Lingwhizt

Performative Utterance: Language Performativity Suggests Rethinking the ImpACT of the Human Word

2021-03-16T17:45:00.001+01:00

What a superb article by Peggy Noonan at the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
at Why We Care About the Royal Family Feud.

Noonan's "performativity"-centered discussion about the British Monarchy has had a special bonus for us, by opening up a new way of thinking about human communication and interaction in the form of "speech acts", which analysis also provides an unexpected connection to "critical legal thinking" (see the link below).

The Wikipedia writes: "Performativity is the concept that language can function as a form of social action and have the effect of change. The concept has multiple applications in diverse fields such as anthropology, social and cultural geography, economics, gender studies (social construction of gender), law, linguistics, performance studies, history, management studies and philosophy." [link added]

Indeed, "performativity" suggests to us that the unending mainstream media discussion about controversial social topics such as e.g. White House lies and untruths over the last four years have completely -- and we mean completely -- missed the point in their analysis of the significance of an avalanche of Twitter Tweets from the past U.S. President and from his similar performative utterances. Something else -- arguably more important than truth -- was at work.

As the language professionals writing about performativity suggest to us, it is not the content of spoken words per se or even the truth or falsity of that content that is at issue, but rather the purpose viz. societal influence of a given "speech act",
ala John L. Austin.

Read on below .... where we find to our astonishment ... really, in a fascinating turn of analysis ... that the assertion of truth or untruth has nothing to do with it.

Who would have thought it. Performativity is even applicable to basic science.

It is thus likely e.g. that the truth of history or other content being written about is not the chief issue in academic publications, as otherwise alleged by the powers that be, but rather the often hidden ulterior motives lurking behind such publications that are among the main driving forces of science. Scientific periodicals and human interactions at gatherings such as congresses can thus fundamentally be viewed as forums for performative acts. Recall that the motto is "publish or perish" but NOT "publish the truth or perish".

We have always known the above to be true, but never understood why.

Now we suspect to know a little more.

Hat tip to CaryGEE.

Infants are Natural-Born Linguists Capable of Learning Any Language Like a Native

2015-10-20T22:28:00.001+02:00

So you think you are a linguist?

Patricia K. Kuhl's article in Scientific American is prefaced by the statement that

"Every infant is a natural-born linguist capable of mastering any of the world's 7,000 languages like a native."

In due time of course.

Take a look at How Babies Learn Language.

Signs, Symbols, Characters and Letters Leading to Our ABCs: The Syllabic Origins of Writing and the Alphabet

2014-08-15T19:55:00.006+02:00

The Syllabic Origins of Writing and the Alphabet
my new book
is now available....

For the print edition, click
The Syllabic Origins of Writing and the Alphabet -- print edition

For the ebook, click

The Syllabic Origins of Writing and the Alphabet -- ebook edition
This is the Kindle edition for the various Kindle devices,
also for the iPad, iPhone, and via the Amazon Kindle App for Android.

Sanskrit Tradition in India is In

2014-08-13T20:42:00.001+02:00

Why is Sanskrit so controversial?

Ancient Signs The Alphabet and the Origins of Writing: epubli Publisher Pages Now Available in English Language

2012-05-09T21:31:00.000+02:00

The Berlin publisher -- epubli -- of my recently published book,
Ancient Signs The Alphabet and the Origins of Writing,
now has its pages up in English
for those of you who have been considering
getting a print or ebook copy of Ancient Signs.

The English-language pages are now at epubli.com
while the German-language pages are at epubli.de.

Happy reading!

Ancient Signs: The Alphabet and the Origins of Writing

2012-03-25T21:28:00.001+02:00

Ancient Signs: The Alphabet and the Origins of Writing
by Andis Kaulins is now available in 4 versions
(b/w, color, and both of those also as ebooks)
at
http://www.epubli.com/shop/autor/Andis-Kaulins/3682.

In Ancient Signs, the author traces the origins of writing and the alphabet to syllabic writing systems in ancient cultures and shows that these have one common origin.

print b/w version black and white inside

B/W inside
200 pages, 90 gram paper
Price: €35.99 (about US $47 on day of posting)
for the B/W print version of Ancient Signs
Ancient Signs traces the origins of the alphabet to syllabic writing.
Softcover - print b/w, cover in color

eBook b/w version black and white version
B/W inside
200 pages
Price: €27.99 (about US $37 on day of posting)
for the B/W eBook version of Ancient Signs
Ancient Signs traces the origins of the alphabet to syllabic writing.

color print version color inside
COLOR inside
200 pages, 150 gram glossy paper
Price: €149.00 (about US $196 on day of posting)
for the color print version of Ancient Signs
Ancient Signs traces the origins of the alphabet to syllabic writing.
Hardcover - print and cover in color

color eBook version color inside
COLOR inside
200 pages
Price: €39.99 (about US $52 on day of posting)
for the color inside eBook version of Ancient Signs
Ancient Signs traces the origins of the alphabet to syllabic writing.

Enjoy Reading.

The Power of a Second Language: Are Bilinguals Smarter?

2012-03-21T10:09:00.000+01:00

New studies show that learning a second language (or more) may make you smarter.

