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©2017CopyrightGerardE.Cheshire.May31,2017.doi:www.sciencesurvey.link/Linguistic-missing-links
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ScienceSurvey(2017)1,1-47.October11,2017.
Linguisticmissinglinks:instructionindecrypting,translatingand
transliteratingtheonlydocumentknowntousebothproto-Romance
languageandproto-Italicsymbolsforitswritingsystem.
GERARDEDWARDCHESHIREUniversityofBristol
Abstract.
This paper provides the solution to understanding the hitherto unknown writing
systemusedforthemanuscriptlistedasMS408attheBeineckeLibrary,YaleUniversity.
The writing system uses symbols, punctuation, grammar and language that are each
unique. Themanuscript is not encrypted, in the sense that its authormade an effort to
concealthecontentsofthemanuscript,ashasbeenpresumedbysomescholars.Instead,it
iscodeonlyinthesensethatthemodernreaderneedstobeversedinthecalligraphicand
linguisticrulestobeabletotranslateandreadthetexts.Furthermore,indiscoveringits
writingsystem,itbecameapparentthatthemanuscriptisofinvaluableimportancetothe
study of the evolution of the Romance languages and the scheme of Italic letters and
associatedpunctuationmarksnowcommonplaceinthoseandothermodernlanguages.In
short;itisrevealedtobetheonlyknowndocumentbothwritteninVulgarLatin,orproto-
Romance,andusingproto-Italicsymbols.Theoriginaltitleforthemanuscript,givenbyits
femaleauthor, is:Whatoneneedstobesuretoacquirefortheevilssetinone’sfate.It isa
book offering homeopathic advice and instruction towomen of court onmatters of the
heart, of sexual congress, of reproduction, of motherhood and of the physical and
emotionalcomplicationsthatcanarisealongthewaythroughlife.
Keywords:Mediaevalmanuscript,VulgarLatin,KoinêLatin,proto-Italicsymbols,proto-Romance,
decryption,translation,transliteration,palaeography,codicology.
Introduction.
BeineckemanuscriptMS408hasgarneredacertainlevelofnotorietyinscholarlyandpopular
circles,becauseitscodinghasremainedunsolvedsinceitsearliestknowndescriptionby
GeorgiusBarschiusin1637(Barschius,1637;Kircher,1639)whowascourtalchemisttoRudolf
IIofPrague(1552-1612).Sincethenmanypeoplehaveinvestedtimeandeffortinattemptingto
readitstexts(D’impario,1976;Rugg,2004;Pelling,2006).Perhapsinevitably,thishasledtoall
kindsofspeculationastoitsoriginandmeaning.Forexample,ithasbeensuggestedthatitmight
beamysteriousbookofblackmagicorsecretknowledge(Clemens&Harkness,2016);thatit
©2017CopyrightGerardE.Cheshire.May31,2017.doi:www.sciencesurvey.link/Linguistic-missing-links
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waswrittenbyafamoushistoricalfigurewhowishedtoremainanonymous(Brumbaugh,1975);
thatitistheworkofanalienvisitortoearth(Cummings,2016);thatitisanelaboratehoax
(Schinner,2007:Rugg&Taylor,2016);andthatanantiquarianwrotethemanuscriptin
gibberishassomekindoffiendishpracticaljoke(Barlow,2010).Curiously,notonetheory
suggestsafemalehand.
Therehavealsobeeninnumerablescientificanalysesconducted,basedonthefrequencyand
patterningofthesymbols,wordsandsoon,whichhaveledtovariousconclusions,butnonehas
succeededinfindingthesolution(Guy,1991;Guy,1997;Landini,2001;Rugg,2004;Williams,
2010;Garel,2011;Bauer,2012;Amancioetal,2013;Montemurro&Zanette,2013).Curiously,
thereisalsoatranscribedversionofthemanuscriptthatusesincorrectidentificationofthe
symbols(Reeds,2010).Therehavebeenconferencesdedicatedtothemanuscript(Schmeh,
2013;Reddy&Knight,2011).Variousbookshavebeenwrittenaboutthemanuscriptinboth
non-fictionandfiction(Kennedy&Churchill,2006;Joven,2006).Itisevenrumouredthatthe
CIAandFBIhaveattemptedtosolvethecode,althoughitisunclearwhattheirmotivationmight
havebeen.Thegeneralconsensusthereforeseemstobethatthecodeisunsolvable.
