In Word Signs, Syllables and Letters you met the syllabogram, a sign for a whole syllable. Linear B is a syllabary: almost every one of its sound signs stands for either a vowel alone or a consonant followed by a vowel.
Key idea
A syllabary gives each syllable its own sign: a, e, i, o, u for the vowels alone, then ka, ke, ki, ko, ku, and so on. Laid out with consonants down the side and vowels across the top, the signs fill a grid.
Reading the grid
Look along the k row: 𐀏 𐀐 𐀑 𐀒 𐀓. Those five signs all begin with k but end with different vowels. Now look down the o column: 𐀃 𐀈 𐀒 𐀗 𐀡 𐀵. They all end in o. Every cell is one consonant plus one vowel. A word is spelled by putting cells in a row: 𐀒𐀜𐀰 is ko-no-so, Knossos.
| Row | a | e | i | o | u |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (vowel) | 𐀀 | 𐀁 | 𐀂 | 𐀃 | 𐀄 |
| k | 𐀏 | 𐀐 | 𐀑 | 𐀒 | 𐀓 |
| p | 𐀞 | 𐀟 | 𐀠 | 𐀡 | 𐀢 |
| t | 𐀲 | 𐀳 | 𐀴 | 𐀵 | 𐀶 |
Why it works
Why is the grid such a good way to think about a syllabary? Because it turns a list of 60 or so signs into a pattern: 13 rows times 5 columns. If you learn that two signs share a row, you know they share a consonant, even before you know what that consonant is. That idea was the key to the decipherment (see Building the Grid).
Common mistake
Treating a syllable sign as a letter. 𐀏 is one sign for two sounds, k and a. There is no separate Linear B sign for k by itself. So you cannot "take the k" out of ka; if a Greek word has a k with no vowel after it, the scribe must choose another way to write it (see Every Sign Ends in a Vowel). Check: count the syllables in a word; that is how many signs it uses.
A few cells are empty: Linear B has no sign for ji, wu or qu, for example. And besides the grid there are some extra signs for special syllables, which you will meet in Special Signs.
Worked example: Find the cell
Which value sits in the m row and the i column?
- The row gives the consonant: m.
- The column gives the vowel: i.
- Put them together.
Answer: mi, written 𐀖
Worked example: Count the signs
How many signs does Linear B need to write a-mi-ni-so (Amnisos)?
- Each piece between hyphens is one sign: a, mi, ni, so.
Answer: Four signs: 𐀀𐀖𐀛𐀰