Minoan language


The Minoan language is the language of the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete written in the Cretan hieroglyphs and later in the Linear A syllabary. As the Cretan hieroglyphs are undeciphered and Linear A only partly deciphered, the Minoan language is unknown and unclassified: indeed, with the existing evidence, it is impossible to be certain that the two scripts record the same language, or even that a single language is recorded in each.
The Eteocretan language, attested in a few alphabetic inscriptions from Crete 1,000 years later, is possibly a descendant of Minoan, but is also unclassified.

Tradition

Minoan is mainly known from the inscriptions in Linear A, which are fairly legible by comparison with Linear B. The Cretan hieroglyphs are dated from the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The Linear A texts, mostly written in clay tablets, are spread all over Crete with more than 40 localities on the island.

The Egyptian texts

From the 18th dynasty of Egypt there are four texts containing names and sayings in the Keftiu language. They are, as usual in non-Egyptian texts, written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, which allow a more precise pronunciation.
On the basis of these texts, the phonetic system of the Minoan language can be reconstructed, and is considered to have the following consonant phonemes:
BilabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarUvularGlottal
Nasal
Stop
Fricative
Trill
Approximant

Classification

Minoan is an unclassified language, or perhaps multiple indeterminate languages written in the same script. It has been compared inconclusively to the Indo-European and Semitic language families.