Base Transcription
May 3, 2014 6:46:57 GMT
Post by Rob Hicks on May 3, 2014 6:46:57 GMT
It struck me the other day that the main impediment to this project is the nature of the task itself. Transcribing the Voynich Manuscript takes a long time (at best, months), and it is common for transcribers to wear out quickly. My own transcription effort began in 1998 and was finished in 2014!
Faced with this huge task, and given the availability of historical transcriptions, it is not surprising that any new undertaking is generally avoided. The typical Voynich researcher wants to get stuck in to the problem-solving rather than doing the laborious, nit-picking groundwork. The problem is, as I have shown in another thread, the historical transcriptions are simply not up to the task. There is little in the way of consensus between any of the historical transcriptions, most of which were read from very poor quality images. Even those read from high-resolution images (specifically, Glen Caston's, Rene Zandbergen's and my own complete transcriptions) fail to reach agreement with startling regularity.
To alleviate the problem, I am currently in the process of forming a 'base' transcription showing where all the historical transcriptions reach unanimous agreement (representing anything else with a blanking code). This is a time-consuming process, as I am working on up to six documents at once, but a little faster than performing a completely new reading. Once finished, this base can be used to indicate where the main contentious areas are and thus allows this project to work (initially) to resolving them.
I cannot give an ETA for this! Even with a sustained effort, I very much doubt that this task will be completed in much less than six months, especially in light of my relocating to China again in the summer.
Here follows the first few pages that I have managed to combine in this fashion:
: Voynich Manuscript Consensus Transcription v1.0
:
: This complete transcription of the manuscript is derived from all obtainable historical transcriptions and
: shows only the elements that are UNANIMOUSLY agreed upon. Anything that is contested, at any level, is
: recorded with an asterisk (*), or, in the case of a contested space between words, a comma (,). Note that
: an asterisk, in this transcription, represents ONE OR MORE characters - and maybe in a few cases NONE at
: all. Particular care should therefore be taken over these areas when making a new reading.
:
: The historical transcriptions used for this consensus transcription were sourced (with thanks) from-
:
: Glen CASTON
: Captain Prescott CURRIER
: Mary D'IMPERIO
: FIRST STUDY GROUP
: John GROVE
: Robert HICKS
: Karl KLUGE
: Gabriel LANDINI
: Don LATHAM
: Denis V MARDLE
: Father Theodore PETERSEN
: Jim REED
: Mike ROE
: Jorge STOLFI
: Takeshi TAKEHASHI
: John TILTMAN
: Rene ZANDBERGEN
:
: All historical transcriptions have been converted to the CONTRAPTION system for this transcription.
: In most cases this was possible with a one-to-one correspondence, but in Glen Caston's case the core
: CONTRAPTION characters were identified and his extended character variants were all reduced to *.
:
<f001r1-01a-P01L01-CO> f*yz.y,kal.ar.*taiin.sol.sory.*z.y.kor.sold*-
<f001r1-01a-P01L02-CO> zory.var.o,r,y.ka*.ctaiin.s*r.a*.xar.xar,dan*-
<f001r1-01a-P01L03-CO> zyaiir.seky.or.ykaiin.sod.xo,ar*.x*.dar,aiin.z*-
<f001r1-01a-P01L04-CO> *oiin.oteey.ote*.*,oloty.*ar,daiin.o*aiin.or.okan-
<f001r1-01a-P01L05-CO> *air,y.cear.xaiin.war.uaiin=
:
<f001r1-01a-P01SIG-CO> ydar,ais*=
:
<f001r1-01a-P02L01-CO> *,odar.*y.sol.woy.oydar.s*,z.uoaiin.sodary-
<f001r1-01a-P02L02-CO> *s*y.*ody.okco,y.otcol.coxy.oz,cy.dain.cor.koz-
