To: voynich@rand.org
Subject: The word "dam"
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Just as an exercise along the line proposed by Brett,
let's look at the word "dam" and its lookalikes.
When sorting the concordance I assumed that the letters { d g m j }
were equivalent, and ditto for { a o y }. Moreover I ignored spaces
and line breaks (but not paragraph breaks) within words. So the words
sorted together with "dam" are described by the Unix pattern
[.-/=][dgjm][.-/]?[aoy][.-/]?[dgjm][.-/=]
Here "=" is a paragraph or label boundary, "." denotes a word break
("." or "," in EVA), "/" is a line boundary, and "-" is a break in the
line due to an "external" obstacle, such as a drawing. (I failed to
distinguish these last two cases in the concordance, sorry. I added
that information manually in the extracts below. I also fixed a couple
of page and line numbers.)
Even ignoring the outermost delimiters, the pattern above describes
4*4*3*4*4 = 768 possible phrases. But in fact only 8 of them actually
occur in the input text:
{ dag daj dam dod dom dy-d d.y.d dym }
Here are their occurrences in context, with "." printed as " " for
legibility:
---------------------------------------- dod ------------------------
bio f77r P.38 V lchpsheey tal cheol dam ar otey daiin-y
cos f70r2 P.2 F cheey s chote dshy dam chchtal ykly-ykeeoy
hea f1v P.4 F -dol chokeo dair dam sochey chokody=
hea f23r P.2 F otchy lolchor daiin dam okchol dainm-dchar
hea f23r P.6 F okol dchey daindal dam ytchol dals-okar
hea f24r P.16 F -sham okeal dal dam dal-sshey otam
hea f3r P.2 F daimm-ycheor chor dam qotcham cham-ochor
hea f45v P.1 F fsholom shor ykchy dod opchaiin olald-
hea f53v P.3 F chol dockhy cthol dam oty-qokol daiin
hea f54r P.7 F chety-sol d*sh dam dam-toshey kodl
hea f54v P.3 F cham chody ykol dam cheol aim-dar chor
hea f6v P.5 U -dair sha chodam dam okor oty-dol dom=
hea f90r2 P.5 L ckhor qoeeor okaiin dom olcheo sodaiin-
hea f93r P.3 U dalody ytchchy dam chody dalol-s chodchy
heb f33v P.2 F araiin es-kchdy dam dy-oky-otal dain
heb f34r P.5 F -oltchedy otedy dam checthy-oteol chekey
heb f43r P.5 F okedy dar chetchy dam otain ytam-kchedy
heb f46r P.14 F qokar cheol okal dam chdam qokam-qokar
heb f46v P.7 F theym-dchedy cheeky dam ched lchedy chedy
pha f88v P2.12 L cpheody ykchey daj cheor chalykorain-
pha f89r1 P2.12 L chom chtae**-taiin dam shoty* dal qokchy
pha f89v1 P1.14 L qokol dal chol dam qoeey saiin ols
pha f89v2 P2.7 L qokaol chey dair dam *** fo* opodaiin
str f114r P1.8 F chedaiin chain-fche dam okchedam qokeedaiin
unk f57v R4.1 U ,ar o,r * t l s d y d,ar teodar otadal
unk f58r P.3 F hokal-ykechod dalal dam ytam choty otchy
unk f65r L.1 V =otaim dam alam=
unk f85r1 P.19 F okchdy otchedy dam lam=
unk f86v5 P.24 F ocfhdy dar olpshy dam shey-pchor ypchor
unk f86v6 P.22 F airoor qotar tackhy dam am-qokar olkedy
ast f67r1 P.3 F aram shees dalaiin dam/cheo daiin aekeey
ast f68v2 P.3 F shteody qoteeody dam/okeey sheoy keol
bio f78r P.2 V tchedy otar olkedy dam/qckhedy cheky dal
bio f78v P.3 V chey qotedy ol dam/ol chy lshdy lcheckhy
bio f79r P.18 V otain otain otal ol dam/sol cheey chol
bio f79v P.38 V okain sheckhdy dag/qokeedy ykeey sheey
bio f82r P2.15 V aiin chey raity dam/dshedy qoteey chedy
bio f82v P.31 V otal okeedy qokal dym/s aiin shey qokeedy
bio f84r P.25 V qokeedy dal ol dam/s or olchdy lshedy
bio f84r P.33 V shekedy okedy cthhy dam/dchedy qokedy ar
bio f84v P.8 V keedy qoeedy okeedy dam/shedy qoeedy ol
cos f67v2 C2.1 U =toal daig rakar dam/solair cfhey solal
cos f70r2 P.4 F otal shshy tal dam/tal cheeo* dal
hea f11v P.2 U chckhy shcthy daiin dam-ykchy dain dchy/
hea f14v P.8 U daiin-dol dair dam/dykshy ctholdm-
hea f15r P.13 F cthar-ytol dor dom/qotchor chaiin
hea f19v P.7 U qodchol qokchs dom-yshor oky chor
hea f22r P.2 F cthor dain ckhy dom-qokol dykaiin okchy
hea f22v P.8 U cthy qokol daiin dam-okshor shody chol
hea f23v P.8 U g dam-chor olol dam-otshy dal dar oldar
hea f23v P.8 U dain qokor okal g dam-chor olol dam-otshy
hea f27r P.3 F chy-daiin chey dam-qokey chor char
hea f32r P.8 F oldair-qoar daiin dam-dytchor dary-dchor
