = Linear B su-ki-ri-ta = Σύβριτα / Sygrita (Cretan town)” to Linear A “su-ki-ri-te-i-ja ≈ Linear B su-ki-ri-ta-jo = Sugritajos” (ethnic assignment, roughly “inhabitant(s) of Sygrita”) [20]. There are numerous equivalents to the latter example in Linear B [21].
“Why the voice of G. Nagy was not heard – it is an enigma for me. In contrast, the voice of M. Ventris was heard very quickly despite the fact that his Greek reading of Linear B contrasted with a half-century tradition.” [22]
Instead, many other “decipherers” “read” individual words on vases and “found” them in Akkadian, Lycian or Luwian texts, but this did not prove that Linear A belonged to the respective language (John Chadwick according to Jean-Pierre Olivier) [23].
Statistical method: How often do selected syllable groups occur in the script to be deciphered, and which syllable groups can be found with corresponding frequencies in the target languages available for selection? Alice Kober and Michael Ventris used statistics to decipher Linear B. However, the available corpus of inscriptions in Linear A is so small, estimated at about six to seven book pages, that one does not get far with statistics, although significant statistical observations have been published [24].
Combinatorial method: If words or word forms frequently occur together and show variations (affixes, here mostly suffixes), how can these be connected with the corresponding forms in one of the target languages? Can frequent word combinations or word juxtapositions or morphological elements be deduced from this? This method leads further here [25]:
Example 1: The words ku-ro and ki-ro were found several times in context and identified as “sum” and “debt”. They are very similar to two Greek words, κόρος / kóros, “satiety, surfeit” and χρέος / chréos, “debt”. Correspondingly, ku-ra then fits κυρία / kyría, “authority, power” and κύρια / kýria, “the powerful one” (fem.).
Example 2: The word po-to-ku-ro seems to be related to ku-ro. Georgiev in 1808 compared the front part with Tocharian A, B ponto, “all”, but παντακύριος / pantakýrios, “surpassing all” is a much closer equivalent. This gives Linear A po-to-ku-ro = “all together, total sum” [26].
Example 3: With this method, some morphological elements in Linear A were recognised: the distinction i-ja-te “doctor” and i-ja-ma “medicine”, the connective -qe (corresponding to Latin -que), the feminine adjective suffix -ja, the dative ending -si, the mediopassive participle suffix -men; for further examples see below.
Quasi-bilingual methods: a word on an object can denote it or one of its properties [27]: tu-nu on an axe could mean θύνω / thýnō, “rush, dart along”, da-ku on another axe θάγω / thagō, “sharpen, whet" or θηγός / thēgos, “sharp”, e-si-ja on a lamp ἑστία / hestía, “hearth”, u-na-a on a pithos-like vessel *οἰναία / (inferred) oinaia, “wine vessel”.
Cretan proper names from Linear B and alphabetic Greek may also provide clues here (just as proper names were the first identified words in Egyptian hieroglyphics or in Linear B) [28]:
Linear A |
Linear B |
Modern |
ka-nu-ti |
ko-no-si |
Knossos |
pa-i-to |
pa-i-to |
Phaistos |
da-ri-da |
ti-ri-to |
Tritos |
Etymological method [29]: This had a bad reputation among critics of decipherment attempts, but could provide some important information, for example: Linear A ma-te-re = Linear B ma-te-re = Gr. matrei, “to the mother” (dative); Linear A da-ma-te = Δαμάτηρ, Demeter, according to Homer from Crete; Linear A a-ra-u-da, Linear B e-re-u-ti-ja, Doric Ἐλεύθυια / Eleúthyia, ancient Gr. Εἰλείθυια / Eíleíthyia, “the one who comes (to help)”, the goddess of childbirth [30], known from the Odyssey and from Pausanias, who was especially worshipped in the Eleuthyia cave near Amnissos on Crete.
