# Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language? · Indus script > Four answers have been proposed. The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. leads, with evidence 3 for, 1 against… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-26T11:57:43+00:00 --- **0** # Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language? Asked 26 Oct 2026 by [**apollo** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)·4 answers·0·0 following **Most likely: the signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language** Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted. ## Where it stands Four answers have been proposed. The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. leads, with evidence 3 for, 1 against: partly supported by its tests. Three are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet. ## Why it matters If the signs do not encode speech, no decipherment is possible and the question becomes what the symbols were for. The argument that they are not writing was made in 2004 and has been contested statistically ever since⁠[[1]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQVFM66A1/the-collapse-of-the-indus-script-thesis-the-myth-of-a)⁠[[2]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MSPJ858B9/entropic-evidence-for-linguistic-structure-in-the-indus)⁠[[3]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MT1SM3EB0/a-statistical-comparison-of-written-language-and). ## Answers 4 [**The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3FSP48TH/the-signs-are-a-logo-syllabic-writing-system-that-encodes-a) Partly supported by its tests Evidence: 3 for, 1 against Most likely [**None of these.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3JFM7YY4/none-of-these) Not tested enough to call either way Evidence: none yet Still possible [**The signs are a non-linguistic symbol system (emblems, clan or office marks, religious symbols) with…** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3H0R1SE5/the-signs-are-a-non-linguistic-symbol-system-emblems-clan-or) Tested, but the results don't decide it Evidence: 2 for, 1 against Disputed [**The signs are proto-writing, a system that records names, titles and commodities by logograms without full…** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3J002H5Q/the-signs-are-proto-writing-a-system-that-records-names) Not tested enough to call either way Evidence: 1 for Still possible ## History 1. 1994[Parpola puts forward: the signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY36RM4PRY/deciphering-the-indus-script) 1. 1994[Parpola: the signs form a stable, bounded inventory used consistently across sites and centuries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY36RM4PRY/deciphering-the-indus-script)For: The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. 1. 1994[Parpola: the brevity and the seal context are consistent with records of names, titles and ownership.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY36RM4PRY/deciphering-the-indus-script)For: The signs are proto-writing, a system that records names, titles and commodities by logograms without full… 1. 2004[Farmer et al. puts forward: the signs are a non-linguistic symbol system (emblems, clan or office marks, religious symbols) with…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQVFM66A1/the-collapse-of-the-indus-script-thesis-the-myth-of-a) 1. 2004[Farmer et al.: no text longer than about seventeen signs on one surface exists, which is unlike any known literate…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQVFM66A1/the-collapse-of-the-indus-script-thesis-the-myth-of-a)Against: The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. 1. 2004[Farmer et al.: the texts are short, there are no long inscriptions, and a high proportion of signs occur once, which the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQVFM66A1/the-collapse-of-the-indus-script-thesis-the-myth-of-a)For: The signs are a non-linguistic symbol system (emblems, clan or office marks, religious symbols) with… 1. 2009[Rao et al.: conditional entropy of sign pairs lies in the range of natural-language scripts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MSPJ858B9/entropic-evidence-for-linguistic-structure-in-the-indus)For: The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. 1. 2010[Yadav et al.: n-gram models find strong positional and sequential structure, including start-favouring and end-favouring…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTJMP7V2Q/statistical-analysis-of-the-indus-script-using-n-grams)For: The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. 1. 2010[Yadav et al.: the positional structure, including terminal signs that behave like grammatical suffixes, is more easily…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTJMP7V2Q/statistical-analysis-of-the-indus-script-using-n-grams)Against: The signs are a non-linguistic symbol system (emblems, clan or office marks, religious symbols) with… 1. 2014[Sproat puts forward: the signs are proto-writing, a system that records names, titles and commodities by logograms without full…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MT1SM3EB0/a-statistical-comparison-of-written-language-and) 1. 2014[Sproat: statistical measures applied to real non-linguistic systems cannot reliably separate them from writing, so…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MT1SM3EB0/a-statistical-comparison-of-written-language-and)For: The signs are a non-linguistic symbol system (emblems, clan or office marks, religious symbols) with… 1. 26 Oct 2026Asked on this site ## Discussion 0 [Add to the discussion](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language%23discussion) Help with this question [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ] [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language%23add-answer) [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ] [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language%23add-evidence) [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ] [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language%23add-question) [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ] [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language%23add-source) Where it fits Indus script **Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language?** Key question · you're here [Can statistical measures tell whether an unknown symbol system is writing?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3FA22GA4/can-statistical-measures-tell-whether-an-unknown-symbol)Most likely · such measures do not discriminate reliably, so the Indus question cannot be settled from the corpus… [ Ask a question under this one ]