Which other manuscript contain the most Voynichese glyphs?

[-JKP-]

I have examples of all the shapes but maybe it's better for people to look at the actual manuscripts because I've been saying it for years to enormous skepticism, and it seems that perhaps people have to see it for themselves to believe me.



Some pointers...

You can easily find all three versions of EVA-m in Medieval manuscripts. Note that in Latin there is straight EVA-m (ris), straight EVA-m with a tail (tis) and rounded EVA-m. This is also true in the VMS. As I said years ago, "All three are represented."


Okay, to help you improve your chart, regarding shapes on the third row...

Koen the fourth character in your example is mismatched. It's a "9" character. It can be inline or superscripted. It's not equivalent to r-with-tail. Look for it at the ends of words and you will find it. It stands for -us/-um at the ends of words (it can also be found at the beginnings of words, but not as frequently).

Also, look for EVA-m at the ends of words (as it is in the VMS) and you will find it.


The one that looks like the number 4 (modern 4) is not equivalent to the "-rum" character you posted. "-rum" falls at the ends of words and VMS 4 is at the beginning. Note that in the VMS it frequently is written with a soft rounded loop, it's not always pointed like the example you posted. In some manuscripts the letter "q" is written like this (and is usually at the beginnings of words), it will be both pointed and rounded (I have examples). It is more similar to the Latin "q" than to the Latin "-rum" abbreviation in shape and position. It's not quite like a "q" but if you are doing an equivalency chart, it's better to choose the one that is more similar.


The 6th from the left (EVA-l) is the number 4 in Latin. Look for compotist manuscripts from the 15th century after they switched from Roman Numerals to Indic numerals (and before they switched to modern numerals). This shape was also a scribal abbreviation in early medieval documents, but it was mostly superscripted.


The figure-8 shape that often stands for d or s in Latin manuscripts can be found in French manuscripts in particular when it stands for d, and can be found as a terminal-s in many countries when it stands for s (when it stands for s it is a corruption of the Greek sigma with the tail looped around a little bit extra).


Now, in the first row...

It's very easy to find EVA-k. It stands for "Item" in Latin and thus is usually at the beginnings of lines.

If you want to see something very similar to EVA-t (it's not common but does exist), look at Nuremberg manuscripts from the mid-15th century. Some of the scribes took the Latin abbreviation for -is (which is a loop with a descender) and flipped it horizontal instead of vertical so it looks like EVA-t.

You'll find the benched characters in words where many letters have been left out. For examples, words like abbatis are sometimes written with abbt with a long horizontal line through the ascenders in the two b chars. Benched characters are also found in Greek, especially when it is written vertically (but has a different meaning than benched characters in Latin).