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee has the story at the New York Times in The Benefits of Bilingualism

Lie Detection in Speech and Language Processing

2011-12-09T21:04:00.001+01:00

Anne Eisenberg reports at Business Day at The New York Times that Lie-Detection Software Is a Research Quest in speech and language processing.

Gee, that would surely beat juries in law and would perhaps knock out as many as 99% of all political candidates.

Who would be left?

Origin and Etymology of the Names of Northern European Peoples: Scandinavians, Scots as Possibly Deriving From SGOTH "boat, skiff"

2011-10-15T01:21:00.002+02:00

Did the Scandinavians and Scots take their names from an ancient Indo-European word SGOTH, SKUTA for "boat, SKIFF"?

MacBain's Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language has:

sgoth

a boat, skiff, a Norway skiff; from Scandinavian - Danish skude, Norse skúta, a cutter, small craft.

RCAHMS database (CANMORE)
of an RCAHMS photograph 1930s of a "galley" on a carved panel,
St Clement's Church, Rodel, Isle of Harris

We read under Scota at the Wikipedia:

"Scota, in Irish mythology, Scottish mythology, and pseudohistory, is the name given to two different mythological daughters of two different Egyptian Pharaohs to whom the Gaels traced their ancestry, allegedly explaining the name Scoti, applied by the Romans to Irish raiders, and later to the Irish invaders of Argyll and Caledonia which became known as Scotland."

Ancient seafarers?

Under Scoti we read:

"Scoti or Scotti was the generic name used by the Romans to describe those who sailed from Ireland to conduct raids on Roman Britain.^[1] It was thus synonymous with the modern term Gaels. It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselves Scoti in ancient times, except when referring to themselves in Latin.^[1]
In the 5th century, these raiders established the kingdom of Dál Riata along the west coast of Scotland. As this kingdom expanded in size and influence, the name was applied to all its subjects – hence the modern terms Scot, Scottish and Scotland."

The currently posited etymology for Scoti is quite obviously wrong for the simplistic ignorance of its etymological suppositions:

"The origin of the word Scoti or Scotti is uncertain. Charles Oman derives it from the Gaelic word Scuit (a man cut-off), suggesting that a Scuit was not a general word for the Gael but a band of outcast raiders. In the 19th century Aonghas MacCoinnich of Glasgow proposed that Scoti was derived from the Gaelic word Sgaothaich. It has also been suggested that it comes from the Greek word skotos (σκότος) meaning darkness."

About Linear B and Other Things that Matter from As a Linguist....

2011-07-05T16:24:00.000+02:00

A broadly penned post at As a Linguist in Dash-dot-dash-dot…oh, never mind inter alia covers a bit of Linear B and focuses on the personality of its initial decipherer, Michael Ventris.

Linguistics: Culture More Important for Language Development than Linguistic Rules

2011-04-17T17:00:00.000+02:00

Amina Khan at the Los Angeles Times reports on research in linguistics that Culture trumps biology in language development:

"Researchers construct evolutionary trees for four linguistic groups and conclude that cultures, not innate preferences, drive the language rules humans create – contrary to the findings of noted linguists Noam Chomsky and Joseph Greenberg."

The lesson here for linguists is that foolish consistencies are the hobgoblin of....

Read the full article.

Linguistics, Law and Democracy in Europe

2011-04-15T23:47:00.002+02:00

Research and Markets at BusinessWire.com asks in Linguistic Diversity and European Democracy:

"What role does linguistic diversity play in European democratic and legal processes?"

Read the article here.

ONE Original Language for All Humans Suggested in Just Published Article at the Journal "Science"

2011-04-15T23:41:00.000+02:00

Gautam Naik at the Wall Street Journal in The Mother of All Languages reports on a recent article in the journal "Science" which covers a study pointing to a single original-original language for all humans.

The Hebrew Language: Its Relation to Indo-European in Light of Daniel Sivan, Grammatical Analysis and Glossary of the Northwest Semitic Vocables in Akkadian Texts of the 15th-13th C. B.C. from Canaan and Syria

2011-03-24T12:48:00.000+01:00

Franz Bopp, the founder of comparative linguistics, as well as August von Schlözer, who coined the term "Semitic" only 200 years ago, saw ancient Indo-European connections to Hebrew. I have examined some word groups below and draw attention to the following sources, especially to the work of Daniel Sivan, work which I have studied but which is -- surprisingly -- not sufficiently known in the linguistic world, to the detriment of modern linguistics, whose understanding of the ancient languages of the Ancient Near East and including the Egyptian hieroglyphs would profit greatly if they simply read and applied Sivan's findings!

