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What language did the author of the codex speak?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·Part of Is the Király–Tokai decipherment correct?·4 answers·0·0 following
Four answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.

Where it stands

Four answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Four are still possible.

Why it matters

A word-sign code hides the language, but word order, idiom and the grammatical features the decipherers report (for example the use of Mary's name in place of pronouns) should point to one⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 4

None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
The author's language was Hungarian.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: 1 for
Still possible
Evidence: 1 for
Still possible
Evidence: 1 for
Still possible

History

  1. Láng puts forward: the author's language was Hungarian.
  2. Láng: the codex came from a Hungarian noble library and the earliest readers assumed Hungarian.For: The author's language was Hungarian.
  3. Király & Tokai puts forward: the code hides the language so completely that it cannot be identified from the text alone.
  4. Király & Tokai: the decipherers have not reached a conclusion on the language after years of work.For: The code hides the language so completely that it cannot be identified from the text alone.
  5. Schmeh puts forward: the author's language was another Central European or Balkan language (Croatian, Slovene, German, Romanian or…
  6. Schmeh: art historians consulted by Láng favoured a Balkan origin for the manuscript.For: The author's language was another Central European or Balkan language (Croatian, Slovene, German, Romanian or…
  7. Asked on this site
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