DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1793#0051
LINEAR SCRIPT B: THE PALACE ARCHIVES OF KNOSSOS
43
sign-groups separated by punctuation marks, not easily distinguished from numeral '. These may be
mere lists of names, and some of these sign-groups recur as names elsewhere: see Vocabulary. These
documents offer the best prospect of evidence as to the grammatical structure of the language. In
Script A the inscriptions on the libation tables A 1-9 and other votive objects show traces of punctua-
tion and include recurrent groups; but these do not happen to recur on the A tablets; and no tablet
contains any certainly grammatical text. In Script B, the same stems recur with alternative suffixes,
but in the same position within the tabular formula, and these may have been alternative case-endings
as suggested by Dr. Kober in AJA L (1946), 268-76. But earlier generalizations about 'feminine'
and other suffixes are not confirmed by further analysis; and the variety of structure is little—if at
all—greater than in Greek or in English personal names.
But before it is practicable to detect grammatical syntax in these texts, some acquaintance is neces-
sary with the structure and variations of the sign-groups themselves, and with their functions in the
documents, and especially in relation to the 'commodity'-signs with their appended numerals.
LISTS OF NAMES OF PERSONS IN SCRIPT B
This class of tablet appears to contain only personal names (B 53, 54, 55, &c), separated by punc-
tuation marks, but usually without numerals or 'commodity'-signs. They are, however, followed
directly by numerals on B 145, 684, 960. Some of them, where the personal names are followed by
a 'man' sign (p. 45), ^, ^, or K and the numeral ', are clearly lists of individuals; a few include the
record of totals which can sometimes be shown to agree with the items. It is from the recurrence of
name-groups from these lists, as principal or subsidiary names on the 'commodity' tablets, that the
latter are identified as representing individuals who were parties to these transactions.
The Composition of the Sign-groups. The small number of signs in a group—discounting a few
much longer groups where punctuation can be shown to have been omitted—suggests that the
phonetic value of each sign was syllabic, as in Cuneiform, in Egyptian, and in the Hittite and Cypriote
scripts. The total number of the signs found in sign-groups—i.e. excluding 'commodity'-signs only
found followed by numerals—is in accord with this. From their position in the formulae of the
'commodity' tablets (p. 50), these sign-groups must denote the parties to the transactions represented
by the numerals; and they are so numerous, and yet recur (with a few exceptions) so rarely, that they
must be the names either of persons or of places.
It will seem to many students of the Minoan scripts premature to speak of sign-groups as 'names'
before phonetic values can be assigned to the signs, or any progress has been made with the deter-
mination of the grammatical structure of the Minoan language. In defence of the procedure here
adopted, it is submitted:
1. That it was adopted long ago by Sir Arthur Evans in the first volume of Scripta Minoa,
elaborated in The Palace of Minos, IV, and developed in unpublished drafts, which do not seem
to be obsolete. It has only been challenged by Hrozny, who prefers the hypothesis of place-
names. Such place-names there may be, but their existence needs to be proved.
2. That it is in accord with the procedure of the pioneers in the decipherment of hieroglyphic
and cuneiform scripts: without the assumption that the sign-groups enclosed in a 'cartouche'
were personal names, Champollion could not have made a beginning, even with the help of a
43
sign-groups separated by punctuation marks, not easily distinguished from numeral '. These may be
mere lists of names, and some of these sign-groups recur as names elsewhere: see Vocabulary. These
documents offer the best prospect of evidence as to the grammatical structure of the language. In
Script A the inscriptions on the libation tables A 1-9 and other votive objects show traces of punctua-
tion and include recurrent groups; but these do not happen to recur on the A tablets; and no tablet
contains any certainly grammatical text. In Script B, the same stems recur with alternative suffixes,
but in the same position within the tabular formula, and these may have been alternative case-endings
as suggested by Dr. Kober in AJA L (1946), 268-76. But earlier generalizations about 'feminine'
and other suffixes are not confirmed by further analysis; and the variety of structure is little—if at
all—greater than in Greek or in English personal names.
But before it is practicable to detect grammatical syntax in these texts, some acquaintance is neces-
sary with the structure and variations of the sign-groups themselves, and with their functions in the
documents, and especially in relation to the 'commodity'-signs with their appended numerals.
LISTS OF NAMES OF PERSONS IN SCRIPT B
This class of tablet appears to contain only personal names (B 53, 54, 55, &c), separated by punc-
tuation marks, but usually without numerals or 'commodity'-signs. They are, however, followed
directly by numerals on B 145, 684, 960. Some of them, where the personal names are followed by
a 'man' sign (p. 45), ^, ^, or K and the numeral ', are clearly lists of individuals; a few include the
record of totals which can sometimes be shown to agree with the items. It is from the recurrence of
name-groups from these lists, as principal or subsidiary names on the 'commodity' tablets, that the
latter are identified as representing individuals who were parties to these transactions.
The Composition of the Sign-groups. The small number of signs in a group—discounting a few
much longer groups where punctuation can be shown to have been omitted—suggests that the
phonetic value of each sign was syllabic, as in Cuneiform, in Egyptian, and in the Hittite and Cypriote
scripts. The total number of the signs found in sign-groups—i.e. excluding 'commodity'-signs only
found followed by numerals—is in accord with this. From their position in the formulae of the
'commodity' tablets (p. 50), these sign-groups must denote the parties to the transactions represented
by the numerals; and they are so numerous, and yet recur (with a few exceptions) so rarely, that they
must be the names either of persons or of places.
It will seem to many students of the Minoan scripts premature to speak of sign-groups as 'names'
before phonetic values can be assigned to the signs, or any progress has been made with the deter-
mination of the grammatical structure of the Minoan language. In defence of the procedure here
adopted, it is submitted:
1. That it was adopted long ago by Sir Arthur Evans in the first volume of Scripta Minoa,
elaborated in The Palace of Minos, IV, and developed in unpublished drafts, which do not seem
to be obsolete. It has only been challenged by Hrozny, who prefers the hypothesis of place-
names. Such place-names there may be, but their existence needs to be proved.
2. That it is in accord with the procedure of the pioneers in the decipherment of hieroglyphic
and cuneiform scripts: without the assumption that the sign-groups enclosed in a 'cartouche'
were personal names, Champollion could not have made a beginning, even with the help of a