Major References: (Library Volumes)

Botterweck et al., Theologisches Woerterbuch zum Alten Testament (in 8 volumes), Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart (standard work)
Jenni and Westermann, Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament, Chr. Kaiser Verlag, Munich, 1976 (in 2 volumes)
Wilhelm Gesenius, Hebraeisches und Aramaeisches Handwoerterbuch ueber das Alte Testament, 18th ed., Springer Verlag, 1995.
Daniel Sivan, Grammatical Analysis and Glossary of the Northwest Semitic Vocables in Akkadian Texts of the 15th-13th C. B.C. from Canaan and Syria, Volume 214, Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Verlag Butzon & Bercker Kevelaer, 1984, based on the El-Amarna Tablets, The Alalah Tablets (Level IV), The Akkadian Texts from Ugarit (Ras Shamra), and The Tacanak Tablets
"Here are the changes found by Sivan in the Northwest Semitic Vocabules which every linguist should examine in the future:
- i/e, u/a, i/u, aw>o
- ay>e
- i+u>u
- i+a>a/i
- uw>u
- iy>i
- i+i>i
- i+e>e/i
- assimilation of vowels to bilabial consonants
- assimilation of a short vowel to a long vowel following it
- vowel assimilation in words not beginning with '
- a shift of a>o (this is also found in Indo-European where most words beginning with S in Latvian are SA- but are found shifted in Greek to SU-)
- ana>una (look at Lithuanian ana)
- dropped vowels as a result of stress shift (in Latvian, where all words are stressed on the first syllable, the initial vowels following the initial consonant are pretty resilient -- but they start to disappear when stress is shifted to later syllables and short vowels disappear more quickly than long ones)
- a shift of b/p, p/m, m/n
- many changes among the dentals - going from fricatives or palatalized dentals to simple sibilants or simple dentals
- shift of n/l
- assimilation of R, L and N to the consonant following
- nazalization of n
- shift of s>sh
- shift of w>y at the beginning of a word
- y/w dropped between vowels
- y is dropped at the beginning of words in certain cases
- ya>a/i
- assimilation of y to the consonant following it
- - etc.
Muehlenbachs and Endzelins, Latvian-German Historical Dictionary

Examine the following word groups as samples.

The Kaulins Ancient Sign Concordance, Chomsky and Lakoff

2011-03-22T21:16:00.001+01:00

One need not be a behaviorist sludge to see that the shoe must fit the foot, not even speaking of socks. "Women speak because they wish to speak, whereas a man speaks only when driven to speak by something outside himself like, for instance, he can't find any clean socks." - Jean Kerr

Therefore, the idea that speech, language and grammar are inherent in the human brain is ... quaint and directly contradicted, by none other than Eve's inheritors, who point to the necessity of outside influence.

We have just been reading Ben Smith at Politico.com in
The linguistic wars, all on the left
and marvelling at the inexigency (we coin it) of a modern linguistic world caught in its own virtual artificially created vision of human speech where theoretical grammatical constructs rather than real actual lexicology (word content) allegedly form the essence of language.

Theory over common sense prevails in modern linguistics, to the loss of the real world of actual language.

Could contemporary linguists decipher 00 on the Moon or would they be left in the dust? Verily.

The whole subject area is a paradise of rollicking relics for skeptics, panoramizing renown linguists astoundingly adept at broadcasting abstruse theories about language cognition more successfully than they are at unraveling the undeciphered mysteries of real human languages actually used in the past.

That work remains for others, who in order to succeed, must be firmly rooted in simple lexical parameters and "banal" human concepts of content and meaning.

The real question in this vein is whether the Kaulins Ancient Sign Concordance MinAegCon supports Chomsky's theory that the human mind instinctively "cognizes" thought grammatically as part of its innate structure, thus leading to a generative grammar, presumably of syllabic pictographic shape, even in the era of the origins of writing, or, to the contrary, as Lakoff might argue, whether these pictographic signs and symbols in syllabic expression are tangible evidence of subtle metaphors of meaning bound like Prometheus in intellectual struggle beyond the lexical pale?

The chicken or the egg!? Chicken feathers! Bite your tongue! And silence your lips. "It is all in your mind." Chomsky. Grammar rules there and it rules from the womb.

Much discussed, but little proven, we asked someone who should know.
Our pet parrot just said "poppycock". Now there is a born grammarian!

And yet, the resolution of the linguistic wars will surely not come from a study of language as it is found TODAY in our Western-Centric Marshall McLuhan media world. It is a world where not only grammar but also metaphor are often strangers to "kauderwelsh language posters" that dot the landscape of the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Rather, the linguistic wars will abide when language AS IT WAS -- long ago, elsewhere, beyond the borders of Europe -- and far before the modern era, is studied AND understood. That age is yet to come.

As if it mattered in a world of inherent clones?

By "inherent grammatic theory", diverse invading hordes, Golden, barbarian or otherwise, necessarily thought as we do. They could not otherwise. We are innately all language wizards in our core, sharing an underlying identical language structure. What use then the linguists you may ask? We ask the same question.

Or can we envision the mind inherent in Chomsky's innate language virtually firing up and illuminating the ancient landscape as we come to understand the clear sign relations of diverse languages as revealed in the Kaulins Concordance?

Perhaps only the signs change and the grammar stays constant?

Or are the signs more-or-less constant and is it the grammar that changes?

Decipherment work suggests the second is more true than the first.

Manifestly, there must also have been a common physical origin in terms of human sign invention, albeit a mankindly creation immediately recognizable intellectually by others -- via their shared innate cognitive patterns.

In modern parlance: the first signs, inherent in origin, were instantly copyable.

