Repetition of letter groups

[ThomasCoon]

So that's 4-1-2-3-1-1, right?

Doesn't that turn your proposed solution into something like binary code, where the exact glyph doesn't matter but rather whether it is expressed (1) or omitted (0)?

Bingo, Koen - that's what may emerge. Something like this:

to encode "a" = Group 1 sign + Group 2 sign + Group 3 sign + NO Group 4 sign
to encode "b" = Group 1 sign + Group 2 sign + NO Group 3 sign + Group 4 sign
to encode "c" = Group 1 sign + NO Group 2 sign + Group 3 sign + Group 4 sign
etc.

While you are wholly right that characters group together, I don't think that your groups are necessarily the best that can be.

For example, lk is common, rk is rare, and nk or mk are basically non-existent. Similarly, s is common at the end of words, d a bit less common but clearly normal, and all the gallows are uncommon in that position.

Instead of groups I've preferred to think like this: for every character, which is the most similar? It lets me see more about similarities and differences, and informs the bigger groups.

Those are great points, Emma - I don't know how to account for the different distributions, such as rk vs. lk. That is a shortcoming with my theory.

I've been wrong before and could be wrong again