LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 25:7 July 2025
ISSN 1930-2940

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The Indus Valley/Harappan Script Translation

Rishabh B

Abstract

Symbols were taken from intact seals of the Indus Valley/Harappan civilisation and analysed for similarity to other known languages. Identical symbols were demonstrated. Text from eight Indus Script seals were analysed and appeared to be related to the Germanic languages. The symbols identical to the Germanic languages were present in multiple seals from the Indus Valley/Harappan period and, therefore, may help elucidate some of the meaning of the Indus Script.

Keywords:Indus Valley; Germanic languages; Harappan period; Indus Script

Introduction

The Indus Script translation task has been largely unsuccessful. The language is remarkable for resisting translation attempts and for its associated enigmatic illustrations. Observing multiple languages, the symbols of the Indus Script appear visually similar to the Germanic languages. Despite decades of research, no one has successfully deciphered the script or identified any linguistic relatives. The true meaning of the script remains elusive (Bhargava, 2025). A novel comparative approach helps attempt translation.

Method

I have classified symbols from eight of the Indus Script seals according to the degree of similarity with the alphabets of three Germanic languages, regardless of other features, as either "identical", "identical base letterform" and "near identical". In certain cases, the symbols are identical.

The symbols of the Indus Script were focal on their specific seals and lacked significant gaps between them suggesting a possibly ritualistic language following the "criptio continua" structure of runic alphabets, where symbols placed close together gained holistic meaning rather than individual words or phrases.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Rishabh B
University of Adelaide Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
South Australia, Australia
A1794322@student.adelaide.edu.au
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