<f001r1-01a-P02L03-CO> daiin.s*.uol.sody=
:
<f001r1-01a-P02SIG-CO> dain.*.teody=
:
<f001r1-01a-P03L01-CO> *,ydain.wezaiin.ol,z.wey.ytain.sosy.wodal,ez-
<f001r1-01a-P03L02-CO> ok,so.ksoy.otairin.oteol.okan.sodain.z,v*y.daiin-
<f001r1-01a-P03L03-CO> soy.vey.kodaiin.wy.w*da*l*.*y.s*.oldain,d*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L04-CO> dain.oiin.col.odaiin.codain.cdy.ok*in.d*.xy.kod*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L05-CO> daiin.svey.*or.c*r.sey.kol,col.col.kor.c*l-
<f001r1-01a-P03L06-CO> so.col.s,odan.ksy.kc*.dor.codaiin.so.k*m-
<f001r1-01a-P03L07-CO> yco.tcey.c*kain.seo,psol.dydyd.xy.dai*y-
<f001r1-01a-P03L08-CO> yto.sol.s*.kodsey.wealy.da*,ain.dain.vy*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L09-CO> dcar.sxaiin.okaiir,cey.*cy.*tol.xolz.d*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L10-CO> sok.cor.cey.dain.v*y=
:
<f001r1-01a-P03SIG-CO> otol.daiiin=
:
<f001r1-01a-P04L01-CO> wo.saiin.sokceey.col.tsodeezy.sey.pydeey.*,d*-
<f001r1-01a-P04L02-CO> *oin.col.dain.xal.dar.sear.kaiin.dar.sey.x*ar*-
<f001r1-01a-P04L03-CO> *co*,kaiin.s*aiin.okol.daiin.*ar.xol.daiin.xoldar-
<f001r1-01a-P04L04-CO> *ceey.ok*.oky.daiin.o,kcey.k,okaiin.*col.k*c*.dal-
<f001r1-01a-P04L05-CO> d*o.sody.ko*y.xy.ok,c*y.keey.keey,dal.ctor-
<f001r1-01a-P04L06-CO> *o*.col.c*,coty.cotey=
:
<f001r1-01a-P04SIG-CO> dcaiin=
:
<f001r1-01a-K01C02-CO> d;*;r;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;g;*=
:
<f001v1-01a-PLANTL-CO> *=
:
<f001v1-01a-P01L01-CO> kc*y.c*daiin.ol/o,l,tecy.car.uar.a*-
<f001v1-01a-P01L02-CO> ytee*y.car.or,ocy/dco.lkody.okodar.cody-
<f001v1-01a-P01L03-CO> d*o,vy.vo,vy.sy/dkseey.xy.kotcody.dal-
<f001v1-01a-P01L04-CO> dol.cokeo.dair.da*/zocey.co,kody=
:
<f001v1-01a-P02L01-CO> potoy.sol.*air.woal/dar.cey.tody.otoaiin.sosy-
<f001v1-01a-P02L02-CO> coky.col.xo,l,sol.*kal/dolcey.codo.lol.cy.xy-
<f001v1-01a-P02L03-CO> qo.ol,co*e*.ceol.dol.xey/ykol.dol.dolo.ykol.do,l,c*ody-
<f001v1-01a-P02L04-CO> *kol,sol.kol,kec*.col,ky/col.xol.cody.col.daiin-
<f001v1-01a-P02L05-CO> sor.ok*l.col.dol,ky.dar/sol.dcor.o,tco.dar.*ody-
<f001v1-01a-P02L06-CO> t*.cotcey.dal.cody/zcody.*ol.codar=
:
<f002r1-01b-P01L01-CO> kydainy.ypcol.daiin.otcal/ypcaiin.volzy-
<f002r1-01b-P01L02-CO> dorcory/ckar.z/sor.xy.*-
<f002r1-01b-P01L03-CO> qotaiin/xey.y/cor.cy.ydy/caiin-
<f002r1-01b-P01L04-CO> *ai*dy/ctod,dy/wy.dal,z/c,o*aiin.d-
<f002r1-01b-P01L05-CO> otocor.al/sodaiin/col,dan/ytcaiin.dan-
<f002r1-01b-P01L06-CO> zaiin.dain,d/d,kol.zor/ytoldy/dcol.dcy.xy-
<f002r1-01b-P01L07-CO> sor.vy.daiiny/col,dan=
:
<f002r1-01b-PLANTL-CO> ytoai*=
:
<f002r1-01b-P02L01-CO> kydain.saiin.qoy.z.sol.fodan/yks.ol,seey.daiildy-
<f002r1-01b-P02L02-CO> dlz,so.kol.seey.qokey.ykody.zo/col,yky.dain.daiir*l-
<f002r1-01b-P02L03-CO> qoky.colaiin.sol.seky.daiin/xey.keol.z,aiin.*iin-
<f002r1-01b-P02L04-CO> ycain.dal.cy.dalor.san.dan/*z,aiin.seey.vor-
<f002r1-01b-P02L05-CO> okol.cy.cor.xor.yor.an.can/z,aiin.cety.cyky.zal-
<f002r1-01b-P02L06-CO> so.ykeey.cey.daiin.cxy=
Faced with this huge task, and given the availability of historical transcriptions, it is not surprising that any new undertaking is generally avoided. The typical Voynich researcher wants to get stuck in to the problem-solving rather than doing the laborious, nit-picking groundwork. The problem is, as I have shown in another thread, the historical transcriptions are simply not up to the task. There is little in the way of consensus between any of the historical transcriptions, most of which were read from very poor quality images. Even those read from high-resolution images (specifically, Glen Caston's, Rene Zandbergen's and my own complete transcriptions) fail to reach agreement with startling regularity.
