Linear A : a contribution to its decipherment

Abstract

Linear A and the language it transcribes remain unknown up till today. Linear A and Linear B (which was deciphered in 1952) are grammatologically close. However, the direct application of Linear B phonetics to Linear A signs has not produce meaningful results. All past attempts have similarly been unsuccessful. Previous studies that worked on the Semitic hypothesis are methodologically incoherent and tend to assign readings on Linear A symbols rather conveniently to fit their hypotheses. Additionally, some scholars tend to dismiss the Semitic connection simply based on the presence of vowels in the (hypothetical) Linear A syllabograms. Thus, this qualitative study aims to demonstrate the preparatory stage of a new epistemological method for testing the Semitic hypothesis. This study has examined the possibility of Linear A being a writing system that uses semi-vowel and has implemented a semi-vowel subscript system for analysing the consonant clusters. Building on the premise of possible semi-vowels system and the number of signs in the script, this study also shed light on how the Linear A script might be at s ‘pseudo syllabic stage’. Apart from which, it highlights the multiple interpretations of some symbols and how different readings will affect the outcomes of segmentation.