Voynich Talk E2 (2/2): Benedek Láng and Lev Király on the Voynich Manuscript

[@ChancePhilbin]

I feel like too much statistical analysis on Voynich has been focused on the character level rather than the word level. Despite the vast divergence between Voynich character statistics and those of known natural languages, the words in the codex follow Zipf's Law and show a surprising amount of diversity despite the apparent lack of diversity in characters, being roughly on par with most languages across a text of a similar size, as would be implied by its adherence to Zipf's Law. Getting stats on the word entropy of Voynich would be an easy/obvious start, but I think there could be a whole slew of statistical analyses which would be fruitful when applied to Voynich using words as discrete objects rather than constructions built of characters. Like Lev was saying, it seems easier to find even a single meaning for a whole word irrespective of its characters and to use that as a starting point for character decryption than it would be to analyze characters until finding the meaning of any word.

[@voynichtalk]

I looked into this a bit in 2019, when I studied type-token ratio. The research is spread over a number of posts, but this one should give you an idea: herculeaf.wordpress.com/2019/07/18/type-token-ratio-iii-language-clouds-and-a-rebel-quire/ Moving average type token ratio (MATTR) has since become a staple of Voynich research. I would suggest this paper by Lindemann: ceur-ws.org/Vol-3313/paper9.pdf

[@Mega-Tales]

It's basically a work of art. Someone decided to create their own language and came up with their own random rules that even they wouldn't be able to fully decipher later on. It's artistic improvisation mixed in when a desire to invent a new language

[@Mega-Tales]

But there is an undercurrent of a pattern, but very specific to the person inventing it

[@iambadatcomingupwithcomeba2060]

I think the consistent patterns could hint to it being poetry

[@ninamira8051]

Es geht in diese Richtung !

[@TheDiveO]

looks to me like the typical mobile phone contract details.

[@Astlaus]

I think 'q' in English is an example where the next letter is quite predictable... so it's not like "it never happens".

[@me_fault]

true, not never. but the predictability of the next letter in Voyniches is off the chart. i think another video on this channel explained it better.

[@undekagon2264]

everybody who knows about the low entropy, the small character set, the repetitions of words next to each other, the positional restrictions and such moves on with his life and gives up deciphering voynich immediately. its at least a creative act to come up with something convincing for that patterns. I have no clue (anymore)

[@insomnolant6043]

Countless man-hours wasted.

[@dntodo6749]

Listening again to this fascinating talk, I was reminded of the first edict issued by King Stephen - which I'm sure these scholars know, but might be new to other viewers. This edict is dated October 9th 1000ad and begins: (I cite Badiny’s translation) “Upon the council of Pope Sylvester II we have decided that the antique runic characters and that the pagan method of writing which proceeds from right to left, used in Hungary by the people and clerics/clerks of the Szekler and Kun* provinces, shall henceforth be forbidden and suppressed …. superseded by Latin writing ….all manuscripts, inscriptions and books [in that script or scripts: it is possible that 'runic' and the 'pagan script' were distinct systems] in the possession of priests shall be burned [and ‘destroyed by fire and sword’] and replaced by Latin books [or: books in Latin script].. .’ which tells us it was not regarded by the western Pope as an accepted, acceptable Christian literary tradition.

[@davidc1878]

1:47 It is not 'dangerous' to have the view that it is meaningless as a text. It's meaning might just lie in it being created as a fake and until there is widespread evidence and agreement that it is not a fake, assuming it is a fake is just as valid as any other hypothesis. Honestly, calling something 'dangerous' in this context is not very scholarly.

[@timlange2842]

how bout its considered disrespectful to crossout or alter the masters words. instead when thers a misspelling they just write the correct word next to it

[@jennyvinyl85]

It is not a book, but a guide to medieval-style chants. It's not written in any language, known or unknown. It wasn't meant to be read silently, but to be sung as part of a healing ceremony for women's health issues, specifically those living in medieval Italian cloisters. The herbs, astrological signs, and recipes throughout the book are symbolic representations of the connection between human health and the natural world. Imagine chanting a rhythmic, medieval song based on the markings in this book. This chant would have been used in a ritual ceremony to promote women's healing, incorporating practices like therapeutic baths. The reason linguistic and cryptographic analysis have failed, and will continue to do so, is because this isn't code, a cipher, or a secret language. It's constructed musical notation. To understand this book, we need to focus on the intonations and sounds associated with the different glyphs, rather than trying to translate them word for word. This is where musicology can be incredibly helpful in deciphering the melody.

[@pichan8841]

What makes you believe that?

[@spelcheak]

Even if that were true, it would still be a book

[@timlange2842]

awesome! very close:) in early 15th century Khojki language was used by many to write prayer hyms and guidance songs. The extended use of this script and the underlining Landa script also indicate that the author didn’t revise his book into the periods urdu language but made it’s knowledge more hidden by superimposing Khwaja Khoji Vowel marks on top of Brahmi languages ( K, Ki, Ku, Kuu, Kay, Kaay, Ku, Kho, KHU, KHUU Gutturals ( Guttural).

[@AnjaSchonborn-gu2fx]

Was für ein Quatsch. Mal mal logisch überlegen. Wer sollte so einen Aufwand betreiben für so einen Blödsinn. Das auch noch doppelt und dreifach kodieren. Der Verfasser verarscht mit der Schrift, den Seitenzahlen und den Bildern. Aber alles klar. Wir haben hier Badekuren für Frauen im Angebot.😂 Da die grüne Flüssigkeit ein Gas ist, und ich bin Deutsche, fällt mir nur einer ein, der Leute in Gas gebadet bzw geduscht hat. Ist ironisch gemeint. Um auf die Sprünge zu helfen - Erste Seite, erster Abschnitt unten rechts steht agalandea , das mal in a ga land ea in den Übersetzer von Google geben. Vielleicht hilft das weiter😊' ,

[@roninlviaquez]

Interesting theory but if that was the case, repetitions in the paragraphs would be abundant

[@DPHZH67666]

My theory is that one has to connect the grafting of plants with the cloning of beautiful women.