The race to decode a mysterious language - Susan Lupack

Translator: Calista Stella Reviewer: Yolanda Raintina

In the early 1900s on the island of Crete,

Pada awal tahun 1900-an di pulau Kreta,

British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans uncovered nearly 3,000 tablets

arkeolog Inggris Sir Arthur Evans menemukan hampir 3.000 catatan

inscribed with strange symbols.

bertuliskan simbol aneh.

He thought these symbols represented the language spoken

Dia pikir simbol-simbol ini mewakili bahasa yang digunakan

by Europe’s oldest civilization.

oleh peradaban tertua Eropa.

Their meaning would elude scholars for 50 years.

Maknanya tidak dipahami para sarjana selama 50 tahun.

Evans discovered these tablets amid the colorful frescoes

Evans menemukan ini di tengah lukisan dinding berwarna-warni

and maze-like hallways of the palace of Knossos.

dan lorong-lorong seperti labirin di istana Knossos.

He called the civilization Minoan—

Dia menyebutnya peradaban Minoan—

after the mythical Cretan ruler, King Minos.

dinamai menurut mitos penguasa Kreta , Raja Minos.

He thought the script, dubbed Linear B, represented the Minoan language,

Dia pikir catatan itu, dijuluki Linear B, mewakili bahasa Minoan,

and scholars all over the world came up with their own theories.

dan para sarjana di seluruh dunia mengemukakan teori mereka sendiri.

Was it the lost language of the Etruscans?

Apakah itu bahasa Etruria yang hilang?

Or perhaps it represented an early form of Basque?

Atau mungkin itu mewakili bentuk awal bahasa Basque?

The mystery intensified because Evans guarded the tablets closely––

Misteri semakin meningkat karena Evans menjaga catatan itu dengan ketat––

only 200 of the inscriptions were published during his lifetime––

hanya 200 dari catatan itu yang diterbitkan selama hidupnya––

but he couldn’t decipher the script.

tapi dia tidak bisa memecahkan aksara itu.

However, he did make two accurate observations:

Namun, dia melakukan dua pengamatan akurat:

the tablets were administrative records, and the script was a syllabary,

bahwa itu adalah catatan administrasi, dan aksara itu adalah suku kata,

where each symbol represented both a consonant and a vowel,

di mana setiap simbol mewakili huruf konsonan dan vokal,

mixed with characters that each represented a whole word.

dicampur dengan karakter yang mewakili seluruh kata.

Evans worked on Linear B for three decades before a scholar from Brooklyn, New York,

Evans mengkaji Linear B selama tiga dekade

sebelum Alice Kober sarjana dari Brooklyn, New York,

named Alice Kober set out to solve the mystery.

mencoba untuk memecahkan misteri itu.

Kober was a professor of Classics at Brooklyn College

Kober adalah seorang profesor bidang Klasik di Brooklyn College

when few women held such positions.

ketika hanya sedikit wanita yang memegang posisi seperti itu.

To help in her quest, she taught herself many languages––

Untuk membantu pencariannya, dia mempelajari banyak bahasa––

knowledge she knew she would need to decipher Linear B.

dia memerlukan pengetahuan bahasa itu untuk menguraikan Linear B.

For the next two decades, she analyzed the symbols.

Selama dua dekade berikutnya, dia menganalisis simbol-simbol itu.

Working from the few available inscriptions,

Dia mengerjakan beberapa catatan yang tersedia,

she recorded how often each symbol appeared.

mencatat seberapa sering setiap simbol muncul.

Then she recorded how frequently each symbol appeared next to another.

Kemudian ia mencatat seberapa sering setiap simbol muncul di samping yang lain.

She stored her findings on scrap paper in cigarette cartons

Ia menyimpan temuannya di atas kertas bekas dalam karton rokok

because writing supplies were scarce during the Second World War.

karena perlengkapan menulis langka selama Perang Dunia Kedua .

By analyzing these frequencies,

Dengan menganalisis frekuensi ini,

she discovered that Linear B relied on word endings

ia menemukan bahwa Linear B menggunakan akhiran kata

to give its sentences grammar.

untuk memberikan tata bahasa kalimatnya.

From this she began to build a chart of the relations between the signs,

Dari sini dia mulai membuat bagan hubungan antara tanda-tanda,

coming closer than anyone before to deciphering Linear B.

lebih dekat dari siapa pun sebelumnya untuk mengartikan Linear B.

