VMs: repetitions repetitions

["Marke Fincher" <markefincher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It is clear from many different analytical approaches that the structure and
composition of VMS text mirrors in part certain important properties of
genuine
written languages.  It is this that seems so compelling, and means at least
that
if the text is gibberish that the author(s) had a very sophisticated
understanding
of languages and went to great efforts to create a text which exhibited
these
properties.

However, whilst undeniably having some of these properties the VMS also
contains
features which do not appear in any other known writing with demonstrable
meaning,
principally the multiple repetition of exact or slightly varying 'words'.

These are very hard to explain in terms of either languages or ciphers
without
similar repetition existing in the plain-text, which would strongly
challenge the
theory that the VMS contains any purposeful or interesting meaning!

But why would a hoaxer who has demonstrated an intricate and subtle
knowledge of
the dynamics of written languages, and who is keen to promote the idea that
there
is meaning to be revealed in the text deliberately incorporate or tolerate
features
of the created text which would inevitably defy that very interpretation?
This too is compelling.

It seems to me that some people are keen to focus away from the repetitions
as
annoying anomalies and resistant to explanation whereas surely their
uniqueness
in the written world is an important key to understanding what process
created
the document.

In trying to think of any process which could create repetitions where none
existed in the plain-text the only I could come up with was if the Voynich
'words'
were in fact a system of references into another text (such as the bible).

With a system such as this the encoder (being only human) would be bound to
look first for the desired words on the current page he was working from to
reduce what would already be a monumental effort in this method of
encryption.
This would produce a close similarity in the references of adjacent words
until
the encoder was forced or decided to change page.  In addition it might be
the
case that whole phrases or sequences of words in the plain-text could be
taken
from the same location it the reference book.  The method of indicating this
in
the coded text might conceivably also give rise to repetitions.

A reference based code might also explain why there are very few common
words
repeated throughout the entire manuscript.

Of course, one real problem with this system of coded writing is that rare
words
desired in the plain text might not exist at all in the reference text.  In
this
case an alternative system would have to suffice.  Could this be why the
label
text appears different in many respects to the main body text?  Analysists
seem
to have had greater success with the labels than the main text.

If the Voynich 'words' are indeed coded references, there would probably be
a
hierarchical structure to them (i.e.  Book Number, Chapter, Verse, Word
Number for
instance).  You would expect greater variation as you progressed down the
hierarchy.
Symbols would have different frequencies depending on what part of the
hierarchy
they were in.  Could such a system match the observed lower entropy of the
first
two characters of Voynich words?

A problem perhaps with the reference theory is that the length of absolute
references would be mostly very uniform.  This does not match the
distribution of
VMS word lengths, which includes some single and two character words, and
some
10 character words.   At the risk of going to unjustified lengths to save
the theory
we could attempt to explain this with a combination of:

  (1) individual parts of a reference can be represented by multiple symbols
(as in
      R. Firths alternating alphabets perhaps?).

  (2) the reference coding involves a mixture of relative and absolute
references.

  (3) References are sometimes conjoined or split with spaces.

  (4) The very short words are not references at all, but explicit letters.


However, this would seem like an exercise in wish fulfilment!

I'll close my extended ramble with the depressing thought that if there is
meaning
to the VMS, and it is encoded with references into another work, it will be
close
to impossible to decode it, unless a suspicious book turns up with ticks in
it.

Marke

[sits back and awaits flamage... :-]


P.S.  The only other process I could think of that creates word repetitions
where
none exist in the plain-text is where there is no plain-text and/or the
writer is
mentally disturbed.






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