Has anyone done a statistical analysis of whether which of the four gallows (or no gallow at all) is used as the first glyph in a paragraph effects the paragraph? I know that the gallows have varied paragraph initial frequency but it isn't immediately obvious to me what their effect on their paragraphs. Especially since different gallows are used as paragraph-initial on a single page.
I have always wondered if it is simply random, topic relevant, perhaps even marking which key to use for the following paragraph? Probably many more theories that one could (and likely have) come up with.
Good idea. If a consequence of the first (or any) gallows on the first line of paragraphs had ever been found we would not have had endless discussions about their meaning or function (or lack thereof) so I don't think anyone knows.
The most similar paragraphs (by number of identical words or some better similarity measure like the You are not allowed to view links.
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For one thing, the gallows is not just a 'start of paragraph' marker, in the following sense:
If one simply removes it, then the next character becomes the line initial character, but this character does not have the same distribution as all other line-initial characters.
I can refer to You are not allowed to view links.
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I have not yet tried to understand this better, but feel that it could be important.
(29-10-2025, 12:10 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.For one thing, the gallows is not just a 'start of paragraph' marker, in the following sense:
If one simply removes it, then the next character becomes the line initial character, but this character does not have the same distribution as all other line-initial characters.
I can refer to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for that aspect.
I have not yet tried to understand this better, but feel that it could be important.
Why should the line start always with the same character? Interesting is that page 58left, were all characters are in the circle containing all variations of the paragraph character, even the weird ones with the additional loops.
(29-10-2025, 12:10 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.For one thing, the gallows is not just a 'start of paragraph' marker, in the following sense:
If one simply removes it, then the next character becomes the line initial character, but this character does not have the same distribution as all other line-initial characters.
I can refer to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for that aspect.
I have not yet tried to understand this better, but feel that it could be important.
I think this is part of the confusion for me. I find it difficult to explain how a paragraph initial gallow isn't just a marker since there are only four of them. In what system could one of the four gallows provide more information than just a marker (i.e. a letter or part of an actual word)? Granted if Voynichese is a real language then there might be rules involved that don't conform to other known languages, but if it is some sort of cipher then I can only see it as a marker.
The longer you spend trying to understand the text, the more problems you tend to perceive.
I am not even sure that the four gallows that feature as paragraph starters, and the 'same' four gallows that appear in the running text, mean the same thing.
In the running text, the single-legged gallows behave differently from the two-legged gallows, but as paragraph starters this does not seem to be the case. Though I am not sure anyone has looked at that aspect.
(29-10-2025, 03:08 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I am not even sure that the four gallows that feature as paragraph starters, and the 'same' four gallows that appear in the running text, mean the same thing.
I'm looking at the exceptions to the slot alphabets---with a hypothesis of how to improve them, though far too early to say I've done so---and something nagging me is the very rigid letter order means that in different parts of the word the same sign can have different meanings without ambiguity. I'm not sure this is the right tact for understanding the text, especially given that I'm dissatisfied with the details of how to describe the text. But if you can always tell what part of the word you're in, then you could in theory easily discriminate what use of a gallows (or whatever!) you're looking at based on that.