Infactthemanuscriptiswritteninaperfectlyordinarylanguageandissimplyatomeabout
homeopathicremediesandpractisesrelatingtothespiritualbeliefsystemoftheHighMediaeval
periodinMediterraneanEurope.Itwaswrittenwithparticularemphasisonchildbearingandthe
associatedcomplications,whichiswhythemajorityoffigurativeillustrationsareofwomen,
remediesandcharts.So,perhapsmostsurprisingly,themanuscriptisnotwrittenincodeatall,
butsimplythecontemporaneousalphabetandlanguageofitstimeandplace.Remarkably,this
factseemstohavebeenhidinginplainsightallalong.
MS408writingsystemexplained.
Thecorrectapproachtosolvingthecodewastodismissanynotionsofcovertcomplexityand
applyapragmaticlogictohowthewritingsystemmightwork:i.e.toimagineusingthewriting
systemone’sselfandtherebyidentifytherequirementsforeffectivecommunication.
Thelimitednumberofsymbolsandtheirrepeatedusethroughoutthemanuscriptimmediately
suggestedaphoneticwritingsystemforconstructingwordsfromsoundcomponents,justasone
doeswithEnglishandotherphoneticalphabet-basedlanguages.
However,thelackofpunctuationmarksinthemanuscriptalsosuggestedthatthesymbolstake
differentforms,sothatpunctuationisindicatedinauniqueway.Thus,itwouldbenecessaryto
identifyallofthesymbolsandthenseparatethemintophonetictypesorforms.This
presumptionwascorrectasitwasrevealedthatthedifferentphonemesdoindeedcomein
variousforms,rangingfromjustoneinsomecasesanduptofourinothers.
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Forexample,therearefourformsofthephonemeorlettera:oneformisusedmid-word(the
trappeda)andasecondformusedforthebeginningorendofwords,andasasingleletterword
(thefreea).Thus,onecanapprehendintentionofpunctuationinthetext:i.e.wherewordsbegin
andend.Thereisathirdformofaincombinationwithetoformthedipthongæ,andafourth
formincombinationwithstocreatethediphthongsaandincombinationwithttocreatethe
dipthongta.
Therearealsofourformsofthephonemeorletters:thestandings(prefixandmid-word),two
versionsofthesittings(suffixes),andoneformincombinationwithatocreatethediphthongsa.
Thus,onecannotbegintotranslatethemanuscriptwithoutthisknowledge.Itshouldbenoted
though,thatthese‘rules’ofpunctuationarenotrigidlyadheredtointhemanuscript.Thereare
instanceswherethewrongformsareusedbecauseitdoesn’taffectabilitytoreadand
understandthetext–althoughitmayconfusethetranslator.
Conversely,thesymbolsforeandiareessentiallythesame,seeminglybecausetherewaslittle
differentiationinthespokenlanguage,sothisoraluncertaintywastransferredontothewritten
page.Thereforeeandicanbethoughtofasinterchangeabletosomeextent,whichwasavestige
ofClassicalLatin(Allen,2003).Thereisalsoanabsenceofdoubleconsonantsinthemanuscript
aswellastheconceptofuppercaseandlowercaseletters,whicharecluestothelanguage.
Theidentificationofthephonemesandtheirvariousformsthereforemadeitapparentthatsome
‘words’(standalonetextualunits)wereinfactphrasescontainingtwoormorewords,whilst
otherswereindeedsinglewords.Thegrammarofthemanuscriptwasthereforerevealedto
comprisecombinationsofstandalonewordsandconjoinedphrasesofwords.
Tocomplicatemattersslightly,manystand-alonewordsrequireinterpretationasphrasing
anyway,duetothesimplicityofthedictionusedandtheirstageinlinguisticevolution:i.e.a
singlewordmightworkasasentenceorpartofasentenceinabbreviationbychangingitstense.
Somearchaicphraseshavealsobecomeportmanteauwordsinmodernlanguages.
Thephonemeorlettert(anabbreviationforterminus)isusedasafull-stop[UK]orperiod[US].
ThiswascommonpracticeinClassicalLatinandevidentlyremainedpopular,untilthetwas
diminishedtothesingledotweusetoday.Wheretheterminusisabsentiteithermeansthatone
lineflowsintothenextbelow,orthattheintendedsentenceendswiththeendoftheline.
