05-04-2024, 01:53 PM
[I know: it's speculative, just an experiment, not a theory, I'm not buying it myself.]
Omitting spaces in a ciphered or coded message only makes sense if the original string of symbols or code words can be reconstructed.
The problem with using MZ's slot sequence directly on space-less Voynichese is that there are several ways to insert spaces: the same glyphs appear several times in the slot sequence. So I tried a different slot sequence as an experiment to see what happens: this is an attempt (un-optimized, just an example) to re-parse vords of space-less Voynichese unambiguously.
In this example, I removed all spaces from the first paragraph of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
polcheyqokedySholopchedyolpchedyofShdyoly
dcheylShlolchedqokolcholotarchedyoky
qoteylcheesolkalolchedyokarShedy
dchedyqokainololchcThyykeedyal
qolcheolokeeyolololaiinolorain
sarolesesoteeyShorqokeeyol
dSheesokainchcThyoteyokain
pchedyqokeeyotyqoteyoteeyoly
qoteesyqotedyqokeedychcPhey
choldainotedycheeyqotainly
olSheololkedyShecKhedyoltedy
ychedytedyolSheedyqokeeyloly
dcholShedyqotedyqolchedychetyry
qokechedyqolSheedyorainaroloeeedy
sainolcheedyqokeedyotedy
Then vords were re-constructed using the following unambiguous 10-slot sequence defined as a regular expression:
Replace:
"((qo|)(k|t|p|f|)(ch|Sh|)(c(K|T|P|F)h|)(eee|ee|e|)(o|a|)(iii|ii|i|)(d|l|r|s|)(m|n|)(y|))"
with:
"\1\."
Spaces at the end of lines were removed:
Replace:
"\.$"
with:
""
Result:
pol.chey.qokedy.Shol.o.pchedy.ol.pchedy.o.fShdy.oly
d.chey.l.Shl.ol.ched.qokol.chol.o.tar.chedy.o.ky
qotey.l.chees.ol.kal.ol.chedy.o.kar.Shedy
d.chedy.qokain.ol.ol.chcThy.y.keedy.al
qol.cheol.o.keey.ol.ol.ol.aiin.ol.or.ain
s.ar.ol.es.es.o.teey.Shor.qokeey.ol
d.Shees.o.kain.chcThy.o.tey.o.kain
pchedy.qokeey.o.ty.qotey.o.teey.oly
qoteesy.qotedy.qokeedy.chcPhey
chol.d.ain.o.tedy.cheey.qotain.ly
ol.Sheol.ol.kedy.She.cKhedy.ol.tedy
y.chedy.tedy.ol.Sheedy.qokeey.l.oly
d.chol.Shedy.qotedy.qol.chedy.che.ty.ry
qoke.chedy.qol.Sheedy.or.ain.ar.ol.o.eeedy
s.ain.ol.cheedy.qokeedy.o.tedy
Not bad, but all prefixing o, d, l, r, s, and "Janus pairs" are separated, these are the main differences with a typical transliteration.
Spaces that should probably be omitted, in any consecutive vord pair of the previous paragraph, according to MZ's slot sequence, are marked with ",":
pol.chey.qokedy.Shol.o,pchedy.ol,pchedy.o,fShdy.oly
d,chey.l,Shl.ol,ched.qokol.chol.o,tar.chedy.o,ky
qotey.l,chees.ol,kal.ol,chedy.o,kar.Shedy
d,chedy.qokain.ol,ol.chcThy.y,keedy.al
qol,cheol.o,keey.ol,ol.ol,aiin.ol,or.ain
s,ar.ol,es.es,o,teey.Shor.qokeey.ol
d,Shees,o,kain.chcThy.o,tey.o,kain
pchedy.qokeey.o,ty.qotey.o,teey.oly
qoteesy.qotedy.qokeedy.chcPhey
chol.d,ain.o,tedy.cheey.qotain.ly
ol,Sheol.ol,kedy.She.cKhedy.ol,tedy
y,chedy.tedy.ol,Sheedy.qokeey.l,oly
d,chol.Shedy.qotedy.qol,chedy.che.ty.ry
qoke.chedy.qol,Sheedy.or,ain.ar.ol,o,eeedy
s,ain.ol,cheedy.qokeedy.o,tedy
The two slot sequences complement each other well, using the 10-slot sequence to get the shortest possible vords and MZ's 12-slot sequence to figure out which concatenations are probable.
If most of these "," are removed, and a few "." as well the end result is close to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
The hypothesis is that Voynichese was constructed from components in which glyphs were strictly ordered in a slot sequence or similar (it could be a partial order relation or what would be best described by a tree or a finite state machine, because all combinations allowed by the 10-slot sequence don't occur) then spaces were omitted randomly. This randomness was non-uniform, there were preferences, these preferences are (imperfectly) modeled by MZ's slot sequence.
Of course 15th century scribes knew nothing about finite state machines and regular expressions, but they could have a practical implementation that was easy to use. For example the rule that glyphs must be strictly ordered can be enforced by a simple rule in a zigzag path on a square table using glyphs as coordinates: each linear segment of the zigzag path must cross the diagonal and, if we want more constraints, vertices could be forbidden on some areas of the table. I haven't abandoned my theory/delusion about zigzag paths and board games.
