A Concept of the Mathematical Functions

for the Linear-A Fractions

Joannes Richter

linguals palatals gutturals labials dentals

6 X Ω V,W
(2⁄24) (2⁄5)
5 Τ22 U S21
4 Ν14 Q19 Ο16 P17 R20
3 L12 Κ11 Η8 Μ13 (Ts18)
1/20 1/10 1⁄16?
2 Θ9 J10 Ε5 F6 (s15)
1⁄2 1⁄4 1⁄8
1 D4 C3 Α1 Β2 Ζ7
1⁄6 1⁄24? 1⁄5
# 1 2 3 4 5
Table 1 The Linear-A Fractions
in one of the Greek alphabets (in Latin capital letters)

Abstract
The optimal system of mathematical values for Linear-A fractions are discussed in the Journal of
Archaeological Science1. There is a lack of scholarly agreement on Linear-A fractions.
The correct values of Linear A signs comprise: J = 1/2, E = 1/4, F = 1/8, B = 1/5, D = 1/6, K = 1/10,
L2 = 1/20, L3 = 1/30, L4 = 1/40, L6 = 1/60. The assignments H = 1/16 and A = 1/24 are tentative
because they do not violate typology, but their optimality is not as consistent. These letter-codes
seem to be related to the Places of articulation (lingual, palatal, guttural, labial, dental).
• The fractions J = 1/2, E = 1/4, F = 1/8 may be found in the 2nd row of the alphabet.
• The fractions B = 1/5, D = 1/6, (and possibly A = 1/24) may be found in the 1st row of the
alphabet.
• The fractions K = 1/10, L2 = 1/20, L3 = 1/30, L4 = 1/40, L6 = 1/60 and (maybe H = 1/16)
are found in the 3rd row of the alphabet.
None of the dental symbols have been used as a Linear-A fraction code.

1 Corazza, Michele; Ferrara, Silvia; Montecchi, Barbara; Tamburini, Fabio; Valério, Miguel (2020). "The
mathematical values of fraction signs in the Linear A script: A computational, statistical and typological approach".
Journal of Archaeological Science. 125 (105214): 1-14. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105214. S2CID 225229514. [quoted in
11]
The dummy alphabet
The Linear-A alphabet is missing, but we may compose an imaginary dummy alphabet to illustrate
the distribution of the Linear-A Fractions in the Greek alphabet.
The Places of articulation depend on the anatomy of the human body and are identical for all human
languages. Let us assume that the Linear-A categorization correlates with the classical Greek
alphabet:
Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Transcription
of the Ugaritic 30 ʾa b g ḫ d h w z ḥ ṭ y k š l mḏ n ẓ s ʿ p ṣ q r s ġ t ʾi ʾu s2
alphabet
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Hebrew 22
‫ג ב א‬ ‫כ י טח ז ו הד‬ ‫מל‬ ‫נ‬ ‫שרק צ פ ע ס‬ ‫ת‬
Old-Greek 21 A B Γ Δ Ε Υ Ζ ΗΘ Ι Κ ΛΜ Ν ΟΠ s q Ρ Σ Τ
Classic
21 A B Γ Δ Ε Ζ ΗΘ Ι Κ ΛΜ Ν ΟΠ Ρ Σ Τ YXΩ
Greek
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21-26
C Ϝ I V,U,W,
Latin 26 A B DE Z H Þ K LM N O P s QR S T
G V J X,Y,Z
Table 2 Ugaritic abecedaria (1) of the "Northern Semitic order" (27-30 letters)
(categorized according to the comments of Rabbi Saadia Gaon's)

Fig. 1 The Linear-A Fraction

A system of mathematical values for Linear-A fractions
The Linear-A fractions may be defined for the Divisors of 120: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24,
30, 40, 60, 120.
• The 3 fractions J = 1/2, E = 1/4, F = 1/8 may be found in the 2nd row of the alphabet.
• The 2-3 fractions B = 1/5, D = 1/6, (and possibly A = 1/24 and X = AA and W = BB) may be
found in the 1st row of the alphabet.
• The 5-6 fractions K = 1/10, L2 = 1/20, L3 = 1/30, L4 = 1/40, L6 = 1/60 and (maybe H =
1/16) are found in the 3rd row of the alphabet.