LanguageandAlphabet.
TheMS408alphabetisproto-ItalicandthelanguageisalatedialectofVulgarorKoinêLatin,
whichmarksthetransitionalpointbetweenClassicalLatinandtheRomancelanguages:i.e.it
©2017CopyrightGerardE.Cheshire.May31,2017.doi:www.sciencesurvey.link/Linguistic-missing-links
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mayalternativelybedescribedasLateLatinorproto-Romance.Assuch,themanuscriptwill
inevitablyhavedualvalueinincreasingscholarlyunderstandingoftheevolutionofItalicscript,
punctuation,grammarandtheevolutionofthemodernsouthernEuropeanlanguages,asthereis
littlesurvivingmaterialintheserespects:especiallyincombination.Actually,almostall
‘knowledge’ofbothproto-Italicsymbolsandproto-Romancelanguageisderivedfrominference
bycomparingpriorandlaterexamplestoarriveatpresumedtransitionalphases.Thus,MS408
willopenthedoortobothaspectsofstudy.Ultimatelyitwillprovideadictionaryofproto-
Romancewordsanddefinitions,inadditiontotheproto-Italicalphabet,punctuationandrulesof
grammar.Thus,twolinguisticmissinglinkshavebeendiscoveredsimultaneously.
Providedthehandwritinginthemanuscriptislegible,andinareasonablestateofpreservation,
itisconsistentlypossibletodecipher,andsoread,allpartsofthemanuscript.Aselectionof
randomlychosenexamplesisgivenlaterinthispaperasademonstrationthattheory
consistentlyanduniformlyfitshypothesis.
Method.
VulgarLatinwasreasonedtobethemostlikelylanguageusedfortheMS408manuscriptsimply
becauseitwasthelanguageofinformalhighsocietyinsouthernEuropeintheHighMediaeval.
Membersofcourt,nobilityandtheclergycomprisedvariousnationalities,andVulgarLatinhad
evolvedasthecommonlanguage,asadiluted,corruptedandsimplifiedversionoftheClassical
LatinthathadbeenalegacyoftheRomanEmpireacrossthecontinent.Thiswaslargelydueto
oraldistortionandslanguseofLatin,sothatthefewwhowereabletowritesimplycommitted
theircontemporaneousspokenversionofVulgarLatintothepage.
Actually,therereallyisnoothercontenderlanguagethatwouldhavebeenusedinwrittenform.
Thelackofdoubleconsonantswasalsoabiggiveaway,astheywereabandonedinVulgarLatin
andreintroducedfollowingtheMediaevalperiod.Aswellasbeingaformofinstructionon
pronunciation,thedoublingofconsonantsalsoincreasedthenumberofpotentialwords
availabletothelanguage.Uppercaseandlowercaseletterswerealsoreintroducedaspartofthis
‘LinguisticRenaissance’.
Thenaïveuseofthelanguagealsoprovidedsomeindicationastothemeaningofcertain
phoneticsymbolsandwords,whichprovidedapointofentryandexpansion:acrib,in
cryptologicalterminology.Forexample,thesamenounorverbissometimessimplyrepeatedto
provideacount,ratherthanwritingadeterminingnumeral.Thisseemstohavebeenbecausethe
MS408alphabetandgrammarweretoosimplifiedtoaccommodatecertainlinguistic
components,sotheauthorwasforcedtoimprovise.Or,perhapstheauthorhadverylimited
VulgarLatinvocabulary,asalinguisticforeigner.
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Thusitwaspossibletouseaprocessofreciprocalanalysisandeliminationtoidentifythe
meaningofthesymbolsandwordsinunison.Withoutthetwocounterpointsofreferenceit
wouldnothavebeenpossibletoperformthementalcalculationsrequiredtodecipherthecode
presentedbythesymbolsandtheirpatternsofuse.Onemightthinkofitasakindofcognitive
triangulation,sothatinterplaybetweenthetwopresumedfactorseventuallyprovidedthe
coordinatesofthethirdfactorbyrepeatedadjustment.Italsoaffirmedthatthetwo
counterpointswerecorrectinthemselves,sothatamutualdynamicwasinoperation.