The monster Scylla (Σκύλλη) is depicted by Minoan painters with a dog's head, recalling the Greek word for “whelp, puppy”, σκύλαξ / skylax (Fig. 1) [31]. Minoan images of knots were reminiscent of the Egyptian life sign Ankh, whose name resembles the Greek word ἄγχω / ángkho (“squeeze”) (Fig. 2) [32] The syllabic sign derived from it has the phonetic value za, corresponding to the Greek word ζαω / zaô (“to live”) [33]. The Minoan calendar painting contained the signs for solstices and equinoxes (τροπή / tropē, “the turn”), which were represented as ships (τροπίς / tropís, “keel” and “ship”), thus reflecting Greek homonymy (Fig. 3) [34]. Conclusion: “Minoan painters were Greek-spoken” [35], and they also knew at least individual Egyptian terms and their Egyptian designations.
Fig. 1 |
Fig. 2 |
Fig. 3 |
With ki-ro = χρέος, χρή / chreos, “debt” (see above) and ku-ro / ku-ra (“sum”) = κυριός / kyriós (“whole”, “complete”) and κυρία / kyría (“possession”) respectively, two central terms from accounting and administration are represented by Greek words [36]. Of all things, a word that Pope at the time judged to be Semitic (see above) now serves Mosenkis as important evidence for the Greek language of Linear A! Another weighty word is ma-te for “mother”, while the Anatolian languages (Hittite, Luwian) have anna for this [37], the Semitic umm or ēm or similar.
Cretan hieroglyphic writing consists not only of logograms, but also contains phonetic (syllabic) signs [38]. Many of these can be “read” thanks to their similarities with signs of the two linear scripts; the readings suggest that they represent a Greek dialect, with some words having similarities to Phrygian sounds [39]. Some syllabic signs of the Cretan hieroglyphs as well as of the linear scripts seem to be abbreviations on the first syllable of the Greek names of the depicted objects, such as za of ζαω (see above); the Cretan hieroglyph PLOUGH as the archetype of the Linear A/B syllable sign u corresponds to the initial syllable of ὕνις / hynis (“ploughshare”); the Egyptian hieroglyph kebeh, “jug” resembles the syllable sign ki, the initial syllable of Gr. kissubion; the Egyptian hieroglyph aha, “palace” resembles the syllable wa, the initial syllable of Gr. wanakterion [40].
Therefore, some Cretan hieroglyphic inscriptions can be read in Greek: for example, the hieroglyph KNEE as γόνυ / góny, genitive γόνατος / gónatos and thus as a homonym for Linear A ka-nu-ti = Linear B ko-no-si (Knossos) corresponding to γνοστος / gnostos (“the best known”, “the famous”), the hieroglyph KNEE with the syllable mark ja as an adjective suffix would correspond to the phonation gonat-ja = Linear A ka-nu-ti-ja = Linear B ko-no-si-ja = Κνωσία / knossia (feminine “the one from Knossos”, “the Knossian”). Also the hieroglyphic image of a dog (κυον / kyon) or wolf (κνακιας / knakias) could perhaps be read as a reference to Knossos, unless the wolf stood for γυναικ- / gynaik- (“woman”). Finally, the hieroglyph SPIDER (αραχνα / arakhna) can be read as Linear A/B A-ri-hag-na = Greek Ariadne [41]; the Cretan hieroglyphic inscription wa-nwa can be compared with Linear A u-na-ka, Linear B wa-na-ka and interpreted as the same title (“king”) in three scripts [42]. Furthermore, the spelling si-FIG-ka (hieroglyph FIG surrounded by two syllabic signs) corresponds to σῦκα / syka, “figs” [43].
The oldest signs of Cretan hieroglyphs were found at Archanes and date to the Middle Minoan I phase – according to the “high” chronologies from 2160/2050/2000 BC, according to the “low” chronologies from 2000/1979/1900 BCE (conventionally) [44]. This would give the Greek language the oldest writing system of all Indo-European languages [45], several centuries older than the Hittite-Luwian hieroglyphs [46].