Omitting spaces in a ciphered or coded message only makes sense if the original string of symbols or code words can be reconstructed.
The problem with using MZ's slot sequence directly on space-less Voynichese is that there are several ways to insert spaces: the same glyphs appear several times in the slot sequence. So I tried a different slot sequence as an experiment to see what happens: this is an attempt (un-optimized, just an example) to re-parse vords of space-less Voynichese unambiguously.
In this example, I removed all spaces from the first paragraph of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
polcheyqokedySholopchedyolpchedyofShdyoly
dcheylShlolchedqokolcholotarchedyoky
qoteylcheesolkalolchedyokarShedy
dchedyqokainololchcThyykeedyal
qolcheolokeeyolololaiinolorain
sarolesesoteeyShorqokeeyol
dSheesokainchcThyoteyokain
pchedyqokeeyotyqoteyoteeyoly
qoteesyqotedyqokeedychcPhey
choldainotedycheeyqotainly
olSheololkedyShecKhedyoltedy
ychedytedyolSheedyqokeeyloly
dcholShedyqotedyqolchedychetyry
qokechedyqolSheedyorainaroloeeedy
sainolcheedyqokeedyotedy
Then vords were re-constructed using the following unambiguous 10-slot sequence defined as a regular expression:
Replace:
"((qo|)(k|t|p|f|)(ch|Sh|)(c(K|T|P|F)h|)(eee|ee|e|)(o|a|)(iii|ii|i|)(d|l|r|s|)(m|n|)(y|))"
with:
"\1\."
Spaces at the end of lines were removed:
Replace:
"\.$"
with:
""
Result:
pol.chey.qokedy.Shol.o.pchedy.ol.pchedy.o.fShdy.oly
d.chey.l.Shl.ol.ched.qokol.chol.o.tar.chedy.o.ky
qotey.l.chees.ol.kal.ol.chedy.o.kar.Shedy
d.chedy.qokain.ol.ol.chcThy.y.keedy.al
qol.cheol.o.keey.ol.ol.ol.aiin.ol.or.ain
s.ar.ol.es.es.o.teey.Shor.qokeey.ol
d.Shees.o.kain.chcThy.o.tey.o.kain
pchedy.qokeey.o.ty.qotey.o.teey.oly
qoteesy.qotedy.qokeedy.chcPhey
chol.d.ain.o.tedy.cheey.qotain.ly
ol.Sheol.ol.kedy.She.cKhedy.ol.tedy
y.chedy.tedy.ol.Sheedy.qokeey.l.oly
d.chol.Shedy.qotedy.qol.chedy.che.ty.ry
qoke.chedy.qol.Sheedy.or.ain.ar.ol.o.eeedy
s.ain.ol.cheedy.qokeedy.o.tedy
Not bad, but all prefixing o, d, l, r, s, and "Janus pairs" are separated, these are the main differences with a typical transliteration.
Spaces that should probably be omitted, in any consecutive vord pair of the previous paragraph, according to MZ's slot sequence, are marked with ",":
pol.chey.qokedy.Shol.o,pchedy.ol,pchedy.o,fShdy.oly
d,chey.l,Shl.ol,ched.qokol.chol.o,tar.chedy.o,ky
qotey.l,chees.ol,kal.ol,chedy.o,kar.Shedy
d,chedy.qokain.ol,ol.chcThy.y,keedy.al
qol,cheol.o,keey.ol,ol.ol,aiin.ol,or.ain
s,ar.ol,es.es,o,teey.Shor.qokeey.ol
d,Shees,o,kain.chcThy.o,tey.o,kain
pchedy.qokeey.o,ty.qotey.o,teey.oly
qoteesy.qotedy.qokeedy.chcPhey
chol.d,ain.o,tedy.cheey.qotain.ly
ol,Sheol.ol,kedy.She.cKhedy.ol,tedy
y,chedy.tedy.ol,Sheedy.qokeey.l,oly
d,chol.Shedy.qotedy.qol,chedy.che.ty.ry
qoke.chedy.qol,Sheedy.or,ain.ar.ol,o,eeedy
s,ain.ol,cheedy.qokeedy.o,tedy
The two slot sequences complement each other well, using the 10-slot sequence to get the shortest possible vords and MZ's 12-slot sequence to figure out which concatenations are probable.
If most of these "," are removed, and a few "." as well the end result is close to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
The hypothesis is that Voynichese was constructed from components in which glyphs were strictly ordered in a slot sequence or similar (it could be a partial order relation or what would be best described by a tree or a finite state machine, because all combinations allowed by the 10-slot sequence don't occur) then spaces were omitted randomly. This randomness was non-uniform, there were preferences, these preferences are (imperfectly) modeled by MZ's slot sequence.
Of course 15th century scribes knew nothing about finite state machines and regular expressions, but they could have a practical implementation that was easy to use. For example the rule that glyphs must be strictly ordered can be enforced by a simple rule in a zigzag path on a square table using glyphs as coordinates: each linear segment of the zigzag path must cross the diagonal and, if we want more constraints, vertices could be forbidden on some areas of the table. I haven't abandoned my theory/delusion about zigzag paths and board games.
)