glyph [d] as a substitute for [p] and [f]

[-JKP-]

I was dissatisfied with existing transcripts, both in terms of accuracy and in terms of interpretation, including the Takahashi transcription. So I created my own.

Realizing that there were numerous ways to interpret some of the glyphs (and some of the combinations), I ended up with three specialized fonts that are integrated with four transcripts (and I have subvariations on those transcripts).

I also organized them a little differently from existing transcripts, like the Takahashi version (e.g., for example, I have a version without line breaks). I wanted at least one that made it easier and quicker to search for patterns that occur at the beginnings and ends of tokens. The existing transcripts mark line ends and paragraph ends, which interferes with word breaks, which means that not all of them (in their raw form) provided a way to evaluate an unbroken line without modification or complicated search patterns, so I felt it was important to have a version that enabled this to cut down on the search-and-replace time.



I also have numerous versions that turn the characters into patterns. For example, turn gallows and straight-glyphs into patterns of pipe symbols, and curved-glyphs into patterns of cee-shapes.

I even looked for embroidery-style patterns (which, in some parts of eastern Europe and the Middle East, traditionally encode symbols) in the overall position of glyph-shapes (steganography), and also for other shapes (like maps) in the general layout of the glyphs on the page, but I'm not sure the glyphs would have to be so positionally rigid to accomplish this, so my gut feeling is that this is not the way information in the VMS (assuming there is some) is encoded.


So What is Really Going On?

To my mind, the priority-pattern in the glyphs really does hint at the possibility of a number system (which could, theoretically, be converted to something else, like letters). It's not the only possibility (it may be generated by volvelles or charts, code-blocks or who-knows-what), but I think it may be one of the more realistic ones. I think number systems deserve far more attention than they've been getting because they share these important properties with Voynichese... both are

• position-dependent,
  
• repetitive, and
  
• self-similar.
  

The Roman-numeral system was still very much in use in the early 15th century, so the CONCEPT of priority based strokes was in the head of every literate child.


Alphabetic Interpretations

The vast majority of "solutions" directly convert the glyphs to alphabetic characters, completely ignoring positional aspects and frequency distribution of letters in their language of choice. I'm in favor of computational attacks (there are some good ones) but I've noticed that even some of those come with questionable assumptions about what they are analyzing.

As for "solutions", I can't think of a single one that describes a multi-step process (I don't count two-step anagram "solutions" that are based on highly subjective manipulation of one-way cipher concepts).


Not the Only Possibility, But a Realistic One

A number system may also account for one other aspect of the VMS that has had me scratching my head for a long time. I know that there are still many people who disagree with me, but I believe the VMS glyphs are primarily based on Latin glyph shapes, with a smaller proportion derived from Greek concepts of stacking and benching. What really stands out (to me) is the way the Latin shapes not only follow Latin glyph-forms, but also position. I keep saying this over and over because it's largely ignored and I think it's crucial to understanding Voynichese. So I've asked myself a thousands times, why would someone come up with a system that follows Latin character-shapes closely enough to vaguely look like Latin without being Latin?

The best explanation I can think of so far is that if the shapes represent a numeric (or other symbolic) system, rather than an alphabetic system, then Latin-shaped endings/beginnings might misdirect people into thinking the text is comprised of letters. If so, whoever devised the system has been highly successful. Most people never look beyond letters (I saw them as letters very briefly when I first looked through the VMS, but the positional component jumped out at me fairly early and I've been trying to account for it ever since).