# Word order carries almost no information

> Word order is worth 0.42 bits per word against 1.34-4.10 for 102 languages; on held-out pages the previous word makes the next harder to predict.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDN405FYV/word-order-carries-almost-no-information  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript)F-017

Evidence · Voynich Manuscript

# Word order carries almost no information

Word order is worth 0.42 bits per word against 1.34-4.10 for 102 languages; on held-out pages the previous word makes the next harder to predict.

EstablishedObservation0

## What it bears on 7 answers

[A constructed philosophical language (v0.1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS08JGB6A42K76/a-constructed-philosophical-language-v0-1)

Still possible · weighs some · H-V01-CONLANG

AGAINST

[A mnemonic or notational system](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8G03H04NHH/a-mnemonic-or-notational-system)

Ruled out · weighs some · H-G-MNEMONIC

FOR

[A natural language in an invented script](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8G048E3AAR/a-natural-language-in-an-invented-script)

Still possible · weighs heavily · H-TH-LANG

AGAINST

[Heavily abbreviated Latin or vernacular](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8G03RT3STZ/heavily-abbreviated-latin-or-vernacular)

Still possible · weighs heavily · H-G-ABBREVIATION

AGAINST

[No plaintext: a procedure produced it](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8G04R26QE0/no-plaintext-a-procedure-produced-it)

Still possible · weighs some · H-TH-GENERATED

FOR

[No plaintext: composed freely by hand](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8G04ZW0AK0/no-plaintext-composed-freely-by-hand)

Still possible · weighs some · H-TH-GLOSSOLALIA

FOR

[Whatever the symbols are, the word sequence carries information the way a language's…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8FZXDP5R7Z/whatever-the-symbols-are-the-word-sequence-carries)

Ruled out · weighs heavily · H-LANG-WORDLEVEL

AGAINST

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Word order carries almost no information [Evidence EVD0D8GDN405FYV]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0D8GDN405FYV
```

Key

**EVD** 0D8GDN405FYV

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Established

Chapter

23

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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