# Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's…

> Ruled out: Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's does: knowing the previous words reduces the cost of the…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8FZXDP5R7Z/whatever-the-symbols-are-the-word-sequence-carries  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript)[Is it a cipher of a known language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JG2PB04SQP/is-it-a-cipher-of-a-known-language)Answer

Answer · Voynich Manuscript

# Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's…

Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's does: knowing the previous words reduces the cost of the next by as much as it does in attested languages (the cross-linguistic law of Bentz et al. 2017 relating unigram entropy to entropy rate).

**Ruled out** Answers **2** questionsDeductiveTested0

## Where it stands

**Ruled out** None pieces of evidence for, one against.

## What it predicts

- the manuscript's entropy rate lies within 2 sd of the line fitted on 103 languages at its unigram entropy; the gain from word order (compressed size of the shuffled text minus the text) lies inside the language range

## Evidence none for · 1 against

[Word order carries almost no information](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDN405FYV/word-order-carries-almost-no-information)

Established · weighs heavily · F-017

AGAINST

## Tested by 4 runs

| Run | Measured | Result | Against | Decision | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUN-028 | bits per word saved by word order (random word ids) | 0.418 | 102 languages with word spaces: 1.34-4.10, median 2.39 | Outside the language range (below all) | 22 Oct |
| RUN-017 | residual from the H1 vs entropy-rate law (word level), sd units | h2: 1.8; compression: 2.86 | 103 languages, same length | Outside 2 sd | 22 Oct |
| RUN-023 | residual from the H1 vs entropy-rate law (word level), sd units | h2: 1.56; compression: 2.81 | 103 languages, same length | Outside 2 sd | 22 Oct |
| RUN-027 | residual from the H1 vs entropy-rate law (word level), sd units | h2: 1.95; compression: 3.65 | 103 languages, same length | Outside 2 sd | 22 Oct |

## The questions it answers

[Is it a cipher of a known language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JG2PB04SQP/is-it-a-cipher-of-a-known-language)

Part of [What kind of text is it?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JG1S1G6D9T/what-kind-of-text-is-it)

Most likelyNo answer ahead

[Is it a natural language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JG27P80HMJ/is-it-a-natural-language)

Part of [What kind of text is it?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JG1S1G6D9T/what-kind-of-text-is-it)

Most likelyNo answer ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's… [Answer ANS0D8FZXDP5R7Z]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0D8FZXDP5R7Z
```

Key

**ANS** 0D8FZXDP5R7Z

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Deductive

Proposed

[Session 6](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/sessions/SES0D8C46P04BVW/session-6-phase-2-registered-tests-brute-force-five-surveys) · 22 Oct 2026

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