hea f36v P.2 F ochor chety ckhor dom-dchytchy ytors-
hea f3r P.6 F chor cthom otal dam-otchol qodaiin
hea f42v P.6 F -sy-saiin cthar dam-chok sheo key keeeyd-
hea f44r P.10 F choky choky chol dam-ytsho qockhy okchody=
hea f47r P.10 F otchm tchol dain dam-dsho cphy daiin
hea f51r P.14 F aiindal cphodal ral dam-qokol cheor ckhal
hea f52r P.4 F qotchy oty dar oty dam-ychcthod-oky chor
hea f52v P.2 F kor esechor chy dam-oorchor chochar
hea f54r P.3 F ol s or y-ytchey dam-tor ockhol shokchy
hea f54r P.7 F chety-sol d*sh dam dam-toshey kodl ckho
hea f54r P.11 F ckhol chor chom dam-or sho chol dam-
hea f54r P.11 F dam-or sho chol dam-yor shodal o aiin
hea f6r P.3 F heoees ykeor ytaiin dam-dar cho s sheor
hea f8r P1.4 F shesed chofchy dam-okchey do r cheeey
heb f33v P.3 F -dyky-ckhdy oky dam-okardy kamdy-tokar
heb f34r P.13 F qokar ar daiin dam-ykeo lor ochey
heb f40r P.5 F qokchd ar ar or dam-tor or ar shokoram
heb f41r P.4 F chees oteey otal dam-qotchy sal yteedy
heb f41v P.2 F ykeeody choy keoy dam-qokeody okey qokeody
heb f43r P.7 F dytydy pchdy kedy dam-ytchedy chedy cheody
heb f46r P.9 F karal shky yty dar dam-tchey shy chkal
heb f46v P.3 F qoty shedy chedy dam-ydaiin chckhy chdal
heb f46v P.10 F otedy choctheod oty dam-ykar chedy=
heb f55r P.7 F tchdy qokchdy olkar dam-dchykey char chek
pha f102v1 P2.10 U heody qoeteey okeey dam-qoeeody ychey okeody
pha f89r1 P1.3 L kechy daiin ctheody daj-yshor-oiiin daiin
pha f89r1 P2.8 L daiin ykeedy daiin daj-dalsal dal cheiiirdy
str f104r P.22 F cheor chckhey taiin dam-ol sheo ckhey chol
str f104v P.1 F cheodaiin cheekaiin dam-ychedaiin qoteed
str f105r P2.19 F airody al tchdar dam-ycheo lkedy qoeey
str f105r P2.23 F pcheey dal daiin dam-deeedy cheodkedy
str f108v P.5 T okeedy qokar qokal dam-oeeedain chey lokeey
str f114v P.16 F qokaiin choky chol dam-sheoal chos oaiir
str f115r P.14 F chtar as kaiin dam-ycheo lkeo daiin
unk f49v P.4 U -okeodsho chotshol dam-shol shodaiin qotchar-
unk f85r1 P.3 F cheol saiin ot dam-odee daiin qokechy
unk f85r1 P.18 F tshey qokshey schdy dam-okchy okchdy otchedy
unk f86v5 P.34 F otol oty oltal oky dam-dchol chedy qotaiin
unk f86v6 P.18 F lkar otal qotar dam-pol sheopchey pchcfhy
ast f68v2 Y.3 V =ysaikchy dam=
cos f86r4 Z3.2 V =ot dam=
hea f18v P.10 U dshy dair ytol dom=
hea f44r P.4 F ykchey ykchy chody dam=
hea f6v P.5 U dam okor oty-dol dom=
heb f57r P.5 F -qokcho daiin cheeo dam=
heb f94r P.8 F osaiin chy kaidy dam=
pha f99r X.6 V =dam=
str f104r P.9 F qokecho qokol cheeo dam=
str f111r P.35 T -ychedl ar aiin ain dam=
str f112r P.10 T al chedy qodain dam=
hea f96r P.12 U cheol cheodain ol-dy-d-chs-ar cheody-oteeo
Note that only { dam dom daj } occur in significant numbers:
respectively 89, 6, and 4 times.
A case can be made that all these variants are actually the same word.
However, since the "dam" variant dominates, we don't need to worry yet
about this question; any definite pattern that involves "dam" alone
should be visible in the combined data, too.
Note that these words never occur in "line-initial" position. The only
two exceptions are clearly transcription bugs: the "-"s in "-dy-d-"
(page f96r) are figure breaks, not line boundaries, and the "=dam="
label (page f99r) should have been joined with the nearby one in a
single label "=sory.dam=".
Note that this statistics is quite significant: the average line has
about a dozen words; so in 104 random occurrences we would expect
quite a few to be in line-initial position.
Looking at the other boundary, we see that 74 of the 104 occurrences
are in "line-final" position, and 11 of these are paragraph-final.
Again this is significantly more than what we would expect by chance.
I.e. these words have a clear preference for end-of-line.
One possible explanation for these startistics is that the letters
{ m g j } are actually abbreviation or "truncation" signs, which are
used mainly to avoid "bad" line breaks that would leave only
one or two words of the current sentence on the next line.
If this explanation were correct, then these letters should occur mostly
near the right margin or other "hard" obstacles.