The Voynich Ninja

Hello Voynich researchers,
I would like to share a structural hypothesis regarding the generation of Voynichese text. Inspired by linguistic modeling and probabilistic generation, I propose that the author may have used a mental or mechanical system akin to “dice” categorized by grammatical roles—such as conjunctions, nouns, and verbs—to construct each word or phrase.
? Core Idea
Each grammatical category (e.g., conjunction, noun, verb) corresponds to a pool of syllables or word fragments. The author may have randomly selected one item from each pool to form a structured word. This method would produce words with consistent internal structure while allowing for variation and creativity.
? Experimental Simulation
Using a simple model, I generated words by randomly combining syllables from three pools:

Conjunctions: qo, re, da, ai, ke, zu
Nouns: ched, dain, ol, shar, tor, lem, vok
Verbs: chy, dy, kar, mor, tin, sek, ral

Examples of generated words:
qolemchy, redaintin, kesharkar, zuvoksek, aidainmor, revoktin, ...

These words resemble Voynichese in terms of length, internal structure, and syllabic repetition.
? Related Research
This hypothesis aligns with and extends ideas from:

Torsten Timm’s grid-based word generation model
Luis Acedo’s Hidden Markov Model analysis
Claire Bowern’s linguistic structure studies

? Implications
If valid, this model suggests that Voynichese may be a structured pseudo-language generated through a creative but systematic process. It bridges randomness and grammar, and may reflect a cognitive or artistic experiment rather than a natural language.

Note: I am Japanese and not a native English speaker. Due to language limitations, my replies may be slow or imperfect, but I will do my best to respond thoughtfully. I appreciate your understanding and welcome any feedback, questions, or suggestions.
Thank you very much.

This post smells like AI. It has the ChatGPT formatting, linguistic constructions, and everything. I'm unsure though, someone would need to verify...

Anyways, let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say it isn't AI. This is similar to the grille theory IIRC, and your idea resembles something that would be studied in a stochastic version of formal language theory.

Let me just confirm....

1. S is an ordered set which consists of a base set, B, of word types -- \{conjunction, verb, noun, etc.\} -- and a function, f. S = (B,<) where b_1<b_2 \iff f(b_1)<f(b_2).
2. m = |S|. We have m word pools, which we label WP_1,...,WP_m.
3. F_{\{t\}} for t \in S and f(t) = k is a subset of the Kleene star of WP_k.
4. We consider the set F = \bigcup_{t\in S}F_{\{t\}}, and that supposedly makes up our target language of Voynichese.
I didn't read your entire post, so let me know if I'm on the money or not.

(18-09-2025, 02:11 PM)hiro k Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.[color=#000000]Hello Voynich researchers,
I would like to share a structural hypothesis regarding the generation of Voynichese text. Inspired by linguistic modeling and probabilistic generation, I propose that the author may have used a mental or mechanical system akin to “dice” categorized by grammatical roles—such as conjunctions, nouns, and verbs—to construct each word or phrase.

Hello Hiro K,

Welcome to the forum.

(16-11-2025, 08:51 AM)Philipp Harland Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Kleene star

I understood it differently (and checked with the examples): that each generated word concatenates three elements, one from each of the three pools, always in the same order.

A cipher could work like that, I remember reading several articles. It's an old idea based on word models.

Here it is a type of random generator of short phrases. Why would anyone do that and record the result as pseudo-language I don't know. Divination maybe? I doubt it would look interesting enough to keep doing it for so long.

Unfortunately this was definitely AI. Thanks for flagging.

Hi hiro k, welcome to the forum but we cannot accept theories that have been developed via an LLM like ChatGPT. You're welcome to share ideas that haven't been, but I'm locking this.

hiro k

Philipp Harland

nablator

tavie