Linear A Texts: Homepage

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3. Corpora and Phonetic Transcriptions

The transcribed texts are based on the texts presented in GORILA (below) and a transnumeration and phonetic normalization finished 22 March 1994 by John G. Younger; Jean-Pierre Olivier checked this document against GORILA vols. I-V and a ms. of VI. It was then put in tabular form in January-February 1997. Since then, there have been continual updates.

GORILA = Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier, Recueil des inscriptions en Linéaire A. Études Crétoises 21, vols. 1-5. (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1976-1985, now out of print; but de Boccard [below] has copies).

Volume 1: Tablettes éditées avant 1970 (EtCret 21:1; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1976) ISBN X16534

Volume 2: Nodules, scellés et rondelles édités avant 1970 (EtCret 21:2; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1976) ISBN X16435

Volume 3: Tablettes, nodules et rondelles édités en 1975 et 1976 (EtCret 21:3; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1976) ISBN X16436

Volume 4: Autres documents (EtCret 21:4; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1982) ISBN X16437

Volume 5: Addenda, corigenda, concordances, index et planches des signes (EtCret 21:4; Paris: Libraire Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris 1985) ISBN X16433

GORILA available from Diffusion de Boccard for Euros 76 per volume:

11 rue de Médicis

75006 Paris FRANCE

T: (33) 1-432-60037

F: (33) 1-435-48583

http://www.deboccard.com/anglais/Rub/cata.htm

The phonetic transcriptions use Linear B values for Linear A signs assumed to be the same. Also see below, "Phonetic values of the signs."

Words of 3 or more syllables appearing exactly the same in both Linear A and Linear B Godart 1984
A-TI-KA (ZA Wc 2.a1-2; KN V 831.4)
DA-I-PI-TA (ZA 8.5, 10a.4-5; KN B 799.1)
I-JA-TE (PH Zb 4; PY Eq 146.9)
I-TA-JA (HT 28a.6; KN Ap 769.2, Xe 537.2)
KI-DA-RO (HT 47a.4, 117a.9, 122a.2-3?; KN E 842.3)
PA-I-TO (HT 97a.3, 120.6; KN 59 occurrences)
SE-TO-I-JA (PR Za 1b; KN 22 occurrences)
SU-KI-RI-TA (PH Wa 32; KN 9 occurrences), SU-KI-RI-TE-I-JA (HT Zb 158b)
possibly A-RA-KO (KO? Zf 2; KN 5 occurrences)

Additional A-TI-KA (ZA Wc 2.a1-2; KN V 831.4)
PA-RA-NE (HT 115a.4, b.1; KN Vc 7616)

Words of 3 or more syllables in Linear A that are very similar to words in Linear B A-KA-RU (HT 2.1, 86a.1); cf. a-ka-re-u (KN B 416)
A-RA-NA-RE (HT 1.4); cf. a-ra-na-ro (KN As 1516.11)
A-RE-SA-NA (THE Zb 2); cf. a-re-sa-ni-e (PY An 724.2)
A-SA-RA₂ (HT 89.1); cf. a-sa-ro (KN As 40.4)
A-SU-JA (HT 11a.3-4); cf. a-si-wi-ja (PY Fr 1206)
A-TA-RE (ZA 8.1); cf. a-ta-ro (PY An 35.5)
A-TI-RU (ZA 4a.3); cf. a-ti-ro (KN Dv 1272B)
DI-DE-RU (HT 86a.3, 95a.4, b.4); cf. di-de-ro (KN Dv 1504B)
DA-MI-NU (HT 117a.8); cf. da-mi-ni-ja (PY Aa 96, Ad 697) and da-mi-ni-jo (common on KN D-tablets and elsewhere)
DU-PU3-RE (KO Za 1b); cf. du-pu2-ra-zo (KN Da 1173)
KA-SA-RU (HT 10b.3); cf. ka-sa-ro (KN C 912B)
KI-RI-TA2 (HT 114a.1, 121.1); cf. ki-ri-ta (KN G 820.1, Ld 785.1)
KU-KU-DA-RA (HT 117a.7); cf. ku-ka-da-ro (KN Uf 836.b)
KU-PA3-NU (HT 1, etc.); cf. ku-pa3-no (KN Df 1219B)
KU-PA3-NA-TU (HT 47a.1-2, 119.3); cf. ku-pa-nu-we-to (KN As 1517.8)
KU-RU-KU (HT 87.4); cf. ku-ru-ka (KN Vc 5510)
MA_SI_DU (HT 43.1-2); cf. ma-si-dwo (KN Fh 360B) MI+JA+RU (several); cf. mi-ja-ro (KN Ln 1568.1)
PA-JA-RE (several); cf. pa-ja-ro (KN As 1519.6)
QA-QA-RU (several); cf. qa-qa-ro (KN As 604.3)
QA-RA2-WA (HT 86a.3); cf. qa-ra2-wo (KN Ce 50.1a)
SA-MA-RO (HT 88.5-6); cf. sa-ma-ra (PY Jn 829.15, etc., ]sa-ma-ru[, KN V 655.1, and sa-ma-ri-jo, KN Da 1147, Np 857)
SI-KI-RA (HT 8a.4); cf. si-ki-ro (KN U 8210.1)
SI-MI-TA (HT 96a.2-3); cf. si-mi-te-u (KN Am 827.1)
TA-NA-TI (HT 7a.4, 10b.4, 98a.2); cf. ]ta-na-ti (KN Uf <311>.2)
TE-JA-RE (HT 117a.5); cf. te-ja-ro (KN V 479 v.3, X 5525.1, 8661B)
WA-DU-NA (HT 6b.1-2, 85b.4-5); cf. wa-du-na (KN V 503.3)
WI-RA-RE-MI-TE (ZA 9.6); cf. we-ru-ma-ta (PY Ub 1318.4)

4. Conventions (bibliographical, epigraphical)

Bibliography from 1980 on (with select works prior)

Bibliographical Abbreviation

CMS = Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag).

Epigraphical Conventions

SIGN[ = text broken off at left

]SIGN = text broken off at right

SIGN = the reading of SIGN is doubtful

• (i.e., • flanked by spaces) = word-divider

-• or •- or -•- = unidentified sign

[[ SIGN ]] = erased but legible sign

<TEXT> = TEXT once extant, now lost and supplied

Types of Supports (the objects that receive writing)

tablets (page, bars, lames)

Wa = nodules/noduli

Wb = sealings

Wc = roundels

Za = stone vessels

Zb = clay vessels

Zc = inked inscriptions

Zd = graffiti

Ze = architecture

Zf = metal objects

Zg = stone objects

5. Basic Statistics

There are some 1427 Linear A documents with a total occurrence of 7362-7396 signs (Schoep 2002, 38); if there are 4002 characters (font Times, pitch 12, no spaces) on a 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper with 1 inch margins, all extant Linear A would take up 1.84 pages.

Contrast Hieroglyphic: some 360 documents [including seals and the 23 unpublished documents from Petras] with fewer than a total occurrence of 1000 signs.

Contrast Linear B: some 4600+ documents with 57,398 signs -- 14.34 pages of text.

About 2,788 people seem to be recorded in the Linear A tablets (Schoep 2002, 185).

6. My Goals for Establishing This Website

I have three major goals for this website.

1. to make available the results of GORILA to the wider public (with permission of Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier). This website is not a substitute for GORILA since it "normalizes" and phonetically transcribes GORILA's edited versions of the Linear A documents.
2. to work publicly with colleagues on the Minoan administrative process: how commodities were assessed, collected, and distributed.
3. to tease, from an understanding of the administrative process, the administrative vocabulary (e.g., the terms for "total" and for "deficit") and its grammar and syntax.

I am NOT interested in producing a decipherment of Linear A -- please see "Decipherments," below.

7. What Is Known about Linear A

7a. Chronology

Hieroglyphic is probably the first script to appear; seals dating from primarily MM I contexts (MM IA or IB) include CMS II.1 nos. 391, 393, and 394 from Archanes Phournoi (the signs on these seals are often referred to as comprising "the Arkhanes script"; Schoep 2002, 23: early form of Linear A?).

Hieroglyphic documents come from four main deposits in Crete: Malia, Quartier Mu (MM II late); Petras (MM IIB); Malia Palace (MM [IIB-]III); and the Knossos Hieroglyphic Deposit (an assemblage of material from the end of the Long Corridor in the West Wing and surrounding area). Since the sealstones that impressed the KN sealings were all hard stone seals, the impressed sealings at least should date to MM IIB-III. No Hieroglyphic document can be dated later than MM III.

Linear A documents appear either contemporary with or soon after the first appearance of Hieroglyphic writing. The earliest document may be ARKH Zc 8, a painted larnax rim which the excavators first dated to an EM II-MM IA context (1975) but later called it "Old Palace period" (1997; i.e., MM IB at the earliest).

The first sign looks Hieroglyphic, like the bull head #012

; the other two signs are definitely Linear A: TA-JE. If the inscription is indeed a mix of scripts, it may well be very early.

The other earliest documents date to MM IIA (KN 40 from Knossos, South House, carrying a badly legible fraction) or MM II (ARKH Zf 9; PH 6-19, 22, 24-28, 30 [Haghia Photini], Wb 33-36, Wc 37-41, 43, 44, 46, 52, 55, Wg 45, and Wy 42; and SAM Wa 1).

Hieroglyphic was therefore probably invented first, in MM IA and appears first on seals from Archanes and Ayia Triada; Linear A follows immediately in MM IB, or soon after, in MM II, and appears first on documents primarily from Phaistos. From then until MM III, Hieroglyphic and Linear A were being written contemporaneously, with Hieroglyphic documents at Malia Quartier Mu (MM II) and Malia Palace (MM III, and Knossos Palace?) and with Linear A documents at Phaistos (MM II), Malia Palace (MM III), and Knossos Palace (MM IIIB). From this evidence, it is possible that Hieroglyphic originated at in central Crete first (or possibly at Malia), in MM IA and Linear A originated at Phaistos slightly later in MM II.

Although the two scripts share several signs, which may have similar phonetic values, it is not clear why two such different scripts should have developed more or less contemporaneously unless they represent two different administrative practices and/or two different languages or dialects (Schoep 2002, 22-23).

A few Linear A inscriptions come from Final Palatial contexts. Three occur on objects that probably were made earlier but were found in later contexts: ARM sealstone, KH 94 and Wc 2117 & 2118 (all from fills), and the MM III pithos KN Zb 35 (LM II context). Three others, however, were probably all written after the LM Ib destructions: the LM II pithoid jar KN Zb 40, the inscribed block KN Ze 16 on the Kephala tholos (LM II?), and the painted inscription on PO Zg 1, a terracotta statuette from Poros (LM III A:1-2 by style and context). It is therefore possible that Linear A survived the LM Ib destructions, though barely .

In the Neopalatial period, and probably as early as LM IA, Linear A was developing in such a way as to produce Cypro-Minoan and, eventually, Linear B. The earliest CM document, the "Grand" tablet from Enkomi comes from a 16th century context. The earliest Linear B documents seem to be those from the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos (LM II or possibly LM III A1). This would be the time T.G. Palaima would identify for the creation of Linear B, when, on the Mainland, major Mycenaean centers had major administrative buildings on their heights, the larger tholoi were being constructed, and trade was expanding. According to Palaima, Linear B was created probably at a single moment, either "from above" (a directive) or "within the close confines of palatially oriented bureaucracies which then sanctioned the invention and continued to apply it to narrow record-keeping tasks" (1988: 341).

