
Dictionary of dead language complete after 90 years (2011) - smollett
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13715296
======
mcguire
A couple of minor quibbles from an interested amateur:

" _The cuneiform script - used to write both Assyrian and Babylonian, and
first used for the Sumerian language - is, according to Dr Finkel, the oldest
script in the world, and was an inspiration for its far more famous cousin,
hieroglyphics._ "

Uh, yeah. Certainly, there would be cross pollination, but "inspiration"
sounds a bit to strong. I'd like to hear what evidence is behind that
statement.

" _This produced a very durable product, but it was very hard to write, and
from about 600BC, Aramaic - which is spoken by modern-day Assyrians in the
region - began to gain prominence, simply because it was easier to put into
written form, researchers believe._ "

My understanding is that Aramaic speaking nomads settled in the region about
the end of the bronze age, ca. 1000-1200 BCE. Aramaic is a Semitic language,
related to both Akkadian and Hebrew and Arabic as opposed to Sumerian for
which cuneiform was created. Aramaic became the trade language by the 600 BCE
date.

Aramaic was written using the Phoenician alphabet (the source of the "easier"
comment?) rather than the syllabary of cuneiform or hieroglyphics.

~~~
Jun8
With respect to your first comment: I think you're right, hieroglyphs being
inspired by cuneiform is quote improbable. One reason for this is pointed out
in [1]:

"Unlike early Chinese and Egyptian writing, there is only sporadic evidence
for phonetic complementation, which is used more frequently in later phases of
the writing system" (p35).

An interesting possible explanation of why cuneiform started with less
phonetic symbols and evolved to have more is given in [2]:

"...cuneiform writing apparently developed in two stages. In the first stage,
writing was fairly in- dependent of phonetic coding, but its application was
restricted to narrowly defined contexts and its signs and sign combinations
did not yet represent universally applicable words but rather specific
entities and activities in the context of administration. In the second stage,
phonetic coding made a new type of application possible, the written
representation of information in the same way as it was previously transmitted
orally.""

[1] The World's Writing Systems, OED, 1996. This is a fantastic book to have
if you're interested in the topic btw.

[2]
[http://cdli.ucla.edu/files/publications/cdlj2006_001.pdf](http://cdli.ucla.edu/files/publications/cdlj2006_001.pdf)

~~~
mcguire
Thanks for the pointer!

------
HarryHirsch
For historical context: these dictionary projects were what multi-site and
international collaborations between scientists looked like 100 years ago.
Theodor Mommsen even made that argument when he applied for funding for the
_Thesaurus Linguae Latinae_ from the Prussian Government: "Big Science needs
funding, just as Big Industry does."

~~~
mitchtbaum
Mark Twain's story about Mommsen made him sound like a very interesting man:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Mommsen#Mark_Twain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Mommsen#Mark_Twain)

------
george_ciobanu
In case you want to hear it:
[https://youtu.be/Aj3b8DH5Xps](https://youtu.be/Aj3b8DH5Xps)

------
kazinator
_They still do not know what some words mean, and because new discoveries are
being made all the time, it is - and always will - remain a work in progress._

What? The study of something finite and forever unchanging can't possibly
remain forever a work in progress. Unless you hit some impassable stumbling
block and refuse to quit. (But that then stretches the meaning of "work" and
"in progress").

New discoveries can't keep being made forever.

~~~
tsomctl
Name one thing that we know everything about.

~~~
kazinator
USA National Electrical Code from 1994.

Perfect game strategy for _Tic-Tac-Toe_.

