Re: allnoun, Linear P

>===== Original Message From Constructed Languages List
<CONLANG@...> =====
>>>Well, why not try  ;)
>>
>>HMMMMmmmmmmmm... :)  Not a bad idea.  Not a bad idea at all.
>>
>>How about a case-ending that expresses "is the role filled by"?  That would
>>eliminate those silly colons.  Only problem is when you have to add that
case
>>ending to a long (parenthesized) string of words.  Hmmm...
>
>Go for it!  Maybe the postposited particles of Japannese could come to the
>rescue?
Darn it, I might have to try this. :)

>Yes, yes - but I meant just as an experiment.  Indeed, I've had a private
>email urging me to go ahead with it  :)
I'd love to see it if you do.

>>>PS.
>>>
>>>     "Koy tse tl'an tse tum gen nekom payaw;
>>>           ts'enra me hlay man yatam."
>>>"The noble nation of Atlantis is greatest among men;
>>>    And its reign shall extend unto eternity."
>>>          (from a Linear P inscription.)
>>>****************************************************
>>>
>>>Linear P?  Tell me more ;)
>>
>>P as in "palaeo-", you see.
>
>I do see.
>
>>It was deciphered on the grounds of being a very
>>distant ancestor of linear A and B (in the process, linear A was cracked.
>>Turns out it's a dialect of Luwian with heavy non-Indo-European, presumably
>>'Minoan', influence...).  Atlantean, or "tl'an-tse" (properly Mal-Tl'an-Tse,
>>the Language of Tl'an the Noble) turns out to be a simple, isolating, SVO
>>language.
>>
>>Somehow this didn't make the academic journals.  Not sure why... ;)
>
>I wonder why  ;)
>
>Now if Linear A has been cracked you surely have the secret to the later
>Eteocretan language.  Maybe you weren't around when I issued the challenge
>to come up with the 'correct' translation of the Psykhro inscription after
>I'd given some incorrect ones.  In case you (or any other interested
>conlanger) missed it, here it is again (the main text in the 3rd cent.BC
>Ionic alphabet, but there are three mysterious symbols beneath it):
>-------------------------------------------------------
>For those who would like to find 'proof' that their conlang was actually
>used in Crete of the 3rd cent. BC - and for others - I give a
>transliteration of the inscription. Greek eta /e:/ is represented as 'E',
>theta /th/ by 'T' and phi /ph/ by 'P'.
>
>epioi
>zETanTE
>par siPai
>
>As far as I can manage in ASCII the three Linear symbols are:
>
>|   |  /|\    /\
>|_|_| /_|_\  /__\
>  |     |   /  | \
>  |     |      |
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>I'm sure you can manage the Linear symbols as well  :)
>
>But I must warn you I have already had it translated as an early form of
>Elet Anta and as Rokbeigalmki.
>
>And, of course, there has inevitably been a Luwian translation  :)
As it happens, those three symbols are Linear P. :)  And it's clear that the
inscription is a clumsy rendering into Greek (using aspirates to represent
ejectives) of a descendant of Tl'an tse.

In the language of the inscription, disyllabic words have been simplified to
monosyllables, though phrasal words (made up of two or more monosyllables)
still exist.  For example, piyun --> p'i. (ejectivised for reasons unclear.)
Paru -->par.

Tl'an tse has been changed to tl'an ts'e for reasons of euphony, and the
ejective affricates have been eliminated in favor of ejective stops, giving us
t'an t'e.  Labial ejective stops (p') have appeared by analogy with the dental
ejectives in a pattern that it as yet unclear.

Initial velar stops have disappeared in favor of a glottal stop; hence "koy"
(people) --> "'oy".  "Tse," meaning "noble," outside of the compound "tl'an
ts'e", kept its non-ejective form and the initial "ts" was rendered in Greek
with a "z" (=sd -- close enough).

Given this, it's easy enough to translate the inscription:

ePioizETanTEparsiPai

'e p'i 'oy ze: t'an t'e: par si p'ay (glyphs)

In old Tl'an tse, this would have been:

Edi piyun koy tse tl'an tse paru si payaw (glyphs)

Edi (proper noun), surivor people noble Tl'an noble, walk among human (glyphs)

"Ed, last of the Atlanteans, [still] walks among humans (glyphs)"

The glyphs are Linear P for "tl'an tse tam," "eternal Atlantis."

--
****************************************************
Ed Heil ..................... edheil@mailandnews.com
****************************************************
     "Koy tse tl'an tse tum gen nekom payaw;
           ts'enra me hlay man yatam."
"The noble nation of Atlantis is greatest among men;
    And its reign shall extend unto eternity."
          (from a Linear P inscription.)
****************************************************