Eleven Moon Phases in Folio 86v?

[R. Sale]

Somehow it seems strange to me that the changing of a diacritical marking is going to alter the meaning of the vord itself. Diacritical markings only modify the relevant letter, but they do not change it to a different letter. Are there any examples in relevant languages where this situation of 'macron duality' exists? Is there a real difference between the markings, or is it just a case of multiple scribes and not the neatest examples of handwriting? Is there a VMs version of 'moon' without any macron?

Are diacritical marks used for vowels, or for consonants? It may depend on the reference language.