Ancient Greek civilizations are famous for their developments in language and communication. One such civilization is the Mycenaean civilization, which I have researched about in my last couple of blog posts. Originally, only those who held religious authority or political power were taught how to orate properly. It wasn't until philosophers, Socrates and Plato, had popularized speech, that the common Mycenaean people began to use oration as an authoritative and scholastic means of communication. However, Aristotle, a student of Plato, argued that speech was not the only means or even the most important mean of communication. He believed the written language was.
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| Basic Linear B syllabary. |
Around 1900-1800 BC, the Mycenaean Linear A script began to develop. The beginning of this written language made it possible for people to make connections and develop a sort of system where they did not have to remember everything. The Linear A script was formed. During this time, "a simplification [of language] took place...in the East and among the people or peoples not Greek" (Tsountas and Manatt 290), but was adopted by the Cretes and later the mainland Greeks.
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| Additional signs found in the Linear B system of writing. |
Originally, this form of writing was used to "record matters of interest to the ruling elite" (National Geographic). However, literacy and bureaucracy began to be less centralized as the middle class merchants and traders began to develop an orderly system, or written language, of documenting trades and transactions. This form of writing is known as the Linear B script. "It is assumed that the Linear B language was developed from the older script [Linear A] so that a different language, a non-Minoan language, could be written down" (Castleden 85).
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| Comparison of Ancient Greek and Mycenaean languages. |
The Linear B script was a combination of verbal and cultural communication between the Mycenaean people, the Hittite people and the ancient Egyptians. The Mycenaens "fed off existing neighboring cultures such as the Egyptian, Hittite and Minoan civilizations, selecting strands and copying and developing them in their own way" (Castleden 229). The Linear B script was a system of writing that was hieroglyphic in character, partly syllabic and also partly ideographic. Although the languages strongly resembled each other, the Linear B script was distinct and independent, because it combined all three forms of writing. In total, there are about 87 distinct decipherable symbols of the Linear B script. For each vowel used in the English language, there is a distinct character. The Mycenaeans also wrote from left to right, which system was adapted by many other Western cultures later in time. The Linear B script and the Mycenaean way of transmitting information through written language greatly influenced Western language and our methods of writing today.
Castleden, Rodney. Myceneans. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.
Tsountas, Chrestos and Manatt, J. Irving. The Mycenaean Age. Chicago: Argonaut, Inc., Publishers, 1969. Print.
As I studied a little yesterday and with this post today, it has been really interesting how different writing systems. I realized that our writing system is not the only way to write words. I know about chinese and japanese that have symbols for whole words (and actually different sets of symbols for different ways of writing I think) but it is cool to realize how our system uses separate vowel symbols and there are others who used vowel marks, others had symbols for consonants with vowel sounds (like this linear b system) and other hybrids between these. I was really interested by this page that Dr. Burton showed us that describes the differences -- http://ancientscripts.com/ws_types.html
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting, how we can compare alphabets and writing systems, whether the symbols represent vowels or consonants or both. And how are "vowels" and "consonants" defined anyway? According to Webster, it is the speech pattern, but also the symbols/letters used to represent them. I wonder if there was any cultural influence or way of speaking the language that impacted how the alphabet symbols developed as standing for consonants, vowels, or a combo. If there weren't words like "a" and "I", would we have still developed a writing system with independent vowels or would they all be connected to at least one consonant? Interesting ideas, and great post and comment.
ReplyDeleteMorgan if we never developed "I" than we would be in the communist utopia. It wouldn't just be our writing system that was effected. Sorry. I have been on a politics kick this week.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is a bit of a coevolution. As the spoken language advances and changes so does the written language.
I was thinking though while reading the post that it is very interesting that they developed the Linear B system in order to record words from other languages. You mentioned it was a composite of Mycenaean people, the Hittite people and the ancient Egyptians. I was reminded that while, as Morgan so aptly pointed out, our language and culture shape our writing system, very few civilizations are so isolated that they are completely insulated from outside influence.
As we start talking about how writing allowed communication between distant peoples I think that cultural interchange is a good theme to remember.
It's also interesting how our alphabet is also used to write words in other languages due to globalization. It can be used to write chinese and japanese now. And it is adapted to write a ton of languages so it is becoming more and more a universal alphabet. Those dang russians and greeks are just holding out.
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to learn about written language now. It is interesting how we invent symbols to represent other symbols we speak. Language as a whole is so diverse and always changing. It also seems like the Mycenaean language was analogous to modern day English. They seemed, especially with the Linear B script, to borrow a lot of symbols, words etc from the existing cultures. I think that this is one of the more interesting things about language- interchanging, interdependent yet separate, malleable and alive it is.
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