Gareth Alun Owens
Encyclopedia
Gareth Alun Owens is a British
-Greek
academic, currently serving as Associate Director and «Erasmus/Socrates» Manager/Tutor of the International Relations Office, TEI of Crete
and Associate Professor of Hellenic Culture - History, Language and Civilization. He is notable for his contributions to Linear B
studies and his attempts to coordinate the efforts of academics to decipher Linear A
.
, completing a master's thesis on Linear B and a thesis on the problem of Linear A for his Ph.D.
in archaeology
. He has taught at London and at the University of Crete
, and authored several publications in both English and Modern Greek.
Owens is married to a Greek archaeologist with whom he frequently collaborates. He has earned Modern Greek Diploma of Proficiency from the National and Capodistrian University of Athens where he took a second Ph.D. in linguistics
. Owens applied for and was granted citizenship; in fulfilling his obligations as a male Greek citizen, Owens briefly served in the Hellenic Army
. In addition to his academic postings, Owens has worked as a translator for the BBC
and taught English on Crete. Recently, Gareth served as the Sigma Phi Epsilon
2010 Tragos Quest to Greece Professor, teaching Greek literature and history to sixteen of the fraternity's top leaders.
for nouns and nomen agentis
, as well as vocabulary and noun and verb endings that to him indicate the underlying "Minoan" language of the Linear A tablets to be an Indo-European
language of the Satem
branch.
Owens has founded the Daedalic Theme Network to foster collaboration on Linear A decipherment and other Minoan
issues.
and University of Crete
, 2004.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
academic, currently serving as Associate Director and «Erasmus/Socrates» Manager/Tutor of the International Relations Office, TEI of Crete
TEI of Crete
Located in Heraklion, the Technological Educational Institute of Crete was founded in 1983 to provide higher technological education to the students of Greece. According to laws Ν.2916/2001, Ν.3549/2007, Ν.3685/2008, Ν.3794/2009, it is a higher educational institute...
and Associate Professor of Hellenic Culture - History, Language and Civilization. He is notable for his contributions to Linear B
Linear B
Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It pre-dated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization...
studies and his attempts to coordinate the efforts of academics to decipher Linear A
Linear A
Linear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete before Mycenaean Greek Linear B; Cretan hieroglyphs is the second script. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and religious activities, and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals....
.
Biography
Owens read Classics at University College LondonUniversity College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, completing a master's thesis on Linear B and a thesis on the problem of Linear A for his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
. He has taught at London and at the University of Crete
University of Crete
The University of Crete ' is the principal higher education institution on the island of Crete, Greece.The University of Crete, is a multi-disciplinary, research- oriented institution, located in the cities of Rethymno and Heraklion...
, and authored several publications in both English and Modern Greek.
Owens is married to a Greek archaeologist with whom he frequently collaborates. He has earned Modern Greek Diploma of Proficiency from the National and Capodistrian University of Athens where he took a second Ph.D. in linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
. Owens applied for and was granted citizenship; in fulfilling his obligations as a male Greek citizen, Owens briefly served in the Hellenic Army
Hellenic Army
The Hellenic Army , formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece.The motto of the Hellenic Army is , "Freedom Stems from Valor", from Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War...
. In addition to his academic postings, Owens has worked as a translator for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and taught English on Crete. Recently, Gareth served as the Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon , commonly nicknamed SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College , and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue,...
2010 Tragos Quest to Greece Professor, teaching Greek literature and history to sixteen of the fraternity's top leaders.
Linear A
Owens postulates that the phonetic values of ninety-percent of Linear A characters correspond to those of Linear B figures of similar appearance. A full ten characters do not admit analysis in terms of Linear B, and Owens can only speculate about their meaning. Using his system of correspondences, Owens has uncovered several place names which appear in the Linear B tablets and figure prominently in the archaeological history of Crete. In addition, he believes that he has found evidence of grammatical genderGrammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
for nouns and nomen agentis
Agent noun
In linguistics, an agent noun is a word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action. For example, "driver" is an agent noun formed from the verb "drive". The endings "-er", "-or", and "-ist" are commonly used in English to form agent...
, as well as vocabulary and noun and verb endings that to him indicate the underlying "Minoan" language of the Linear A tablets to be an Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
language of the Satem
Centum-Satem isogloss
The centum-satem division is an isogloss of the Indo-European language family, related to the different evolution of the three dorsal consonant rows of the mainstream reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European:...
branch.
Owens has founded the Daedalic Theme Network to foster collaboration on Linear A decipherment and other Minoan
Minoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
issues.
See also
- Linear ALinear ALinear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete before Mycenaean Greek Linear B; Cretan hieroglyphs is the second script. In Minoan times, before the Mycenaean Greek dominion, Linear A was the official script for the palaces and religious activities, and hieroglyphs were mainly used on seals....
- Linear BLinear BLinear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It pre-dated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization...
- Minoan civilizationMinoan civilizationThe Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
- Mycenaean GreeceMycenaean GreeceMycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
- DeciphermentDeciphermentDecipherment is the analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost....
Books
- ΔΑΙΔΑΛΙΚΑ – Γραφές και Γλώσσες της Μινωικής και Μυκηναϊκής Κρήτης 20 Essays in Modern Greek (1991-96) Scripts and Languages of Minoan and Mycenaean (Herakleion:1996)
- KRITIKA DAIDALIKA — 20 Selected Essays in Memory of James T. Hooker on the Archaeology, Epigraphy and Philology of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete (Amsterdam & Las Palmas, Gran Canarias:1997) ISBN 90-256-1096-X.
- Evidence for Indo-European Language in the Minoan Documents — 5 Selected Articles on Minoan and Mycenaean Crete in memory and honour of Michael Ventris and John Chadwick to celebrate 50 years since the publication of “Evidence for Greek Dialect in the Mycenaean Archives”, Journal of Hellenic Studies 73, 1953, 84-103 and Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 1956, Monograph DO-SO-MO Fascicula Mycenologica Polona 6 (Piotrków TrybunalskiPiotrków TrybunalskiPiotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , and previously was the capital of Piotrków Voivodeship...
:2006)
DVD
The Scripts of Knossos — Heraklion, a City through the Ages, Municipality of HeraklionHeraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
and University of Crete
University of Crete
The University of Crete ' is the principal higher education institution on the island of Crete, Greece.The University of Crete, is a multi-disciplinary, research- oriented institution, located in the cities of Rethymno and Heraklion...
, 2004.