Eteocretan language

The Minoan language is a non-Hellenic language of Crete that was spoken before the invasion of Mycenaean armies. It was written in Linear A, a syllabary used extensively up to 1420 BCE, primarily for the purposes of religious inscriptions and administrative records in the Minoan civilization.

The Eteocretan (i.e True Cretan) language is likely descended from Minoan and largely written in a Euboean-derived script that was the norm after the Hellenic Dark Ages, although Linear scripts did continue on side-by-side for some time afterwards in the form of a few tiny religious inscriptions.

The Eteocretans are mentioned in Homer's Odyssey and by Strabo as living on southern Crete, alongside Kydones in the west (according to Strabo also indigenous) and Greek Achaeans and Dorians in the east.

Very little is known about Eteocretan except that it may be the descendent of a language used in the Linear A tablets. It is generally described as non-Indo-European or rather pre-Indo-European. The late Prof. Cyrus Gordon, better known for his work on Ugaritic, argued that it was a Semitic language closely related to Phoenician, but his attempted decipherments have been proven to be inaccurate and have not been accepted by other linguists. A relationship with Luwian, an Anatolian language belonging to the Indoeuropean family, has also been suggested.

Despite the fall of the Minoan civilization, inscriptions in Eteocretan survive dating from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century BC, typically written in the local archaic Greek alphabet and the Ionian Greek alphabet. Five inscriptions have been found that are surely Eteocretan, two in Dreros and three in Praisos in the Cretan prefecture of Lasithi. There are several other inscriptions that might be Eteocretan.

Known inscriptions

Dreros 1

1: ---rmaw|et|isalabre|komn

2: ---d|men|inai|isaluria|lmo

3:
tonturonmēa.oaoiewad

4: eturo---munadoa-enē--

5: --matritaia--

Part of the inscription (lines 3 to 5) is written in Greek, probably the Doric dialect. Due to the lack of preservation of many of the words, it is difficult to ascertain what even the Greek text is saying. It has been pointed out that (lines 3-4) may be "it is decided". Another suggestion is that (line 4) and (line 3) refers to "goat cheese" which is further connected to what are believed to be Pelasgian words for 'goat' found in various forms in Greek dialects (ιξάλη, ιζάλη, ιζάνη, ισάλη, ισσέλα, ιτθέλα, ισθλη, ισσέλη) showing a goat-like root *it^sala which is perhaps present in Eteocretan (line 1) and (line 2). The word is found also on the Praisos 2 artifact on line 2 and may be a verb (cf. Etruscan and ).

Dreros 2

The following inscription was published by Henri van Effenterre in Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 70, 1946 (Paris), pages 602 & 603. The artifact originates from the Delphinion in Dreros and contains an inscription written on a long block made from grey schist. It is not preserved in entirety and so there are chips on either end of the artifact that obscure the text. Parts of the artifact have been lost but thankfully we at least have what was recorded before its disappearance.

1: --S|TUPRMĒRIĒIAomo

2: saidaperenorkioisi|a--

3: --kaθarongenoito

The text is in fact a bilingual inscription. Part of the text is recognizably Doric Greek, and so there is hope that the Eteocretan text at least partially repeat similar notions. The Greek section of the text was written above in minuscule letters and is translated thus:

Ομοσαι δαπερ Ενορκίοισι.

Omosai d-haper Enorkioisi.

But may he swear ^* very things to the Oath-Keepers (aka 'the gods').

Α.... καθαρον γένοιτο.

A
kaθaron genoito.

… may it become pure.

The Eteocretan text is much shorter suggesting that it is merely a summary of the Greek text:

--S|TUPRMĒRIĒIA

Praisos 1

1: --nkalmitke

2: os barze a-- o--

3: --ark-agset med-

4: arkrkokles de---

5: --asegdnanit

Praisos 2

1: --onadesimetepimitsφa

2: --do--iaralaφraisoiinai vac.

3: --restnmtorasardoφsano

4: --satoissteφ-satiun vac.

5: -animestepaluneutat vac.

6: '''-sanomoselosφraisona

7: --tsaadoφtena--

8: --maprainaireri--

9: --ireirereie---

10: --nrirano--

11: --askes--

12: --i-t--

13: ---

What is intriguing about this longer text is its evident mention of the city of Praisos, showing differing inflections as well. We see this city's name on line 2 (<φraiso-i> 'in Praisos') and again on line 6 (<φraiso-na> 'of Praisos').

Praisos 3

1: '''-x-nnumit

2: '''--atarkomn

3: '''---ēdēsdea

4: '''--sōpeirari

5: '''--en tasetwseu

6: '''--nnasiroukles

7: '''--irermēiamarφ

8: '''--eirerφinasdan

9: '''--mamdedikark

10: '''--risrairariφ

11: '''---nneikarx

12: '''--taridoēi

13: '''--enba

14: '''--dnas

15: '''

16: '''---

Praisos 4

1:
uo--

2:---oit||s--

3:--φ|ras|---

4:---is--

Praisos 5

1: --artia--

2: --e-at--

3:
-a--

4: --θert---

5: vacat

6: --kosa--

7: --tern--

8: --komne--

9: --atate--

10: --dears--

11: vacat

Praisos 6

1: --ea--

2: --arr---

3: vacat

External links

Eteocretan language homepage

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Eteocretan language

Known inscriptions

See also

External links