The lingual letter-codes D and L

The divisors 6, 20, 30, 40, 60 are encoded by a lingual letter-code D, L2, L3, L4, L6:
Sorter Abbreviation fractions Samples
1⁄6 1 4 D 1⁄6 10 60 10 60 4 24
1⁄6 1 8 L2 1⁄20 3 60 3 60
1⁄6 1 10 L3 1⁄30 2 60 2 60
1⁄6 1 11 L4 1⁄40 1,5 60 1,5 60
1⁄6 1 12 L6 1⁄60 1 60 1 60
Table 3 Mathematical values for the divisors 6, 20, 30, 40, 60 in the Linear-A fractions

The palatal letter-codes D and L

The divisors 2 and 10 are encoded by a palatal letter-code J and K:
Sorter Abbreviation fractions Samples
1⁄2 2 1 J 1⁄2 5 10 30 60 12 24
1⁄2 2 6 K 1⁄10 1 10 6 60
1⁄2 2 14 X (AA) 1⁄12 1 12 5 60 2 24
Table 4 Mathematical values for the divisors 2 and 10 in the Linear-A fractions

The guttural letter-codes A , E and H

Abbreviation fractions Samples
E 1⁄4 12 48 15 60 6 24
H 1⁄16? 3 48 3,75 60
A 1⁄24? 2 48 2,5 60 1 24
Table 5 Mathematical values for the divisors 4, 16, 24 in the Linear-A fractions

The labial letter-codes B and F

Abbreviation Value
1⁄5 4 3 B 1⁄5 8 40 12 60
1⁄5 4 5 F 1⁄8 5 40 7,5 60 3 24
1⁄5 4 13 W (BB) 2⁄5 16 40 24 60
Table 6 Mathematical values for the divisors 5 and 8 in the Linear-A fractions
Overview of the Linear-A fractions
There is a lack of scholarly agreement on fractions.[8][9][10] Corazza et al. (2020) proposed the
following values, most of which had been previously proposed:[11]
We may identify 4 categories for the Linear-A fractions, which may be labeled 1⁄2, 1/3, 1⁄4, 1⁄5, 1⁄6.
1/82, 1/103, 1⁄124,.... Each of these categories is determined to serve Linear-A fractions. The
combination of mixed combinations of fixed fractions allows us to compose any fraction-formula
such as 3/8 and ¾. The system however is optimized to keep the rounding tolerances low enough.
Therefore the correct values of Linear A signs are defined as follows: J = 1/2, E = 1/4, F = 1/8, B =
1/5, D = 1/6, K = 1/10, L2 = 1/20, L3 = 1/30, L4 = 1/40, L6 = 1/60. The assignments H = 1/16 and
A = 1/24 are tentative. The lingual letters D, L and the palatal letter K are specialized on rounding in
all divisors 3,6,9,12,15.... etc. and 2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60.
The guttural A, E, H letters are specialized for divisors 4, 12, 16, 24. The labial letters B and F are
specialized on divisors 5 and 8.
The proposed values of fraction glyphs and a few samples may be listed as samples in the following
overview table:

Sorter Abbreviation Value Samples 360

1⁄6 1 8 L2 1⁄20 3 60 3 60 18
1⁄6 1 4 D 1⁄6 10 60 10 60 4 24 60
1⁄6 1 12 L6 1⁄60 1 60 1 60 6
1⁄6 1 11 L4 1⁄40 1,5 60 1,5 60 9
1⁄6 1 10 L3 1⁄30 2 60 2 60 12
1⁄6 1 DD 1⁄3 1 3 20 60 8 24 120
1⁄6 1 DDDD 2⁄3 2 3 240
1⁄2 2 6 K 1⁄10 1 10 6 60 36
1⁄2 2 14 X = AA? (1⁄12) 1 12 5 60 2 24 30
1⁄2 2 1 J 1⁄2 5 10 30 60 12 24 180
1⁄4 3 9 A 1⁄24? 2 48 2,5 60 1 24 15
1⁄4 3 7 H 1⁄16? 3 48 3,75 60 22,5
1⁄4 3 2 E 1⁄4 12 48 15 60 6 24 90
1⁄4 3 AA 1⁄12 4 48 5 60 2 24 30
1⁄5 4 5 F 1⁄8 5 40 7,5 60 3 24 45
1⁄5 4 3 B 1⁄5 8 40 12 60 72
1⁄5 4 13 W = BB? (2⁄5) 16 40 24 60 144
1⁄5 4 BB 2⁄5 16 40 24 60 144
5 16 Ω ?[a]
5 15 Y ?[a]
5 EF 3 8 15 60 9 24 135
5 JE 3 4 3,33 60 18 24 270
Table 7 Proposed values of fraction glyphs[11]

2 F = 1/8
3 K = 1/10
4 X = AA = 2 x 1/24 = 1/12
Some of the entries are unreliable. In the overview I decided to include the values of W (as BB) and
X (AA), but not Y and Ω.
Unfortunately, no constraints help narrowing down the values of W and X. Since their
shapes would appear to double the shapes of B and A (Fig. 1), respectively, they may be
identical to the combinations B B and A A (Godart and Olivier, 1985, p. xxi, n. 2) (Fig.
1). Therefore, we did not include them in our analysis. Y and Ω were also excluded
because they are rare signs (Table 1), used only in very early inscriptions, 4 and our
focus, as stated at the outset, is the bulk of the material dated to Late Minoan I.
Summary
The optimal system of mathematical values for Linear-A fractions are discussed in the Journal of
Archaeological Science5. There is a lack of scholarly agreement on Linear-A fractions.
The correct values of Linear A signs comprise: J = 1/2, E = 1/4, F = 1/8, B = 1/5, D = 1/6, K = 1/10,
L2 = 1/20, L3 = 1/30, L4 = 1/40, L6 = 1/60. The assignments H = 1/16 and A = 1/24 are tentative
because they do not violate typology, but their optimality is not as consistent. These letter-codes
seem to be related to the Places of articulation (lingual, palatal, guttural, labial, dental).
• The fractions J = 1/2, E = 1/4, F = 1/8 may be found in the 2nd row of the alphabet.
• The fractions B = 1/5, D = 1/6, (and possibly A = 1/24) may be found in the 1st row of the
alphabet.
• The fractions K = 1/10, L2 = 1/20, L3 = 1/30, L4 = 1/40, L6 = 1/60 and (maybe H = 1/16)
are found in the 3rd row of the alphabet.
None of the dental symbols have been used as a Linear-A fraction code.
This concept may be useful in composing a Linear-A alphabet...

5 Corazza, Michele; Ferrara, Silvia; Montecchi, Barbara; Tamburini, Fabio; Valério, Miguel (2020). "The
mathematical values of fraction signs in the Linear A script: A computational, statistical and typological approach".
Journal of Archaeological Science. 125 (105214): 1-14. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105214. S2CID 225229514. [quoted in
11]
Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................1
The dummy alphabet............................................................................................................................2
A system of mathematical values for Linear-A fractions.....................................................................3
The lingual letter-codes D and L.....................................................................................................3
The palatal letter-codes D and L......................................................................................................3
The guttural letter-codes A , E and H...............................................................................................3
The labial letter-codes B and F........................................................................................................3
Overview of the Linear-A fractions......................................................................................................4
Summary...............................................................................................................................................6