Some Hieroglyphic signs, not Linear A signs, are the prototypes for Linear B signs (e.g., CHIC sign 40

for Linear B ro2 and 78

for Linear B do); it is therefore possible that Linear B was developing earlier than LM/LH II and incorporating more than one source.

Other linear scripts may have similarly developed from Linear A farther east: see the inscription from Lachish (Finkelberg 1996).

Character of the Script and Documents

7b. The Script

In comparison to Cretan Hieroglyphic, Linear A is fairly neat, written (almost?) always from left to right (a few examples of sinistroverse or boustrophedon writing: IO Za 9 & 11; KN Za 19; PL Zf 1; VRY Za 1)) in more or less straight rows from top to bottom of the clay document; occasionally the tablets are partially ruled. The signgroups are separated by a dot or short stroke. The longest texts are HT 93a & b, HT 117a & b.

Linear A contains more than 90 signs in regular use and a host of logograms, many of which are ligatured with syllabograms and/or fractions, and about 80% of these do not appear in Linear B. While many of the regular signs are also found in Linear B, some signs are unique to A (e.g., A *301 and following), while some signs found in Linear B are not found in Linear A (e.g., AB 12, 14-15, 18-19, 25, 32-33, 35-36, 42-43, 48, 52, 62-64, 68, 71-72, 75, 83-85).

There is probably much Minoan retained in Linear B. Signs AB *22 PA₃ and *56 (unknown phonetic value, logogram B *107 CAPrid) were retained in Linear B for representing foreign (Minoan) sounds, and there have been attempts to identify Minoan names in Linear B (Billigmeier 1969, Firth 1993). Some Minoan words are retained in Linear B and even become Hellenized, like Linear A MA+RU becoming Linear B's logogram *145 LANA and Greek μαλλός, mallós.

It is well-known that Linear A uses three main vowels, A, I, U; Linear B adds e- and o-series, and complex phonemes (e.g., dwo, two).

The complex phoneme nwa, however, is attested in Linear A on SY Za 4 and may be implied in the word KU-PU₃-NA-TU; compare Linear B ku-pa-nu-we-to, a man's name on KN As 1517.8 (thanks to Gretchen Leonhardt for bringing this to my attention).

7c. The Documents

Linear A was written on a variety of supports, unlike Linear B: stone offering tables, gold and silver hair pins, and pots (inked and inscribed). The clay documents consist of tablets, roundels, and sealings (one-hole, two-hole, and flat-based). Roundels relate to a "conveyance of a commodity, either within the central administration or between the central administration and an external party" (Schoep 2002, 122) with the roundel being the record of this transaction that stays within the central administration as the commodity moves out of the transacting bureau (see Hallager 1996a). Two-hole sealings probably dangled from commodities brought into the center, one-hole sealings apparently dangled from papyrus/parchment documents, and flat-based sealings were pressed against the twine that secured papyrus/parchment documents (see CMS II6-II8 for photographs of the imprints that survive on the underside of flat-based sealings). These papyrus/parchment documents, presumably carrying inked texts, were probably of more importance than the clay tablets and roundels that have survived.

Most of the clay documents are page-shaped tablets, usually smaller than Linear B tablets; there are a few bars taken over from Hieroglyphic, but this shape is discontinued after MM III. While there are a few oblong tablets (e.g., from Malia), there are no palm-leaf tablets like those of Linear B.

As Linear A was written on a variety of supports, so too we find the documents in a wide variety of settings: private houses at Khania and at Ano Zakros, decentralized bureaux (the Casa del Lebete at Haghia Triada, the Northeast House at Knossos, and Zakros Hogarth's House A), and central administrative areas (the Villa Reale at Haghia Triada and the palaces at Knossos, Malia, and Zakros). Most of the documents come from "living" archives (e.g., Zakros palace, Haghia Triada's Magazines 5-7, HT 24 recording wool and found with loomweights) or "discard" archives (Knossos Temple Repositories and West Magazines, Malia Palace). Often the discard archives are found fallen from an upper storey (e.g., Knossos West Magazines and Zakros Hogarth's House A), and some were stored in chests of wood (e.g., Khania; bronze hinges from Knossos Temple Repositories, Zakros rooms XVI, XXVIII, Tylissos House A room 5) or clay or mudbrick (Zakros House A, Khania house I, Palaikastro Building V) (Schoep 2002, 25-26).

Almost all tablets are palimpsests (i.e., they have been written on, erased, and written on again). "The presence of palimpsests suggests that the information originally held on the tablet was discarded, perhaps because it had been copied onto another document and/or updated" (Schoep 2002 79).

Almost all documents consist of lists, with headings, of one or two word entries, each followed by a logogram followed by a number and/or fraction. Once, possibly twice, the logogram is followed by a word and then by a number; this "constantly happens in Linear B" (Hooker 1975). On HT 88.2, the ideogram FIC (for "figs") is followed by the word KI-KI-NA, which may designate a type of fig (black vs. green) or an aspect (fresh vs. dried). On KN Za 19, the ideogram *188 or TALENT is followed by MI-NA, which may be the name of the weight, the "mina" (cf. ZA 21a.7).

Most words seem to be names (person- , place-) (Hooker 1975); when in doubt as to whether a name is an anthroponymn or toponymn (which is almost always), I tend to write "NAME." A few words may be verbs or transaction words (see below).

We should imagine the several stages in recording information in the Minoan bureaucracies:

1. information on individual transactions

2. compiling these individual transactions, say by region or person

3. summarizing these individual transactions, say by commodity

4. making permanent or final records

5. discarding the preliminary documents

The types of transactions recorded should be fairly limited:

inventories -- of storerooms (food, raw materials, finished products), stables, workshops, lands belonging to the administration, their goods & flocks. "Inventories form the basis of target records" (Schoep 2002, 90-91).
assessments -- the central administration telling outlying regions what they should produce; a kind of taxation
collections, contributions -- inward movement of goods and contributions to the administration (in response to assessments, taxes, levies), deliveries, sacrifices, etc.; commodities recorded as in-coming from the outlying regions, either actually arrived (KU-RO, total) or in arrears (deficits, KI-RO).
allocations, disbursements, distributions -- recording the outward movement of agricultural commodities, goods, animals and raw materials for various purposes (finishing, pay, rations, trade, etc.); commodities given back out to people or places as rations or payments for services rendered. Mixed commodities and combined documents (Schoep's type IB & V) with VIR and "the Aegean triad" (FIC, GRA, VIN) probably record allocations (e.g., HT 100). See PE 1, KH 7, HT 27, HT 39.

The scribes identified at Haghia Triada did not specialize in recording certain commodities (except perhaps Hand 9 recording people, Schoep 2002, 167 n. 264, 199 n. 110); and it is not possible usually to assign documents to a single series since most documents record a variety of commodities. The texts also differ from site to site; for instance, Haghia Triada and Zakros tablets contain more lexical information but fewer logograms than do the documents from Khania. We must imagine that practices differed from site to site and/or that we have texts from the different stages of processing information.

Packard 1974 classifies the Haghia Triada documents into 9 categories based on subject matter and format:

A series: words followed by 1

B series: logogram 100/102 VIR & ligatures

C series: agricultural products

D series: logogram 120

E series: *550, 552, 551, *89, *21f

Fa: HT 16, 20, 24, 38; Fb (HT 31

G series: logograms in heading: Ga VIN, Gb other logograms

H series: no logograms

X series: fragments

Packard's system is not easily applied to ZA & KH docs, which lack A, B, E, G, and F.

Schoep 2002 classifies the documents, especially those from Haghia Triada, into 5 main categories (I have included this information with the presentation of the individual documents):

Ia: Mixed Commodities, with heading and transaction sign (TS); these probably compile information from individual accounts

Ib: Miscellaneous Commodities, list(s) and numbers; these probably compile information from individual accounts

Ic: Miscellaneous Commodities, list(s) and numbers, and a word ("total," "deficit") and number at the end; these probably compile information from individual accounts

II: Specialized, one logogram (and variants)

III: Single Commodity, one logogram for the whole list

IV: No logograms, always whole numbers, never fractions; therefore probably a list of personnel (such lists may also appear in the previous types of documents)

Va: Combined commodities, a separate section of 100/102 VIR and word & number; again, always whole numbers, never fractions, and therefore mainly about personnel (and rations?: *303, figs, wine, OLE; e.g., HT 27, 89, 94, 100)

Vb: Combined word & number and list & number sections

It is likely that the mixed commodities documents compiles information drawn from individual accounts, the lists of personnel relate to a census or work-force, and the single commodity documents summarize compiled information.

Many lists are preceded by a short heading of no more than 2 words (3 words on HT 96a, HT 117a), followed by a single sign (e.g., AB 04 TE, AB 28 I, A 307 =? AB 39) -- these are probably transaction indications (e.g., assessments, contributions, disbursements). There may be subheadings to sections of the document (HT 93a.3-4 and 4-5; HT 120.3-4; KH 7a.3; HT 27a.4-5). PH 6 is unusual in that it presents 5 signgroups over 4 lines with NO ideograms or fractions. Longer, non-transaction, prose-like statements are rare; most of these constitute the presumed religious inscriptions, ZA Zb 3 (5 signgroups, 1 logogram), and the hairpins (ARKH Zf 9; CR(?) Zf 1; KN Zf 31; PL Zf 1).

In the lists, commodities are almost always listed by ideograms, single signs that stand for objects (occasionally the commodity is not mentioned, being implied somehow); logograms are often ligatured with syllabograms and/or fractions to denote aspects of the object.

Numbers then follow. Most fall into one of several categories: fractions, which may often indicate allocations (commodities leaving the administrative center in small quantities), the number 1 (probably personnel), whole large numbers (e.g., 20, 50, possibly alluding to assessments), and large random numbers (probably referring to contributions, either actual or in deficit).

The Continuity Principle
Many documents seem to have economized when listing commodities: the last cited NAME, situation, or commodity prevails until another situation is stated. I call this the "continuity principle." It is most apparent where a NAME is followed by a list of different commodities and amounts, each commodity related to that NAME until a different NAME is cited with its own list of commodities.

Two clear examples are HT 18 & 19:

HT 18

side.line	statement	logogram	number	fraction
.1	PA-SE	GRA+QE	20
.1		OLE+KI	2
.2		*304	3
.2	SA-RA₂	GRA	10
.2-3		FIC	10
.4-5	vacant

HT 19

side.line	statement	logogram	number	fraction
.1-2	RA-*164a-TI	• TE • VINa	30
.2-3	SA-RO		5	J
.3-4	DU-ME-DI		43	J

HT 18 assumes that the first 3 commodities are associated with PA-SE and the second 2 commodities are associated with SA-RA₂. In other words, the situation ("commodities associated with NAME") is assumed to be stable until a second name occurs which calls for a different distribution.

HT 19, however, assumes that VINa is associated with (or continues among) all three NAMES. Presumably the situation would change if a fourth name were listed with a different commodity.

