05-12-2020, 12:07 AM
05-12-2020, 12:56 AM
They had posted on the r/Voynich Reddit but of course it’s hard to judge from such short discussions. It will be interesting to see what they did.
05-12-2020, 06:45 AM
I read this but am not at all convinced that this is a valid approach. It seems rather naive.
Wasn't there a thread here about work by D'Imperio showing that meaning was not to be found at the glyph or vord level? It was using classified software, the name escapes me at the moment...Egyptian I think?
Wasn't there a thread here about work by D'Imperio showing that meaning was not to be found at the glyph or vord level? It was using classified software, the name escapes me at the moment...Egyptian I think?
05-12-2020, 09:02 AM
"... our idea was to find some word for blue...."
Except in a few instances (maybe Viola), I think it's unlikely that the color blue represents the color of the flower. The VMS palette is limited and blue has not been blended as much as the greens.
White, yellow, red, orange, and pink are very common colors for flowers and yet there's limited use of red, no yellow or orange, no pink, almost no white. The blue is probably symbolic and many of the blue structures are drawn like seeds rather than flowers, so searching for the word "blue" on folios with blue flowers or seeds is unlikely to yield anything useful.
Also, in medieval books of plants, if the purpose of the drawing was to identify the plant, then the most significant parts were mentioned (but not always all of them, sometimes it was only the ones that were particularly recognizable for that plant). If the purpose was to show medicinal plants (which was the purpose of the majority of medieval books of plants), often only the medicinal parts were mentioned.
We don't know if either of these purposes apply to the VMS, but it makes it difficult to search for specific plant-related words because even if the drawing has it, it's not necessarily mentioned in the text.
Except in a few instances (maybe Viola), I think it's unlikely that the color blue represents the color of the flower. The VMS palette is limited and blue has not been blended as much as the greens.
White, yellow, red, orange, and pink are very common colors for flowers and yet there's limited use of red, no yellow or orange, no pink, almost no white. The blue is probably symbolic and many of the blue structures are drawn like seeds rather than flowers, so searching for the word "blue" on folios with blue flowers or seeds is unlikely to yield anything useful.
Also, in medieval books of plants, if the purpose of the drawing was to identify the plant, then the most significant parts were mentioned (but not always all of them, sometimes it was only the ones that were particularly recognizable for that plant). If the purpose was to show medicinal plants (which was the purpose of the majority of medieval books of plants), often only the medicinal parts were mentioned.
We don't know if either of these purposes apply to the VMS, but it makes it difficult to search for specific plant-related words because even if the drawing has it, it's not necessarily mentioned in the text.
05-12-2020, 10:20 AM
I haven't read through the whole article. It seems interesting, but also a bit incomplete - what about the other colors that are distinct, can similar correlations with other words be found also with them?
05-12-2020, 11:27 AM
05-12-2020, 12:01 PM
Ah, right. I searched for author name yesterday but it was not mentioned in the previous posts.
05-12-2020, 07:58 PM
While searching for a textual connection is probably off the mark, the situation regarding the use of blue paint is worth considering, particularly the inappropriate or excessive use of blue paint in places it doesn't need to be. This is for the purpose of desensitization.
In medieval heraldry, color is very important. Each color has a meaning. They cannot be substituted. Therefore, the repeated use of blue in various places serves to desensitize the use in significant examples by creating ambiguity. This is the Genoese Gambit of VMs White Aries (f71r). Are the blue stripes significant?
In medieval heraldry, color is very important. Each color has a meaning. They cannot be substituted. Therefore, the repeated use of blue in various places serves to desensitize the use in significant examples by creating ambiguity. This is the Genoese Gambit of VMs White Aries (f71r). Are the blue stripes significant?