The "gallows" characters

[-JKP-]

I am 100% sure that the Eva-q is based on the Latin 9 abbreviation, just as I am 100% sure that the j shapes are based on the Latin -ris and -cis shapes. I've mentioned this many times, blogged about it, and given visual examples as well.

• In Latin -ris and -cis are drawn exactly the same as in the VMS.
  
• In Latin, Eva-q is drawn exactly the same as in the VMS (as a 9 shape).
  
• In Latin -ris and -cis are almost always at the ends of words. In the VMS, they are almost always at the ends of vords.
  
• In Latin, Eva-q is sometimes at the beginning, occasionally in the middle, and frequently at the end. The VMS uses it exactly the same way.
  
• In Latin, the descender on -ris and -cis are sometimes shorter. In the VMS they are sometimes shorter.
  
• In Latin, Eva-q is sometimes in-line and sometimes superscripted, depending on scribe, language, and context. Same in the VMS. Usually in-line but you can find it superscripted.
  

There's really no doubt about their morphological origin. To a modern eye, the similarity between Latin "a" and "o" and the VMS glyphs is obvious. To a medieval paelographer, the similarity between Eva-q and Latin 9 is obvious.


What is not known is what they represent. In Latin -ris is a ligature combining "r" and the abbreviation for "is". In Voynichese, it could be a single letter or sound, an abbreviation, a marker, or something else. Borrowing a shape from Latin doesn't mean it means the same thing.

Those are all good points - many people have looked at the frequent 9 at the end and thought of Latin, because that would explain several Latin case endings: is, os, us, es. At the beginning of a word it could be the Latin prefix "con-/com-", and standing alone it would mean "cum" (the preposition "with"). I hope to God that the author didn't use this setup, and I REALLY hope he didn't mix languages (i.e. a German text with Latin abbreviations).

Hate to tell you this, but German/Italian/Spanish/French/English text with Latin abbreviations was normal in the 15th century.

The c and r shapes that have tails are also normal Latin abbreviations, although they are not used quite as frequently as -ris, -tis, -cis, con-/com-, -us/-um, and -rum shapes when applied to languages other than Latin.