Linear A and Linear B: Structural and contextual concerns

Abstract

Of all the Aegean writing systems, Linear B is by far the best known and understood: it has the largest number of inscriptions, a signary whose repertoire we can reconstruct with a high degree of accuracy, well secured sign values for the majority of signs and a well understood underlying language, Greek. Of the other scripts of this group, only the Cypriot Syllabic script of the 1st millennium BC compares, since it can be read and its inscriptions largely understood (the majority also written in Greek), while the others (Cretan Hieroglyphic, Linear A and Cypro-Minoan) remain ill-understood. Even so, there remain some gaps in our knowledge of the Linear B writing system and its development, and it is some of these lacunae that form the basis for the present investigation.