- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
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This is really interesting. The AI part seems a trifle oversold. The primary insight was not assisted by AI. But after the manual work was done Claude helped to build some Python scripts to work with big chunks of the corpus rather manually checking.
Long story short, I’m calling bullshit on this one until they show regular sound changes from Linear A to Hebrew, much like you can do with Latin to Italian. For a few reasons.
Given where Crete is, the first two guesses you’d throw at Linear A would be 1) Indo-European, and 2) Afro-Asiatic (including Semitic). In special Greek (IE), Hittite (IE), Egyptian (AA), Hebrew/Phoenician (AA), Arabic (AA). So if there was any connection between Linear A and Hebrew, people would’ve discovered it ages ago. Just like they deciphered Akkadian (Afro-Asiatic → Semitic → Eastern Semitic), even if it’s way further from Hebrew than Hebrew is from Arabic (both are Central Semitic).
Timing is also off. Like the text says, Linear A is attested from 1800 BC. Now give this chronology a check:
1800 BCE you don’t even have Hebrew or Phoenician as separated languages, it’s Proto-Canaanite times.
Having seen a lot of the baseless claims of people “solving” the Voynich Manuscript over the years (which all invariably turn out to not actually be solutions in the end) this did decidedly have a whiff of those.
Good catch. As I wrote the above I was thinking on the proto-World reconstructions, but perhaps Voynich solving is a more accurate fit.
Would be an absolutely incredible find, but I will for sure await a peer reviewed paper before I start jumping around in excitement.
