Your name in Linear B
The logo on this site is a sign from Linear A, which nobody can read. Its descendant, Linear B, was deciphered in 1952 β so you can write in it. Type a name:
Type some letters to see them as syllable signs.
Read the whole site this way
Switch on Linear B mode and the siteβs name, menu and page titles are spelled in syllable signs on every page, until you switch it off again.
Why it looks different from what you typed
Linear B is a syllabary: about sixty signs, each standing for a vowel or a consonant plus a vowel. It was built for an earlier language and fits Greek awkwardly, so the scribes of Knossos and Pylos followed a set of spelling habits. This page applies the same ones:
- No L. L and R share one series of signs, so Lily becomes ri-ri.
- No voicing or breath. B is written as P, G as K, and H is not written at all.
- Endings disappear. A final S, N, M, R or L is left off: Knossos is written ko-no-so.
- Clusters are broken up. A stop borrows the next vowel (tripos β ti-ri-po), while R, L, M, N and S before another consonant are usually dropped (khalkos, βbronzeβ β ka-ko).
The spelling works from letters, not pronunciation, so treat the result as a scribeβs best guess at a foreign name. The story of the logo itself is on the About page.