Linear B Syllable E

It writes the vowel-only syllable “e,” not a whole word. In Linear B, sign B038 records the e sound in a word of Mycenaean Greek, an ancient form of Greek. A syllabary is a writing system whose signs represent syllables; separate signs marked commodities and other counted things.

The earliest known Linear B tablets come from Knossos, a palace center on Crete. The Room of the Chariot Tablets is treated as the earliest Linear B archive; broad dating places it in the mid-15th century BCE, though the absolute date is debated. Linear B adapted the older Linear A script to record Mycenaean Greek in palace administration, including inventories, accounts, commodities, and land records. The later Cypriot syllabary was a separate Greek-writing system, possibly linked through Cypro-Minoan, another script tradition; it was not the later Greek alphabet.

How do you type 𐀁?

On a Linear B keyboard, enter e or Bennett number 38 followed by a space. The B in B038 is a catalogue prefix, not an extra sound.

If the character appears as a square or question mark, the active font lacks its glyph; choose one that supports Linear B. Fonts can draw the same encoded character differently, so match the typeface to the manuscript or chart you are reproducing.