The structure of the Voynich text and how it may be generated

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I tried to propose a less naïve self-citation generation method including sparse initialization causing bottlenecks that would explain local inhomogeneities, lazy source words selection patterns, non-sequential writing, and generation rules optimized to fit the transliteration data. It seems that no one knew how to test the hypothesis. What do you think about it? You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Such a method, if it can be shown to replicate all known properties of Voynichese, does not exclude the possibility of a cipher such as You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., but unnecessary complications can usually be discarded by Occam's razor when there is no evidence specifically pointing at them.

I think your proposal is interesting, especially because it goes beyond naïve copy–modify and introduces more realistic selection patterns.

The key issue, in my view, is whether it can reproduce two constraints at the same time: strong local similarity and weak determinism. In the data, many nearby forms are compatible, but there is usually no clear source or dominant parent. Most direct self-citation models tend to produce too much chaining and identifiable source–target links.

I would suggest testing two versions of your idea: a strong one where tokens are explicitly derived from source words, and a weaker one where nearby words define a candidate set, but the final choice is not tied to a specific source. The question is whether the strong version can avoid producing detectable parent-child structure.

If you agree, I will try to model them and put them in my pipeline. Will let you know!