One funny word on f114r.30

[Jorge_Stolfi]

Like the unusual cluster of 4 words ending with do on lines 14-21, perfectly aligned with 4 lines of text between them on the left and the right... You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

By my count there are only eight tokens that end in do in the SPS.  Four of them are followed by a loose l or a word that begins with l or r -- and dol and dor are common combinations.  Which is the case of three of those in that "constellation". 

Thus I think it is likely that those eight do are errors too -- like the Scribe inserting bogus spaces, or misreading the Author's dys.

For me, the correct answer is: there are numerous possible explanations, and several of these are plausible. And it stops there.

That is the right attitude (to a point) when one is transcribing the text for others.  

But when one is analyzing or deciphering the text, one must keep in mind that every glyph may be an error, every gap may be an omission, etc.  It is not viable to "stop there" at every single place.  Except maybe at few points, one must estimate the probabilities and make a choice.  If an archaeologist is analyzing the finds at Pompeii and sees an inscription SENATUS POPULUSQUE RONANUM, he must decide whether it was an error by the sculptor, or is evidence a forgotten empire rival to the Roman one.

These decisions are necessary especially when there is evidence that the error rate may be rather high -- as seems to be the case for the VMS.  Which would be expected if indeed the Scribe was transcribing a language or cipher that he did not understand.

And that specific lkeede on f114r.30 is rather important to me at the moment...

All the best, --stolfi