Thereisalsosomethingtobesaidforpreciseobservation,asthedifferentsymbolsareoften
quitesimilartooneanotherintheirdesign,yetalsoquitevariedintheirexecutiononthepage,
sothatperceivedoverlapoccursandconfuses.However,onceonedistinguishesthemand
develops‘aneye’forthem,thenidentificationbecomesroutine,providedthetextisclearly
readable.Whereitisnotclearlyreadable,thereareoftencontextualandvisualpointerstohelp
inarrivingatalikelytranslation.Animportantpartoftheprocessisactuallycopyingthesymbols
ontopapercalligraphicallywithanItalicpen,togetafeelfortheirlinearexecution:i.e.justhow
theauthorusedthequillandinktoformthesymbols.Thatway,onecanunderstandthenuances
ofthetextandimproveone’sabilityatidentifyingthesymbolscorrectly,eveniftheyareunclear
orincomplete.ThiswashowtheMS408fontwascreatedforuseinthispaper.
So,findingthesolutiontothemanuscriptrequiredasystematicapproach.Firstly,itwas
necessarytosingleoutallofthesymbolswithoutknowinganyoftheirmeanings,sothatthe
unknown‘alphabet’wasclear:i.e.thatallsymbolswereaccountedforandotherrandommarks
werediscounted.Itwasthenamatteroffindingthefirstcrib,asawayin.Fromthenon,itwas
possibletodeploytheaforementionedtechniquetoidentifyeachofthesymbolsinsequence.The
firstfewwererelativelyeasy,buttheybecameprogressivelyandexponentiallymorechallenging.
However,eventuallythemeaningsofallofthefrequentlyusedsymbolswerediscoveredbya
combinationoftechniqueandalittleinventiveness,educatedguessworkandtrialanderror.
Thus,theprocessofidentificationbecamerathercomplexandprotracted,buttheeventual
solutionwasfoundtobeelegantlysimple,asisoftenthewaywithscientificendeavour.
Thereisatautologicalsaying;ifasolutionseemsobviousthenitisobviouslythesolution.Most
complexproblemsolvingisreallyamatterofwaitingfortherightmindtohaveago,asit
involvesasingularmindsettofindthecorrectstrategy,withoutwhichnoamountoftimeand
effortwillbringsuccess.Sothereisanelementofchanceinrawability,butitisalsotemperedby
yearsoftrainingintermsofscientificdiscipline,lateralthinkingandcognitivetenacity.Mostof
all,thereneedstobeawillingnesstoriskexperimentationwithnewparadigms,whichis
somethingacademiatendstodiscourage,forfearoffailurereflectingbadlyoninstitutions,but
withoutwhichinnovationcannotoccur.Wedowelltorememberthatscientific‘failure’ismerely
anothermeansofaddingusefulinformationtotheprocessofenquiryandinvestigation.
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ThereisadearthofmaterialregardingVulgarLatinsimplybecauseverylittleevidencesurvives.
However,itprovedpossibletoidentifymanyMS408wordsbytheirprimogenitorformsin
ClassicalLatin,aswellastheirsubsequentlyevolvedformsinthemanyRomancelanguages
today.Otherwordswerediscoveredinnon-Romancelanguages,duetocontemporaneous
injectionofVulgarLatin,resultingfrompolitics,exploration,settlement,tradeandconquest.
Indeed,itmightbearguedthatVulgarLatinisstillverymuchaliveandwell,butinhiding.
Asidefrompriorlinguisticknowledge,thiswasachievedwiththeuseofvariousInternetsearch
engines,whichwereabletoaccessandscancountlessmillionsofonlinedocumentsfromaround
theworldinaninstant.Suchdocumentsincludedscholarlyandpopularbooksandpapersdating
fromthepresentdaytohundredsofyearsago.Therewasalsoawealthoflinguisticinformation
tobegleanedfromotherInternetresources,suchaswebsites,blogs,conversationsites,social
mediaandsoon–allofwhichasearchenginecanlocategivenappropriateinput.Thiswas
important,asconversationallanguageisoftenquitedifferentfromformallanguage.
Varioussearchtechniquesmadethismethodaninvaluableandefficientprocedure.Internet
translationtoolswerealsoused,alongwithonlinedictionaries,inordertoamassaworking
lexiconofVulgarLatinterms,initiallytoassistinidentifyingthealphabetandthentoperform
translationsandtransliterationsoftextsamples.Theseelectronicresourcesareofinestimable
importanceforthistypeofresearch,aswithoutthemitwouldbeimpracticableforanyoneto
coversufficientgroundinapracticaltimeframe.
