“"Grotefend", a tool for deciphering ancient syllabic
scripts”
Heikki
S.
Särkkä
University of Joensuu, School of Translation
Studies SARKKA@cc.joensuu.fi
The "Grotefend" program that will be introduced in this paper is intended to
facilitate the making of hypotheses concerning the decipherment of an unknown
syllabic script. In essence, the program consists of two modules, one that can
be used for assigning readings to the signs and the other for analysis of the
text. The two modules can be used independently of each other, that is, a text
can be analysed without making any assumptions about how any given sign should
be read. The program was written in Visual Basic at the Department of Computer
Science of the University of Joensuu by Tuomo Pusa and Kari Tanskanen.
At the outset, the user establishes the range of signs used in a given text and
gives each sign a number. This converts the text into a sequence of numbers and,
as the case may be, gaps representing word separators. The use of numbers is a
purely practical device obviating the need for choosing a standard visual
representation for each sign. The strings of numbers and any word separators
where these can be recognized are then inputted as the data to the program. Once
this has been done, tentative readings can be given to the individual signs by
using an input table. Any time a reading is assigned to a given sign, the same
reading is automatically given to all the occurrences of that sign in the text.
Any reading can be changed afterwards without affecting the readings of other
signs.
The following reports can be generated by the program:
- 1. Total frequency of basic signs
- 2. Total frequency of basic signs that may occur word-initially
- 3. Total frequency of basic signs that may occur word-finally
- 4. Basic signs only occurring word-initially and their absolute frequency
- 5. Basic signs only occurring word-finally and their absolute frequency
- 6. Repeated strings. This is a list of strings of 2-5 basic signs occurring more than once in the text with their line numbers.
- 7. Repeated strings found on the assumption that the text runs boustrophedon. If repeated strings are found on lines X and Y (X and Y being line numbers), there is a probability that the text was written left to right and right to left on alternative lines if the difference X-Y is an odd number. The higher the occurrence of repeated strings under the said conditions and the longer they are, the higher the probability that the text in fact does run boustrophedon.
References
Problems in Decipherment. Ed. Yves Duhoux Thomas G. Palaima John Bennet. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters, 1989.