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Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
- Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
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Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
newamauta > 21-03-2025, 07:49 PM
Hello all! I'm a new user just learning the ins and outs of this forum so please excuse me if I'm posting in the wrong place.
I wanted to discuss Doireann Herold's theory of the Voynich manuscript being written in phonetic Cisalpine Celtic with a "leptonic variation syntax". She believes the author might have been Christine De Pizan. She has been in contact with Lisa Fagin Davis and claims her translation "meets the criteria" that Dr. Fagin Davis laid out in her 2020 paper. There is a YouTube video in which she discusses her translation and she's currently looking for help from more fluent Irish speakers.
Podcast feature about her translation efforts (Around the 35 minute mark she starts to explain her theory)
I personally don't believe the author is Christine De Pizan (not sure if I should get into that) but I thought her theory of Irish/Celtic was interesting. It seems she's proposing something along the lines of a substitution cipher and claims there are not multiple languages within the text. What do you all think? Opinions on if this theory holds any merit? -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
nablator > 21-03-2025, 08:09 PM
A substitution cipher, no problem. Cisalpine Celtic, a language extinct since antiquity, no problem. A language known only from a handful of inscriptions, no problem. Very plausible!
From the video, a nice word salad:
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RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
Bluetoes101 > 21-03-2025, 08:34 PM
From her video posted on reddit.
"I'm currently seeking native Irish writers who would want to consult or co-translate with me. Due to the nature of the text it is ideal that this person is a woman or part of the LGBTQ community"
I decided not to spend more time looking into her theory. -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
newamauta > 21-03-2025, 08:46 PM
To me it doesn't matter who her co-translators are. I'm not following, why would that dissuade you from her theory? -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
tavie > 21-03-2025, 08:49 PM
I saw this on reddit a week or two and tried to watch the youtube video. But I just couldn't get past the moment when she said it was written in "Cisalpine Celtic." I've never had any problem reading through solvers' written material, but when actually watching her talk about this solution, the secondhand embarrassment is just too much for me.
For those who did make it through, I need to figure out how to classify this to put it on the Solutions list. Is she really saying it is a type of Cisalpine Celtic (long extinct and barely known, as Nablator says), or is she weirdly using the term to describe medieval Irish spoken by someone who has somehow found themselves in the Alpine region? Or something entirely different? -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
newamauta > 21-03-2025, 08:57 PM
I'd say she's using the term to describe medieval Irish from the Alpine region. She's currently using an online Gaelic dictionary to translate. -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
Ruby Novacna > 21-03-2025, 09:09 PM
(21-03-2025, 08:46 PM)newamauta Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.To me it doesn't matter who her co-translators are. I'm not following, why would that dissuade you from her theory?
To form a team, I think we could look for linguists, cryptographers, historians, but what does this have to do with gender?
This risks being showy piece of childishness. -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
Koen G > 21-03-2025, 09:16 PM
I watched part of her interview on this podcast. I must say I felt a bit confused; she comes across as intelligent and well-informed, speaks fluently and clearly. But her theory just checks all the boxes of bad Voynich theories - as nablator and Tavi explained. Also she invents a Celtic parent for de Pizan, which exemplifies how fictional this whole thing is. -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
Bluetoes101 > 21-03-2025, 09:23 PM
newamauta Wrote:
To me it doesn't matter who her co-translators are. I'm not following, why would that dissuade you from her theory?
If your chief importance is gender and sexual orientation over qualifications for the job at hand, to me that is more red flags than a Ferrari convention. These are on top of the ones already mentioned. -
RE: Doireann Herold's theory of Lepontic/Cisapline Celtic
newamauta > 21-03-2025, 10:00 PM
(21-03-2025, 09:16 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I watched part of her interview on this podcast. I must say I felt a bit confused; she comes across as intelligent and well-informed, speaks fluently and clearly. But her theory just checks all the boxes of bad Voynich theories - as nablator and Tavi explained. Also she invents a Celtic parent for de Pizan, which exemplifies how fictional this whole thing is.
I'm curious, what do you think of her explanation for low entropy and the decoding framework she came up with (from the 39-50 min mark in the video)? Correct me if I'm wrong, would that still be considered a substitution cipher? If she's saying the symbols represent phonetic sounds and "fadas"/accent marks, and the grouping of the symbols changes their meaning?