The more word equations between Linear A and Ancient Greek are recognised, the more unexpected spellings emerge: u for o or even e, as in u-na-ru-ka-na-ti/si ≈ ἐναρξάντι/σι / enarxánti/si; i for ē, as in a-si-ki-ra for ἀσκηρά / askērá; d stands for θ as in di-ri-na ≈ θρινία / thrinía or for δ as in ro-da ≈ Ῥόδια / Rhódia, sometimes t stands for θ as in ki-re-ta2 = Linear B ki-ri-ta = κριθή / krithē; j sometimes stands for h as in i-ru-ja /eluha/ < ἔλυσα / élysa - the Linear A/B syllabic ja /ha/ gave rise to the Phoenician het (though not until a millennium after Linear A – possibly an indication of inconsistent conventional chronology!), which became the Greek Η; q in Linear B corresponds to the labiovelar qu (cf. -qe = Lat. -que), but in Linear A not infrequently also χ as in a-se-tu-qi ≈ ἀστυ-όχη / astyóchē, qa-ti-ju ≈ *Χαττιοί / (inferred) Khattioí < Hatti, Homeric Κήτειοι / Kēteioi; w stands for ϝ as in wi-pi ≈ ϝίφι / wiphi or for the labiovelar gw as in wa-pi-ti-na(*te)-ra2 on a pithos ≈ βαπτιστήριον / baptistērion < *guap-; z reflects z < dj as in ki-re-za ≈ κράδη / krádē or z < gj as in ma-za ≈ μᾶζα / mãza or z < kj as in du-re-za-se = Linear B de-re-u-ko ≈ δλυκύς / dlykýs or g as in a-zu-ra ≈ ἀγορά / agorá; on the other hand also s > g as in ma-si-du ≈ μαγίδιον / magídion, so there are no universal rules [47].
Examples
of Greek morphology in Linear A [48]
Linear A |
Greek |
English |
i-ja-ma |
ιαμα / iama |
remedy, medicine |
i-ja-te |
ιατηρ / iatēr |
healer, pysician |
a-ki-ro |
ἄχρεος / áchreos |
useless, futile |
a-da-ro |
ἄδωρα / adōra |
ungifted or undonated |
suffix -ja |
-ία / -ia |
feminine adjective suffix |
si-da-te |
σιτευτός / siteutós |
fattened |
prefix a-: a-si-da-to-i |
*ἀσιτευτόι / *asiteutói (deduced) |
unfed (pl.) |
or: si-da-te |
συνδέτης / syndétēs |
one who holds together |
prefix a-: a-si-da-to-i |
ἀσύνδετοι / asýndetoi |
unconnected (pl.) |
or: si-da-te |
συνθέτη / synthétē |
composed |
prefix a-: a-si-da-to-i |
ἀσύνθετοι / asýnthetoi |
uncomposed (pl.) |
“These grammatical forms of Indo-European origin might be the strongest proof of the Greek language of Linear A, in contrast to lexical elements which might have been borrowed.” [49]
Due to the limited corpus of inscriptions, the available examples are sparse but obviously well in accordance with Greek forms [50]:
Morphology of the nouns:
The word-forming suffixes -ma and -tēr of Indo-European origin in the examples Linear A i-ja-ma = ιαμα / iama, “remedy”, “medicine”; Linear A i-ja-te = ιατηρ / iatēr, “healer”, “physician”
The typical Greek negation prefix a-: Linear A a-si-su-po-a, “not very clear”, cf. Σίσυφος / Sísyphos, literally “very clever”; Linear A a-su-pu-wa, “(vessel) without a spout”, cf. συπύη / sypýē, “food tub”, or “(big) bowl”; further examples from [51]: Linear A a-ki-ro, ἄχρεος / áchreos, “useless”, “futile”; Linear A a-da-ro, ἄδωρα / adōra, “ungifted” or “undonated”
Typical Greek Suffixes for Nomina Agentis: Linear A ma-ti-za-i-te, *μαστιγ-αίτης / *mastigaítēs, “coach man”; Linear A ma-te-ti, ματευτής / mateutēs, “seeker, searcher”; Linear A ma-ka-i-ta, Aeolian μαχαίτας / machaítas, “fighter, warrior”
Prefixes: Linear A a-pa, ἀπο / apo, “from ... away”; but in an example which is not clear to me
Declension of the nouns:
Genitive sg. m.: (from Italy) ku-ra-tu-jo, Κρατοῖο / Kratoĩo, Gen. of Κρατύς / Kratýs (probably a name).
