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Indus Script: Search for Grammar 1

Indus Script: Search for Grammar 1. Nisha Yadav Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Collaborators: Mayank Vahia, Iravatham Mahadevan, Hrishikesh Joglekar. 1 Lecture given at a two day seminar on “The Indus Script: Problems and Prospects”, Chennai. Contents. Indus Script - An Overview

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Indus Script: Search for Grammar 1

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  1. Indus Script: Search for Grammar1 Nisha Yadav Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Collaborators: Mayank Vahia, Iravatham Mahadevan, Hrishikesh Joglekar 1Lecture given at a two day seminar on “The Indus Script: Problems and Prospects”, Chennai

  2. Contents • Indus Script - An Overview • Various Approaches • Our Approach • Dataset • Preliminary Analysis • Analysis - 1 : Check against random order • Analysis - 2 : Positional analysis of Frequent Sign combinations • Text Beginners and Text Enders • Segmentation of Indus Texts • Summary Note: In the lecture, unless specified otherwise, all text examples are from Mahadevan 1977 and all images are from Parpola’s UNESCO volumes of Indus seals. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  3. 1) Indus Script: An Overview Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  4. Indus Valley Civilization Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007) From Mahadevan, 1977

  5. IndusScript : Pointers to understand • Indus script is one of the few scripts that defy decipherment. • Inscriptions found only on small objects like seals. • The inscriptions are very brief: average length 4-5 signs. • There are only 417 signs in the script as per Mahadevan’s Concordance (1977). • The script is pictographic with signs showing human, fish etc. • Signs are modified by joining or by strokes and many signs appear as combination of other simple signs. • The direction of the script is variable (mostly right to left: 83 % of times). • In general the seals are of 1 to 2 square inches in size. • There are no bi-lingual texts to aid decipherment. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  6. Direction indicators of the script • Cramping or overflow of signs at the left end • Orientation of asymmetric signs • Sequence of frequent combinations of signs • Split sequences A split sequence indicating direction Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  7. Scale of a typical seal For the most part, seals are between 1 inch or 2 inches square. From Professor John C. Huntington’s ppt Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  8. SEAL SEAL IMPRESSION SEAL SEAL IMPRESSION Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007) From Professor John C. Huntington’s ppt

