
Sep 14, 2021 • 5M
BONUS: Decoding the First Writing System
How do you unlock an undecipherable alphabet?
JOHN McWHORTER: There's a story that Iranian languages involve that I want to share with you, despite the fact that it's about writing. And I avoid talking too much about writing on Lexicon Valley because writing is visual, but this is just too good.
The first writing is cuneiforms. It's these wedge diggings into clay. They're beautiful, but they were u…
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