Give two important characteristics of the harappan script?
Answers
The very short Indus texts are unlikely to be complete sentences. They may consist of mostly noun-phrases only. Subject to this limitation some typological features of the language can still be detected. For example, the occurrence of numerals before the enumerated objects makes it likely that in the Harappan language the adjective precedes the noun it qualifies. Parpola has devised a 'grid' in which inscriptions are so arranged as to place identical or similar signs in the same columns. On the basis of this analysis Parpola constructs a general model of Indus 'sentences' with a maximum of three main positions or 'slots' corresponding to linguistic units in the language. However he admits frankly his "present inability to identify morphological markers with any certainty"(p.97).
Parpola's structural analysis is brilliant and mostly on sound lines. I am particularly struck by the fact that despite differences in detail there is a clear convergence of results flowing from the Soviet, Finnish and Indian computer-aided structural analyses. The major points of agreement are on the logo-syllabic character of the Indus script, the syntactical pattern of the inscriptions and the Dravidian-like features of the Harappan language. A major area of disagreement concerns the identity and functions of morphological markers. I have no doubt that the areas of disagreement will progressively get eliminated as we learn more about the Indus script through objective analysis of the kind undertaken by Parpola in this book.