| génér. |
literature; system of writing; literary texts (of an ancient people); writing (letters or other forms of script giving the written form of (a) language); script (As Marc Zender, associate professor of anthropology and director of the linguistics program at Tulane University, explains, decipherment depends on a specific set of conditions: Script typology: Determining what kind of writing system it is and whether symbols represent sounds, syllables, whole words or a combination of these. Sufficient corpus: Having enough examples of the script for researchers to study and compare. Known or reconstructible language: Identifying the underlying language or being able to reasonably reconstruct it. Without this, decipherment is nearly impossible. Cultural context: Understanding the civilization that produced the script, including known names, places and historical references. Constraint: Having a crucial clue, such as a bilingual inscription, that allows researchers to match meanings across languages.  history.com ART Vancouver) |
