Evidence · Voynich Manuscript

Entropy, word order and phrases are not layout effects

With the layout layer normalised or cut away, three departures from language are unchanged on half C: glyph entropy 2.08 / 2.04 bits (languages from 2.49), word order worth 0.34 / 0.27 bits a word (languages from 1.11) and no repeated four-word phrase (Latin in the same lines 123-233). They are not layout effects.

EstablishedObservationConfirmatory0

What it means

Key questionWhat kind of text is it?

Most likely: a notation or memory system

Most likelyunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onThe departures from language are not layout effects

Supportsweighs heavily · 1 for, 1 against

Disputedunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onThe layout layer hides some language structure

Counts againstweighs heavily · 1 for, 1 against

Most likelyunchanged

Next steps 5

ACH sensitivity without a second rater: drop each finding in turn and shift each diagnosticity one step, and report which rankings move. A blinded rating by an independent model run, clearly labelled as such, can stand in until a person rates.

~4 h

On: What kind of text is it?

—not judged

Add human-made meaningless text (the Gaskell and Bowern 2022 samples) as a null text in the battery and the signature tests.

~6 h

On: What kind of text is it?

—not judged

Second rater for every evidence link, then ACH sensitivity (drop each finding, compare raters).

~6 h

On: What kind of text is it?

—not judged

Paradigm classes against slot simulators with held-out stem-ending prediction (F-103).

~12 h

On: What kind of text is it?

—not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takesAll 5 on the question

How it was found 1 run

Layout tests on half C: rule replication, line-position information, language signatures under normalisation, line crowding: four departures from language under raw, normalised and interior…

Method Layout tests on half C: rule replication, line-position information, language signatures under normalisation, line crowding · Session 10

28 Oct

Result. Not supported (coupling is inside the language range on raw half C already).

Four departures from language under raw, normalised and interior versions of half Craw: h2 2.13, gain 0.31, coupling 0.086, 4-gram repeats 0; normalised: h2 2.08, gain 0.34, coupling 0.059, 4-gram repeats 0; interior: h2 2.04, gain 0.27, coupling 0.045, 4-gram repeats 0Not supported (coupling is inside the language range on raw half C already)

ZL3b transcription Exploration split Line-edge rules learned on half E (46 minimal alternations at paragraph start, line start and line end)

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Entropy, word order and phrases are not layout effects [Evidence EVD0DCC13365Q8C]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DCC13365Q8C

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dcc13365q8c,
  title     = {Entropy, word order and phrases are not layout effects},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DCC13365Q8C},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DCC13365Q8C}
}