2 hours ago
(4 hours ago)npcompl33t wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I've also considered volvelles in the past, especially after reading Zaterra's 2022 slot grammar paper. Something along the lines of Ramon Llull's Ars Demonstrativa, or perhaps the zā’irja, would produce slot preferences and even supply motive for the construction of a unique script in Llull's case.
In the past when i've tested these I haven't found a combination that could reasonably produce the observed voynich. However I have not revisited these ideas with respect to a changing gradient. I'm not certain if swapping volvelles would cause a gradient like the one the data appears to present, I would imagine they would produce stepwise changes, but that is actually easy enough to test.
I've been out for a while. Could you please link me to this Zaterra 2022 paper?
I think the mistake of previous volvelle/slot/combinatoric approaches was to assume one generative volvelle, or the entire VMS as a homogenous vocabulary. This generation wouldn't produce enough distinct words to cover the whole manuscript. My idea was a bit more realistic - five simultaneous volvelles, with gradual replacements over time. This creates a slightly different "sub-vocabulary" for each part of the VMS and the total range of words would be expanded compared to a static set of generators.
If it's easy for you to test a stepwise change, I'd be curious to know if you detect such an effect. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. suggests some combos do appear/disappear quite abruptly, with -oedy being suddenly replaced by -edy even in the middle of the same folio. Perhaps this represents a volvelle being replaced wholly, or maybe just one ring with suffixes. This is only if you're open to it though - no pressure either way. I don't have the capacity to contribute, so one day I'll just dump my old ideas into a new post in case it inspires anyone else. Up to you if you want to think about any of my ideas so far!