HT 20 presents a more subtle pattern of continuity:

HT 20

side.line	statement	logogram	number	fraction
.1	PA-RO-SU
.1-2	KU-MA-JU			E
.2-3	QE-KU-RE	DI		J
.4		CAPm		F
.2	SA-RE-JU			F
.2-3		WA		E
.4-5		*188+KU		J

Here, KU-MA-JU (.1-2) could be KU-MA JU, with JU being a logogram. QE-KU-RE is associated with a different logogram DI, then CAPm, which is apparently the commodity also associated with (and continued to) SA-RE-JU, which is then associated with a different second and third commodity.

The documents that employ the Continuity Principle might therefore reflect short initial documents that record contributions which are then organized in an outline fashion. For instance, I can imagine 5 separate documents being collated to produce HT 20:

1	QE-KU-RE	DI	J	=	QE-KU-RE	DI	J
2	QE-KU-RE	CAPm	F	=		CAPm	F
3	SA-RE-JU	CAPm	F	=	SA-RE-JU		F
4	SA-RE-JU	WA	E	=		WA	E
5	SA-RE-JU	*188+KU	J	=		*188+KU	J

The implication of such a system is that the 5 separate short texts (really more like chits) were brought together, not because they represent the same contributions or contributions from the same place/person, but because they represent contributions organized according to a larger principle: 1) made at the same time, or 2) made from the same region/person, or 3) organized/collected by the same Collector.

7d. Balance Ledger Tablets

Balance Ledger tablets are transaction documents that record what appear to be contributions and disbursements (somewhat like "income" and "expenses"). They can be recognized by the fact that they present two lists of mostly the same NAMES. Original assessments (last column) can be deduced by totaling the contribution and the disbursement.

Here are two examples, HT 28 and HT 114.

HT 28

Since sides a & b carry most of the same name, it is likely that this tablet is in the form of a "Balance Ledger", with side a recording contributions and side b recording debits -- if so, then b.1: U-MI-NA-SI probably means "owes" (vel. sim.; cf. HT 117a.1-2: MA-KA-RI-TE KI-RO U-MI-NA-SI. KI-RI-SI [TY 3b.1] & KI-RI-TA₂ [HT 114a.1] seem to be verbal variations on KI-RO, "debit" [vel. sim.]).

name	a: contribution	b: U-MI-NA-SI	assessment
A-SI-JA-KA
GRA+QE 5 JA-QI^f	OLE+U OLE+KI 2 OLE+MI L₂ OLE+TU 1		5 2 L₂ 1
	VINa 6		6
SA-RA₂	OLE+DI 1	OLE+DI 5	6
	NI 2	NI 2	4
	VINa 3	VINa 4	7
		GRA 20	20
	VIR+KA VINa 6		6
A-RU-DA-RA	GRA 5		5
	*304 2		2
	OLE+DI 3		3
I-TA-JA	OLE+DI 10		10
PU-RA₂		NI 6	6
WI-DI-NA		OLE+DI 3	3
		VINa 3 E	3 E

Another arrangement, by commodity, reveals the ratios:

commodity name contribution U-MI-NA-SI total

VINa VIR+KA
SA-RA₂
WI-DI-NA
JA-QI^f 6
3
4
3 E
6 22 E

OLE+DI SA-RA₂
A-RU-DA-RA
I-TA-JA
WI-DI-NA 1
3
10 5

3 22

GRA A-SI-JA-KA
A-RU-DA-RA
SA-RA₂ 5
5

20 30

NI SA-RA₂
PU-RA₂ 2 2
6 10

OLE+? JA-QI^f 3 J L₂ 3 J L₂

*304 A-RU-DA-RA 2 2

The ratios seem to be as follows:

VINa+OLE = 44E

GRA+NI+OLE?+*304 = 45 J L2

or: VINa+OLE =? GRA+whatever

HT 114 can also be rearranged as a Balance Ledger -- here, KI-RI-TA₂ is a likely variant on KI-RO (cf. KI-RI-SI on TY 3b.1), perhaps a 3rd plural of a verbal form. If so, then side a lists what is owed, and side b lists what has been contributed (SA)

name a: KI-RI-TA₂ (owed) b: SA (paid?) assessment

SA-RA₂ a: GRA 10 10

a: VINa 1 b: SA (paid?) VINa 9 10

a: OLE 7
NI 1
BOS^m 3 11 oil, figs, cattle

Again, the ratios appear to be similar in proportion to those in HT 28:

GRA = 10, VINa = 10, OLE+NI+BOS^m = 11

or: VINa:GRA:OLE+BOS^m = 1:1

8. Decipherment

My own aim in producing these webfiles has NOT been to decipher Linear A.

Most scholars have tried one of two approaches: the "acrophonic" principle to identify the phonetic values of the signs, and using vocabulary to identify a language -- I don't believe either works very well.

The acrophonic process
Decipherments based on reading the signs as pictograms, then identifying what the object was called in a language, and then identifying the phonetic value of the sign as the initial sound or first phoneme of the object's name (the acrophonic principle) -- this process does not seem to work for Linear A for two major reasons.

1, the identifying term for the "pictogram" cannot be proved in advance of deciphering the script.

2, it can be demonstrated that, for several Hieroglyphic & Linear A signs, the acrophonic principle probably did not operate. Hieroglyphic *012

, a bull-head, becomes Linear AB 23

MU, Hieroglyphic *018

, a dog head, becomes AB 60

RA, and Hieroglyphic *060

, a cat face, becomes AB 80

MA. My guess is that the phonetic value of these signs reflect the sound the animal makes, "moo," "arf," and "miaow" (in English). And there are other examples where the sound of the object seemingly relates to its phonetic value (e.g., Hiero *057

, a key sistrum, becomes AB 67

KI [the clinking sound of a metal rattle]).

This is not to say that the acrophonic principle is never appropriate to Linear A. Valério 2007 demonstrates that the word for master/lord is DU-PU₂-RE and that the first sign DU is based in form on the Egyptian sr , "official/dignitary/courtier."

Using vocabulary to identify a language
See my critique of the "decipherments" by Hubert La Marle and Kjell Aartun.

For me, vocabulary does not necessarily identify a language (English, for instance, has a large German, French and Classical Greek and Latin vocabulary); grammar would identify a specific language more securely. Thus, I am not immediately swayed by the process of identifying words in another language as Linear A words (e.g., KU-NI-SU in Linear A as the Semitic term for emmer wheat) -- this is not to say that I don't find such correspondences impressive and interesting. Compare Nakassis and Pluta 2003: 335: "A number of scholars have attempted to decipher Linear A, identifying it with known languages such as Semitic, Luwian, and even Greek. These studies begin by attempting to etymologize a small number of individual words, largely ignoring overall context."

My own method has been strictly internal, to examine the texts as accounting documents, and to use the numbers to identify transaction terms and patterns in vocabulary, and then to pay special attention to vocabulary variations, especially in prefixes and suffixes, in order to tease out a grammar.

Whatever language Linear A turns out to be (Semitic, Indo-Hittite, Greek, or Martian), will be fine with me; I have no set predisposition.

9. Language

Linear A has not yet been demonstrably linked to any known language family.

"The languages which have been used for comparison are of two families: Indo-European, especially an Anatolian language such as Luwian (Palmer, Meriggi [and Ed Brown of UNC-CH]); Semitic (Gordon, Best, and others)... First no inflexional forms such as characterize Indo-European or Semitic languages can be clearly demonstrated, hence the identifications depend largely on vocabulary, which is notoriously easily borrowed. Secondly, the Semitic comparisons are mainly with triconsonantal roots -- yet if the vowels are ignored we are leaving out half the information presented by the script, and thus much decreasing the chances of success. Thirdly, if the languge of Linear A does not belong to a well-known family, then the chances of identifiying it are virtually nil. This is not to say that Linear A remains undecipherable; as more documents are found and published, we shall understand more of it. But I doubt very much if speculation at this stage can help; I feel strongly that is likely to belong to an unfamiliar type." (Chadwick 1975: 147)

If Crete was deliberately colonized in developed Neolithic, probably from SW Anatolia (Broodbank & Strasser 1991), it would seem logical to surmise that the Minoan language could be related to one of the Indo-Hittite dialects, most probably Luvian.

It has been recognized that Linear A contains a high number of affixes (prefixes & suffixes; Duhoux 1978), suggesting Linear A is "agglutinative rather than conjugating." There is a high number of prefixes (59% of the words Duhoux singled out; Linear B has 12%), playing an important role "in expressing gender, case or derivation" or some other kind of syntactic relation (Schoep 2002, 45-46).

Classical inscriptions from East Crete (Dreros, Praisos, Itanos) have been labeled Eteo-Cretan (Duhoux 1982); these may reflect an indigenous language.

Phonetic values of the signs (Godart 1984, amplifying Olivier's previous list)

certain: DA, I, JA, KI, PA, PI, RO, RI, SE, SU, TA, O

possible: TE, A, KO, RA

possible recent identifications

*34=MNA or perhaps MINA

Sign *034

has been suggested to represent MNA (or, if a disyllabic value can be accepted, MINA), based on its resemblance to the crescent moon (Pope and Raison 1978, 28; Packard 1974, 107; Furumark 1956, 24). And while this idea has not received wide-spread agreement, it may be correct. Consider the following:

U-*034-SI (HT 15.1, 140.1, 2)	=? U-MI-NA-SI (HT 28b.1-2, 117a.1-2)
PI-*34-TE (HT 116a.4)	=? ]PI-MI-NA-TE (AP Za 2.2)
SI-DU-*034-KU-MI (HT 110a.1)	=? *SI-DU-MI-NA-KU-MI
*034-TI-RI (KN Zc 6)	=? *MI-NA-TI-RI
*034-JU-TE-MI[ (ZA 6a.1-2)	=? *MI-NA-JU-TE-MI[.

Also see the note to *325, below.

*22=^mPI₂ (see Duhoux 1984, Janda 1986, Melena 1987; Tosa 2010)

*29=^mPU₂ (see Duhoux 1984, Janda 1986, Melena 1987; Tosa 2010)

*56=PA₃ or ^mPA₃ (see SMID 1981, p. 61; Duhoux 1984, Janda 1986, Melena 1987; Tosa 2010)

*65=JU (see SMID 1981, p. 61)

*66=TA₂=TNA (Pope-Raison 1978: 28).

Cf. KI-RE-*66 (HT 85b.1-2, HT 129.1) and KI-RE-TA-NA (HT 2.3, HT 108.1, HT 120.4-5); and *66-TI-TE (PK 1.3) and TA-NA-TI (HT 7a.4, 10b.4, 98a.2)

*304 = KA₂; *306 = A₂ (shape resembles AB 43, known from MY Zf 2); *318 = DI₂

compare

HT Wc 3017	HT 94
*304+PA	a.1: KA-PA
DI-*306	a.4: 318-306
QA-KU-RE	b.2: KE-KI-RU

*304 = KA
JA-*304[ (PH 14a)	cf. A-SI-JA-KA (HT 28a.1, 28b.1-2)
]304+PA-DA-047-KU[
*304+PA (lots)	KA-PA (HT 6a.1; HT 8b.4; HT 94a.1; HT 102.1; HT 140.5)
304+PA+316+D3 (HT Wa <1021bis>)
*304+PA-KU-PA (HT We 1020a)

*306 = A
]*306-JA-PI (ARKH 3b.1)	WA-JA-PI-[ ] (HT 9b.1)
]*306-KI-TA2 (HT 122b.2)	A-*301-KI-TA-A (TY Zb 4)
]*306-QE-DU[ (KH 21.3)
]-*306-TI-KA-A-RE[ (HT 4.1)	A-TI-KA (ZA Wc.a1-2)
*306-TU-JA (HT 115b.3)	cf. JA-TO-JA[ (ZA 4a.2-3)

*314 = PU₃

Valério independently; Owens 1999 & Facchetti 1999a, 132 identify the value as BU, a variant of PU₂; so as not to start a new consonant "row," I conform the sign to PU₃

*325 = MA-NA?