To a man trained in the law, one might even easily argue today before a judge in a court of law on the basis of modern linguistic dogma that alleged legal infractions such as copyright infringement are INGRAINED in the human condition, for the grammar of any text allegedly stolen is inherent in all.

INHERENT, your honor. Certain forms of expression are GIVEN. We can not do otherwise. Chomsky. Like shooting sitting ducks. Pardon the metaphor. Lakoff.

But who are we to challenge sacred cows?

The linguistic wars rage on, oblivious to the foreboding oracles of Minoan, Aegean, Cypriot, Luvian, Elamite, Sumerian or Hieroglyphic scripts, where grammar is rare and content is pervasive.

That there is so much disagreement in linguistics, by the way, is rather a politically incorrect puzzlement, given the innately blessed character of the subject matter, think ye not? And surely overdone for anyone seeking rarely cooked metaphors.

Or is the inherency of language so deeply submerged that it is difficult to identify?

Potentially, a born analytical mind prone to metaphor might invoke the question whether spoken language, written language and modern linguistics are potentially separated each from the other by a cognitive digamma. A digamma is a letter that has come and gone as vivacious as the wind. That is the loss of inherency. WOW!

A Speculative Question About W-Based Syllables in esp. Cuneiform Luvian (Luwian): Are These Determinants of Vowel Harmony Rather than Self-Sufficient W-Based Syllables?

2011-03-16T00:29:00.001+01:00

This is quite speculative and an area I leave to interested linguists since these kinds of technical linguistic questions are not my main interest.

This has little to do with my syllabic grid in the Ancient Sign Concordance, but I saw this problem and I thought I would mention it.

In Luvian (especially later cuneiform Luvian) one could ask whether the W-based signs, currently transliterated as "syllables" are actually a form of vowel "determinants", which in Luvian would mean that they mark labial, pharyngeal, uvular or velar sounds or something similar, or, possibly mark vowel harmony.

I have read online about "vowel harmony" in the Ural-Altaic languages like Turkish and Mongolian, which I do not speak, so I can not address this issue any further, but vowel harmony could explain the W-based "syllables" in cuneiform Luvian especially, which appear to have been developed to deal with vowel harmony in a language foreign to the original Luvians.

[Here is an updated link to an understandable article on vowel harmony and the languages of the world that have it.]

This would in any case not be an element of the base Luvian Indo-European language and could hence in cuneiform Luvian be a borrowing from Hittite, which I sense to be a Turkish type of language.

Hence, in cuneiform Luvian especially, it might be speculated that the W-based symbols are not "pronounced" per se but instruct the reading of the "modified" vowels in terms of "vowel harmony", where in grammatical elements the subsequent vowel is modified to agree with the vowel of the preceding syllable (base word).

Or, vice versa, someone accustomed to vowel harmony might be trying to write a foreign language using those basic aspects of a language he knows.

That might explain having too many vowels in words the way Luvian is currently transliterated and bring some new insights.

Again, this is speculative and a product of my sensing that original Hieroglyphic Luvian and later cuneiform Luvian are languages that may be wide apart from one another.

Mycenaean Linear B - Mykenisch Linear B - Minoan Signs - the Online Learning Module viz. Qedoc Quiz

2011-03-09T20:38:00.000+01:00

Qedoc has a learning module viz. quiz titled
Mycenaean Linear B - Mykenisch Linear B

by
Anja Junghänel

It is a Java application with some possible initial messages about security issues upon downloading, but we ran it without difficulty, though this is no guarantee for anyone else. Caveat emptor.

If you have followed my postings on the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance, this quiz should prove easier for you than it would have been before.

Hieroglyphic Luwian - Syllabograms -- the Online Learning Module viz. Qedoc Quiz

2011-03-09T17:50:00.002+01:00

Qedoc has a learning module viz. quiz titled
Hieroglyphic Luwian - Syllabograms
by
Anja Junghänel

Anyone who thinks this ancient language sign study is easy should try that one.

It is a Java application with some possible initial messages about security issues upon downloading, but we ran it without difficulty, though this is no guarantee for anyone else. Caveat emptor.

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts : Luvian MinAegCon Syllabic Grid Conclusion

2011-03-07T20:28:00.000+01:00

More than 30 years ago, I deciphered the Phaistos Disk (also written Phaistos Disc) as a mathematical problem of parallel lines and that decipherment stands up to the MinAegCon + Luvian syllabic grid that I have just finished publishing.

There are some minor corrections to be made there by me in the future since I did have to move a few of the signs around based upon that MinAegCon syllabic grid, but by and large the decipherment of the Phaistos Disk as Ancient Mycenaean Greek and as an ancient version of Euclid's 5th postulate (its converse) on parallel lines remains intact.

ALL of the signs on the Phaistos Disk are syllabic and none of them represent any of the vowels or W-based syllables later encountered in the ancient scripts of the grid.

That remarkable fact not only makes it impossible that the Phaistos Disk was forged, as some observers have ventured, but it also suggests that either the Phaistos Disk -- or its predecessor - was either made prior to the addition of vowel signs or W-based signs to the writing system, or, more likely, that the maker to save space intentionally stuck to syllabic signs. Only someone who knew the language perfectly could have done so. No forger would have been able to differentiate ancient signs in terms of syllables, w-based syllables and vowels.

