The so-called "Ciprominoic 2": A possible decipherment?

• Main Author: Matilde Serangeli
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Akdeniz University 2011-05-01
• Series: Gephyra
• Subjects: cyprus; cypro–minoan; linear writing; decipherment; combinatorial method; kıbrıs; kypro–minos; linear yazım; çözümleme; tümleşik yötem; -
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/gephyra/issue/18376/194014?publisher=nalan-eda-akyurek-sahin

At the current state of the studies concerning the decipherment of the so–called «Cypro–Minoan», it can be justly claimed that a syllabic writing system was used in Late Bronze Age Cyprus to express probably three different languages. The signs of the syllabary therefore show evident similarities with the signs of the other Aegean Linear writing systems. Many decipherment proposals brought forward in the last few decades have lead to no other certain conclusion. The use of the combinatorial method based on the analysis of the binary frequencies – how often a sign is followed or preceded by each of the other signs – and of the distance between the signs – whether the similarity/difference between the signs at the left/right of two signs reveals any similarity/difference between the signs themselves – could determine whether or not said hypotheses are reliable. Already tested on Linears B and A as well as on the Classical Cypriot Syllabary by C. Consani and M. Federighi, this method is used in this article to identify the glide in the Cm 2. The result obtained from this first test reveals how each sign's phonetic value, at least that of the Cm 2, now seems to be ascertainable. Consequently, Cm 2 could have been an «adaptation writing», as has been demonstrated in respect of Linear B.