How is the Greek alphabet different from the Mycenaean Linear B writing system?

Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1450 BC. They have no phonetic value and are never used as word signs in writing a sentence.

What did the Mycenaeans use Linear B for?

Linear B was used to write an archaic form of Greek known as Mycenaean Greek, which was the official dialect of the Mycenaean civilization. The inscriptions found in Crete appear to be older than those discovered in mainland Greece.

How is linear a precursor of Greek language?

Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans (Cretans) from 1800 to 1450 BC to write the hypothesized Minoan language. It was succeeded by Linear B, which was used by the Mycenaeans to write an early form of Greek. No texts in Linear A have been deciphered.

What was special about the Linear B writing system deciphered in the 1950s?

The decipherment of the Linear B script in the 1950s and its recognition as Mycenaean Greek, an early Greek dialect written in a form of orthography quite distinct from the later classical Greek alphabet, was first achieved by the application of cryptographic “code cracking” methods (see also cryptology).

Is Linear B an alphabet?

Linear B is the Earliest Form of Greek yet Discovered The script called Linear B is a syllabary, not an alphabet. That is, each symbol represents a unique syllable, not an individual sound.

How were the Mycenaeans and Minoans similar?

The waning of Minoan influence and waxing of Mycenaean dominance has been observed from the archaeological evidence, and the close connection between the two cultures is represented in similarities in the architecture of the palatial complexes, burial practices, and the transmission of iconography and goods from Crete …

What did Linear B reveal?

The Linear B Tablets revealed He was rewarded almost immediately by the discovery of slabs of baked clay, some rectangular, some leaf-shaped, bearing two types of inscription of hitherto unknown form. The earlier, Linear A, represented the language of the Minoans, who had built the great palace at Knossos.

What came first linear A or B?

Linear B was first studied by Sir Arthur Evans (Evans, Sir Arthur), but it was not until 1952 that it was deciphered by Michael Ventris. The script itself is related to and shares many characters with both Linear A and the pictographic scripts which preceded it.