If prefix I-/J- indicates a dative, causing A-SA-SA-RA to change to JA-SA-SA-RA-ME (IO Za 6, 12, 16; PL Zf 1; PS Za 2; TL Za 1b) or to JA-SA-SA-RA-MA-NA (KN Za 10), then we might interpret RI-QE-TI-A-SA-SA-RA-*325 (PO Zg 1) as RI-QE-T plus I-A-SA-SA-RA-*325, identifying *325 as either ME or MANA, probably the latter, if U-*325-ZA (HT 10a.2, 3; HT 85a.3) stands for *U-MI-NA-ZA (a variant on U-MI-NA-SI?; see note to *34, above). Also cf. A-*325-ZA.

*348 (hapax legomenon) = SI₂

compare *348 *303KL₂ with SI *303 KL₂ (KH 11.3-4, 6 respectively)

*363 (and *364?) = SO₂

so Valério; I agree (the sign derives from Hiero

*043, from which B12

so derives); see Hiero #039 and parallel Linear A tablet HT 9.

10. Vocabulary

10a. Transaction Signs

Single signs indicate types of transactions; they are preceded and followed by word-dividers (except on HT 44b.1, 63.1, 133.1). In Linear B, transaction signs can mean different things in different contexts (e.g., DA in PY En 609 or in Aa, Ab sets). "TSs provided information about the kind (or purpose) of transaction and that the format of a tablet indicated the use to which a commodity was put by the administration (its administrative status), its provenance or its destination. Thus, the lists of mixed commodities are clearly drawn up to a different administrative purpose than the single commodity tablets: the former record a single origin or destination for many commodities whereas the latter record several origins or destinations for single commodities" (Schoep 2002, 141). The low frequency of most transaction signs implies they are context-bound, which would be appropriate for contributions; those occurring with KI-RO (e.g., HT 123) probably are also dealing with "incoming commodities or assessments of incoming commodities" (Schoep 2002, 142).

DI, a single sign with people (cf. HT 85b); on HT 20 it occurs with the fraction J (Schoep 2002, 139); since two of the words on HT 20 end in -JU, if that were like Linear B, meaning "son of," perhaps the fraction would appropriate for a child's ration.

KA, perhaps associated with a group of people (title, collective, occupation); cf. HT 11b.2, 45a.2 (Schoep 2002, 137)

KI usually occurs with people (HT 118, pigs).

KI-RA: HT 49a.8

KI-RO? (Raison & Pope in Duhoux 1978: 47-48); cf. HT 118; and mentioned on HT 49a.7&8

KU can either stand for KU-RO (e.g., HT 40.4) or designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation) (Schoep 2002, 136-7).

PA should be an abbreviation for a term modifying people; it may be in opposition to *188 -- HT 8 has, on the recto, PA, verso *188; PA fraction may refer to *618 (*302+KI). HT 10.3 has two separate entries, one for PA and another for *301 (Schoep 2002, 135, 137, 138).

PA₃ appears on HT 9b, listing payments (Killen 1969 equates this with Linear B a-pu-do-si, received. HT 9a has TE, probably expected assessments or contributions) (Schoep 2002, 138-9). The same meaning can be deduced for PA₃ on HT 34.6.

RE refers to people (HT 27, VIR in the heading; HT 32.4); it precedes the logogram *305 (Schoep 2002, 137)

SA (HT 114b.1) or SI (HT 30.1) = paid?

TA may designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation) (Schoep 2002, 136-7).

TE/TI, "from/of" (Valério 2007), associated with agricultural products and people, usually in large quantities. So, assessments (for future incoming commodities) or inventories of commodities arrived (Schoep 2002, 100, 168 "more likely to represent a kind of contribution to the administration (e.g., taxes, levies, payments of loans, tributes etc.) rather than distributions"). This meaning seems supported at HT, with large quantities of wine (collections, rather than allocations) associated with TE; the total amount of TE GRA, however, is small, 1/10th the amount registered with SA-RA₂. This is common, appearing on 21 HT texts in headings or sub-headings [HT 67, 96] and relating to agricultural commodities: AB 30 (FIC, occasionally), AB 120 (GRA), AB 122, AB 131 (VIN), A 302 (OLE). TE and SA-RA₂ are mutually exclusive (Schoep 2002, 98). See further examples under The Suffix -TE/TI.

TU =? redistribution: HT 49a.8

WI =? "not included" vel sim; HT 102.4

*86 (for the form

, cf. Linear B PY Mn 111.1,7). On HT 140, 86 is probably a single sign, applying to the following sign-group associated with VIR, always with whole numbers (cf. HT 27a.2, 94a.1, b.5). It may designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation); cf. HT 11b.2, 45a.2 (Schoep 2002, 136-7).

*188 is positioned like a transaction sign but it can also occur as a single sign. It only appears in initial or final position of two-sign sign groups, so it probably is not a syllabogram; it may be in opposition to PA (see HT 8 recto PA, verso *188). *188+KU may be a logogram on HT 16.3, 20.5 (Schoep 2002, 135-6).

*301 usually refers to people, but on HT 110b.5 it is accompanied by a fraction and may refer to the figs above (Schoep 2002, 138).

*305 may designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation); cf. HT 11b.2, 45a.2 (Schoep 2002, 136-7).

*307 is positioned like a transaction sign but it can also occur as a single sign. It is associated with people, also when doubled (*638). From its appearance on HT 27 and HT 89, it can refer to allocations (Schoep 2002, 142).

*318 is associated with people

*326 is associated with agricultural commodities, e.g., figs (HT 91, this is the only mixed commodities tablet this sign appears on)

*346 is associated with people

*406VAS is associated with people

*516, I+[?] -- used with figs (HT 96, ZA 1); it may also designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation (Schoep 2002, 136-7). It might be related to prefix I-, meaning "to", implying an allocation (see section 13c, Prefixes, below); see, for example HT 96, where one section is headed TE and the next *516 (also see DA-I under Transaction Words).

*523, TI+A may designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation) (Schoep 2002, 136-7).

*545, KI+MU may designate a group of people (title, collective, occupation) (Schoep 2002, 136-7).

*638 --- see *307

*656 (*341+PI) is associated with people

10b. Transaction Words

A-DU = "assessment"?: HT 95.b1 (and elsewhere)

Heading A-DU (probably derived from Hieroglyphic A-DE; see Notes to Hieroglyphic Signgroups, section X)

From the examples below, Linear A's A-DU usually functions alone and as a primary heading to a tablet; it may be modified by transaction signs (e.g., TE) and/or logograms (e.g., VIR, GRA, OLE).

As a prefix, it usually is followed by -RE-ZA (which may be a word by itself [HT 88.1-2]); here again it is usually a primary heading, but in one abbreviated form it is simply an item in a list (PK 1.2). The abbreviation DU-RE-ZA occurs at least once (and supplemented with an additional suffix -SE), and as an item in a list. A-DU also occurs as prefix to another word, KU-MI-NA, which exists by itself (KU-MI-NA-QE [HT 54a.2 & HT Wc 3014a-b]) as well as on the same document as A-DU-KU-MI-NA, again as another item in the list, prefixed simply by A- two lines above (ZA 10a.1-2).

As part of longer words, A-DU may be prefixed by WI-N, possibly as a variation on the common prefix I-NA- (e.g., I-NA-TA-I-*79-DI-SI-KA [IO Za 5], I-NA-I-DA-[ [IO Za 11], I-NA-JA-PA-QA [PK Za 11d], I-NA-WA [PH 6.1]).

A-DU as primary heading

A-DU HT 88.1; HT 86a.4; HT 95b.1; HT 99a.1; KH 23.1

A-DU *638 VIR HT 85a.1

A-DU • TE GRA+DA HT 133.1-2

TE • A-DU • GRA HT 92.1-2

A-DA-KI-SI-KA • A-RA-U-DA KH 5.1-2

A-DU[ KH 23.1

A-DU as heading

A-TI-KA A-DU KO ZA Wc 2

A-DA OLE+U TY 3a.5

A-DU-RE-ZA

A-DU-RE[ primary heading: KH 4.1

A-DU-[•]-ZA *303 primary heading: KH 11.1

A-DU-ZA item in list: PK 1.2

JA-DU-RA-TI primary heading: KN 1b.1-2

A-DU-[••] OLE+KI heading: TY 3a.3

DU-RE-ZA-SE item in list (ZA 10a.5 & b.1-2)

]DU-RE-ZA-SE-[ ?heading: ZA *20.1-2

]DU-RE-ZA item in list (KH 20.4)
RE-ZA item in list (HT 88.1-2)

]ZA-*321 OLE+KI primary heading: TY 3a.1

A-DU as part of other words

A-DU-KU-MI-NA item in list (ZA 10a.3-4)

DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA primary heading: HT 95
WI-NA-DU item in list: KH 5.3

]KO-A-DU-WA OLE+[ item in list: TY 3a.6

Two documents, HT 95 & HT 86, give further clues for understanding the meaning of A-DU; each records two lists, probably of place names. In the heading on the recto, DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA (HT 95a.1) is juxtaposed to the secondary heading on the verso, A-DU (HT 95b.1); HT 86 juxtaposes the heading A-KA-RU on the recto with A-DU on the verso (cf. KA-RU [HT 97a.1]). See the discussion of these two documents below: the words A-DU, A-KA-RU, and DA-DU-MA-TA, KA-RU seem to be transaction terms; I suggest something like "assessable", "payable" and "assessments", "payments". Uchitel, A., and M. Finkelberg, "Some Possible Identifications in the Headings of the Linear A Archives," SMEA 36 (1995) 29-36, suggest "let them do" for A-DU.

HT 95 (GORILA I: 154-155) HT 86 (GORILA I: 134-35)

a.1 DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA a.1 A-KA-RU

a.2 DA-ME 10

a.2 MI-NU-TE 10

a.3 SA-RU 20 a.2 SA-RU 20

a.3-4 KU-NI-SU 10 a.1-2 KU-NI-SU GRA+K+L2 20

a.4 DI-DE-RU 10 a.3 DI-DE-RU 20

a.4-5 QE-RA2-U 7 a.3 QA-RA2-WA 10

b.1 A-DU a.4 A-DU

b.1 SA-RU 10

b.2 [•]

b.2 DA-ME 10 a.4 DA-ME GRA+B 20

b.2-3 MI-NU-TE 10 a.5 MI-NU-TE 20

b.3-4 KU-NI-SU 10

b.4 DI-DE-RU 10

b.4-5 QE-RA2-U 10

HT 86 assigns 20 commodities to names (places?) in two lists headed by A-KA-RU and by A-DU.