To alleviate the problem, I am currently in the process of forming a 'base' transcription showing where all the historical transcriptions reach unanimous agreement (representing anything else with a blanking code). This is a time-consuming process, as I am working on up to six documents at once, but a little faster than performing a completely new reading. Once finished, this base can be used to indicate where the main contentious areas are and thus allows this project to work (initially) to resolving them.
I cannot give an ETA for this! Even with a sustained effort, I very much doubt that this task will be completed in much less than six months, especially in light of my relocating to China again in the summer.
Here follows the first few pages that I have managed to combine in this fashion:
: Voynich Manuscript Consensus Transcription v1.0
:
: This complete transcription of the manuscript is derived from all obtainable historical transcriptions and
: shows only the elements that are UNANIMOUSLY agreed upon. Anything that is contested, at any level, is
: recorded with an asterisk (*), or, in the case of a contested space between words, a comma (,). Note that
: an asterisk, in this transcription, represents ONE OR MORE characters - and maybe in a few cases NONE at
: all. Particular care should therefore be taken over these areas when making a new reading.
:
: The historical transcriptions used for this consensus transcription were sourced (with thanks) from-
:
: Glen CASTON
: Captain Prescott CURRIER
: Mary D'IMPERIO
: FIRST STUDY GROUP
: John GROVE
: Robert HICKS
: Karl KLUGE
: Gabriel LANDINI
: Don LATHAM
: Denis V MARDLE
: Father Theodore PETERSEN
: Jim REED
: Mike ROE
: Jorge STOLFI
: Takeshi TAKEHASHI
: John TILTMAN
: Rene ZANDBERGEN
:
: All historical transcriptions have been converted to the CONTRAPTION system for this transcription.
: In most cases this was possible with a one-to-one correspondence, but in Glen Caston's case the core
: CONTRAPTION characters were identified and his extended character variants were all reduced to *.
:
<f001r1-01a-P01L01-CO> f*yz.y,kal.ar.*taiin.sol.sory.*z.y.kor.sold*-
<f001r1-01a-P01L02-CO> zory.var.o,r,y.ka*.ctaiin.s*r.a*.xar.xar,dan*-
<f001r1-01a-P01L03-CO> zyaiir.seky.or.ykaiin.sod.xo,ar*.x*.dar,aiin.z*-
<f001r1-01a-P01L04-CO> *oiin.oteey.ote*.*,oloty.*ar,daiin.o*aiin.or.okan-
<f001r1-01a-P01L05-CO> *air,y.cear.xaiin.war.uaiin=
:
<f001r1-01a-P01SIG-CO> ydar,ais*=
:
<f001r1-01a-P02L01-CO> *,odar.*y.sol.woy.oydar.s*,z.uoaiin.sodary-
<f001r1-01a-P02L02-CO> *s*y.*ody.okco,y.otcol.coxy.oz,cy.dain.cor.koz-
<f001r1-01a-P02L03-CO> daiin.s*.uol.sody=
:
<f001r1-01a-P02SIG-CO> dain.*.teody=
:
<f001r1-01a-P03L01-CO> *,ydain.wezaiin.ol,z.wey.ytain.sosy.wodal,ez-
