(31-10-2016, 02:57 PM)ThomasCoon Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Thanks Marco - In your command, is there the option for nulls in each category?
Yes, it's the question mark:
(q|d)?
means 0 or 1 occurrences of either q or d.
PS: I think that you can run grep on windows if you install the "cygwin" software.
A small note:
if you run regex you will see, you need to improve the formula into a non-infinite string.
Also you must limit the total size of the string, with minimum and maximum bounds.
Then, to round it all up, you need to specify not only the grep-position, but it would be nice to define the frequency range for each letter as well.
All that does not fit in a Regex expression, because it is designed & intended for checking a string / pattern matching.
Not for implementation and creation of a grouped string.
(31-10-2016, 02:00 AM)ThomasCoon Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (30-10-2016, 10:38 PM)Emma May Smith Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Can you explain why this tool would be useful? Or what fundamentals of word structure it reveals?
Good question. There are so many peculiar features of Voynichese word structure, and I was theorizing an underlying system that could explain them all. For example, my small table would account for:
1) Why many vords spelled with <t> can also appear with <k> - and what the overall relation between the gallows might be.
2) Why many vords spelled with 2 <e>'s can also appear with 1 or 0.
3) Why many vords spelled with <sh> can also appear with <ch>
4) Why many vords spelled with <yk> or <yt> can also appear with <ok> or <ot>
5) Why most words beginning with <q> can also be valid without it
6) Why many words ending in <daiin> can also end in <dy>
7) Why many words spelled with <ar> and <al> can also appear with <or> and <ol>
So your theory is that this table, or something like it, was used to generate Voynich words?
(31-10-2016, 06:29 PM)Emma May Smith Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.So your theory is that this table, or something like it, was used to generate Voynich words?
Hi Emma,
I am considering the idea that the scribe may have used a table like this to produce vords, but not in a meaningless way (like the "table-and-grille" idea). I don't have an exact theory, but I've been wondering if the VMS is not linguistic text but meta-text. Perhaps each individual vord is really a set of inputs / a set of "instructions", which you then plug into some table to get a plaintext output. Perhaps something like this:
- [qo present]+[any galllows]+[ch]+[any group from column 6]+[o]+[any group from column 11] → one specific output
- [qo not present]+[any gallows]+[ch]+[any group from column 11]+[y] → a different specific output
- [qo not present]+[no gallows]+[ch]+[a/o]+[any group from column 11] → yet a third different output
I'm just so perplexed by all the components that seem to "switch out" for one another, like <Sh> and <ch> - but this is all speculation. Please feel free to point out holes you may see!
You mean like each word represents a letter and each line a word?
(31-10-2016, 10:27 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You mean like each word represents a letter and each line a word?
Exactly, something like that.
And in this system, there might be several vords which all produce the same plaintext letter, not just 1 single vord = 1 single letter.
(31-10-2016, 10:23 PM)ThomasCoon Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (31-10-2016, 06:29 PM)Emma May Smith Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.So your theory is that this table, or something like it, was used to generate Voynich words?
Hi Emma,
I am considering the idea that the scribe may have used a table like this to produce vords, but not in a meaningless way (like the "table-and-grille" idea). I don't have an exact theory, but I've been wondering if the VMS is not linguistic text but meta-text. Perhaps each individual vord is really a set of inputs / a set of "instructions", which you then plug into some table to get a plaintext output. Perhaps something like this:
- [qo present]+[any galllows]+[ch]+[any group from column 6]+[o]+[any group from column 11] → one specific output
- [qo not present]+[any gallows]+[ch]+[any group from column 11]+[y] → a different specific output
- [qo not present]+[no gallows]+[ch]+[a/o]+[any group from column 11] → yet a third different output
I'm just so perplexed by all the components that seem to "switch out" for one another, like <Sh> and <ch> - but this is all speculation. Please feel free to point out holes you may see!
No, that's great, I just wasn't sure. There have been a number of attempts to model Voynich words (I've tried too), and they seem to fall into two categories:
1) attempts to generalize the structure which is obvious to any researcher; and
2) attempts to generate the text as a means of explaining its origin.
The first is part of analysis and the second of theorizing. I'm happy that either can be productive but I wanted to make sure which one you're pursuing. I quite agree that the seeming "modularity" of words is a bit of a puzzle.
(31-10-2016, 11:15 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (31-10-2016, 10:27 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You mean like each word represents a letter and each line a word?
What about labels? 
That would have been my follow up question. I am nearly certain that labels represent actual words.
One could argue of course that labels are governed by a different system than paragraphs, but I'm not sure if there is any evidence to support that.
In any case, I'd like to stress the point that is trivial but nonetheless easily forgotten in a discussion about the possible rules or algorithms.
If one suggests a procedure for encoding, then a procedure for (unambigous) decoding should be conceivable as well.
And, vice versa, if one suggests a decoding procedure, then the respcetive encoding procedure should be conceivable.
Respectively, if a set of "instructions" is supposed to convert Voynichese to plain text, then what would be the set of instructions to achieve the opposite? How, with a specific output, we achieve "[qo present]+[any galllows]+[ch]+[any group from column 6]+[o]+[any group from column 11]"?