On HT 95 these same names occur in each of two lists, headed by DA-DU-MA-TA and again by A-DU; in each list, however, most of the names have 10 commodities -- except: SA-RU has 20 in the DA-DU-MA-TA list and an additional 10 in the A-DU list, and QA-RA2-WA, for which 10 commodities are recorded on HT 86, is recorded (and spelled apparently the more common way, QE-RA2-U [cf. HT 1.1-2-]), with 7 in the DA-DU-MA-TA list and 10 in the A-DU list. For this odd number 7, cf. QE-RA2-U 197 (HT 1.1-2).

By allocating the names to separate lists, HT 86 looks like it is dividing the names into some kind of mutually distinct groups (e.g., by geography); HT 95, however, by recording all names in both lists, appears to be recording transactions (e.g., payment and non-payment or income and reallocation).

If DA-DU-MA-TA and A-DU are related (e.g., "contributions" and "not paid"), then compare A-KA-RU with A-KA-RU 20 (HT 2.1, the total of the next two numbers), and with KA-RO[ (HT 71.1) and KA-RO (HT 97.1) -- on this last document, KA-RO 82 may record a total of the numbers recorded against place names: *327 33, KA-NU-TI 25, PA-I-TO 6, DI 4, NA-TI 4, MA-DI 5, TA-TI 2, DE-[•] 3.

DA-DU-MA-TA GRA = "grain contributions"?, if DA-DU-MA-TA is related to A-DU q.v.: HT 95.a1

DA-I = "total"?: HT 12.6 (Schoep 2002, 162); cf. DA-I-PI-TA, ZA 8.5. If DA- (as in DA-DU-MA-TA) indicates in some way a completed action (like a perfect of A-DU), could DA-I be a completed transaction *516 I+[?] (q.v. under Ideograms/Logograms)?

E-*82 = "assessment" or "paid"; ZA 4

KA-I-RO = "balance": ZA 8.6

KA-PA occurs only in the HT tablets; it seems to be a transaction term or heading on HT 6 (FIC coming TE "from" a list of names), HT 102 heading a list of GRA from five names, HT 140.5 where the word seems to conclude the list. Ruth Palmer 2004 suggested that ka-pa in Linear B meant processed "fruits" (cf. LinB ka-po). But KA-PA also seems to be a name (personal or place) on HT 6a.4-5 ("KA-PA-QE" in order to distinguish it from the heading), HT 8b.4 listing PA in small amounts (therefore "to"?) and a list of names, HT 94a.1 where contingents of KA-PA VIR are distinguished from rations listed against SA-RA₂, HT 105.1 where VIR is being contributed from KA-PA and SA-RA₂ in almost equal numbers. Schoep 2002, 166, thinks that KA-PA might mean "summary account" vel sim., or a place name.

KI-RA = "balance"?, a transaction term on HT 103.5 (Schoep 1994-5, 71, n. 60); cf. ZA 8.1

KI-RO = "owed", "deficit" (Younger 2003)

"balance": HT 1

"itemized payments/debts": HT 88.4, 93b.1, 94b.1

"owed" (Hooker 1975; Duhoux 1989, 79): HT 30.4, 123a; HT 118; cf. HT 49: a.1-7 totals 10; if KI<-RO> 1, then 9, which is what a.8 records (5+4), with the KI<-RO> 1 repeated

KI-RO is also mentioned: HT 88.4, 124

verbal forms of KI-RO; also see below, "Transaction Words"

KI-RI-SI -- 3rd singular (TY 3b.1)

KI-RI-TA₂ -- 3rd plural (HT 114a.1)

KU-PA, possibly a transaction term on ZA 11a.5 (Schoep 1994-5, 67, n. 47); cf. HT 110.2

KU-RA looks like a totaling word on ZA 20.4

KU-RO = "total" (Schoep 2002, 160-62; Younger 2003)

secure: HT 9.a & b, 11.b, 13, 25.b2-4, 85.a, 88.4-6, 89.4, 94.a3 & b1-4, 104, 117.a1-6, HT 118 (with 5 having been omitted), 122?, 123.a, 127.b4-7; ZA 1?, 15, 17; cf. HT 116.

with restorations: HT 27a.1-7, 100, 102

rounded off: HT 119

also mentioned: HT 39.5, 40.3, 46a.2

Perhaps the word is related to Semitic kl. "whole". (see Hooker 1975) or the Greek 'kolon', with the often Linear A 'u' substituting for Linear B 'o', and thus meaning 'sum'). Since KU-RO does not appear in Linear B, it could be a Minoan word (but see comment on PO-TO-KU-RO)

PO-TO-KU-RO = "grand total" (Palmer 1995; Schoep 2002, 163): HT 122b.6 (grand total of personnel; off by one?), 131.4 (mixed commodities, so it must total some common denominator, personnel?). If KU-RO is Minoan, is PO-TO- also, or is it derived from IE, meaning "power" (vel sim.), thus PO-TO-KU-RO = "power total"?

SA-RA₂ = outgoing? TE and SA-RA₂ are mutually exclusive. The word appears on HT documents, but never as an opening heading, only as a secondary heading. It is either a transaction term or a place name (Schoep 2002, 98, 165-68). SA-RA₂ GRA is quite large and in whole numbers, about 10 times the amount of TE GRA (cf. HT 102.1, SA-RA₂ GRA 976), though in general SA-RA₂ numbers are smaller than TE numbers, implying out-going commodities

U-MI-NA-SI = "owed"?: HT 28b.1

10c. Place Names

A few place names can be identified (with more or less [??] plausibility) with actual places:

DA-U-*49 =? Linear B da-wo, Ayia Triada (Palaima 1994)

DI-KI-TE (several occurrences) - Dikte (Mt Dikte in east Crete, from the numerous mentions of DI-KI-TE in the PK documents; less likely to be Mt Ioukhtas [Owens 1993b])

I-DA (several occurrences) - Mt Ida

I-TI-NI-SA (ZA 15a.3) - Itanos (north of Palaikastro)

KU-NI-SU = likely a place-name (not "grain"; Hooker 1975; Duhoux 1989, 79; Schoep 2002, 148-50); "Knossos" is very doubtful.

KU-TA[ (HT 115b) might be Linear B ku-ta-to

KU-*79-NI (HT 13, HT 85a), perhaps Linear B ku-do-ni-ja (Bennet 1990, 193-211); KA-U-*79-NI cannot be a spelling variant (Schoep 2002, 156)

PA-I-TO (HT 97, HT 120) - Phaistos

SA-RO - compare Zarós (the rich valley north of the Messara, north of Phaistos)

SE-TO-I-JA (PR Za 1.b) - Archanes? (Owens 1994b), Ioukhtas?

SU-KI-RI-TA (PH Wa 32) - Sybrita (or Sygrita, in the Amari valley, modern Thronos)

TU-RI-SA (KO Za 1b-c) - Tylissos

10d. Other Words

TA-JA =? "five" (Olivier 1992)

DU-PU₂-RE = lord/master (of a place, e.g., DI-KI-TE-TE-DU-PU₂-RE, Lord of Dikte; Valério 2007)

KI-KI-NA (HT 88.2) = "figs" (fresh or dried, green or black)

PU-KO = "bronze"?; see the commentary to HT 31

11. Ideograms/Logograms

Linear A Ideograms: a folder giving the common, identified ideograms and their signs, and copies of GORILA's sign charts and palaeographic sign charts

The administrative documents with logograms seem chiefly to concern people (A101/102 VIR people = B 100; A 352 might be the equivalent of B *102 MUL woman), agricultural products (AB 30 NI figs, AB 120 GRA grain [probably barley, Palmer 1989, 1992], AB 122 OLIV olives, AB 131 VIN wine, A 302 = B *130 OLE olive oil), and even less frequently livestock (AB 21 OVIS sheep, AB 22 CAP goats, AB 23 BOS cattle, AB 85 SUS pigs), cloth (A 54 [occurring as a logogram 5 times] =? B *159), and vessels (A 400VAS-A 418VAS). Other ideograms are rare (A 308-A 371), most occurring only 1 or 2 times. Linear A does not have logograms for arms and armor (except AB 191 GAL helmet), spices (AB 123 = *123 AROM is only a phoneme in A [Hiero *157 occurs on seals #291 and CMS II 3.23 as a logogram]), or metals (unless A 327 [; HT 97a, HT 119] = B *140 AES bronze/copper).

*21 (QI)/OVIS = probably sheep (Palmer 1995); also as a syllabogram (OLE+OVISf on TY 3). HT 38: OVIS no sex indicated = castrated males (wethers), producing finer wool and in greater quantities (Halstead 1990-1, 343-65). Schoep 2002, 122, cites low numbers of sheep (ZA 22: 100, otherwise no more than 30), but we can add now 53 sheep cited on the Thera tablets. Still, this is not much evidence for large scale textile production.

*22/CAP (B *107) = probably goats (Palmer 1995); also as a syllabogram (Duhoux 1984: 61 ^Mn. 38 suggests a phonetic value of MI?). HT 20.3: CAPm F, probably an animal product because of the fraction.

*23 (MU)/BOS = cattle. *23 appears by itself (HT, ZA, KH 5.6) and may be "ox" or possibly "cow," although the sign lacks the split stem that Linear B 109b has. The masculine variant (*23m, with stem crossed twice) appears frequently (HT, GO Wc 1) (Palmer 1995)

*30 (NI)/FIC = figs (Palmer 1995); one of "the Aegean triad" (along with *120 GRA, *122 OLIV; Schoep 2002, 98). As in Linear B, olives and figs hardly ever appear together (exc. HT 44, 91, 131). Incoming quantities are probably from palatially-owned orchards (HT 123 lists other commodities, so presumably these olives are coming from other sources); out-going quantities are usually small, even fractional (Schoep 2002, 96).

HT 88.2 presents the only certain occasion when the word for a logogram is spelled out (the word appearing after the logogram; another possible occurrence would be *188 [Talent?] MI-NA on KN Za 19): FIC • KI-KI-NA 7. This is odd, since NI may be the acrophonic symbol for "nikuleon," an old word (Minoan?) attested by Hesychius for "figs" (Neumann 1962). Perhaps KI-KI-NA distinguishes fresh from dried or green from black figs, meaning one or the other, depending upon which would be otherwise automatically assumed.

*31, SA, perhaps a logogram (cf. Linear B sa-sa-ma)

*38, E, both a syllabogram and a logogram (at HT, KN). Ligatured: *526 (+KA). E does not occur with *526, and they occur in different amounts, E in whole numbers, *526 in fractions (Schoep 2002, 133). JGY: as a logogram, E often appears with whole numbers (e.g., 3, 5) amongst a list of commodities in fractional amounts (e.g., HT 60, 91). KN 1 lists E 240 and E 105.

