Linear B sign B056

No single pronunciation is secure. In scholarly Latin-letter transcriptions of Linear B tablets, the sign is written *56 or B056 as an identifier, not a known spoken syllable. *56-ra-ku-ja occurs beside pa-ra-ku-ja, which supports—but does not prove—a proposed sound like pa in papa. A separate comparison pairs *56-ru-we with ko-ru-we, but the proposed match between those personal names is unconfirmed.

Why was B056 used?

It served Mycenaean Greek palace record-keeping. Linear B is a syllabary—a writing system that records words largely with signs for syllables—and its earliest use is associated with Knossos around 1450 BCE. Clay tablets record goods, quantities and the movement of people through the palace system; B056 appears within that practical script.

Linear B carries a sign inherited from Linear A, the earlier Cretan script, where it is labeled AB056. The sign occurs especially in Cretan place-names, personal names and textile terms, with some mainland examples. That pattern supports proposals that it represented a Minoan or other non-Greek sound that Greek-oriented spelling could not capture neatly.