  9. Specimens of Indus Texts on different objects Text No. Text From Mahadevan, 1977 Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  10. 2) Various Approaches Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  11. Indus Script Scientists from a variety of disciplines have attempted to read the Indus script with no clear answer. Various attempts so far include: • I. Mahadevan’s analytical work – Creation of first Published Concordance (1977) • Gift Siromoney’s statistical work • A. Parpola’s comparison with Dravidian • Russian group’s comparison with Dravidian • Subbarayappa’s interpretation as pure numerals • S. R. Rao’s interpretation as Vedic literature • Others (Ref. Possehl,1996) Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  12. 3) Our Approach Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  13. We make no assumption about its content or meaning. • Our first emphasis is to attempt to WRITE IN THE SCRIPT RATHER THAN READ. • We search for rules of writing without assigning meanings or interpretations. • We ignore variation due to archaeological context of sites, stratigraphy and type of objects. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  14. 4) Dataset Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  15. Dataset Unambiguous data subset (EBUDS) was created for analysis of the grammar of Indus writing, from the original electronic dataset of Mahadevan (1977) partially modified as M80. EBUDS: Extended Basic Unique Dataset, excludes • All ambiguous lines • All texts from sides having multiple lines • All duplicates (keeping their single occurrence) Thus, EBUDS consists of 1548 lines of texts, with 7000 sign occurrences. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  16. 5) PreliminaryAnalysis Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  17. Frequency distribution of Indus Signs • Only 67 (16% of total no. of signs) signs account for over 80% of the writing. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  18. Conclusions from Preliminary Analysis • The frequency distribution of the signs in EBUDS is consistent with M77. • The manner of choosing the data set has not changed the pattern of occurrence of various signs and the results are consistent with the analysis of M77. • Only 67 signs (16% of total no. of signs) account for over 80% of the writing. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  19. 6) Analysis 1:Check against Random Order Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  20. Methodology • We take 1548 unique texts (7000 signs) present in EBUDS. • We randomise their appearance keeping the frequency of each sign as in EBUDS. • We split this long random string (of 7000 signs) into texts of 1 to 14 signs as in EBUDS. • We create 10 such random databases. • We then compare the frequency of their sign pairs, triplets etc. with Genuine Indus database (EBUDS) to check if Indus texts have any significant sequencing. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  21. Comparison of EBUDS with Random Datasets Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  22. Result of Analysis 1 Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  23. Conclusions from Analysis 1 • String lengths of 2, 3 and 4 signs appear with frequency far higher than expected by random chance. • The signs are ordered in a specific manner. • It is justifiable to state that Indus texts followed certain rules and thereby meant something significant and meaningful. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  24. 7)Analysis 2: Positional analysis of Frequent Sign Combinations Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  25. Positional Analysis of Frequent Two-sign Combinations Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  26. Positional Analysis of Frequent Three-sign Combinations Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  27. Positional Analysis of Frequent Four-sign Combinations Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  28. Conclusions from Positional analysis • The most frequent two-sign, three-sign and four-sign combinations appear at fixed positions. • The exact location varies from combination to combination. • However, frequently occurring two-sign, three-sign and four-sign combinations may be incomplete except of course when they occur as solo texts. • It can be seen that two-sign, three-sign and four-sign combinations which are complete have typically one of the text-enders (mostly 342 or 211 ) at the end. This is confirmed by the solo occurrences of such texts. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  29. 8) Text Beginners and Text Enders Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  30. Indus Text Beginners and Enders Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  31. Consider an Indus Text with Signs G F E D C B A (In order of their statistical significance) Frequent Text Beginners Frequent Text Enders Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  32. Specimens of Indus Texts illustrating syntactical patterns From Mahadevan (1986) Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  33. Conclusions for Indus Script • There are well defined text-enders though text-beginners are not that well-defined. • Sign distribution within the strings seems to be ordered as per some specific rules. The distribution is far more significant than would arise by chance. • This indicates existence of patterns and rules that need to be dug out. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  34. 9) Segmentation of Indus Texts Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  35. SegmentationApproach There can be various methods which can be used for segmenting an Indus text namely • Comparing texts • Using frequent combinations of signs • Using Pair Frequencies • Using Single Signs (Enders, Beginners, Auxiliary Enders) These methods are overlapping and hence it is decided to select an approach which takes into consideration the effect of each of these. A cumulative method based on statistically significant units, is thus formulated. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  36. Segmentation Process Percent of texts split (for texts of 5 or more signs) INDUSTEXT Look for pair, triplet and quad texts successively 55 % split Look for frequent 4, 3 and 2 sign combinations successively 77 % split Look for Enders, Beginners and Auxiliary Enders successively 88 % split TEXT SEGMENTS Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  37. Segment Length vs. Segment Frequency in EBUDS before and after segmentation Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  38. EBUDS before and after segmentation EBUDS after Segmentation EBUDS before Segmentation Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  39. Few Examples of Segmentation Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  40. Conclusions from segmentation • It is possible to segment 88% of Indus texts of length 5 and above into segments of length 4 and below byusing statistically significant signs and their combinations in addition to all the texts of length 2, 3 and 4. • Many frequent sign combinations make their appearance as independent texts. • The Indus texts after segmentation can be viewed as permutations of the identifiable units (segments) of 2, 3 or 4 signs. • The identifiable units may or may not be standalone (or complete) pieces of information. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  41. 10) Summary Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  42. Summary • The writing is highly ordered. • Typical length of information containing units is 2, 3 or maximum 4 signs. • However, they are not always complete enough to exist as standalone pieces of text. • This suggests a more complex grammar in the writing where information units need proper beginners or enders. • The present study shows that Indus writing seems to have specific ordering as would be expected if sophisticated information is coded. This is consistent with the general level of sophistication associated with the Indus culture. Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

  43. End Indus Script: Search for Grammar, Yadav et.al. (2007)

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