Re: VMs: [LONG] Voynich & semiotics (early notes)

[Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gabriele Ferri wrote:

> I do believe in the "open source" approach of this
> group and I guarantee you
> that:
> - my paper (for what it will be worth...) will be
> freely available online,
> although translating it in English will require a
> little extra time
> - I will acknoledge and thank all the people who
> will help me

Excellent, thanks. If you want checks of factual,
historical information I'd be glad to assist.
 
> Now, I'd like to ask a few questions:

> b) The Chinese theory (voynich is a phonetical
> transcription of a
> non-indoeuropean language): is it abandoned? has a
> synopsis been written? if so, where can I find it?

It has not been abandoned. The words of the Voynich
MS language appear to be composed according to
some 'rule' which is not found in the languages
used in Europe in the 15th Century. Various
theories to explain it have been proposed: 
artificial language, or in fact a (largely) 
monosyllabic, tonal language (like Chinese, but
it does not have to be).
Go to:
http://www.ic.unicamp.br/~stolfi/voynich/
and check various links under 'What is new here'.

> b-bis) If the vms is actually a phonetical
> transcription, it could be
> completely not-understandable and definitely lost
> unless a pronounciation
> guide is found (and only if the language
> transcripted can be recognized
> phonetically). Is it true?

I'm optimistic, so I wouldn't immediately say
that it is true, but still the MS could be a 
phonetical transcription (already proposed in the
1970's during a symposium on the Voynich MS).

> c) the "fake theory": someone believes that the VMS
> is actually glossolalia?
> has a synopsis of such theory been written? is there
> any statistical
> analysis proving or disproving this theory?

The small known written samples of glossolalia
tend to be very different, but these are rants
from modern people, so one has to be very
careful to conclude anything from that.

> g) To Dana Scott or others: do you have one text
> containing all the matches
> you've found for the images in the VMS?

One has to be careful with matches with modern
illustrations. Matches with medieval herbal books
have been largely negative. While some plant
illustrations really look like existing plants,
it is not at all sure that the illustration intend
to represent it. This is because:
- in those days, accuracy of reproduction was not
  that important
- many figures in the VMs look like imaginary
  plants.
The above is the opinion of herbal experts, not
mine.

Cheers, Rene

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