Indeed, the scholars working on these scripts today have a hard time identifying the language value of the syllables, period, and the MinAegCon syllabic grid will ultimately lead to an improvement of the decipherment of syllabic and vowel signs and the attendant scripts in all ancient written languages.

Summa summarum, all things considered, the MinAegCon syllabic grid + Luvian contributes to us vast amounts of new knowledge and understanding about how the landmark technology of writing by human beings on our planet began and how it developed in the early civilizations of mankind.

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: Luvian Vowels and W-Based Syllables Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

2011-03-07T19:51:00.002+01:00

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: Luvian Vowels and W-Based Syllables Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

The quality of the image scan here is improved over the version posted at 66.
(continued from ZU Luvian Update)

This posting updates the series started here by adding Luvian (also spelled Luwian, formerly Hieroglyphic Hittite) to the syllabic grid for the Vowels and W-Based Syllables originally published at 66 - Vowels and W-Based Syllables : Origins of Writing in Western Civilization and the Kaulins Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (MinAegCon™): A Syllabic Grid of Mycenaean Greek Linear B Script, the Cypriot Syllabary, the Phaistos Disk, two Old Elamite Scripts, the Inscription on the Axe of Arkalochori, and Comparable Signs from Sumerian Pictographs and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

If I have found no comparable Luvian syllable in mainstream sources, there is no update posting for that syllable. This applies particularly to syllables with the vowel "O", which predecessor Sumerian did not have (apparently also not in Luvian). Syllables with the vowel "E" are alleged by Luvian scholars not to have been used for Luvian, though I think otherwise. My research indicates that also Luvian had "consonant plus vowel E" (or similar sound) syllables and I include them if I have been able to identify them (provisionally, of course, subject to ultimate confirmation).

Each syllable will be presented in its own posting.

There is first a scanned image of a "syllabic" grid excerpt from the original Microsoft Word manuscript -- the links there are not clickable because it is one image.

The original text follows -- the links there are clickable -- but embedded fonts or images may be missing because Blogger does not pick them all up from Microsoft Word, so use the scanned image for those.

Vowels & W-based Syllables + Luvian in the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (Andis Kaulins)

CHANGED HEADINGS			CHANGED	CHANGED HEADINGS	CHANGED
Syllabic Value of the Sign (Symbol)	Cypriot Syllabary	Linear B (Ventris etc.)	Linear B Vowel Signs	Cyprian VOWELS Relative Articulation	Egyptian hieroglyphs	Sumerian pictographs
A (“ah”) א - Alef This vowel placement merely highlights some observations and is not and can not be like the convincing analysis of the previous syllables, for the Phaistos Disk has no vowel signs at all, so that full-fledged vowels must have developed later at other locations.	Cyprian W-Signs _______ There seems to be a genetic relationship between the W-based syllables and the vowels.	Linear B W-Signs _______ Luvian a, "Á e.g. Latvian acs „eye“	Linear B VOWELS � �(08) “A” The vowel “A” as in “ah”	Cypriot Syllabary signs show how the vowel sound is made “A” � � The vowel “A” The mouth is “full, open, even” “A” is LABIAL	Egyptian “A” „J“ LABIAL Luvian W, WA	Sumerian "A3", WA, WE, WI, WU “arms, side” (Jaritz #688) Luvian 7, "À" e.g. Latvian āķis „hook“
AE from an original AE ה - He οἶκος “house, dwelling place” Latvian ēka „large building, edifice, hall” *was* = Latvian valds “rule”, see also Latvian vars, valdīšana „power, dominion”	Cypriot syllabary � � WA _______ This sign is upside down of Cyprian MA ἄε-μμα	Linear B � �(54) WA “temple” dominion (Luvian "dominion")	Linear B � �(38) “E” The vowel “E” A rounded “temple” dominion	Cyprian vowel “E” � � The vowel “E” The mouth is “full, open”, plus more from the throat or side” “E” is PHARYNGEAL	Egyptian was “dominion” “AE” PHARYNGEAL	Sumerian “E” temple dominion (Jaritz #574) Luvian V WA
E, I י – Yod (*Yad* is Hebrew for “hand”) εὔινος , ον, (ἴς) “with stout fibers” ? These signs point to a concept related to “hand”. Latvian iedot “in give” and ieņem “in take” may provide a clue	Cypriot syllabary � � WI	Linear B � �(75) WE Luvian X, "Ax"	Linear B � �(28) “I” The vowel “I”	Cyprian vowel “I” � � The vowel “I” “less full or open, and more from the top” “I” IS UVULAR	Egyptian “the arm” “IE” UVULAR Luvian ç WÍ	Sumerian “I” (Jaritz #270) “five” i.e. as “hand, arm” Luvian A,"I" ! ?
I, O ו – Waw ὄντα that which one has as possessions or property inside the house (compare to the next vowel)	Cypriot syllabary � � WE	Linear B � �(40) WI one sees the “I” within the tent-like sign	Linear B � �(61) “O” The vowel “O”	Cyprian vowel “O” � � The vowel “O” “toward the bottom” “O” is VELAR”	Egyptian “OO” “W” VELAR Luvian í WA5	Sumerian There was no “O” in Sumerian. Luvian &and Ü I, IÁ
O, U ו - Waw house, roof or eye over one’s head (that which one has a domicile) οὐσία one's own substance, property, outside the house, i.e. the dwelling Indo-European Homophonic (same- sounding) is e.g. Latvian UZ “on, above”	Cypriot syllabary � � WO “house, roof or eye over one’s head” (outside)	Linear B � �(42) WO having an eye on one’s domicile”	Linear B � �(10) “U” The vowel “U” “raised high”	Cyprian vowel “U” � � The vowel “U” “mostly closed and the lips out” “raised high” “U” is a HIGH BACK CLOSE VOWEL	Sumerian Ú, U5, U11 (Jaritz #122, 123) “raised high” Luvian WA "terra"	Sumerian U3, U7 (Jaritz #805) “eye on domicile” Luvian F WA6 “terra”

