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Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 BC to 1450 BC.

Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It was adapted into Linear B, which was used by the Mycenaeans to write an early form of Greek. Archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans named the script "Linear" because its characters consisted simply of lines inscribed in clay, in contrast to the more pictographic characters in Cretan hieroglyphs – likewise undeciphered – that were used during the same period. Linear A belongs to a group of scripts that evolved independently of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian systems. During the second millennium BC, there were four major branches of this group: Linear A, Linear B, Cypro-Minoan, and Cretan hieroglyphic. In the 1950s, Linear B was deciphered and its underlying language was found to be Mycenaean Greek. Linear A shares many glyphs and alloglyphs with Linear B, and the syllabic glyphs are thought to notate similar syllabic values, but none of the proposed readings lead to a language that scholars can understand.

Linear A signs are divided into four categories:

Roughly half of the known inscriptions were found at the site of Hagia Triada in southern Crete, which has yielded 1269 Linear A objects with Linear A writing.

While most of the recovered Linear A signs have come from tablets, sealed documents, libation tables and related ritual objects, a number of very short Linear A inscriptions have been found in the Minoan area of operation, primarily in the form of potmarks and mason's marks.

After a gap of 50–75 years, a new administrative system arose which instead used Linear B, an adaptation of Linear A used to write the Mycenaean Greek language. The sequence and the geographical spread of Cretan hieroglyphs, Linear A, and Linear B, the three overlapping but distinct writing systems on Bronze Age Crete and the Greek mainland, can be summarized as follows:

Only around 1400 Linear A inscriptions survive, in contrast to the 6000 available for Linear B.

For most of Linear A's syllabic signs, approximate sound values can be inferred based on the values of corresponding signs in Linear B. For example, the Linear B 𐀮 and Cypriot 𐠩 both have the sound value "se", suggesting that the homomorphic Linear A sign 𐘈 had the same sound value. Similarly, since Linear B 𐀞 and Cypriot 𐠞 were both pronounced "pa", the homomorphic Linear A sign 𐘂 is likely to have had a similar pronunciation. In some cases, Linear A names appear in Linear B with Greek case endings, for instance Linear A 𐘌𐘌𐘘 (QA-QA-RU) corresponding to Linear B 𐀣𐀣𐀫 (qa-qa-ro and Linear A 𐘆𐘦𐘘 (DI-DE-RU to Linear B 𐀇𐀆𐀫 (di-de-ro). Another reason is that Linear A words sometimes come in multiple variants whose differences would be phonologically motivated if Linear B sound values are assumed. Such a relationship would exist if the Linear A signs 𐘇 and 𐘱 were pronounced as /a/ and /ja/ respectively, just like the homomorphic Linear B signs 𐀀 and 𐘱. While many of those assumed to be syllabic signs are similar to ones in Linear B, approximately 80% of Linear A's logograms are unique; the difference in sound values between Linear A and Linear B signs ranges from 9% to 13%.

In older work, Minoan was often regarded as having a three vowel system, since Linear A shares Linear B's /i/, /u/, and /a/ series, but not all of the /o/ and /e/ signs, and those it does have occur much less frequently.

Aegean Linear Script(s): Rethinking the Relationship between Linear A and Linear B. Writing in Bronze Age Crete: 'Minoan' Linear A. Understanding the transition from Linear A to Linear B script (D.

Quick Facts

• In some cases, Linear A names appear in Linear B with Greek case endings, for instance Linear A 𐘌𐘌𐘘 (QA-QA-RU) corresponding to Linear B 𐀣𐀣𐀫 (qa-qa-ro and Linear A 𐘆𐘦𐘘 (DI-DE-RU to Linear B 𐀇𐀆𐀫 (di-de-ro).
• While many of those assumed to be syllabic signs are similar to ones in Linear B, approximately 80% of Linear A's logograms are unique; the difference in sound values between Linear A and Linear B signs ranges from 9% to 13%.
• During the second millennium BC, there were four major branches of this group: Linear A, Linear B, Cypro-Minoan, and Cretan hieroglyphic.
• Aegean Linear Script(s): Rethinking the Relationship between Linear A and Linear B.
• Linear A shares many glyphs and alloglyphs with Linear B, and the syllabic glyphs are thought to notate similar syllabic values, but none of the proposed readings lead to a language that scholars can understand.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Linear A". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.