<f001r1-01a-P03L02-CO> ok,so.ksoy.otairin.oteol.okan.sodain.z,v*y.daiin-
<f001r1-01a-P03L03-CO> soy.vey.kodaiin.wy.w*da*l*.*y.s*.oldain,d*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L04-CO> dain.oiin.col.odaiin.codain.cdy.ok*in.d*.xy.kod*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L05-CO> daiin.svey.*or.c*r.sey.kol,col.col.kor.c*l-
<f001r1-01a-P03L06-CO> so.col.s,odan.ksy.kc*.dor.codaiin.so.k*m-
<f001r1-01a-P03L07-CO> yco.tcey.c*kain.seo,psol.dydyd.xy.dai*y-
<f001r1-01a-P03L08-CO> yto.sol.s*.kodsey.wealy.da*,ain.dain.vy*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L09-CO> dcar.sxaiin.okaiir,cey.*cy.*tol.xolz.d*-
<f001r1-01a-P03L10-CO> sok.cor.cey.dain.v*y=
:
<f001r1-01a-P03SIG-CO> otol.daiiin=
:
<f001r1-01a-P04L01-CO> wo.saiin.sokceey.col.tsodeezy.sey.pydeey.*,d*-
<f001r1-01a-P04L02-CO> *oin.col.dain.xal.dar.sear.kaiin.dar.sey.x*ar*-
<f001r1-01a-P04L03-CO> *co*,kaiin.s*aiin.okol.daiin.*ar.xol.daiin.xoldar-
<f001r1-01a-P04L04-CO> *ceey.ok*.oky.daiin.o,kcey.k,okaiin.*col.k*c*.dal-
<f001r1-01a-P04L05-CO> d*o.sody.ko*y.xy.ok,c*y.keey.keey,dal.ctor-
<f001r1-01a-P04L06-CO> *o*.col.c*,coty.cotey=
:
<f001r1-01a-P04SIG-CO> dcaiin=
:
<f001r1-01a-K01C02-CO> d;*;r;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;*;g;*=
:
<f001v1-01a-PLANTL-CO> *=
:
<f001v1-01a-P01L01-CO> kc*y.c*daiin.ol/o,l,tecy.car.uar.a*-
<f001v1-01a-P01L02-CO> ytee*y.car.or,ocy/dco.lkody.okodar.cody-
<f001v1-01a-P01L03-CO> d*o,vy.vo,vy.sy/dkseey.xy.kotcody.dal-
<f001v1-01a-P01L04-CO> dol.cokeo.dair.da*/zocey.co,kody=
:
<f001v1-01a-P02L01-CO> potoy.sol.*air.woal/dar.cey.tody.otoaiin.sosy-
<f001v1-01a-P02L02-CO> coky.col.xo,l,sol.*kal/dolcey.codo.lol.cy.xy-
<f001v1-01a-P02L03-CO> qo.ol,co*e*.ceol.dol.xey/ykol.dol.dolo.ykol.do,l,c*ody-
<f001v1-01a-P02L04-CO> *kol,sol.kol,kec*.col,ky/col.xol.cody.col.daiin-
<f001v1-01a-P02L05-CO> sor.ok*l.col.dol,ky.dar/sol.dcor.o,tco.dar.*ody-
<f001v1-01a-P02L06-CO> t*.cotcey.dal.cody/zcody.*ol.codar=
:
<f002r1-01b-P01L01-CO> kydainy.ypcol.daiin.otcal/ypcaiin.volzy-
<f002r1-01b-P01L02-CO> dorcory/ckar.z/sor.xy.*-
<f002r1-01b-P01L03-CO> qotaiin/xey.y/cor.cy.ydy/caiin-
<f002r1-01b-P01L04-CO> *ai*dy/ctod,dy/wy.dal,z/c,o*aiin.d-
<f002r1-01b-P01L05-CO> otocor.al/sodaiin/col,dan/ytcaiin.dan-
<f002r1-01b-P01L06-CO> zaiin.dain,d/d,kol.zor/ytoldy/dcol.dcy.xy-
<f002r1-01b-P01L07-CO> sor.vy.daiiny/col,dan=
:
<f002r1-01b-PLANTL-CO> ytoai*=
:
<f002r1-01b-P02L01-CO> kydain.saiin.qoy.z.sol.fodan/yks.ol,seey.daiildy-
<f002r1-01b-P02L02-CO> dlz,so.kol.seey.qokey.ykody.zo/col,yky.dain.daiir*l-
<f002r1-01b-P02L03-CO> qoky.colaiin.sol.seky.daiin/xey.keol.z,aiin.*iin-
<f002r1-01b-P02L04-CO> ycain.dal.cy.dalor.san.dan/*z,aiin.seey.vor-
<f002r1-01b-P02L05-CO> okol.cy.cor.xor.yor.an.can/z,aiin.cety.cyky.zal-
<f002r1-01b-P02L06-CO> so.ykeey.cey.daiin.cxy=