Middle English as precursor

[dfs346]

Further thoughts on mapping the Voynich manuscript to Middle English, with the aid of the Auchinleck Manuscript:

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[dashstofsk]

Auchinleck predates Voynich by around 100 years. The 14th and 15th centuries were a time of great change in the English language, and it wasn't until the late 15th century with the arrival of Caxton's printing that the conditions for a standard written language began to emerge. Even so Caxton's language still had inconsistencies in spelling and word form. During the period to which Voynich was dated ( 1404 to 1438 ) language in both spelling and pronounciation was very regional. It seems to me unlikely that you will be able to decipher the Voynich manuscript by comparing it with any dialect of Old or Middle English.

[Mark Knowles]

Unfortunately, I think there isn't a cat in hell's chance the Voynich is written in Old or Middle English. If it was it would make my research so much easier as then I would live in the right part of Europe for archival research as it is I live in the wrong country.

[dfs346]

An alternative (and later) representation of Middle English: Ashmole 61, written between about 1488 and 1500.

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An extract from folio 107r of the Ashmole 61 manuscript. The rubric reads "The governans of man"; the first line is "ffor helth of body couer fro cold þi hede". Image credit: Bodleian Library.