*54 (WA)/TELA = cloth. Without ligatures, TELA is measured in fractions (HT 16, 20, Wc 3019?), perhaps by weight (cf. HT 16, 20: *188+*81). With ligatures (as in Linear B: *535

*54+81 TELA+KU counted in units, associated with *188; *536

*54+A312, TELA+? counted in units, associated with *188 [Bennett 1975: 61, & Melena 1975: 108-10 both give TELA+ZO?; Younger 2005 identifies A312 as KU [also in his Hieroglyphic website]); *54+SE (Thera); *54+TE (Tel Haror; cf. Linear B TELA+TE = tepa cloth, a Minoan word; Oren 1996, 105)

*65, JU; Linear B FAR?, perhaps a logogram, although it may occur as such only once, on ZA 11a.4 followed by a fraction

*80, MA, perhaps a logogram (cf. Linear B ma-ra-tu-wo)

*81, KU, perhaps a logogram (cf. Linear B ku-mi-no, a Semitic word, Chadwick 1975, 119). It occurs in whole numbers on HT 127b.4, but in fractions on HT 45b.4, 5

*85 (AU)/SUS = pigs (Palmer 1995); SUS+SI+RE (PH? 31), like Linear B, SI=fattened?

*100/*102/VIR = person (Palmer 1995); also a syllabogram (SI-VIR-[•] on HT 72.1, heading; VIR-I on HT 11a.4 & HT 93a.5-6 as a name in a list; VIR-*329 on HT 128b.1 as a name in a list). Ligatured variants (connoting aspects, like occupation, age, gender, status? Schoep 2002, 113): *567 (+[ ]), *568 (+KA; women? Godart 1984, 125; cf. HT 28), *569 (+*307), *570 (+*313a), *571 (+313b), *572 (+*313c). Although there doesn't seem to be a common logogram for woman (MUL), cf. *352 (KH 99; KH Wc 2100).

On HT 85a, the VIR are sorted into sets of 6. HT 105.2 has VIR 234 or 39 sets. Compare HT 88.1-2 RE-ZA VIR 6 and .4-6 6; HT 89.3: VIR+313 13, TA-RA 5 = 18 (3 sets); HT 93a.5-6: VIR-I 6; HT 94a.2 VIR+313b 18; HT 97 *638 VIR+KA, the numbers total 192 (32 sets) - also PA-I-TO contributes 1 set; HT 127, VIR+313 24 (4 sets); HT 128b.1 VIR-329 GRA+KU 6; KH 7a.4-5: KU-*-KO-E VIR+313b 18 (3 sets); KH 26.a VIR 60 (10 sets); KH Wc 2004, VIR 6; KH Wc 2029, VIR+KA 6; KH Wc 2030, VIR+KA 6; KH Wc 2106, VIR KA 6; PE 1.3-4, VIR 72 (12 sets); TY 2.3-4, VIR 84 (14 sets).

Contrast HT 94 a.1: VIR 62, 94b.5 KU-RO 5; HT 100, whose total VIR is 97 (1 more than 16 sets); HT 102, VIR GRA+PA 33 (11 half-sets?); HT 105.3, SA-RA₂ VIR 235 (one more than 39 sets); HT 119: VIR 68 (not associated with a name), 11 one-third sets; KH 7a.2-3, 4, VIR+313, 10 & 4 respectively; KH 25, VIR 140 & VIR 10; KH Wc 2031, VIR+KA 4; KH Wc 2032, VIR+KA 9; KH Wc 2100, VIR-352-JA 9; PE 1.2, VIR 53 (restored, one less than 9 sets); PH 8, VIR 11 (one less than 2 sets).

*118, a syllabogram, and perhaps a logogram (TALENT?)

*120/GRA = barley (Palmer 1995); one of "the Aegean triad" (along with *30 FIC, *122 OLIV; Schoep 2002, 98). GRA usually begins a list: GRA, OLE, *304, VIN, then either OLIV or FIC. Since GRA rarely occcurs with *303 (cf. HT 99a), they may have been handled differently (cf. HT 110a with *303, b with GRA). The largest amounts of recorded GRA: HT 15.1, 684 units, HT 40.1, 207; HT 102.1, SA-RA₂ GRA 976. Ligatured variants (presumably commenting on aspects of the grain, e.g., raw, milled; destination as food or fodder; Schoep 2002, 104): *573 (+DA), *574 (+PA, in very small quantities; so, "processed"? Compare PE 1 which allocates GRA+PA in half units to personnel. Schoep 2002, 106, 108), *575 (+QIf), *576 (+MUm), *577 (+PA₃), *578 (+QE), *579 (+KU). When modified by fractions, it may have functioned as a land measure, as it does in Linear B (Schoep 2002, 154): *580 (+B), *581 (+E), *582 (+F), *583 (+H), *584 (+KL₂), *585 (+L₂), *586 (+L₃L₃).

*121/HORD = wheat? (Palmer 1995)

*122/OLIV = olives (Palmer 1995); one of "the Aegean triad" (along with *30 FIC, *120 GRA; Schoep 2002, 98); the total amount of olives in the HT texts are 93J units (about 8,928 liters). Olives are associated with the transaction sigh TE, but never with SA-RA₂. As in Linear B, olives and figs hardly ever appear together (exc. HT 44, 91, 131). Ligatured: *587 (+TU)

*123/AROM; on Linear A clay documents this sign is a syllabogram of unknown value (A-*123-TE, DU-*123-A, TA-I-*123, TE-*123, and ]A-ME-*123, all names in lists); on Hieroglyphic seals, it is a commodity

*131/VIN = wine (Palmer 1995). Wine can be inventories in large quantities (e.g., HT 13, 103J units, or 3,744 liters; ZA 4, 104 units). Also a syllabogram (only in PU-VINa on HT 14.1, HT 123a.3-4); the sign is similar to the Egyptian sign for wine. Ligatured variants: *588 (+TE), *589 (+SA), *590 (+SI), *591 (+WA), *592 (+WA, variant), *593 (+SU), *594 (+RA), *595 (+RA, variant), *596 (+KA), *597 (+GRA), *598 (+WI) VIN comes in 3 variations (Schoep 2002, 100)

VINa or plain wine, sometimes ligatured with ME (honey?) or SA (sesame?)

VINb -- wine of lesser quality (in Linear B)

VINc -- vinegar (in Linear B, for perfume making): KH 18.3, 4; KH 61.2; KH 85.2; perhaps PH 7b.3

*145 LANA, wool

*159 TELA, cloth

*164, a textile?

*171, perhaps a logogram; if so, it occurs once, on ZA 6a with agricultural commodities (perhaps also on THE Zb 5); in Linear B, it occurs with livestock (fodder? TH nodules)

*180, hide (Schoep 2002, 131, 133). Ligatured variants: *599 (+[ ]), *600 (+SA+B), *601 (+SA+L), *602 (+B), *603 (+L). On MA 4a, *180+SA contrasts with plain *180; on MA 6, the quantities are large (6a: 941, 6b 620).

*188, meaning unknown. Ligatured variant: *604 (+*KU)

*191/GAL = helmet (= Linear B *191; Palaima 1988: 325) on KH Wc 2028

*301, meaning unknown. Ligatured variants: *605 (+MI), *606 (+*311), *607 (+*351)

*302 = olive oil (Palmer 1995), mostly in whole units; cf. TY 3 which lists olives and oil together (cf. SY Za 2). Ligatured variants (in Linear B, the types of oil are a-re-pa, aleiphar, unguent; PA pa-ko-we, sage-scented; PO po-ni-ki-jo, dyed red; WE we-ja-re-pe, good for anointing: SI ?: O origanon: *608 (+DI always appearing with *622), *609 (+A = A-RE-PA?, Schoep 2002, 117 n. 97), *610 (+U almost always listed first and in whole units), *611 (+QIf), *612 (+NE in small fractions), *613 (+E), *614 (+RI in small amounts), *615 (+TA in small fractions), *616 (+RA), *617 (+KI), *618 (+KI, a variant on *617), *619 (+KI+U), *620 (+KI+ME), *621 (+TU), *622 (+MI always appearing with *608, in whole units and small fractions), *623 (+QE+DI)

*303 = a grain (Palmer 1995). It acts like Linear B *121 (wheat; Schoep 2002, 112). This commodity appears on miscellaneous tablets, usually in whole numbers (esp. 3 and 6; Schoep 2002, 101). Since GRA rarely occcurs with *303 (cf. HT 99a), they may have been handled differently (cf. HT 110a with *303, b with GRA). Ligatured variants: *624 (+D), *625 (+D+*304+PA), *626 (+E), *627 (+K)

*304, agricultural product, accompanying GRA on HT 92, 116 OLE and olives, GRA, VIN in large whole numbers on ZA 6 (Melena 1983, 116: sexual marker for OLIV & *303), but always found in a fixed position between OLE & OLIV. Schoep 2002, 124, suggests a spice like Linear B kuparo or coriander. Ligatured variants: *628 (+[ ]), *629 (+PA, not found with plain *304), *630 (+PA+*303+D), *631 (+PA+*316+D), *632 (+[ ]+*303), *633 (+[ ]+*303+[ ])

*305, something to do with personnel: HT 63, with two individual entries; HT 100, with groups of VIR. It also appears in signgroups, apparently as a syllabogram

*306, meaning unknown. Schoep 2002, 125, suggests BOSf (it looks somewhat similar to Linear B *109b; it occurs with BOSm on KH 87; cf KH 6). Ligatured variants: *634 (+MI), *635 (+100/102+*307), *636 (+*303+E)

*307, meaning unknown. Ligatured variants: *637 (+*301[, *638 (+*307)

*308, agricultural commodity or measured in the same way, in proportion to OLIV, always in fractional quantities, except on HT 123 (25H representing contributions?); "repeated combination of the same commodities on [miscellaneous tablets] and their consistently small quantities" suggest disbursements, not contributions (Schoep 2002, 126).

*312 = KU (Younger 2005; also discussed in the Hieroglyphic website; for *536 (TELA+*312) Bennett 1975: 61, & Melena 1975: 108-10 both give TELA+ZO?). Younger 2005 demonstrates that Hiero sign *084

, which resembles an animal (sheep?) head, corresponds to 3 subunits of *051

, which looks like a small dagger. Linear A *312

also looks like a small dagger and appears as an adjunct to Linear A *54

TELA (HT 38.3: TELA+*312; cf. TELA+KU on HT 38.3 (same line); and KU-TA[ on HT 115b.4 with *312+TA on HT 10b.2).

*316, meaning unknown. Ligatured variants: *639 (+RO+VINa), *640 (+KI)

*317, meaning unknown. Ligatured variant: *641 (+KU+*334

*318, meaning unknown. Ligatured variant: *642 (+[ ])

*322; cf. Linear B *158 (unidentified) on KH Wc 2026, 2027

*327 = B *140 AES? (Palaima 1988: 326), on HT 97a.1-2, HT 119.1 where it is allotted to people. It may have had a phonetic value, since it occurs in *327-JU on HT 119.4

*330, meaning unknown. Ligatured variants: *643 (+DA), *644 (+SA)

*334, meaning unknown, only at KH where it occurs first on documents and is followed by whole numbers; thus, individuals (people, livestock; Schoep 2002, 126)

*336 = dog (based on the shape; Schoep 2002, 126-7)

*337, chariot frame (cf. Linear B *242), on KH Wc 2056, 2057. Ligatured variant: *645 (+*188)

*338 = boots?

*341, meaning unknown. Ligatured variant: *646 (+*188)

*348, meaning unknown. Ligatured variant: *647 (+*303)

*352 = woman MUL?

