The Minoan language is the language (or languages) of the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete written in the Cretan hieroglyphs and later in the Linear A syllabary. As the Cretan hieroglyphs are undeciphered and Linear A only partly deciphered, the Minoan language is unknown and unclassified: indeed, with the existing evidence, it is impossible to be certain that the two scripts record the same language.
The Eteocretan language, attested in a few alphabetic inscriptions from Crete 1,000 years later, is possibly a descendant of Minoan, but is also unclassified.
Minoan is mainly known from the inscriptions in Linear A, which are fairly legible by comparison with Linear B. The Cretan hieroglyphs are dated from the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The Linear A texts, mostly written in clay tablets, are spread all over Crete with more than 40 localities on the island.
The Egyptian textsEdit
From the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt come four texts containing names and sayings in the Keftiu language (de). They are, as usual in non-Egyptian texts, written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, which have allowed the pronunciation of those names and sayings to be reconstructed.
Magic Papyrus Harris (Latin: Papyrus magicus Harris XII, 1–5); Beg. 18th Dynasty: a saying in the Keftiu language [1]
Writing board (B.M. 5647); early 18th Dynasty: school blackboard with Keftiu name[2]
London Medical Papyrus (B.M., 10059); end of the 18th Dynasty: Two Sayings Against Disease (#32–33)
Aegean placard list (de): some Cretan place names.
On the basis of these texts, the phonetic system of the Minoan language can be reconstructed to have the following consonants:[3]
Brent Davis, a linguist and archaeologist at the University of Melbourne, has proposed that the basic word order of the language written in Linear A may be verb-subject-object (VSO), based on the properties of a common formulaic sequence found in Linear A.[12]
ReferencesEdit
^H. Lange: Der Magische Papyrus Harris; Kopenhagen (1927)
^T. E. Peet: The Egyptian Writing-Board B.M. 5647 bearing Keftiu Names; Oxford 1927
^Evangelos Kyriakidis: Indications on the Nature of the Language of the Keftiw from Egyptian Sources. In: Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant Band 12 (2002), pp. 211–219.
^Stephanie Lynn Budin; John M. Weeks (2004). The Ancient Greeks: New Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. p. 26. ISBN9781576078143. OCLC 249196051. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
^Facchetti, Giulio M.; Negri, Mario (2003). Creta Minoica: Sulle tracce delle più antiche scritture d'Europa (in Italian). Firenze: L.S. Olschki. ISBN978-88-222-5291-3.
^Yatsemirsky, Sergei A. (2011). Opyt sravnitel'nogo opisaniya minoyskogo, etrusskogo i rodstvennyh im yazykov [Tentative Comparative Description of Minoan, Etruscan and Related Languages] (in Russian). Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskoy kul'tury. ISBN978-5-9551-0479-9.
^Kazansky, Nikolai (2012-01-01). "The Evidence for Lycian in the Linear A Syllabary". FS Gregory Nagy Online. Awol - the Ancient World Online. ISSN 2156-2253.
