Eteocretan language

Not to be confused with Minoan, the language written in Linear A a millennium earlier than Eteocretan.

Eteocretan /ˌiːtɪoʊˈkriːtən, ˌɛt-/ (lit. "true Cretan", fromGreek ἐτεός, meaning "true" + Cretan) is the non-Greek language of a few alphabetic inscriptions of ancient Crete.

In eastern Crete about half a dozen inscriptions have been found which, though written in Greek alphabets, are clearly not Greek. These inscriptions date from the late 7th or early 6th century down to the 3rd century BC. The language, which is not understood, is probably a survival of a language spoken on Crete before the arrival of Greeks and may or may not be derived from the Minoan language preserved in the Linear A inscriptions of a millennium earlier. Since that language remains untranslated, it is not certain that Eteocretan and Minoan are related.