08-04-2019, 02:05 AM
Koen has asked how my system works for labels such as those on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , and Linda has asked about page You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. .
This post is my reply to both requests.
For the labels, for now I will focus on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . I will address f89 as soon as I can.
My interpretation of each row of labels on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is that the leftmost label in each row is the "category" label for that group of plant roots or leaves, and the other labels in each row identify the individual plant roots or leaves. It seems to me that each row has one more label than plant part illustrations. Also, the leftmost label tends to be the longest and most distinct label word in each row. Perhaps the individual labels are abbreviated, and the category labels are considered more important and so are written out more fully.
In this post I will focus on the leftmost "category" labels in each row. I identify three of them on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , and three more of them on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . I believe it will be much more difficult to hope to identify abbreviated individual labels of possibly obscure late medieval Greek or Judaeo-Greek names of particular plant roots or leaves. It may require a professional historian of medieval Greek botany and medicine to accomplish that task. But I think we have a chance to identify the category labels, which should be less obscure words.
I will not proceed strictly in order, but rather I group the category labels into logical sets to present together. I think the logic will be clear as I proceed.
I begin with the simplest and least interesting label words: The leftmost labels of the top row of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the middle row of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. .
leftmost top row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[otorchety]
leftmost middle row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[otoram]
my readings:
"o-khoriik[o]s"
"o-khorAs"
[Note: For practical purposes I have been treating the Voynich characters [m] and [g] as alternate characters for [y] for some time now. I have added them to my own provisional working letter correspondence table. I have certainly never interpreted [m] and [g] in any other way in any previous readings or interpretations.]
my interpretations:
ο χωρικ[ο]ς
ο χωρος
translations:
"the rustic/regional/village/country"
"the field/farm/estate ; the country/land/region"
Comments:
These are perfectly normal standard Greek words, and perfectly appropriate as labels for plant roots and leaves, although I admit that personally I find these particular labels rather pedestrian, boring, and not terribly informative: I would think such descriptions would apply to an awful lot of plant roots and leaves. Be that as it may, I see nothing wrong with either of these label words.
If one prefers a plural word interpretation for the adjective in the first category label, an alternate interpretation as "ο[ι] χωρικ[ε]ς" is possible.
Next I identify two more specific botanical labels:
leftmost middle row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[otaldy]
leftmost top row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[okolyd]
[Note: I suspect that [okolyd] may simply be a misspelling of the much more normal-looking Voynich word [okoldy].]
my readings:
"Okan[th?]us"
"Otomsu" (misspelling of "Otomus")
my interpretations:
ακανος / ακανθος
ατομος
translations:
"thistle-head" / "bearsfoot" (cf. "acanthus")
"uncut"
Comments:
For the first label, another closely related Greek word is "ακανθα", meaning "any thorny or prickly plant". Likewise an acanthus is a prickly plant with toothed leaves. The toothed leaves at least are a good fit for the plant illustrations in this row, although such illustrations certainly occur elsewhere as well.
The second label is quite a good fit for its row: the roots in these illustrations are indeed uncut, whereas many other roots in the other illustrations on these pages are cut open.
Finally, the last two labels on these pages must be treated individually:
leftmost bottom row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[daramdal]
my reading:
"phalAs-phan[e]"
my interpretation:
φαλλοσ-φαν[η]
translation:
"phallus-like [ones]"
Comments:
Some people may find such an interpretation outrageous, but if one looks at the shapes of the roots in the illustrations in this row, it must be said that the label is at least not inaccurate, if one chooses to view things in this way.
leftmost bottom row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[ofysky-dal]
my reading:
"opsthds-phan[e]"
my interpretation:
οπ[ι]σθ[ι]δ[ιο]ς-φαν[η]
translation:
"hinder-part-like [ones]"
Comments:
The author does omit a lot of vowels in this word, but to be fair the author was short of space for such a long word in this particular place on the page. As a comparison, when I am making grammatical notes about a language I am studying, I use "ptcpl." as a standard abbreviation for the word "participle". Given the context, the all-consonant abbreviation does not present any barrier to comprehension. This word likewise is long enough that I consider that it would be the same: "οπ'σθ'δ'ς" seems to me like its meaning would be fairly clear to a Greek speaker and reader.
"οπισθιδιος" means "hinder, belonging to the hinder part".
=======
Now to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , which Linda has asked me about.
For now I can only address the prominent letters running down the left side margin of the top half of the page:
4th line: [s]
6th line: [d]
8th line: [q]
11th line: [s]
14th line: [o]
17th line: [l]
21st line: [k]
24th line: [r]
29th line: [s]
Treating them as one word or phrase, we have:
[sdqsolkrs]
My reading:
"dukt-Ondrd"
My interpretation:
δυκτ[οι]/διακτ[οι]-ανδρ[ι]δ[ες]
Translation:
"women carried through pipes"
Comments:
The Greek adjective "διακτος" is found in Liddell & Scott's A Greek-English Lexicon, with the meaning "carried through pipes, of oils or unguents used at the bath". Citations include "τα κατ' ανδρα δ[ιακτα] IGRom.4.860 (Laodicea ad Lycum)." Such citations suggest late classical Greek influenced by Latin, and I note the Medieval Latin word "ductus", meaning "conveyance (of water); hence, a channel". Thus the first vowel "u" in this word may not be so surprising. I further remind readers that by the medieval period the Greek vowel letters upsilon and iota were pronounced identically.
The Greek word "ανδρις, ανδριδος" is also found in A Greek-English Lexicon, with the meaning "fem. of ανηρ" (the familiar root and word ανηρ, ανδρος "man"), "woman", and the citation "Sm.Ge.2.23."