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: ZU Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

2011-03-07T19:01:00.001+01:00

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: ZU Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

(continued from ZI and ZO Luvian Update)

This posting updates the series started here by adding Luvian (also spelled Luwian, formerly Hieroglyphic Hittite) to the syllabic grid for the syllable ZU originally published at 65 - The Syllable ZU : Origins of Writing in Western Civilization and the Kaulins Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (MinAegCon™): A Syllabic Grid of Mycenaean Greek Linear B Script, the Cypriot Syllabary, the Phaistos Disk, two Old Elamite Scripts, the Inscription on the Axe of Arkalochori, and Comparable Signs from Sumerian Pictographs and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

If I have found no comparable Luvian syllable in mainstream sources, there is no update posting for that syllable. This applies particularly to syllables with the vowel "O", which predecessor Sumerian did not have (apparently also not in Luvian). Syllables with the vowel "E" are alleged by Luvian scholars not to have been used for Luvian, though I think otherwise. My research indicates that also Luvian had "consonant plus vowel E" (or similar sound) syllables and I include them if I have been able to identify them (provisionally, of course, subject to ultimate confirmation).

Each syllable will be presented in its own posting.

There is first a scanned image of a "syllabic" grid excerpt from the original Microsoft Word manuscript -- the links there are not clickable because it is one image.

The original text follows -- the links there are clickable -- but embedded fonts or images may be missing because Blogger does not pick them all up from Microsoft Word, so use the scanned image for those.

The Syllable ZU plus Luvian in the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (by Andis Kaulins)

These signs incorporate

the idea of girdle, belt,

sash, yoke or collar.

ζυγός

"yoke”

Speaking of belts etc.

Sumerian šagadu

(ša₃-ga-du₃) “special

type of garment” =

Latvian sakta "brooch"

(saktu is grammatical)

šagadu = SAKTU

"brooch"

An online example at

Latvianstuff.com

Cypriot

syllabary

No comparable

sign known.

_______

Michael

Williams:

“[O]xen

achieved

[power] via

a ... collar

or yoke ...

held in

place by an

ox-bow...”

Indo-

European

e.g. Latvian

SIKSNA

“belt”

SAKTU

“brooch”

Linear B

Currently read

as TWE

�
�(87)

ζυγός

ζεῦγος

"double yoke”

ζώνη (zóni)

"girdle, belt,

sash"

ζῶσις

"girding on,

cincture"

ζώννυμι

"gird"

Phaistos Disk

�
�

ζυγός

ζεῦγος

"double

yoke"

Indo-

European

e.g. Latvian

JŪGS

„yoke”

ŽOGS

„enclosure”

No comparable Axe sign

_______

Thumb of photo of

British oxen before

industrialization - The

Foxearth and District Local

History Society, East

Anglia, England, UK

(see quote right)

double yoke for oxen

“Photo courtesy of South

Dakota State Historical

Society” at the website

Notable Dakotans

No Elamite

sign yet

_______

Egyptian

wSICH

Gardiner S11

determinative

and ideogram

“neck collar”

Luvian

cf:Latvian

ZOBI

pronounced

ZUOBI teeth

Sumerian

ŠUDUN

ŠUDUL

„yoke“

written

with

ŠŪ2

“cover”

(Jaritz #908

+#645)

(i.e. a single

yoke top)

ZI3

(Jaritz #893

“belt”

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: GU Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

2011-03-07T15:17:00.001+01:00

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: GU Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

(continued from GO Luvian Update)

This posting updates the series started here by adding Luvian (also spelled Luwian, formerly Hieroglyphic Hittite) to the syllabic grid for the syllable GU originally published at 61 - The Syllable GU : Origins of Writing in Western Civilization and the Kaulins Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (MinAegCon™): A Syllabic Grid of Mycenaean Greek Linear B Script, the Cypriot Syllabary, the Phaistos Disk, two Old Elamite Scripts, the Inscription on the Axe of Arkalochori, and Comparable Signs from Sumerian Pictographs and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

If I have found no comparable Luvian syllable in mainstream sources, there is no update posting for that syllable. This applies particularly to syllables with the vowel "O", which predecessor Sumerian did not have (apparently also not in Luvian). Syllables with the vowel "E" are alleged by Luvian scholars not to have been used for Luvian, though I think otherwise. My research indicates that also Luvian had "consonant plus vowel E" (or similar sound) syllables and I include them if I have been able to identify them (provisionally, of course, subject to ultimate confirmation).