But she died, probably of cancer, in 1950 at the age of 43.

Tapi ia meninggal, mungkin karena kanker, pada tahun 1950 di usia 43 tahun.

While Kober was analyzing the Knossos tablets,

Saat Kober menganalisis catatan Knossos,

an architect named Michael Ventris was also working to crack Linear B.

seorang arsitek bernama Michael Ventris juga berusaha memecahkan Linear B.

He had become obsessed with Linear B as a schoolboy after hearing Evans speak.

Dia terobsesi dengan Linear B sejak remaja setelah mendengar Evans membahasnya.

He even worked on deciphering the script while serving in World War II.

Dia bahkan memecahkan sandi itu saat bertugas di Perang Dunia II.

After the war, Ventris built on Kober’s grid

Setelah perang, Ventris menulis di atas catatan Kober

using a newly published cache of Linear B inscriptions

menggunakan tanda yang baru diterbitkan dari inskripsi Linear B.

excavated from a different archeological site called Pylos, on mainland Greece.

digali dari situs arkeologi lain yang disebut Pylos, di daratan utama Yunani.

His real breakthrough came when he compared the tablets from Pylos

Terobosan sebenarnya datang

ketika ia membandingkan catatan dari Pylos dengan Knossos

with those from Knossos

and saw that certain words appeared on tablets from one site but not the other.

dan melihat bahwa kata tertentu muncul di catatan satu situs tapi tak di lainnya.

He wondered if those words represented the names of places

Dia bertanya-tanya apakah kata-kata itu

mewakili nama tempat spesifik untuk setiap lokasi.

specific to each location.

He knew that over centuries, place names tend to remain constant,

Dia tahu bahwa selama berabad-abad, nama tempat cenderung konstan,

and decided to compare Linear B

dan bertekad membandingkan Linear B dengan suku kata kuno dari pulau Siprus.

to an ancient syllabary from the island of Cyprus.

The Cypriot script was used hundreds of years after Linear B,

Catatan Cypriot digunakan ratusan tahun setelah Linear B,

but some of the symbols were similar—

tapi beberapa simbolnya mirip—

he wondered if the sounds would be similar, too.

dia bertanya-tanya apakah bunyinya akan serupa juga.

When Ventris plugged some of the sounds of the Cypriot syllabary

Ketika Ventris menyambungkan beberapa suara dari suku kata Siprus

into the Linear B inscriptions,

ke dalam inskripsi Linear B,

he came up with the word Knossos,

ia menemukan kata Knossos,

the name of the city where Evans had discovered his tablets.

nama kota tempat Evans menemukan catatannya.

In a domino effect, Ventris unraveled Linear B,

Dengan efek domino, Ventris memecahkan Linear B,

with each word revealing more clearly that the language of Linear B

dengan pengungkapan setiap kata yang lebih jelas

bahwa bahasa Linear B bukan bahasa Minoan, tapi bahasa Yunani.

was not Minoan, but Greek.

Ventris died in a car crash four years later, at the age of 34.

Ventris meninggal dalam kecelakaan mobil empat tahun kemudian, pada usia 34 tahun.

But his discovery rewrote a chapter of history.

Tapi penemuannya menulis ulang satu bab sejarah.

Evans had insisted that the Minoans conquered the mainland Greeks,

Evans bersikeras bahwa orang Minoa menaklukkan daratan Yunani,

and that was why examples of Linear B were found on the mainland.

dan itulah mengapa contoh Linear B ditemukan di daratan.

But the discovery that Linear B represented Greek, and not Minoan,

Tapi penemuan bahwa Linear B mewakili bahasa Yunani, bukan Minoan,

showed that the opposite had happened:

menunjukkan bahwa yang terjadi sebaliknya:

mainland Greeks invaded Crete and adopted the Minoan script for their own language.

Bangsa Yunani menginvasi Kreta dan memakai aksara Minoan untuk bahasa mereka sendiri.

But the story isn’t over yet.

Tapi ceritanya belum berakhir.

The actual language of the Minoans,

Bahasa Minoa yang sebenarnya,

represented by another script called Linear A,

diwakili oleh catatan lain yang disebut Linear A,

has yet to be deciphered.

yang belum diuraikan.

It remains a mystery— at least for now.

Itu tetap menjadi misteri — setidaknya untuk saat ini.