Hello Ted,
======= At 2004-06-07, 22:07:00 you wrote: =======
Just this weekend I noticed some striking symmetry in the
>Voynich alphabet (or whatever it may be). I have laid out the alphabet in
>the following table. This is by no means the only way to group them, nor
>does it bring up any obvious solutions. Just thought that it might inspire
>someone.
It is obvious that some VM signs are composites of the other, simple ones.
This could have lead to
uncertainty should the "letters" be connected and not separated by spaces
(or was it the only reason
for their separation?). After all, writing separate letters is more
tiring since one has to lift the pen for
each "letter". On the other hand, the script is definitely not a "printed
font" version, which
automatically requires inter-letter spacing.
Why would the author invent so many composite signs while he had other
single shapes available (say
larger circle beside the smaler one, or short lines under different
angles) is not clear - after all the signs
for "r" and "s" or "d" and "g" are too close for comfort :-). Or maybe
there is some system in it, as
your table shows, but which one?
True - as we can see from your table - he was using very few basic
elements and yes, some
shapes, even composites, are much simpler than some Latin letters (cursive
"k" or "y", etc.) He was
surely simplifying the "letters" of his alphabet to high degree and still
- or maybe because of that - the
writing does look quite beautiful. He was certainly skilled in writing
his script, which suggests he
probably perfected it for long time.
Gallows, on the other hand, show combinations of rather higher order - so
they might have some
meaning of their own, as Nick already suggested in his work.
Also, the text has no commas, which were - I believe - already used in
middle ages, neither it has full stops - the "sentences" look more like
paragraphs. All those features are present in coded messages, here they
are becoming superfluous or even a clear giveway. Also, the function of
spaces between the words" is still unclear. Apparently, we have still
long way to go.
Jan
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