ThelanguagesfoundtocontaintheVulgarLatintermsweremanyandvarious.Theywere
predominantlythoseoftheMediterraneanenvironment:includingArabic,Catalan,Croatian,
French,Galician,Greek,Hungarian,Italian,Occitan,Portuguese,Romanian,Slovenianand
Spanish.Severallanguagesfromfartherafieldalsocameintoplay,includingthoseofoldHispanic
andPortuguesecoloniesandotherpartsofEurope.Thisindicatesthatthemanuscriptwas
writtenatatimewhenItaly(presumedplaceoforigin)wasaculturallycosmopolitan
environmentduetothechangingpoliticalmapintheHighMediaevalandtheambitionsof
empire.AtthattimemuchofItalywaspartoftheCrownofAragón,whichincludedtheeastcoast
ofIberiaandthesouthcoastofFrance,aswellasSicily,Corsica,SardiniaandtheBalearics.
Theonlyminorhindrancetotransliterationwas/isthatmanyoftheVulgarLatintermshave
variousoriginalandevolvedpossiblemeanings,sothatacertainamountofinterpretivelicense
isrequiredaccordingtocontextwithinthetextofthemanuscript.Oneneedstoconsiderthatthe
languageofthemanuscriptisequidistantindevelopmentbetweenitsRomanLatinoriginsand
itsmodernRomancemanifestations.Inaddition,theuseofwordswithintheMS408textitselfis
©2017CopyrightGerardE.Cheshire.May31,2017.doi:www.sciencesurvey.link/Linguistic-missing-links
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oftenambiguous,duetotherelativelylimitedvocabularyavailabletoitsauthororauthors,so
thesamewordscansometimesbeusedwithdifferentspecificmeaning.
ThefewpublishedworksdocumentingknownVulgarLatintermswereofnopracticalusehere,
simplybecausetheiravailablevocabulariesweresosmallandhadlittlecrossoverwithwordsin
themanuscript.TheydocumentVulgarLatinfromearliertimeframesanddifferentEuropean
locales,sotheirversionsofVulgarLatinarequitedifferent.Evidentlythemanuscriptversionof
VulgarLatinhadevolvedtobecomeanewlanguageinessence,whichiswhyproto-Romance
wouldseemtobeamoreappropriatedescription.See:Bibliography.
Thereisconsiderabledifferenceinhandwritingstylesbetweenpagesinthemanuscript,
suggestingthatseveralpeopleauthored,oratleastdictated,themanuscript.Somestylesare
moreconsideredandpreciselywritten,whileothersaremorespontaneousandimprecise.This
alsoseemstohaveresultedinvariousspellingsofthesamewords,asthedifferentscribeswill
haveusedthephoneticpalettetoconstructtheirownspellingsbyextemporizationandpersonal
preference.Afterall,therewasnodictionaryofVulgarLatinavailable,sospellingwasnot
standardized.
SomeoftheMS408textsymbolsareverysimilartotheirmoderncounterparts.Othersarequite
different,althoughtheirprototypecharacteristicscanoftenbedetectedwithvariationinthe
manuscriptdemonstratingtheirplasticityandthepathtotheirsubsequentadaptation.Onecan
seethattherapidexecutionofsomesymbolscausedthemtomorphinformovertime.
Itislikelytoo,thatthephoneticsoundsrepresentedbythemanuscriptsymbolsarenotexactly
thesameasthoseinmodernuse,justasvariousaccentsormodifiersareusedaboveandbelow
modernItalicletters(althoughseldominEnglish).Theeventualintroductionofpunctuation
marksandnewgrammaticalruleswouldhavedeterminedtheeventualletterforms,intheupper
andlowercase,thatweseetoday.
Results.
Therefollows,alistofthefrequentMS408textsymbolsinphoneticapproximationwiththeir
modernItalicalphabetcounterparts.Figs.1-27describeeachofthesesymbolsindividually.They
areusedthroughoutthemaintextofthemanuscript,sothevastmajorityofthetextcannowbe
freelytranslatedintoVulgarLatinorproto-Romance,andthencetransliteratedintoEnglishor
anyotherlanguage.
