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This damn EVA z
- This damn EVA z
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This damn EVA z
ololololo > Yesterday, 07:22 PM
The symbol z looks like a small version of k and appears very rarely in the manuscript. I counted it 3 times; only 2 are present in the transcription by Tahakasi.
It appears once in Botany (f17r), f58r–f58v, and on the diagram f67v1, and it is repeated twice in the word.
And this is definitely not k, since the scribe of Astrology has no problem writing this gallows. This is also not a distorted ch à la Ih, because there is a loop there.
However, this sign does not appear on f57v, where x is featured.
Of course, ch doesn’t appear there either, but still…
I suggest that this letter is similar to i/n or r, because in all cases (except for f17r) it comes after a.
What do you think about this letter? What can it tell us about the manuscript’s cipher? -
RE: This damn EVA z
Ruby Novacna > 11 hours ago
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RE: This damn EVA z
ololololo > 11 hours ago
(11 hours ago)Ruby Novacna Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Exactly, but the Tachikawa alphabet includes z. They’re easy to tell apart — the line on m goes down.(Yesterday, 07:22 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I counted it 3 times; only 2 are present in the transcription by Tahakasi.
Indeed, the word you are presenting is transliterated as damamm in ZL and in Takahashi. -
RE: This damn EVA z
Koen G > 10 hours ago
One of the greatest mysteries of the VM, in my opinion, is that we don't have more stuff like this. Why is it all so well behaved overall? -
RE: This damn EVA z
ololololo > 10 hours ago
(10 hours ago)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.One of the greatest mysteries of the VM, in my opinion, is that we don't have more stuff like this. Why is it all so well behaved overall?
Well, actually, it might be that this is some rare case of writing a certain symbol. Maybe it’s roughly the same as i/n, just with a loop. -
RE: This damn EVA z
oshfdk > 10 hours ago
(Yesterday, 07:22 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.What do you think about this letter?
Looks like a version of m to me. Just with a very short tail.
(Yesterday, 07:22 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.What can it tell us about the manuscript’s cipher?
Well, if it is a Latin month name, then the cipher can encode ordinary letter sequences with unusual sequences of Voynichese. -
RE: This damn EVA z
Jorge_Stolfi > 8 hours ago
(Yesterday, 07:22 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The symbol z looks like a small version of k and appears very rarely in the manuscript. I counted it 3 times; only 2 are present in the transcription by Tahakasi. It appears once in Botany (f17r), f58r–f58v, and on the diagram f67v1, and it is repeated twice in the word.
A glyph that is that rare can be assumed to be an "error" or simply a variant of some similar glyph. It will not be this simplification that will prevent us from cracking the manuscript.
Imagine that you are transcribing a book in Latin script but an unknown language and you notice that the letter "K" appears only three times in the whole book, while "H" occurs dozens of times per page. You decide to transcribe those three "K" as "H". Will that make any significant difference when you try to identify the language?
Besides, a case can be made that those "mini-k"s are indeed just k gallows. While there may be few instances that are that small, the vertical size of the gallows seems to vary by a factor of 2 or more. On that same text ring there are some ks whose "head" fits entirely inside the framing circle, and some ks whose "head" lies well beyond it. Are those two distinct "letters", too?
All the best, --stolfi