Novel software to decode world's lost languages
Wednesday, 21 July 2010, 22:30 IST
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London: Scientists have developed a new computer programme that can automatically translate an ancient language into a known language, a discovery they hope could help them decipher some of the scripts that are yet to be understood. Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the programme has successfully decoded the over three-thousand-year-old Ugaritic language. The system is then able to make assumptions about the way different words are formed and whether they consist of a prefix and a suffix, for example. Through repeated analysis, the program linked letters and words to map nearly all Ugaritic (last used around 1200 BC in Syria) symbols to their Hebrew equivalents in a matter of hours.
Source: PTI
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