*400-418 = vessels: *400, handleless cup

; *401 two-handled cup

, ligatured *649 (+[ ]), *650 (+ sign A), *651 (+RU), *652 (+RO), *653 (+*304); *402, straight-sided, handleless cup

; *403, chalice

; *404, cup with one handle

, ligatured *654 (+ sign A); *405, two-handled bucket

, ligatured (+Ω); *406, lidded bucket

, ligatured (+KE); *407, lekane or basin

, ligatured (+A); *408, tripod with two horizontal loop handles

; *409, handleless tripod

; *410, tripod with two vertical loop handles

; *411, tripod with two horizontal strap handles

; *412, ewer

, ligatured *658 (+E); *413, ovoid jug (funnel?)

, ligatured *660 (+SU); *414 squat jug

, ligatured *661 (+[ ]), *662 (+F); *415, pithoid jar

; *416, pithos

; *417, wicker basket

(like those the girls use in the Xeste 3 fresco to collect crocus stamens in), ligatured *663 (+L₂); *418, bull head rhyton

, ligatured *664 (+L₂). Several vessel logograms have fractions written inside (see MA 10); these may refer to the capacities of the vessels or to agricultural products, and their measurements, since they occur in mixed commodity tablets (cf. Linear B *123 AROM which looks like a container but actually refers to the contents, or to MU-container and sa-pi-de boxes on PY Vn 19, MY 105; Schoep 2002, 127-8). On KN K 700 and in the Gg tablets, the numbers refer to the contents, not the numbers of the vessels (Schoep 2002, 128). The KH roundels record quite a few vessels, according to the number of seal impressions: *408 tripod, 9; *409 tripod, 27; *411 tripod, 64; and *417 wicker baseket, 2.

*508-*511 occur with agricultural products (with *303, wine, oil, etc.) in whole numbers and fractions

*548, MI+JA on PH 3b.1 (3a concerns wool); ligatured: *550 (+RU), *551 (+I), *552 (+KA). *550 and *552 are found in different contexts than *551; *550 is measured in fractions, while *551 is measured in whole units (Schoep 2002, 130)

*558-562 = wool (*80+*26

MA+RU; *558 = ]MA+RU; *559 = MA+RU; *560 = MA+RU[; *561 = MA+RU+ME; *562 = ]MA+RU+RU). Linear A thus has no separate logogram for LANA (unlike in Hieroglyphic *84 and Linear B *64). The ligatures appear on a few documents (HT 12.4-5, HT 24a.1-5, KH 43.1, PH 3a.3) and the word is actually spelled out, MA-RU on HT 117a.3 and ]MA-RU-A on TY Zg 1; MA-RU does not seem to appear in Hieroglyphic. Linear B LANA *145

pictorializes the Linear A ligature, perhaps being influenced by the pictorial Hieroglyphic sign *084

. The classical Greek word "μαλλός, mallós," wool, may thus be a loan-word from Linear A (and Hieroglyphic?). At PH, LANA is measured in small quantities, possibly disbursements; at HT, the quantities are large, possibly collections (Schoep 2002, 132).

12. The Libation Formula

The Libation Formula appears in part on various inscribed objects; the words, however, follow a strict sequence, which most inscribed objects adhere to but may leave out certain words (especially the three last ones) or may substitute variations (especially on the first word); the third word is always different from object to object.

word 1	word 2	word 3	word 4	word 5	word 6	word 7	word 8
T/A-TA-I-301-etc.	toponymn	person's name?	J/A-SA-SA-RA	U-NA-KA-NA-SI	I-PI-NA-MA	SI-RU-TE	I-NA-JA-PA-QA

From this sequence, I deduce

if J/A-SA-SA-RA is a divinity, as often assumed, A-TA-I-301 (etc.) may be an invocation; it has many variations (A-TA-I-301-WA-JA, A-TA-I-301-WA-E; TA-NA-I-301-TI, TA-NA-I-301-U-TI-NU, TA-NA-SU-TE[ ]-KE, TA-NA-RA-TE-U-TI-NU)

word 2 is apparently a place-name: DI-KI-TE [undoubtedly Mt Dikte], I-DA [perhaps an Ida], SE-TO-I-JA [Owens 1993: Arkhanes, Mt Ioukhtas], TU-RI-SA [JGY: Tylissos?], JA-TI

word 3, always different, could be the name of the dedicant (on PK Za 11, there are two "dedicants" PI-TE-RI and A-KO-A-NE; word 5 thus changes from U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI [always with a single word in 3rd place] to U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI as if to reflect the shift to the plural; cf. A-KA-NU-ZA-TI in KN Zc 7, with 2 names in 2nd place)

word 5 should then be a verb ("dedicates," vel sim.)

word 6 has only one variation, on PK Za 10 and 11: I-PI-NA-MI-NA -- since on PK 10 it follows ]SI, presumably the usual ending for U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI, the change from I-PI-NA-MA to I-PI-NA-MI-NA is not due to the change from singular to plural verb; instead, the ending may resemble the alternative ending for JA-SA-SA-RA-ME, JA-SA-SA-RA-MA-NA on KN Za 10 or JA-SA-RA-A-NA-NE on KN Zc 7.

word 7: the -TE ending may be the same as the suffix -TE that means "of/from"

If the above inferences are correct, the Libation Formula would then translate to something like this:

Oh!, at Place, PersonName to Asasara dedicates a dedication of/from SI-RU, I-NA-JA-PA-QA

13. Grammar

13a. Nouns, Verbs

The Libation Formula (summarized above) presents a somewhat clear dedicatory statement in a more or less strict word order in which it is possible to detect placenames (word 2: e.g., Setoia, Ida, Dikte), a single word (word 3: always different), and several other words, including JA-SA-SA-RA (word 4), U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI (word 5), and I-PI-NA-MA (word 6).

Document PK 11, however, presents three changes in the Libation Formula:

1. instead of a single word in position 3 (the personal name), it gives two, apparently two personal names (two dedicants?)

2. word 5 changes from U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI to U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI, and

3. word 5 changes from I-PI-NA-MA to I-PI-NA-MI-NE.

To explain these changes, I hypothesize:

1. since word 3 in the Libation Formula is always hapax legomenon, it is likely to be a personal name (of the dedicant?). On PK 11, the two words, instead of one, would then be the names of two dedicants.

2. If U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI were a verb in the 3rd person singular, then U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI would be a 3rd person plural, corresponding to the plural subject, meaning something like "dedicate."

a variation of the Libation Formula occurs on KN Zc 7: A-KA-NU-ZA-TI • DU-RA-RE • A-ZA-RA • JA-SA-RA-A-NA-NE • WI-PI-[•]. Note the ending -TI for the first word, a variation on U-NA-KA-NA-SI/TI, followed by two "names" before JA-SA-SA-RA

3. Similarly, I-PI-NA-MI-NE might also be a plural, perhaps a plural noun, something like "dedications."

Two transaction terms have similar endings and might also be verbs: KI-RI-SI/KI-RI-TA2 (perhaps the verbal KI-RO, "is/are lacking"), and U-MI-NA-SI ("owed"? by context on HT 28b.1).

13b. Adjectives

From the place name SU-KI-RI-TA, there derives a clear adjective: SU-KI-RI-TE-I-JA (HT Zb 158b), appearing on a pot that would thus be labeled "Sybritan" (cf. the similar adjective WA [for wa-na-ka-te-ro] and names in the genitive on stirrup jars inscribed in Linear B).

From this clear example of an adjective, we can identify others:

]PU2-RE-JA (PK Za 16) from ]PU2-RA2 (ZA a.6)

KU-PA3-RI-JA (HT 24a.1) from KU-PA-RI (PE 1.1-2)

PA-SA-RI-JA (HT 24a.4) perhaps related to PA-SE-JA (HT 93a.8); compare I-PA-SA-JA (KH 10.3).

13c. Prefixes

A few words appear both in root form and with I- or J- prefixes (I+consonant, J+vowel). Duhoux 1997 identified these prefixes as meaning "to/at".

I-DA-MA-TE (AR Zf 1, Zf 2), "to" DA-MA-TE (KY Za 2)

I-ZU-RI-NI-TA (PH 6.2) related to ZU-RI-NI-MA (KN Zb 52) and perhaps A-RI-NI-TA (HT 25a.3; ZA 8.2-3)

I-PA-SA-JA (KH 10.3), "to" *PA-SA-JA; cf. PA-SE-JA (HT Wc 3001, 3002) and the adjective PA-SA-RI-JA (HT 24a.4)

JA-SA-SA-RA (common), "to" A-SA-SA-RA (PO Zg 1)

There are other suffixes whose meaning is still obscure.

13d. The Suffix -TE/TI

Valério 2007 demonstrated that the suffix -TE means "from/of." There is a variant, -TI.

The prefix occurs in two forms, with or without the prefix J/A-.

with the prefix J/A-, suffix -TE or -TI

A-DI-KI-TE-TE-DU-PU2-RE (PK Za 11), (PK Za 11), (PK Za 8.a, Za 15) = "master, lord" (DU-PU2-RE) "of/from Dikte."

A-TU-RI-SI-TI (KN Zb 5), "from" TU-RI-SA (KO Za 1)

without the prefix J/A- (on two interrelated documents, Hooker 1975)

DA-KU-SE-NE-TI (HT 104.1-2), "from" DA-KU-SE-NE (HT 103.4)

I-DU-TI (HT 104.2-3), "from" a hypothetical *I-DU (Ida?)

PA-DA-SU-TI (HT 104.3-4), "from" a hypothetical *PA-DA-SU

RI-RU-MA-TI (PH(?) 31), sheep and pigs "from" RI-RU-MA (HT 118.4, recording pigs, SUS I+[?]). Of this pair, Schoep 2002, 172, remarks: "It would be interesting to know whether the suffix TI indicates a direction."

14. Fractions

See Hallager 1996: 29; Pope 1960.

Linear A's fractional notation has received much attention. One aspect that remains puzzling is that there is no separate sequence for volumes/capacities and wet or dry weight. We thus have no way of knowing what the fractions refer to -- the Minoans must have switched references depending on the commodities being measured.

Bennett 1999 notes the "aliquot" system of Linear A fractions (i.e., 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.); that Egyptian Hieroglyphic 1/2 and 1/4 are the same in Hieratic, but the rest of the fractions differ in the two scripts; that Egyptian fractions are also aliquot with six signs for 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 plus a monogram of 1/2+1/4 for 3/4 (the values of Linear A's fractions seem to be almost identical); and that Egyptian Hieroglyphic 1/2 is very like Linear A 'J', and 1/4 is roughly like Linear A 'E'.