^Finkelberg, Margalit. "The Language of Linear A: Greek, Semitic, or Anatolian?". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Brent Davis, 'Syntax in Linear A: The Word-Order of the ‘Libation Formula’ ' Kadmos 52(1), 2013, pp.35-52
minoan, language, confused, with, minaean, language, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, march, 2017, learn, when,. Not to be confused with the Minaean language This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Minoan language is the language or languages of the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete written in the Cretan hieroglyphs and later in the Linear A syllabary As the Cretan hieroglyphs are undeciphered and Linear A only partly deciphered the Minoan language is unknown and unclassified indeed with the existing evidence it is impossible to be certain that the two scripts record the same language MinoanLinear A tabletRegionCreteEraAbout 2100 1450 BCLanguage familyunclassifiedWriting systemCretan hieroglyphs Linear ALanguage codesISO 639 3Either a href https iso639 3 sil org code omn class extiw title iso639 3 omn omn a Minoan a href https iso639 3 sil org code lab class extiw title iso639 3 lab lab a Linear ALinguist Listomn Minoan lab Linear AGlottologmino1236 MinoanThe Eteocretan language attested in a few alphabetic inscriptions from Crete 1 000 years later is possibly a descendant of Minoan but is also unclassified Contents 1 Tradition 1 1 The Egyptian texts 2 Classification 3 Syntax 4 References 5 External linksTradition EditMinoan is mainly known from the inscriptions in Linear A which are fairly legible by comparison with Linear B The Cretan hieroglyphs are dated from the first half of the 2nd millennium BC The Linear A texts mostly written in clay tablets are spread all over Crete with more than 40 localities on the island The Egyptian texts Edit From the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt come four texts containing names and sayings in the Keftiu language de They are as usual in non Egyptian texts written in Egyptian hieroglyphs which have allowed the pronunciation of those names and sayings to be reconstructed Magic Papyrus Harris Latin Papyrus magicus Harris XII 1 5 Beg 18th Dynasty a saying in the Keftiu language 1 Writing board B M 5647 early 18th Dynasty school blackboard with Keftiu name 2 London Medical Papyrus B M 10059 end of the 18th Dynasty Two Sayings Against Disease 32 33 Aegean placard list de some Cretan place names On the basis of these texts the phonetic system of the Minoan language can be reconstructed to have the following consonants 3 Consonant phonemes Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular GlottalNasal m nStop p b t d ts k qFricative f s ʃ hTrill rApproximant j wClassification EditSee also Linear A Theories regarding the language Minoan is an unclassified language or perhaps multiple indeterminate languages written in the same script It has been compared inconclusively to the Indo European Semitic and Tyrsenian language families and is a language isolate 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Syntax EditBrent Davis a linguist and archaeologist at the University of Melbourne has proposed that the basic word order of the language written in Linear A may be verb subject object VSO based on the properties of a common formulaic sequence found in Linear A 12 References Edit H Lange Der Magische Papyrus Harris Kopenhagen 1927 T E Peet The Egyptian Writing Board B M 5647 bearing Keftiu Names Oxford 1927 Evangelos Kyriakidis Indications on the Nature of the Language of the Keftiw from Egyptian Sources In Agypten und Levante Egypt and the Levant Band 12 2002 pp 211 219 Stephanie Lynn Budin John M Weeks 2004 The Ancient Greeks New Perspectives ABC CLIO p 26 ISBN 9781576078143 OCLC 249196051 Archived from the original on May 25 2019 Retrieved May 25 2019 Facchetti Giulio M Negri Mario 2003 Creta Minoica Sulle tracce delle piu antiche scritture d Europa in Italian Firenze L S Olschki ISBN 978 88 222 5291 3 Yatsemirsky Sergei A 2011 Opyt sravnitel nogo opisaniya minoyskogo etrusskogo i rodstvennyh im yazykov Tentative Comparative Description of Minoan Etruscan and Related Languages in Russian Moscow Yazyki slavyanskoy kul tury ISBN 978 5 9551 0479 9 Beekes Robert S P 2014 Pre Greek Phonology Morphology Lexicon Brill ISBN 978 90 04 27944 5 Raymond A Brown Evidence for pre Greek speech on Crete from Greek alphabetic sources Adolf M Hakkert Amsterdam 1985 p 289 Chadwick John 1967 The Decipherment of Linear B Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 39830 5 Kazansky Nikolai 2012 01 01 The Evidence for Lycian in the Linear A Syllabary FS Gregory Nagy Online Awol the Ancient World Online ISSN 2156 2253 Finkelberg Margalit The Language of Linear A Greek Semitic or Anatolian a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Brent Davis Syntax in Linear A The Word Order of the Libation Formula Kadmos 52 1 2013 pp 35 52External links EditDuhoux Yves Pre Hellenic languages of Crete nbsp Languages portal nbsp Linguistics portal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Minoan language amp oldid 1174488735, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
