Linear writing

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Language: Linguistics · Semiotics · Speech

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Linear writing is writing which uses symbols made up out of lines. Arguably, this could also refer to the arrangement of the symbols on the written page, as most written texts appear in ranks of parallel lines.

The term linear writing is used to characterize a particular writing system and to distinguish it from non-linear writing, which is not made up of lines.

The earliest examples of writing are linear: the Sumerian script of about 3300 BC. Earlier examples of linear markings have been found in the Old European Script, associated with the sixth-to-third millennium BC Vinča culture. However, since they remain untranslated, it is impossible to state with any certainty that the markings are symbols of a writing system.

References

• Gimbutas, Marija. 1974. The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe 7000-3500 BC, Mythos, Legends and Cult Images.
• Griffen, Toby D., Deciphering the Vinca Script, 2005.
• Pešić, Radivoje, The Vincha Script (ISBN 86-7540-006-3).
• Pešić, Radivoje, "On the Scent of Slavic Autochthony in the Balkans", Macedonian Review 19, nos. 2-3 (1989), 115-116.
• Winn, Milton McChesney. 1973. The signs of the Vinča Culture : an internal analysis : their role, chronology and independence from Mesopotamia.
• Winn, Shan M.M. 1981. Pre-writing in Southeastern Europe: the sign system of the Vinča culture, ca. 4000 BC.

de:Linearschrift

fi:Lineaarikirjoitus