Bennett proposed 1/2 = *707/J

-- correct
1/3 = *706/H

-- wrong; should be 1/6
1/4 = *704/E

-- correct
1/6 = *717/DD

-- wrong: the double mina
1/8 = *705/F

-- correct

3/8 = *721/EF -- correct
5/8 = *735/JF -- correct
2/3 = *703/D -- wrong; the single mina, perhaps 1/5
3/4 =*732/JE -- correct
5/6 = *736/JH --wrong; should be 2/3

Fractions in combination, in probable order of descending value

JJ (PH 9b)
J	A (HT 120.3)
J	E (lots; EJ [HT 123a.3-4; ZA 8.4])
J	E	B (HT 27a.8)
J		B (HT 129.1; KH 5.4, 6.8, 17.3)
J			F (HT 51b.2)
J					K (HT 32.1)
J				H (HT 93a.3)
J	E					L2 (KH 7a.5, 56.1)
J						L2 (HT 123b.4)
	EE (PH 12b.2, 13a, 13c)
	E	B (KH 9.2)
	E		F (HT 8b.4, 16.3, 40a.4, 123b.5, Zd 156)
	E					L2 (HT 33.3)
	E					L4 (KH 26.2)
	E					L6 (KH 76.2)
	E					YYY (PH 26)
	A	BB (KH 86.2)
		BB (KE Wc 2b)
			F		K (PH 1b.2)
			F			L (ZA 7b.8)
				H	K (HT 34.3)
					K	L2 (HT 86a.2, 120.2; KH 11.2.3-4, 4.6, 16.1, 75.2)
						L2L4 (HT 33.2)
						L3L3 (HT 15.2)

Fractions with values (if demonstrable or surmisable)

A (A701). In the discussion to HT 123+124, it is clear that A[ = 7/12. ABB, however, also occurs (KH 86); logically, A should be greater than B, but if it is smaller (as ABB seems to demand if B=1/3), then perhaps A is something like 1/6 (see note to HT 34.7; but see fraction H).

B (A702)= 1/3 (or 1/5). B occurs singly, in pairs BB (ZA 8, 6; KE Wc 2b), as a pair after A (KH 86.2), and once after E (1/4). That it occurs in pairs may imply that three B's would equal a unit, and that B = 1/3. The conical cup fragment PK Zb? with RE B supports this identification. Since EB occurs (KH 9.2) and JEB (HT 27), it would seem logical that B is less than 1/4 (J = 1/2; E = 1/4; see below); but on KH 9.2, EB occurs after K (1/16?), and it is therefore tempting to read this set of fractions retrograde (BEK); if so, then a descending sequence could be maintained (1/3, 1/4, 1/16). An analysis of KH 7, however, strongly suggests that B = 1/5, which would go well with B's appearance after E.

If, however, X (A711) is the half-mina and W is the mina, then W would be 1/60 talent -- that might explain the formal relationship between B (if B were 1/3) and W: W would be a conjoined BB with an implied value of 1/10 x 1/6.

D (A703) = ?1/5 (suggested by Dr Dieter Rumple; also see Double Mina, below). HT 115a.4 writes D four times, which suggests that five D's might equal a unit. It might, however, be a weight, equivalent to the mina (see below).

DD is a weight, the Double Mina (

D = single mina? [see above]. The demonstration is presented in my article "Cretan Hieroglyphhic Wool Units (LANA, double mina,") Younger 2005. See below.

E (A704) = 1/4 (Pope 1960) occurs 52 times, the 2nd most common fraction (Hallager 1995); see HT 9.a

F (A705) = 1/8 (Pope 1960). On HT 8b.3-6 (list 2), the numbers total 9 + 3J + E + 2F, or 10 3/4 + 2F -- if F = 1/8, the numbers total 11. On HT 93a-b.1, the total is ]165H; the numbers total 159 4J E F[ H, or 161 3/4 F[ H, leaving a difference of 3 F, if F is 1/8, to be filled by an entry on line a.9 or b.1.

H (A706) = ?1/6 (see notes to HT 123+124; also see HT 6, 94, 100); by shape related to E 1/4, D 1/5, F 1/8

J (A 707) = 1/2 (Pope 1960), occurs 93 times, the most common fraction (Hallager 1995); see PE 1, ZA 4a.4, HT 9.b, HT 104

JE (A732; A707+A704; Brice 1961: 7-8, table 2) = 3/4, occurs 25 times, 3rd most common fraction (Hallager 1995)

K (A708) = 1/16 (Pope 1960; see the discussion to HT 155+156+157)

L (A709),

L₂ (A709-2) (but see below),

L₃ (A709-3),

L₄ (A709-4),

L₆ (A709-6) = values are unknown

L₂ (A709₂), The discussion to KH 7 suggests that L₂ = 3/20. This could mean that L is twice this, 6/20 or 3/10; and that the other L-fractions are subfractions of L: L₃ would be 1/3 L, or 6/60 or 1/10; L₄ 6/80 or 3/40; L₆ 1/20 -- L₅ is not extant, but it would represent 6/100 or 3/50. The L subfractions occur in combination with other fractions:

EL₂ (KH 9.5, KH 13.3),

KL₂ (KH 11.2, KH 16.1),

EL₄ (KH 26.2, KH 75.2), and

BL₆ (KH 7a.6) and

EL₆ (KH 76.1).

W (A710) = value unknown (only at Khania: KH 12, 21.1, 60.2, 61.4, 77); the family "resemblance" between this sign and X (A711) might relate the two values (like W is 1/2X or 2X). If X is the half-mina, then W could be a full mina (1/60 talent), which might explain its appearance as two conjoined Bs (1/3 + 1/3 = 1/6 x an implied 1/10) (see below).

X (A711), occurs on HT 91.1 and KH 9.6 -- these occurrences do not suggest a value. The discussion to HT 123a (also HT 91.1; KH 9.6) suggests the unlikely value of 13/12. Formally, the sign looks related to

709 W; it may represent a doubling of that ("4/3" or "1 1/3"), or a double

701 A "1/6"?.

Or it may be the Linear A equivalent of Linear B *116 N, the half mina -- if so, then W could be the full mina (see above).

Y (A712) = value unknown, but it appears as a set of 3 (PH 26), so perhaps 1/4 (cf. PH 9a). Formally, the sign might be related to the 1/2 series.

Ω (A713), occurs only once at MA (MA 10b.1), as an adjunct to

A405^VAS. The sign is identical to Hiero *304 Λ

, which can be demonstrated to be 1/2.

Summmary
For four of the fractions (J, E, F, K), we can demonstrate certain values, and can suggest, with much less certainty, values for an additional five fractions. The chart below also gives Hiero fractions that are similar in shape.

The horizontal lines below the fractions point out "family" resemblances in shape.

15. Metrology

Minoan dry unit equals the Mycenaean (96 liters) (Palaima 1994)

Liquid units: The pithos ZA Zb 3 records "VIN 32," probably the volume, 32 units; if these are Mycenaean units (1 unit = ca. 28.8 liters), the volume of the pithos would have been 921.6 liters. Since the pithos stands about 170 cm high, its maximum capacity (as calculated from its profile by the computer program "Vase" by Gregory Christiana, copyright 1994) would have been slightly over 1000 liters. It is possible, therefore, that the Minoan unit of liquid measure was also the Mycenaean unit. See my article, "Calculating Vessel Volumes" published in Metron.

Weights

Petruso 1992: 17-20 posits a single Minoan (and Mycenaean?) talent as "a sexigesimal multiple of its mina." Major evidence for the talent includes the porphyry triangular stone weight from Knossos (just under 29 kg; Evans 1906) and the HT bronze ingots (Parise 1967: 119: 27-32 kg). Evidence for the mina and its fractions comes from many smaller weights.

Linear A	Linear B	Denomination	Mass (gr, approximate)	Fraction of Talent	Fraction of preceding
A118	B118	talent	29,000	1/1	-
A717, DD	B117, M	double mina	967	1/30	1/30
A703, D	-	mina	483	1/60	1/2
A711, X	B116, N	1/2 mina	242	1/120	1/2
-	B115, P	1/24 mina	20.2	1/1440	1/12
-	B*21, Q	1/144 mina?	(3.36)	1/8640	1/6

Comments, corrections, questions: John Younger: jyounger@ku.edu

For the Linear A texts from Haghia Triada (Ayia Triada)

For other Linear A texts

Common Linear A Ideograms; GORILA's sign charts and palaeographic sign charts

For Linear A religious texts grouped separately

A Linear A Lexicon

Phonetic Grids for Linear A & B.

Hypothetical Phonetic Grids for Cretan Hieroglyphic.

Bibliography from 1980 on (with select works prior)

commodity	name	contribution	U-MI-NA-SI	total
VINa	VIR+KA SA-RA₂ WI-DI-NA JA-QI^f	6 3	4 3 E 6	22 E
OLE+DI	SA-RA₂ A-RU-DA-RA I-TA-JA WI-DI-NA	1 3 10	5 3	22
GRA	A-SI-JA-KA A-RU-DA-RA SA-RA₂	5 5	20	30
NI	SA-RA₂ PU-RA₂	2	2 6	10
OLE+?	JA-QI^f	3 J L₂		3 J L₂
*304	A-RU-DA-RA	2		2

name	a: KI-RI-TA₂ (owed)	b: SA (paid?)	assessment
SA-RA₂	a: GRA 10		10
	a: VINa 1	b: SA (paid?) VINa 9	10
	a: OLE 7 NI 1 BOS^m 3		11 oil, figs, cattle

A-DU	HT 88.1; HT 86a.4; HT 95b.1; HT 99a.1; KH 23.1
A-DU *638 VIR	HT 85a.1
A-DU • TE GRA+DA	HT 133.1-2
TE • A-DU • GRA	HT 92.1-2
A-DA-KI-SI-KA • A-RA-U-DA	KH 5.1-2
A-DU[	KH 23.1

A-DU-RE[	primary heading: KH 4.1
A-DU-[•]-ZA *303	primary heading: KH 11.1
A-DU-ZA	item in list: PK 1.2
JA-DU-RA-TI	primary heading: KN 1b.1-2
A-DU-[••] OLE+KI	heading: TY 3a.3
DU-RE-ZA-SE	item in list (ZA 10a.5 & b.1-2)
]DU-RE-ZA-SE-[	?heading: ZA *20.1-2
]DU-RE-ZA	item in list (KH 20.4)
RE-ZA	item in list (HT 88.1-2)
]ZA-*321 OLE+KI	primary heading: TY 3a.1

A-DU-KU-MI-NA	item in list (ZA 10a.3-4)
DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA	primary heading: HT 95
WI-NA-DU	item in list: KH 5.3
]KO-A-DU-WA OLE+[	item in list: TY 3a.6

	HT 95 (GORILA I: 154-155)			HT 86 (GORILA I: 134-35)
a.1	DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA		a.1	A-KA-RU
a.2	DA-ME	10
a.2	MI-NU-TE	10
a.3	SA-RU	20	a.2	SA-RU	20
a.3-4	KU-NI-SU	10	a.1-2	KU-NI-SU GRA+K+L2	20
a.4	DI-DE-RU	10	a.3	DI-DE-RU	20
a.4-5	QE-RA2-U	7	a.3	QA-RA2-WA	10

b.1	A-DU		a.4	A-DU
b.1	SA-RU	10
b.2	[•]
b.2	DA-ME	10	a.4	DA-ME GRA+B	20
b.2-3	MI-NU-TE	10	a.5	MI-NU-TE	20
b.3-4	KU-NI-SU	10
b.4	DI-DE-RU	10
b.4-5	QE-RA2-U	10

Linear A Texts in phonetic transcription& Commentary

Introduction

For recent changes & updates, click here.

Table of Contents

Front Material

General Information

Words

Towards a Grammar

Numbers

Character of the Script and Documents

Linear A Texts
in phonetic transcription
& Commentary