Linguistic Patterns Before Decipherment: A Key to Understanding Unknown Texts

[Urtx13]

I agree with @oshfdk: the approach is obviously valuable and well known, but it's just a generic framework which needs to be fleshed out. This has been attempted many times in different ways with the VMS without, up to now, definite results. Let's hope for the future.

You’re right! The framework itself has been explored many times. But the fact that it’s been attempted before shouldn’t discourage us. In my opinion, what matters is how it’s implemented.

I believe the approach adds value precisely because it can be replicable, statistically validated, and grounded in a measurable structure, not just interpretive guesswork.  If past attempts failed to yield precise results, it might be because they lacked rigorous controls or robust metrics. 

As far as I know, what I said hasn’t been done before: it’s not just another pattern search. If we identify three macroblocs, validate them statistically (using permutation tests, ablation, or synthetic controls), and show that they break down when the phases are shuffled, then it can work. The method combines entropy, LDA, supervised models, and supervised classification with a control comparison.

I think it can be interesting, and to my knowledge, no previous study has applied this level of multivariate, statistically controlled analysis to the VMS.