©2017CopyrightGerardE.Cheshire.May31,2017.doi:www.sciencesurvey.link/Linguistic-missing-links
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Figs.1-27.TheidentitiesofthefrequentMS408symbols,usingthecorrespondingmodern
equivalentphonemesorletters.
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Afewadditionalsymbols,Fig.28,areusedtooinfrequentlytobecertainoftheiridentity.They
mayhavesomekindofpictographicmeaning.Itiscuriousthattheyarenotusedinthenarrative
text,asitstronglysuggeststhattheyplayednopartinthenarrativelanguageofthemanuscript.
©2017CopyrightGerardE.Cheshire.May31,2017.doi:www.sciencesurvey.link/Linguistic-missing-links
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Fig.28.SymbolsfromtheMS408textusedtooinfrequentlytobeidentified.
SomeofthemoreunusualtriphthongsandquadraphthongsaredescribedinFig.29.Theletters
ofcertainwordsaregroupedintoonesymbolwhentheybeginandendwithe(e-e)and
occasionallya(e-a)oræ(æ-e).
Fig.29SomeexamplesofinfrequenttriphthongsandquadraphthongsfoundintheMS408text.
Fiveoftheconsonantsymbols–d,n,r,s,t–demonstratetheOldItalicpedigreeoftheMS408
alphabet,astheyhaveancientpointsoforigin;namelytheArabic,EarlyGreek,EarlyLatin,
PhoenicianandSemiticalphabets.Thesymbolforletternisofparticularinterestasitisderived
fromtheArabicnuunornūn(ن),explainingitsunlikelyandunfamiliarformtotheeyesofthose
whospeakEuropeanlanguages.Eventually,thisformfellintodisuse,infavourofnbeingtreated
asacompanionphonemetom,asithadbeenintheaforementionedotherearlyalphabets.In
these,thesymbolfornwasrepresentedasalesserformofthesymbolform,oronemightsay
thatthesymbolformwasadoublen,asitisinthisverytext:i.e.n,m.Inpointoffact,thefamiliar
ItalicnisitselfderivedfromthePhoeniciannuun:ThefamiliarItalicmisderivedfroma
doubleversionofthis,knownasmem:
ThereasonwhytheletterntooktheArabicformintheMS408manuscriptbecomesapparent
whenweconsiderthesymbolsfortheremainingfourconsonants:l,m,p,qu[quheretreatedasa
consonant].Ineffect,theplaceofletternhadalreadybeenclaimedbyletterl,whichheretakes
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thelesserformofthesymbolforletterminstead.Itiscounterintuitiveuntiloneunderstandsthe
linguisticschemeofthemanuscript.
Inthemanuscript,thesymbolsforl,m,pandquareallbasedonthesamelinearcalligraphic
model,becausetheVulgarLatinorproto-Italiclanguagehappenedtoincludewordswherebyit
wasconvenientandusefultoframethosesymbolswithvowels–usuallythelonge(e-e):thuswe
havethestandalone/componentwordsele(elle),eme(emme),epe(eppe)andeque,whichare
variouslydescribedastriphthongsandquadraphthongs.
Furthermore,thissharedlinearcalligraphicmodelforl,m,pandquisdesignedtopreventthe
crossbarofthelongefromobscuringtheinformativepartsofthefoursymbols,astheyareall
suitablyelevatedbytheirlegsorleg.Notethough,thatwhereotherframingvowelscomeinto
play,thecrossbarisstillusedtotiethesymbolstogethereventhoughthelongeisnotinvolved:
i.e.itbecameusefulforpunctuation.
AlthoughsomeRomancelanguagesnowcontaineneandennephrasing,thereisnoLatinrootfor
thoseterms,whichiswhyletterlwassymbolicallypartneredwithm,p,andqu,insteadoflettern
inthemanuscript.Itwasamatteroflogicbornebylinguisticconvenienceinprojectingspoken
VulgarLatinontothewrittenpage.AstheItalianpeninsulaisproximatewithNorthAfricait
meantthattheArabicsymbolfornwouldhavebeenfamiliaratthattimeanyway,soitsadoption
alsomadepracticalsenseforaworkingalphabet.
Inaddition,thewordnuunappearsintheHebrewBible,whereitdenotesadescendentofoneof
theTribesofIsrael,intheHouseofJoseph.So,itmayhavebeenadeliberatechoicebyearly
ChristianstousetheArabicnuunintheiralphabetforthatreason:i.e.ithadsymbolicholiness.
