Interchangeable ch/sh and k/t characters

[JoJo_Jost]

Any more stats on k and t? If you're interested...

Token start in Currier B: k 10.9% vs. t 16.6% (t 1.53x k). In Currier A they're still close (0.94x); in B the difference is clear.

That sounds like a lot, but it's tied to a clear difference in where the glyphs occur at the line start:

Line start:
Currier A: k 2.09% t 7.96% -> t/k = 3.8x
Currier B: k 0.77% t 6.53% -> t/k = 8.5x

So the effect is really a line-start phenomenon; if you exclude the line start, the difference collapses. But there, it's large and robust.

By the way: if you include the benched gallows (though no one knows if that's valid), there's an interesting reversal in frequency:

plain: k 10,151 / t 6,047 = 1.679
benched (ckh/cth): ckh 895 / cth 916 = 0.977

Despite all the statistics, it ultimately remains speculation. Every language has glyphs that behave similarly and others that do not. Since we cannot assume a substitution, it is a cipher key anyway (if it is a cipher and not a hoax—though in the case of a hoax, it wouldn’t matter at all). And if it is a cipher, the question becomes even more speculative .