Each syllable will be presented in its own posting.

There is first a scanned image of a "syllabic" grid excerpt from the original Microsoft Word manuscript -- the links there are not clickable because it is one image.

The original text follows -- the links there are clickable -- but embedded fonts or images may be missing because Blogger does not pick them all up from Microsoft Word, so use the scanned image for those.

The Syllable GU plus Luvian in the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (by Andis Kaulins)

ΓΥ

GU (see also GO)

The concept here is

“joints, bones, bent”.

γύης "the curved piece

of wood in a plough, to

which the share was

fitted, the tree" at the

joint.

γυῖον “joints”

κωλῆ

“thigh bone with meat”

Cypriot

syllabary

no comparable

sign

_________

Indo-European

e.g. Latvian

Latvian kauli

“bones

Linear B

Currently read

as QO

�
�(32)

curved wood in

plough

(+ share)

γύης

Phaistos Disk

�
�

γυῖον

“joints”

κωλῆ

Latvian kauli

“bones”

No comparable Axe sign

__________

Egyptian

The Egyptian hieroglyph “leg bone with meat”

to the right is called the

“joint of meat”

hieroglyph.

It stood for ancestry

and inheritance and was

an important sign

No Elamite

sign yet

_______

Egyptian

Jsw

Gardiner F44

Luvian

plow share

Sumerian

GURUM

GAM

(Jaritz # 664)

“bent”

Sumerian

tuKUL viz.

tuHUL

“thigh bone”

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: GI Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

2011-03-07T14:30:00.001+01:00

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: GI Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

(continued from GE Luvian Update)

This posting updates the series started here by adding Luvian (also spelled Luwian, formerly Hieroglyphic Hittite) to the syllabic grid for the syllable GI originally published at 59 - The Syllable GI : Origins of Writing in Western Civilization and the Kaulins Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (MinAegCon™): A Syllabic Grid of Mycenaean Greek Linear B Script, the Cypriot Syllabary, the Phaistos Disk, two Old Elamite Scripts, the Inscription on the Axe of Arkalochori, and Comparable Signs from Sumerian Pictographs and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

If I have found no comparable Luvian syllable in mainstream sources, there is no update posting for that syllable. This applies particularly to syllables with the vowel "O", which predecessor Sumerian did not have (apparently also not in Luvian). Syllables with the vowel "E" are alleged by Luvian scholars not to have been used for Luvian, though I think otherwise. My research indicates that also Luvian had "consonant plus vowel E" (or similar sound) syllables and I include them if I have been able to identify them (provisionally, of course, subject to ultimate confirmation).

Each syllable will be presented in its own posting.

There is first a scanned image of a "syllabic" grid excerpt from the original Microsoft Word manuscript -- the links there are not clickable because it is one image.

The original text follows -- the links there are clickable -- but embedded fonts or images may be missing because Blogger does not pick them all up from Microsoft Word, so use the scanned image for those.

The Syllable GI plus Luvian in the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (by Andis Kaulins)

ΓΙ

γίγνομαι "to be born"

γυνή "woman"

γένεσις "genesis"

__________

Egyptian (Old Kingdom)

“birth”

(i-z-mes) asmes (Budge).

MSJ is the current birth

transliteration. The term

IZMEST in e.g. Latvian

means literally “out

throw” iz-mes(t).

Cf. Latvian miesa “flesh”

said of “birthing” and

maiss "placenta"

Cypriot

syllabary

Currently

read as JA

�
�

„breast,

woman“

(originally a GI,

but a softer JI

pronunciation

later is of

course likely in

Greek)

Linear B

Currently read

as QI.

�
�(21)

Used in texts

for ὄις sheep.

�
�(89)

Compare B89

with the

Sumerian sign

at far right

Phaistos Disk

�
�

"breast,

woman"

in connection

with

γίγνομαι

"to be born"

γυνή

"woman"

and

representing

the suckling

young.

No comparable Axe sign

_______

Cyprian

ὑγιαστός in Greek is

"capable of restoration

to health, curable"

so that the Cyprian term

��

does not read i-ja-sa-ta-i

iasthai "to heal" but

rather with a "GI" has

the "hygiene" root

hugieia ὑγιαστός

ὑγίεια "good health"

Indo-European

To GIMU in Sumerian

compare Latvian

DZIMU “be born”, in

Lithuanian as GIM-.

No Elamite

sign yet

_______

Egyptian

“breast”

Gardiner

D27A

MN-DJ

Luvian

(or DZI ?

or GI ?)

