28-08-2018, 12:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 28-08-2018, 01:10 PM by -JKP-.
Edit Reason: added pics to help clarify reference
)
I've been trying to figure out why the authors made a reference to t in the Codex Osuna and I think I've got it worked out.
In Nahuatl, one frequently sees tl (k) because it's a common letter combination written as a ligature. It is also written as a ligature in other languages that use Latin script. There is nothing unusual about it.
But there are also parts of the Codex Osuna written in Spanish, and in those sections, one sees a ligature that is superficially similar to Voynichese t. This too is a common ligature (the second part usually represents "l"), one sees it in Spanish and French texts, but it differs from the way t is written in the VMS in that the connection between the two letters dips down much deeper than VMS t and the parts below the loops are much more curved. In other words, it does not have the tall straight ascenders that are so common to VMS t. Also, when it is at the beginnings of words, it is not preceded by "o", as frequently occurs with VMS t.
Even if there is a conceptual connection between the VMS t shape and the ligature in the Codex Osuna, it doesn't have anything to do with Nahuatl, since it is in the parts that are Spanish, and those parts are written with normal Latin scribal conventions, including per/pro, tails, ligatures, and abbreviations that one sees in many manuscripts.
In Nahuatl, one frequently sees tl (k) because it's a common letter combination written as a ligature. It is also written as a ligature in other languages that use Latin script. There is nothing unusual about it.
But there are also parts of the Codex Osuna written in Spanish, and in those sections, one sees a ligature that is superficially similar to Voynichese t. This too is a common ligature (the second part usually represents "l"), one sees it in Spanish and French texts, but it differs from the way t is written in the VMS in that the connection between the two letters dips down much deeper than VMS t and the parts below the loops are much more curved. In other words, it does not have the tall straight ascenders that are so common to VMS t. Also, when it is at the beginnings of words, it is not preceded by "o", as frequently occurs with VMS t.
Even if there is a conceptual connection between the VMS t shape and the ligature in the Codex Osuna, it doesn't have anything to do with Nahuatl, since it is in the parts that are Spanish, and those parts are written with normal Latin scribal conventions, including per/pro, tails, ligatures, and abbreviations that one sees in many manuscripts.