Geoffrey
This post is my reply to both requests.
For the labels, for now I will focus on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . I will address f89 as soon as I can.
My interpretation of each row of labels on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is that the leftmost label in each row is the "category" label for that group of plant roots or leaves, and the other labels in each row identify the individual plant roots or leaves. It seems to me that each row has one more label than plant part illustrations. Also, the leftmost label tends to be the longest and most distinct label word in each row. Perhaps the individual labels are abbreviated, and the category labels are considered more important and so are written out more fully.
In this post I will focus on the leftmost "category" labels in each row. I identify three of them on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , and three more of them on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . I believe it will be much more difficult to hope to identify abbreviated individual labels of possibly obscure late medieval Greek or Judaeo-Greek names of particular plant roots or leaves. It may require a professional historian of medieval Greek botany and medicine to accomplish that task. But I think we have a chance to identify the category labels, which should be less obscure words.
I will not proceed strictly in order, but rather I group the category labels into logical sets to present together. I think the logic will be clear as I proceed.
I begin with the simplest and least interesting label words: The leftmost labels of the top row of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the middle row of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. .
leftmost top row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[otorchety]
leftmost middle row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[otoram]
my readings:
"o-khoriik[o]s"
"o-khorAs"
[Note: For practical purposes I have been treating the Voynich characters [m] and [g] as alternate characters for [y] for some time now. I have added them to my own provisional working letter correspondence table. I have certainly never interpreted [m] and [g] in any other way in any previous readings or interpretations.]
my interpretations:
ο χωρικ[ο]ς
ο χωρος
translations:
"the rustic/regional/village/country"
"the field/farm/estate ; the country/land/region"
Comments:
These are perfectly normal standard Greek words, and perfectly appropriate as labels for plant roots and leaves, although I admit that personally I find these particular labels rather pedestrian, boring, and not terribly informative: I would think such descriptions would apply to an awful lot of plant roots and leaves. Be that as it may, I see nothing wrong with either of these label words.
If one prefers a plural word interpretation for the adjective in the first category label, an alternate interpretation as "ο[ι] χωρικ[ε]ς" is possible.
Next I identify two more specific botanical labels:
leftmost middle row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[otaldy]
leftmost top row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[okolyd]
[Note: I suspect that [okolyd] may simply be a misspelling of the much more normal-looking Voynich word [okoldy].]
my readings:
"Okan[th?]us"
"Otomsu" (misspelling of "Otomus")
my interpretations:
ακανος / ακανθος
ατομος
translations:
"thistle-head" / "bearsfoot" (cf. "acanthus")
"uncut"
Comments:
For the first label, another closely related Greek word is "ακανθα", meaning "any thorny or prickly plant". Likewise an acanthus is a prickly plant with toothed leaves. The toothed leaves at least are a good fit for the plant illustrations in this row, although such illustrations certainly occur elsewhere as well.
The second label is quite a good fit for its row: the roots in these illustrations are indeed uncut, whereas many other roots in the other illustrations on these pages are cut open.
Finally, the last two labels on these pages must be treated individually:
leftmost bottom row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[daramdal]
my reading:
"phalAs-phan[e]"
my interpretation:
φαλλοσ-φαν[η]
translation:
"phallus-like [ones]"
Comments:
Some people may find such an interpretation outrageous, but if one looks at the shapes of the roots in the illustrations in this row, it must be said that the label is at least not inaccurate, if one chooses to view things in this way.
leftmost bottom row label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :
[ofysky-dal]
my reading:
"opsthds-phan[e]"
my interpretation:
οπ[ι]σθ[ι]δ[ιο]ς-φαν[η]
translation:
"hinder-part-like [ones]"
Comments:
The author does omit a lot of vowels in this word, but to be fair the author was short of space for such a long word in this particular place on the page. As a comparison, when I am making grammatical notes about a language I am studying, I use "ptcpl." as a standard abbreviation for the word "participle". Given the context, the all-consonant abbreviation does not present any barrier to comprehension. This word likewise is long enough that I consider that it would be the same: "οπ'σθ'δ'ς" seems to me like its meaning would be fairly clear to a Greek speaker and reader.
"οπισθιδιος" means "hinder, belonging to the hinder part".
=======
Now to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , which Linda has asked me about.
For now I can only address the prominent letters running down the left side margin of the top half of the page:
4th line: [s]
6th line: [d]
8th line: [q]
11th line: [s]
14th line: [o]
17th line: [l]
21st line: [k]
24th line: [r]
29th line: [s]
Treating them as one word or phrase, we have:
[sdqsolkrs]
My reading:
"dukt-Ondrd"
My interpretation:
δυκτ[οι]/διακτ[οι]-ανδρ[ι]δ[ες]
Translation:
"women carried through pipes"
Comments:
The Greek adjective "διακτος" is found in Liddell & Scott's A Greek-English Lexicon, with the meaning "carried through pipes, of oils or unguents used at the bath". Citations include "τα κατ' ανδρα δ[ιακτα] IGRom.4.860 (Laodicea ad Lycum)." Such citations suggest late classical Greek influenced by Latin, and I note the Medieval Latin word "ductus", meaning "conveyance (of water); hence, a channel". Thus the first vowel "u" in this word may not be so surprising. I further remind readers that by the medieval period the Greek vowel letters upsilon and iota were pronounced identically.
The Greek word "ανδρις, ανδριδος" is also found in A Greek-English Lexicon, with the meaning "fem. of ανηρ" (the familiar root and word ανηρ, ανδρος "man"), "woman", and the citation "Sm.Ge.2.23."
Geoffrey
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