22-09-2025, 08:24 PM
(22-09-2025, 07:28 PM)Rafal wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.If there are patterns then we should be able to see something in the text - beginnings and ends of sentences, repeated phrases, nouns and verbs, "and" word, numbers and so on. But we can't.
The distinction between "nouns" and "verbs" exists in most "European" languages, but it is not a linguistic universal. Can you spot the verbs and nouns in "مكتوب أن الكاتب كتب كتابًا مكتوبًا بأداة الكتابة"? Or in "maktub 'ana alkatib katab ktaban mktwban bi'adat alkitabati"?
Even in English that distinction has been largely lost with the loss of noun cases and verb inflections. See the famous "buffalo buffalo" example.
Same for the distinction between 'numbers" and "words". Numbers stand out when they are written with Roman or Arabic numerals. But in some languages numbers were traditionally spelled out as spoken. Can you spot the numbers in "孩子从桌子上拿走了四十六块饼干"? Or in "Hái zǐ cóng zhuō zǐ shàng ná zǒu le sì shí liù kuài bǐng gān"?
I believe that the reason why no progress in the decipherment has been made in 25+ years is that everybody who knows even a pinch of medieval paleography correctly observes that the parchment, instrument, hand, writing direction, text layout, figure style, illustration elements, castles, dresses, hairdos, and marginalia are all "European" -- and concludes that "therefore" the language and contents must be "European".
All the best, --jorge
PS. Rafal, have you checked the story of Gaspar da Gama?