ThewordnuunhappensalsotomeanafishorwhaleinHebrewandproto-Semitic,whichiswhy
earlyChristiansusedthesecretsymbolofafish,theixthus,insteadoftheholycross.
Note:TheArabicnumerals1-5writtenonSpread50.Left,arenotpartoftheoriginaltext.They
appeartohavebeenaddedatalaterdate,intheincorrectpresumptionthatthecolumnof
symbolsdenotesnumbers.Itshouldalsobenotedthatthefragmentoftextatthetopofthefinal
page,(reverseofSpread176.Right.)demonstratesthatsomeofthetextsymbolshadevolvedby
thetimethisparagraphwaswritten,whileothersymbolsremainunaltered.
MS408alphabet.
Thefrequentphonemes/lettersoftheMS408alphabetarethereforeasfollows:a,æ,d,e,i,l,m,
n,o,p,qu,r,s,t,u.Thisamountstosixvowelsandnineconsonants:fifteenlettersintotal.As
therearerelativelyfewfrequentletters,ascomparedwith26inthemodernEnglishalphabetfor
example,thishadincreasedambiguityintheuseofwords,forwantofalternatives,and
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introducedidiosyncraticmodesofphrasing.Thislinguisticstrippingdownisbeguiling,especially
asvariouslettershavetwoormoresymbols,whilstthesymbolsofothersareconfusinglysimilar.
Thus,therearejust15frequentletters,butmanymoresymbolsandcombinationvariants.Itis
thejuxtaposingofthesefactorsthathasmadethemanuscriptcodexdifficulttodecipher.
Moreover,theabsenceorsilentuseofotherphonemes,hasevidentlyaffectedthelanguageused
inthemanuscript,bylimitingthevocabulary.Thismayhavebeencommontothecommunityat
largeorapeculiarityoftheenvironmentinwhichthemanuscriptwascreated.Indeed,itmay
evenhavebeenpeculiartotheauthor,orauthors,ifVulgarLatinwasnottheirfirstlanguage.The
phonemeseitherabsentorsilentinmodernterms,include:b/f,c/k,ch/sh,g/gh,h/j/y,v/w,x/z.
ManyLatinwordshadbeenexcludedfromtheMS408vocabularyduetothiseventuality.
ItisworthnotingalsothatsomephonemeshadbeendroppedintheVulgarLatingenerally.For
example,thephonemehbecamesilentvocallyatthestartofwords,sothatthesucceedingvowel
waspronouncedinsteadandthereforewrittenthatwaytoo.Similarly,someconsonant
phonemesrepresentvocaljunctions,orintervocalics,betweenotherphonemesandtherefore
wereomittedinwrittenwords,suchasjandy.Itmayalsohavebeenthatcertainconsonants
werelostbyabsorptionintoothersduetophoneticsimilarityinspeech,suchaskintoqu,andb/f
intop,andcintos.SomeassimilatedmodernRomancephonemesarep,v,b,andt,d,g,sothat
differentRomancelanguagesuseslightlydifferentspellingsandpronunciationsforwordsofthe
samemeaningandroot.
OneofthenoticeablecharacteristicsoftheMS408writtenstyle,whentranslatedintoVulgar
Latin,isanapparentuseofrhymingwordstopoeticeffect.Itseemsthatthiswasprobablymore
accidentalthanintentional,simplybecausesomanywordshavesimilarendingsduetothe
linguisticsuffixformsintheVulgarLatin.Inaddition,therepetitionofwordsandthelimited
vocabularyseemtohavecontributedtotheapparentphenomenon.
Demonstrationofdecryptionmethod.
Therefollow,someexamplesoftranslationfromtheMS408phoneticproto-Italictextinto
VulgarLatinusingmodernItalictext,thenfollowedbytransliterationintomodernEnglish.The
transliterationsarebasedonbestinterpretationoftheVulgarLatin,soonemightsaythatthey
convertthegist,oressence,ofwhatisbeingcommunicatedintomodernprosestyle,ratherthan
followingverbatim.Anothertransliteratorwouldinevitablyarriveatslightlydifferent
interpretationsoftheVulgarLatinandusedifferentturnsofphraseintheirconversionto
modernlanguage.
