02-03-2025, 02:22 PM
Dear Scarecrow,
thank you for the input. We are aware of these statistical criticisms of a simple substitution cipher. The expectation to be able to read the text once it is transformed using our solution would be misguided.
We have added an extensive chapter in the additional explanatory text "Seven Criteria by C. Bowern" => You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in which we explain why the entropy of bigrams is so low. It has a lot to do with the oversplitting of characters. We argue that the bigram entropy is significantly higher than the result we get if EVA is employed.
While oversplitting can account for some of the low entropy, it does not solve the problem completely (especially with regards to the word endings). Here it is absolutely crucial to understand what a medieval lingua volgare shorthand is and how it works. Shorthand scripts often disproportionately affect the endings of words. We have made an effort to explain some aspects of it based on an example in the same text.
In short: We argue that the application of our solution to the Voynich leads to a text in linguage volgare but written in shorthand with some extreme contractions that will need additional expert interpretation. Our solution is in need of a replication by someone intimately familiar with lingua volgare and medieval shorthand texts.
thank you for the input. We are aware of these statistical criticisms of a simple substitution cipher. The expectation to be able to read the text once it is transformed using our solution would be misguided.
We have added an extensive chapter in the additional explanatory text "Seven Criteria by C. Bowern" => You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in which we explain why the entropy of bigrams is so low. It has a lot to do with the oversplitting of characters. We argue that the bigram entropy is significantly higher than the result we get if EVA is employed.
While oversplitting can account for some of the low entropy, it does not solve the problem completely (especially with regards to the word endings). Here it is absolutely crucial to understand what a medieval lingua volgare shorthand is and how it works. Shorthand scripts often disproportionately affect the endings of words. We have made an effort to explain some aspects of it based on an example in the same text.
In short: We argue that the application of our solution to the Voynich leads to a text in linguage volgare but written in shorthand with some extreme contractions that will need additional expert interpretation. Our solution is in need of a replication by someone intimately familiar with lingua volgare and medieval shorthand texts.