Voynich theories and Voynich solutions

[Emma May Smith]

I'll answer the other part of your question later, as I certainly believe that we could (potentially) work out the grammar and meaning even were the language unknown. Though it would be an immense task.

It is very likely that the Voynich ms was written at a time when some people could read it: the language doesn't seem to be as remote in time as Etruscan and it is well possible that its cognates are still spoken today. Yet your faith in the possibilities of your method is reassuring. I am looking forward to read more of how it is possible to infer the meaning of an unknown language!

Maybe it's just hubris! But I think that the manuscript is such a coherent text, and likely rather stereotyped in content, that meaning could be teased out slowly. The problem is structure, as without it we can't establish relationships between words.

However, I doubt such a text could be written without some borrowed words, even if the language itself was unknown. I expect that many plant names and star names will be borrowed.