[Article] The Voynich Manuscript: A Non-Stochastic Glossolalia

[Koen G]

One thing I wonder is if it matters what exactly causes low entropy. It is more than just repetition; in Voynichese, we also get unusual positional rigidity. In glossolalia, how to explain the limited positions of glyphs like EVA [y, q, a, i]... well, the whole system of Voynichese really.

The positional rigidity as we see it in Voynichese cannot be explained in the context of glossolalia. When one is "speaking in tongues", this will always be based on languages one is familiar with. The speaker will make new words (perhaps simpler, more repetitive words?) using familiar phonotactic constraints.

As much as I love entropy as a statistic, I suspect it may be too broad for this discussion. The low entropy of Voynichese feels more "mathematical" rather than the "naive" low entropy that may exist in some glossolalic utterances.