Sumerian

GIMU

“woman”

(Jaritz # 919)

GAN

(Jaritz #271)

“to bear

young”

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: GE Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

2011-03-06T23:03:00.001+01:00

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: GE Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

(continued from GA Luvian Update)

This posting updates the series started here by adding Luvian (also spelled Luwian, formerly Hieroglyphic Hittite) to the syllabic grid for the syllable GE originally published at 58 - The Syllable GE : Origins of Writing in Western Civilization and the Kaulins Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (MinAegCon™): A Syllabic Grid of Mycenaean Greek Linear B Script, the Cypriot Syllabary, the Phaistos Disk, two Old Elamite Scripts, the Inscription on the Axe of Arkalochori, and Comparable Signs from Sumerian Pictographs and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

If I have found no comparable Luvian syllable in mainstream sources, there is no update posting for that syllable. This applies particularly to syllables with the vowel "O", which predecessor Sumerian did not have (apparently also not in Luvian). Syllables with the vowel "E" are alleged by Luvian scholars not to have been used for Luvian, though I think otherwise. My research indicates that also Luvian had "consonant plus vowel E" (or similar sound) syllables and I include them if I have been able to identify them (provisionally, of course, subject to ultimate confirmation).

Each syllable will be presented in its own posting.

There is first a scanned image of a "syllabic" grid excerpt from the original Microsoft Word manuscript -- the links there are not clickable because it is one image.

The original text follows -- the links there are clickable -- but embedded fonts or images may be missing because Blogger does not pick them all up from Microsoft Word, so use the scanned image for those.

The Syllable GE plus Luvian in the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (by Andis Kaulins)

ΓΕ

Geo- and geese as two

GE- concepts.

geo-

κεντρόω "occupy a

cardinal point" of the

four directions of Earth

χέννιον

quail (Egyptian chennu)

χένας

"goose"

Anser cinereus

Cypriot

syllabary

�
�

geo-

κεντρόω

"occupy a

cardinal point"

of the four

directions

Linear B

�
�(78)

geo-

κεντρόω

"occupy a

cardinal point"

of the four

directions

Phaistos Disk

�
�

χέννιον

quail

(Egyptian

chennu)

χένας

"goose"

No comparable Axe sign

__________

Image: 481416Grå-gås.

(Anser cinereus mau.)

Hanne. (1832-1840)

NYPL Digital Gallery

No Elamite

sign yet

_______

Luvian

LI3

SA4

Egyptian

quail

CHENNU

Sumerian

geo-

“Earth” as

4 directions

(Jaritz #812)

ŠEN3

(Jaritz #124)

“quail”

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: KU Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

2011-03-06T22:14:00.001+01:00

Syllabic Grid of Ancient Scripts: KU Luvian Update to the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance MinAegCon by Andis Kaulins

(continued from KO Luvian Update)

This posting updates the series started here by adding Luvian (also spelled Luwian, formerly Hieroglyphic Hittite) to the syllabic grid for the syllable KU originally published at 56 - The Syllable KU : Origins of Writing in Western Civilization and the Kaulins Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (MinAegCon™): A Syllabic Grid of Mycenaean Greek Linear B Script, the Cypriot Syllabary, the Phaistos Disk, two Old Elamite Scripts, the Inscription on the Axe of Arkalochori, and Comparable Signs from Sumerian Pictographs and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

If I have found no comparable Luvian syllable in mainstream sources, there is no update posting for that syllable. This applies particularly to syllables with the vowel "O", which predecessor Sumerian did not have (apparently also not in Luvian). Syllables with the vowel "E" are alleged by Luvian scholars not to have been used for Luvian, though I think otherwise. My research indicates that also Luvian had "consonant plus vowel E" (or similar sound) syllables and I include them if I have been able to identify them (provisionally, of course, subject to ultimate confirmation).

Each syllable will be presented in its own posting.

There is first a scanned image of a "syllabic" grid excerpt from the original Microsoft Word manuscript -- the links there are not clickable because it is one image.

The original text follows -- the links there are clickable -- but embedded fonts or images may be missing because Blogger does not pick them all up from Microsoft Word, so use the scanned image for those.

The Syllable KU plus Luvian in the Minoan Aegean Sign Concordance (by Andis Kaulins)

κορμός

trimmed "trunk of a tree

(with the boughs cut off)

κῆπος , “garden,

cultivated area”

The common concept

here seems to be land

cleared for agriculture”

and use of the land for

planting or the resulting

stumps for furniture.

Very speculative for

Linear B if the sign is

not a chair: maybe here

someone thought to

place youth and age

abstracted side by side

as a cane right, and left

pregnancy with foetus?

κυλλόω "crook, flex"

κυμάς "pregnant

woman"

Cypriot

syllabary

�
�

a stump chair

Thumb of

stump chair

image clip at

Kingdom of

Style

Linear B

�
�(81)

Tree trunk as a

chair ?

Thumb of

stump chair at

Bayard Cutting

Aboreteum

Phaistos Disk

�
�

κορμός

"trunk of a

tree (with

the boughs

cut off)

_______

Indo-

European

e.g Latvian

KOKS

Lith. kuokas

“wood”

Axe of Arkalochori

�
�
or�
�

Variants of a plant sign,

one also with roots

(they could be 2

different signs)

Egyptian

(archaic)

K3NW

“garden”

K3NY

“gardener”

No Elamite

sign yet

_______

Luvian

“field”

currently

read as

I(A)

Sumerian

KUR3

“cut”

KI+RU5

“orchard,

plantation”

field plus

plant and

root