Statement- No other document written in Voynichese script has been found up to date
Explanation
The glyphs of Beinecke MS 408 have not been found
in totality in any other work. Certain signs and combinations of signs, such as
qo and
y, are found in contemporaneous documents. However, to our knowledge no other document contains
all of the signs of the Voynich script (or "alphabet"), and there are no other existing examples of Voynichese writing.
Notes
- 10/26/16: Changed the statement to include "has not been found" and "glyphs"
- 10/26/16: Rewrote the statement according to Anton's phrasing: no other document written in Voynichese script has been found up to date.
Seems like a good place to start about the script. Would it be better if we say 'has not been found'?
That's a good point - I'll change the wording
I would agree with the following...
The VMS glyphs (including the fancy gallows characters), have not been found in their entirety in any other document.
I agree with the idea.
I'd perhaps phrase it this way, to accomodate JKP's mention of glyphs.
A script which contains all of the glyphs used in the Voynich Manuscript nas never been found in any other document.
I agree "has not been found" is fair. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to do a comprehensive survey of known scripts.
Perhaps someone on the old mailing list did - but I've seen no mention of it.
I expect Stolfi looked at some Asian scripts, and recently Thomas Spande introduced the question of Armenian script and language. The Friedmans invited a couple of Egyptologists, I gather. I've mentioned Sabaic minuscule and Greco-Bactrian..
It would be an interesting research project. And in this, I keep thinking of a manuscript which was mentioned by Okasha el Daly. It is said to have a large number of scripts recorded in it, each with their equivalent sound in Arabic. It is said to be in the Topkapi serai, so if anyone feels like visiting during their hols...
Deleted comment: after Diane changed hers above, my reply became irrelevant.
I would not mention the number of characters. Actually there are many rare symbols, so the number would be beyond 30.
Thanks all for the suggestions - I like -JKP-'s and VViews' suggestion of "glyphs" instead of "script" and I rephrased the statement:
"A script which contains all of the glyphs used in the Voynich Manuscript has not been found in any other document."
I also agree with Anton about the number of signs.