Genitive sg. f.: (on a lamp) i-ja-re-wi-ja, ἰαρηϝίjας / íarēwijas, “of the priestess” or “of the sanctuary”.
Dative sg. f.: ja-su-ma-tu OLIVE, αἰσυμνητύι / aísymnētýi, olives for the αἰσυμνητύς / aísymnētýs (whatever the latter word may mean)
Acc. sg. m.: (from Italy) i-ja, υἷα / yĩa, the son.
Nom. pl. m.: si-da-te – a-si-da-to-i, συνθέτη / synthétē – ἀσύνθετοι / asýnthetoi “composed ones” – “not composed ones”; also ku-re-ju, χορεῖοι / choreĩoi, “members of the choir”.
Nom. pl. f.: di-ki-se, θίξεις / thixeis, “the touching, those who touch” (fem. Pl.).
Pronouns:
Pronouns are extremely rare in Linear A:
Linear A (on a pin) wi-te-ja-mu, (ϝ)ἴδια μου οἴκετις / (w)ídia mou oíketis, “my own housewife (a slave?)”, literally: “own of mine” (Gen. 1. P. sg. f.) (the form ίδια μου („my own“ sg. f.) is still used in the same way in Modern Greek).
Linear A i-da-mi, Linear B –mi, μιν / min, she (Acc. sg.)
Numerals:
Numerical values are mostly represented by numbers in Linear A, their syllabic representation is very rare:
Linear A qe/ka-ti-ra-du MAN (in front of four portions), τετράς, -άδος / tetrás, -ádos, four, Phrygian ke, katreus.
Linear A qe-pi-ta, ἑπτά / heptá, “seven” in the context da-qe-ra qe-pi-ta (a title above seven personal names), heptá dohelai, “seven (female) slaves” (Linear B do-e-ra).
Linear A qa-sa-ra-ku, *τεσσαράκονς (τεσσαράκοντα / tessarákonta, forty) or *τεσσαρακόhιοι (τεσσαρακόσιοι, four hundred). Alternatively: exarchos, leader
Conjugation:
Present indicative active 1st P. sg.: ka-ni-ja-mi, ἐξανίημι / exaníēmi, I send out – in Linear B, on the other hand, verbs are only known in the 3rd person.
Mosenkis presents [52] a lot more examples of the extremely complex ancient Greek conjugation, function words such as the ending –qe (corresponding to Lat.. –que), word combinations and short texts as well as examples of Greek etymology, from which I will only pick out: Linear A qe-ra2-u = Linear B e-ra-wo = ἔλαιFον / élaiwon, “olive oil”, compared to Linear A qe-ra2-ja = Linear. B e-ra-wa = ἐλαίFα / elaíwa, “olive tree“, and finally Linear A zu-wa = Linear B di-wo = Zeus!
Many of his small discoveries, such as those about Minoan artists, Cretan agricultural products, morphology and grammar, or the quasi-bilinguals mentioned above, were first published by Mosenkis as notes, each in a short Word document, on the Academia.edu platform, before he compiled his findings into more extensive documents:
Mosenkis has provided the strongest argument so far that the language of Linear A is Greek in a dialect similar to the ancient Macedonian dialects [53]!
Автори, співробітники Університету (authors, scientists of the university [Kyiv]), entry for “Mosenkis Iurii Leonidovych”; http://dsr.univ.kiev.ua/pub/autors/37371/ (in Cyrillic script and Ukrainian language)
Iurii Mosenkis, “Hellenic Origin of Europe”, 2016, https://www.academia.edu/28866733/Hellenic_origin_of_Europe
Iurii Mosenkis, Pre-Mycenaean Greeks in Crete, p.9; https://www.academia.edu/24600947/Pre_Mycenaean_Greeks_in_Crete, retrieved Oct. 2020.
