The Voynich Ninja

Thanks Helmut! I think I asked this question some ten times here, but I ever forget.  

Unfortunately, "he etc." (or "hо etc.") does not look very promising. Maybe it's "heu" or "her" after all.

But it occurred to me that we may underestimate the fact that f17r is the first folio of the quire. On one hand, this just makes it a suitable place for marginalia - quite like You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. or You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. are. On the other hand, the inscription on the first folio of a quire may serve as an instruction relating to the whole quire.

I checked, through Lexer, what are MHD words beginning with "luc".

Two interesting options are actually what their modern counterparts are: "luch" and "lucke".

In the first case, "Luch" is something like "swamp" or "marsh". Given that the next word may be "heu" which stands for "grass", the whole phrase  might be like "paint all marsh grass..." - which would suggest that the quire in question should be dedicated to marsh plants specifically. If plants in the VMS are grouped by their range, this would narrow the scope of identification.

In here, it is interesting to ascertain whether, in the first place, the abbreviation that we observe could be expected to stand for the appropriate word form of "Luch" (or adjective formed from "Luch"). In the second place, whether "mallier" would be OK to stand for "depict" (as "make pictures of") instead of "paint" (as "apply paint to the pictures").

In the second case, "Lücke" is something like "blank" or "omission", with the phrase then suggesting "paint all blanks ..." - like maybe a reminder for the person who was to apply the paint.

(13-09-2018, 04:52 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view....

I just played with color once more, and the word next to this "bucorum" appears to be "he*", where the "*" stands for something like m or g. What would such abbreviation expand to?

These are very common symbols in languages that use Latin scribal abbreviations.

The symbols shaped like EVA-m and EVA-g are frequently used for the abbreviations -ris, -tis, and -cis. Almost every manuscript has them, and they are mostly at the ends of words. They are sometimes also line or paragraph-end markers and sometimes used as etc (although usually at the ends of paragraphs rather than in the middle, as in "and so on" (similar to osv. in Nordic)).


Some examples:



(There are additional examples on my You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..)



A few scribes use this abbreviation unconventionally, as suffix "-em" but that is rare, and it's really just a lazy way of writing the more conventional z-shaped "-em". Most scribes use them as -ris/-tis/-cis.


All three shapes are in the VMS, which is one of the reasons I created my own transcript, since transcripts that interpret EVA-m and EVA-g as the same shape (and ignore the third shape) are misleading.

I've been looking for chi-rho signs, but the ones I've found are always large initials. The abbreviation does appear in text, but I've only found examples where it's XP written as consecutive letters. Usually with some ending: xpi, xpm (with macron).

Quote:The symbols shaped like EVA-m and EVA-g are frequently used for the abbreviations -ris, -tis, and -cis.

Thanks JKP, it looks like what is the complete picture is that k is for "etc." and g and m for those "-*is". I have additional considerations about your picture (very helpful!), will post in another thread.

Assuming one of these endings and "o" or "e" for the second letter of the word, the following options are available:

- horis
- heris

Both are dative or ablative from "hora" and "hera" (= "era") respectively, which both are plural and feminine, if I'm not mistaken. But I could not find a word form of a derivative from "lux" which would match the respective word form and, at the same time, end with -"m" as the abbreviation suggests.

[font=Arial]In Latin, k[/font] is often used for "Item" and "etc" is written with so many different shapes, it would take several lines to illustrate them all, but if it's "etc" in the sense of saying "and so on and so on..." at the ends of lines, then m is quite often used.

There was quite a bit of individual variation in scribal choices, but it didn't matter since it's the context that tells the reader how to interpret it.

JKP / Your research on the use of abbreviations in VMS is impressive. What do you think correspond to two types of abbreviations in which the loop leg is directed to the right in combination with EVA-i and EVA-c.
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PS/ Need a new topic.
Post the post by Anton's link.

(14-09-2018, 03:01 PM)Wladimir D Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.PS/ Need a new topic

Welcome You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. please

(13-09-2018, 09:27 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Unfortunately, "he etc." (or "hо etc.") does not look very promising. Maybe it's "heu" or "her" after all.

I am wondering if "her" could be a legal abbreviation.

In the following online latin dictionary, we can read that "her." is translated by "hermanus, in latin.
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Hermanus is a synonym of "frater" = brother.

The problem, of course, is with that the shape is not fully legible. We are not sure if it is "heu", "her" or "hem".

But if in German, "her" is a valid word (= "to here" or "from here") and needs not be an abbreviation.

It's certainly possible that it could be "her" (here).

I often wonder if there were many lines of marginalia at the tops of folios that got trimmed off. It was very common to put instructions at the very top and then to trim them off before (or during) binding. I've seen many manuscripts with traces of the bottoms of letters at the edge of the folio.