Evidence of Indo-Aryan dialect in 10 Minoan Linear A inscriptions and Minoan Indo-Aryan etymologies of 16 Greek words

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of 10 Minoan Linear A inscriptions as grammatical Indo-Aryan statements. The paper demonstrates the historical plausibility of the presence of Indo-Aryan speakers on Crete circa the 17th c. BCE. The paper argues for the soundness of comparing Linear A words with very similar Indo-Aryan forms attested in later stages of Sanskrit: One cannot expect to find the same expressions attested both in Minoan inscriptions and in the Rigveda, even if they reflect dialects of the same language. This analysis of Linear A uses the same basic principles and phonetic values as Ventris & Chadwick’s analysis of Linear B. The basic principles of the syllabic sign system of Linear B are summarized, and the phonemic reading rules specific to Linear A are presented. The main body of the paper comprises the analysis of 10 Minoan Linear A inscriptions as grammatical Indo-Aryan statements. Also, Minoan Indo-Aryan etymologies of 16 Greek words are proposed, including θαλασσα ‘sea’, λαβυρινθος (labyrinth), κυπάρισσος ‘cypress’, etc. As a “control group” test, an attempt to interpret a Linear B inscription, known to be Greek, as an Indo-Aryan statement fails. The paper concludes that the resemblances between the words in the Linear A inscriptions and the corresponding Sanskrit forms presented in this paper cannot be due to random chance coincidence, and thus that the 10 Linear A inscriptions presented in this paper must represent an Indo-Aryan dialect