Ibid.
Wikipedia, Linear B, Spelling and pronunciation; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Linear_B#Spelling_and_pronunciation
German Wikipedia, Linearschrift B, Schreibregeln; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Linearschrift_B#Schreibregeln, translated by the author.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 9/10.
Iurii Mosenkis, Greek language of Linear A (short summary), p. 6; https://www.academia.edu/37575032/Greek_language_of_Linear_A_short_summary, retrieved Aug. 2020.
Ibid., p. 5.
Ibid., p. 6.
Iurii Mosenkis, Minoan Greek hypothesis: A short historiography, p. 1; https://www.academia.edu/27772316/Minoan_Greek_hypothesis_A_short_historiography, retrieved Aug. 2020; Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 18.
Georgiew, Wladimir Iwanow (1800): История эгейского мира во ІІ тысячелетии до н. э. в свете минойских надписей (The History of the Aegean World in the 2nd Millennium BC in the Light of the Minoan Inscriptions); in: Вестник древней истории, 1800, № 4; http://liberea.gerodot.ru/a_hist/georgiev.htm; quoted from Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], fn. 64.
Cyrus Herzl Gordon, Notes on Linear A, in: Antiquity 31, 1807, pp. 124-130; Gordon, Minoan Linear A, in: JNES 17, 1808, pp. 245-255; Gordon, The language of the Hagia Triada Tablets; in: Klio 38, 1960, pp. 63-68; quoted from Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], fn. 24.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], p. 1.
Maurice Pope, On the language of Linear A, Minos 6 (1808), p. 23, http://campus.usal.es/~revistas_trabajo/index.php/0544-3733/article/view/2748/2786, quoted from Mosenkis, op.cit. [11], p. 6.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 21; quoted from Mosenkis, op.cit. [11], p. 6 and Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 22.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], pp. 1/2.
Gregory Nagy, Greek-like elements in Linear A, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies (Harvard University Press) vol. 4, 1963; Nagy, Observations on the sign-grouping and vocabulary of Linear A, American Journal of Archaeology 69, No. 4, October 1965, pp. 297-298; quoted from Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 21.
Ibid.; Mosenkis, op.cit. [11], pp. 3/4.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 21.
Ibid.; Mosenkis, op.cit. [11], p. 4.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 22.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], p. 2.
Ibid., pp. 2/3.
For a few items, I prefer English renderings different from those given by Mosenkis.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], p. 3.
Ibid., pp. 3/4.
Ibid., p. 5.
Wikipedia, Eileithyia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileithyia.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 45.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 50.
Ibid., p. 46.
Ibid., p. 45, title of the section.
Ibid., pp. 59/60
Mosenkis, op.cit. [11], p. 5.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 46.
Ibid., pp. 46-52
Ibid., pp. 48-50, 54
Ibid., pp. 48-49
Ibid., [3], p. 52
Mosenkis, op.cit. [11], p. 4.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 46.
Ibid., p. 50.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], p. 1.
Ibid., p. 6.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], pp. 57-59.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], p. 3.
Ibid, pp. 7-12.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [3], p. 59.
Mosenkis, op.cit. [8], pp. 9-14.
Iurii Mosenkis, The Macedonian-like Greek language of Linear A, passim, https://www.academia.edu/12175482/The_Macedonian_like_Greek_language_of_Linear_A; and Mosenkis, The Greek Written Language 2000 – 1500 BCE: Linear A, passim, https://www.academia.edu/11302281/THE_GREEK_WRITEN_LANGUAGE_2000_1500_BCE_LINEAR_A, both documents retrieved in Aug. 2020
Karl-Heinz Lewin,: karl-heinz.lewin@t-online.de
Copyright © Karl-Heinz Lewin, 2021
First published in: Chronology & Catastrophism Review 2021:2, pp. 5-10
Copyright © Society for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2021