12-02-2026, 12:08 AM
As is often the case, also here, many of the counter-arguments presented are false/invalid.
In the case, this is mostly because people oversimplify things, add their own assumptions, and then (try) to counter the result of this. Also, many people do not know enough about Chinese. Finally, Stolfi is not saying that the language is Mandarin Chinese, so (as I understand it), while 主 is zhu3 in monder Mandarin, it is not proposed that daiin is a rendition of zhu3.
As a result, while it would be nice, it is not to be assumed that a syllable like zhi3 in Voynichese should be similar to daiin (at all!).
Other problems are that, while xi with different tones are different words, also xi1 (high tone) can have several completely different meanings.
Even if (big if!!) daiin means 'use', this is still at the very beginning of a theory, and the next step is not obvious.
In the case, this is mostly because people oversimplify things, add their own assumptions, and then (try) to counter the result of this. Also, many people do not know enough about Chinese. Finally, Stolfi is not saying that the language is Mandarin Chinese, so (as I understand it), while 主 is zhu3 in monder Mandarin, it is not proposed that daiin is a rendition of zhu3.
As a result, while it would be nice, it is not to be assumed that a syllable like zhi3 in Voynichese should be similar to daiin (at all!).
Other problems are that, while xi with different tones are different words, also xi1 (high tone) can have several completely different meanings.
Even if (big if!!) daiin means 'use', this is still at the very beginning of a theory, and the next step is not obvious.
![[+]](https://www.voynich.ninja/images/collapse_collapsed.png)