The very idea of looking at "elaborate" parts of the VMS is evoken by the assumption that the scribe was the originator of the script. If he ever was in need to "get used to the script" - that would mean that he was not familiar with it (e.g. was a mere copyist). In that case the writing, however elaborate, most probably would not betray the specifics of glyph construction, because the copyist understood no more in that than we do (and I think, even less).
Looking closer at f1r, I would agree now that it is not a good candidate indeed; but at the same time I would note that, although the writing is ambiguos, but, very strangely, only in part. What I mean is: look e.g. at line 1, vord 4. Is it ytaiin or ataiin? The first character is ambiguous. But, at the same time, there is a very clear y as early as in the very first vord of this line, and a very clear a is observed already in line 2, if not in the vord *taiin itself. This does not look as "getting accustomed". This sadly looks as having troubles in copying. Another option is that it was written just carelessly. That it is the first folio in the binding does not mean that it was written in the first place. A blank page might have been left for to be filled in later (like, to provide abstracts of chapters yet to be written).
(11-06-2017, 02:06 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view....
That it is the first folio in the binding does not mean that it was written in the first place. A blank page might have been left for to be filled in later (like, to provide abstracts of chapters yet to be written).
I completely agree that this is possible, that it could have been written later or perhaps was meant to be bound in some other sequence and was never intended as the first page (or that the leaves for the first pages are lost), but... out of all the folios in the manuscript, it is the one folio that has the look of an introductory page (with "red weirdos" to fancy it up) and it's the only folio that doesn't have the same familiarity and fluency in writing as the others.
It's the same hand that wrote the next couple of dozen pages and the script is tidier on the subsequent pages. Even the inventors of new languages or alphabets have to get used to writing them. I spoke pig-Latin and wrote code letters to friends when I was a kid and it took me a while to get good at it.
Here are some possibilities (assuming the first page really is the first page):
- The manuscript is a group project (at least two scribes) and the person who invented it is Hand 2 and Hand 1 was a major contributor (perhaps a direct relative) but not yet fluent in writing Voynichese.
- The first page was written first, was not quite as good as desired, a wax tablet was enlisted to write out the words first and then copied, thus leading to more fluent pages after the first page.
- The first page was written first, was not quite as desired, the scribe practiced a bit more, then continued on.
- The first page was not quite as good as desired, the two scribes had a conference and scribe one tried harder on the following pages.
Those are just some quick ideas. I'm sure there are many more possibilities.
(11-06-2017, 02:06 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Looking closer at f1r, I would agree now that it is not a good candidate indeed; but at the same time I would note that, although the writing is ambiguos, but, very strangely, only in part. What I mean is: look e.g. at line 1, vord 4. Is it ytaiin or ataiin? The first character is ambiguous. But, at the same time, there is a very clear y as early as in the very first vord of this line, and a very clear a is observed already in line 2, if not in the vord *taiin itself. This does not look as "getting accustomed". This sadly looks as having troubles in copying. Another option is that it was written just carelessly. That it is the first folio in the binding does not mean that it was written in the first place. A blank page might have been left for to be filled in later (like, to provide abstracts of chapters yet to be written).
The circle is smaller for the [y] then for the [o]. In my eyes this indicates that the word is [ytaiin].
This are the correction I would made for the transcription of Takahashi for page f1r:
<f1r.P1.1;H>
ataiin -->
ytaiin
<f1r.P1.2;H>
Shar are -->
Shar air
<f1r.P1.3;H>
sa- -->
sy-
<f1r.P1.4;H>
ooiin oteey oteos roloty cth*ar daiin otaiin -->
doiin oteey oteor roloty cThaar daiin okaiin
<f1r.P1.5;H>
dair y chear -->
sairy chear
<f1r.P2.7;H>
odar o y Shol -->
odar sy Shol
<f1r.P3.12;H>
scKhey -->
scKhhy
<f1r.P3.13;H>
cThey She oldain -->
cThhy Shy oldain
<f1r.P3.17;H>
chokain -->
chekain
<f1r.P4.22;H>
ro d*- -->
ro dar-
<f1r.P4.23;H>
*doin chol -->
ydoin chol
<f1r.P4.26;H>
d*eeo Shody -->
dcheo Shody
There is a clear indication that the the text was not copied. The end of the lines nearly always fit into the available space. Also the text placed around illustrations fits into available space. That the text considers the available space indicates that the scribe was also the author of the manuscript.
Quote:The end of the lines nearly always fit into the available space. Also the text placed around illustrations fits into available space.
Hmm... how does that come to be the indication? Suppose there are those pre-ordered wax tablets, and the text is transferred from them. That the text does fit the illustrations also is not very indicative, because the transfer from the tablets may have been not on the line-to-line basis: if the illustration disturbs the line, the scribe just transfers the text into the following line. Same thing for fitting the available space.
***
I have some observations from the pages that Rene suggested to look at, will share them later in the day.
(12-06-2017, 10:45 AM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:The end of the lines nearly always fit into the available space. Also the text placed around illustrations fits into available space.
Hmm... how does that come to be the indication? Suppose there are those pre-ordered wax tablets, and the text is transferred from them. That the text does fit the illustrations also is not very indicative, because the transfer from the tablets may have been not on the line-to-line basis: if the illustration disturbs the line, the scribe just transfers the text into the following line. Same thing for fitting the available space.
***
I have some observations from the pages that Rene suggested to look at, will share them later in the day.
A line works as a functional unit. It is possible to describe patterns for a certain position in a line. Therefore we can exclude the possibility that some text was transferred into the next line. Moreover the words at the end of a line are shorter on average. This indicates that it was possible for the scribe to select words fitting into the available space.
Hmm... that's something worth thinking over on its own...
Made a renewed exercise on the decomposition of the characters. It is located You are not allowed to view links.
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Of course, this can be interpreted also differently, and different choices can always be made.
It's just an exercise and it doesn't directly lead to a solution.
![[Image: decomposition-voynich-characters-2017-1024x662.jpg]](http://voynich.webpoint.nl/wp-content/uploads/decomposition-voynich-characters-2017-1024x662.jpg)
It appears that the symbol number four in my table ("mirrored e" or extended EVA &163; ) should not be confused with the tail modifier like in n or r.
The reason is that the tail modifier as such can be appended to &163;, and not only can it be appended to the top (yielding &135; ), but also to the bottom, yielding the last symbol of f14v, line 7 (I think it's extended EVA &211; ).
That gives room to с + tail = b, while e + &163; = o, like initially suggested in the table.