In
philology, decipherment is the discovery of the meaning of texts written in ancient or obscure languages or scripts. Decipherment in
cryptography refers to
decryption. The term is used sardonically in everyday language to describe attempts to read poor handwriting. In
genetics, decipherment is the successful attempt to understand
DNA, which is viewed metaphorically as a text containing word-like units.
[Snustad, D. Peter, et al. (2016). ''Principles of Genetics''. Wiley, p.302] Throughout science the term decipherment is synonymous with the understanding of biological and chemical phenomena.
Ancient languages
In a few cases, a multilingual artifact has been necessary to facilitate decipherment, the
Rosetta Stone being the classic example. Statistical techniques provide another pathway to decipherment, as does the analysis of modern languages derived from ancient languages in which undeciphered texts are written. Archaeological and historical information is helpful in verifying hypothesized decipherments.
Decipherers
See also
Deciphered scripts
*
Cuneiform
*
Egyptian hieroglyphs
*
Kharoshthi
*
Linear B
Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...
*
Mayan
*
Staveless Runes
*
Cypriot Syllabary
Undeciphered scripts
*
Rongorongo
*
Indus script
*
Cretan hieroglyphs
*
Byblos syllabary
*
Linear A
*
Linear Elamite
Linear Elamite was a writing system used in Elam during the Bronze Age between , and known mainly from a few extant monumental inscriptions. It was used contemporaneously with Elamite cuneiform and records the Elamite language. The French archae ...
*
Cypro-Minoan syllabary
*
Espanca
*
Numidian language
Undeciphered texts
*
Phaistos Disc
*
Rohonc Codex
The Rohonc Codex () is an illustrated manuscript book by an unknown author, with a text in an unknown language and writing system, that surfaced in Hungary in the early 19th century. The book's origin and the meaning of its text and illustrations ...
*
Voynich Manuscript
References
{{Authority control
Cryptography
Writing systems
Genetics terms
Philology