10 Responses to Linear B Transliterations

1. Humberto Maggi says:

   11 December 2015 at 10:38

   Greetings,

   I am researching the origins fo the words “daimon” and “teoi”, could you please give me some advice regarding their uses in Mycaenean Greek?

   Thanks

   Reply
   • K.A. Raymoure says:

     2 January 2016 at 11:33

     Have a look at te-o here for some more details about te-o-i. I haven’t run across a valid etymology for “daimon” that extends back to Mycenaean times. Hope that helps a little!

     Reply
2. Dimitrios Makrygiannis says:

   29 September 2012 at 04:48

   Dear Kim,

   I am an independent researcher in Linear B, from Greece.

   I have published (in the greek language) a book with the title: Linear B. The completion of the decipherment. I sent you here below a short summary of it.
   If you want, you can send me an address to send you a copy of my book.

   Let me make a comment at a certain point in your website:
   You don’t distinguish the ideogrammes 100 VIR (standing man) and 103 VIRb (sitted man). You refer both of them as VIR.
   In my work I support that the ideogramme VIRb means “dead man”, so the meaning of these tablets is different.

   Thanks for your time,
   Dimitrios Makrygiannis

   Author’s address
   Dimitrios Makrygiannis
   25 Xenofontos Str.
   GR – 173 41 Agios Dimitrios
   Athens – Greece
   dmakrygiannis@yahoo.gr

   LINEAR B
   The completion of the decipherment
   ——————————————————————————
   “ELLINOEKDOTIKI” ATHENS 2009 – Pages 345 – ISBN: 978-960-8458-18-5

   SUMMARY
   In the current work we attempt the completion of the deciphering of Linear B, the ancient script which was developed in the Minoan and Mycenaean world during the period 1450-1200 B.C.
   The clay tablets with this script were first discovered by Sir Arthur Evans in the palace of Knossos, in the year 1901. Many other tables were also discovered later in the palace of Pylos, as well as in other areas.
   As it is known, the work of the deciphering was never completed because 17 of the symbols remained unidentified. In other words, the precise syllabic value of these symbols was never determined. Many speculations for these symbols have been later made but without the unanimous agreement of the scholars.
   In the current work we have applied a different method, which is based on the shape of the syllable-letters. We began from the observation that certain symbols have obvious resemblances to certain objects and the syllabic value of these symbols is related to the name of the objects. Such case, for example, is with the symbol “69 tu”, which depicts an ivy leaf and its syllabic value stems from the word “thyrsos”, which was a rod decorated with ivy branches.
   Generalizing this observation, we concluded to the basic principle of our new explanatory attempt, which is formulated as follows:
   The syllabic value of each symbol of Linear B is equivalent to the first syllable of the name of the object or of the concept which is represented by it.
   With the application of this principle and with the explanation of the origin of the symbols, i.e. what exactly is represented by each one of them, we were able first to verify the theory of Ventris-Chadwick and second, to decipher the rest of the 17 symbols, which, as we said, remained unidentified.
   Take for example the symbol “63 wu”. This symbol looks like a fort – (similar to one that is represented in a seal-ring from Zakros). We found the reference in the dictionary of Hesychii as: «φύρκος• τたうεいぷしろんῖχος», and «φύρκορ· ὀχύρωmαあるふぁ». Therefore the value of this symbol is “wu” and its meaning is “fort”.
   We found that 10 from the 17 unidentified symbols form two new series (b and g), while the remaining 7 fill the gaps of the Ventris syllable-code.
   Thus, the completed syllable-code of Linear B is finally revealed (see the attached table).
   In parallel with the explanation of the syllable-code, the precise meaning of seven ideograms is given for the first time, along with the explanation of the shape of three of them, and possible theories for a few others are formulated.

   This work is divided into three parts:
   Part A: HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. This has a purely historical character where the past developments on the subject are exposed. In Chapter D we present our own deciphering method, which we applied.
   Part B: THE ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLS OF LINEAR B. The abovementioned theory which explains the origin and the deciphering of the symbols is expanded. In this part, all symbols (the identified as well as the unidentified ones), are located, and the word from which they derive is substantiated. Our results are summarized in three tables.
   Part C: TABLET EXPLANATIONS. This part contains the explanations of texts of many tablets, for which we formulate many different opinions from the established ones. As an example, we mention the very common ideogram “SA”, for which the established opinion is that it means “linen”, whereas here it is translated as “untreated animal hides”. There are also some tablets which are explained for the first time with an accepted semantic rendering.
   The text is accompanied by rich illustration and is complemented with 6 indexes.
   In parallel with the interpretations of the symbols, issues that refer to that era are examined. Thus, this work forms also an informative introduction to the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisation.
   The author is a physicist, who has occupied himself a lot with ancient Greek philosophy. His works “The notion of God in the pre-Socratic philosophy” (p. 550) and “Cosmology and Ethics of Democritus” (p. 393, Athens Academy Award), have been greatly appreciated by the students.
   We believe that this work opens new horizons to the study of Linear B. In any case, though, the final conclusions are left to the judgment of the experts.

   THE COMPLETE SYLLABLE-CODE OF LINEAR B

   Reply
   • K.A. Raymoure says:

     29 September 2012 at 11:08

     Many of the references I am using do not distinguish between the VIR variants. Which references have you used which make the distinction? I recall seeing some of the distinctions in Documents in Mycenaean Greek, but this early work has a number of discrepancies when compared to the work that followed. I try to use a secondary reference for comparison when I use Docs as a primary.

     I am currently working on fleshing out the lexicon, but will eventually return to the transliterations to further confirm and improve on distinctions like this. Thank you for your note!

     Reply

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