Thelinguisticambiguityseeninthemanuscriptwasprobablynotaproblematthetime,asthe
brainwouldhaveautomaticallysurmisedintentionduetocontext.Agoodexampleistheword
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naus,whichsurvivestomeanaMediaevalsailingvesselusedfortransportingprovisions,ora
warehouseforstoringprovisions[Catalan,Portuguese,English,Greek].IntheMS408
manuscript,thewordnausisusedtodescribeprovisionsingeneral:foodprovisions,food
storage,tofeed,tonurture,seed-pods,berries,nutritionandnourishmentofthebodyandmind,
harvest,growthandlarder.Nausmayalsomeanaservantwhopreparesfood.Itisalsotheroot
of‘nausea’(seasickness),ofcourse,somayrefertogeneralfeelingsofmorningsicknessand
pregnancycravingsrelatedtothestomachandfoodstuffswithintheMS408text.
Inaddition,thenon-MS408variantsnousandnaucbringfurthermeanings:feeding
trough/mangerinProvencalandOccitan,coffininOldFrench,nutandnutshellinCatalan,
AlbanianandFrench,corpseinGothic.InTurkishArabicthewordnaaşisusedforcorpseand
coffin.Again,theyalludetothenotionofavessel,withinwhichafoodstuff,afluidorsomething
elseiscontained.Asnaus,nousandnaucarespokenhomophones,thenclearlythiscanexplain
whytheauthorusesnauswithsuchambiguitywithinthetext.
InvariousEuropeancountriesvariantsofnaucalsomeanlearning,knowledge,science,theself:
i.e.tocontaininformationinthemind.Similarly,inEnglishthewordnousmeansto
posses/containcommonsenseormentalability.InmodernPortugueseandCatalantheword
naushasevolvedintonoz,whichmeansnutandwalnutrespectively.Similarly,inFrenchnuts
hasbecomenoixandwalnutnoyer.InItalianwalnutisnoce,CatalannouandRomaniannuc,with
nutasnuca.
Intriguingly,thelinkbetweenwalnutsandthemindmayhavebeenestablishedbythesimilarity
betweenthekernelofthewalnutandthebraininappearance.Similarly,thenausshipseems
likelytohavegivenitsnametonuts,duetothesimilaritybetweenthevessel’shullandnutshells.
Thus,theMS408naus,canbeseenasatransitionalroottovariousmoderntermsthatseemto
beunrelated,butactuallyhavelogicalconnections:food,storage,knowledge,nuts,containment,
vesselsandsoon.Inessence,thememenaus,whichoriginatedastheGreektermforashipor
sailor,hasspeciatedoverculturaltimeandspace.
Ultimately,itseemsthattheMS408wordnausismoreaccuratelytheprogenitortonous,the
ProvencalandOccitanwordfor:feed,food,foster,nurture,providesustenance,etc.Indeed,the
Latinrootsnoris,nutrire,nutrix,mean:nourish,suckle,nurse.Similarly,theOldFrench
norir/norissmeannourish,carefor,whilenourricemeanschild-minder/nannyinmodernFrench.
Asnausisusedsoofteninrelationtotheplantsandproceduresinthemanuscript,thenthis
makesmostsense.So,itisprobablethatsomecross-overofmeaningoccurredbetweenthe
nauticalrootandthenutritionalroot,duetotheoraldistortionsofVulgarLatinandknowledge
oflinguisticoriginbeingabsent.
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Anotherexampleistheworddolina,whichsurvivestodaytomeanvalleyorsinkhole[Greek,
Polish,Croatian,Italian].IntheMS408manuscripttheworddolinaisusedtomeananyvalley-
likedepressionthatholdsfluid,suchasabathingpoolorabath,aswellastherecessofabowl,a
potorstoragejar.Infact,itsurvivesasdoline(abasinorhollow)inEnglishandFrenchgeological
language.
Notethattheworddolena(sorrowfulwoman)isvisuallyidenticaltodolinaduetothelackof
distinctionbetween‘i’and‘e’intheMS408phoneticalphabet–perhapsbecauseletteriand
shorteweretreatedasvirtuallyidenticalphonemes.Thesimilarworddolona,means‘thecause’
ofsomething.
Theworddomina,whichiseasilyconfusedwithdolinaanddolenainthemanuscript,isusedto
meanladyormistressinthemanuscript,whichistheoriginalLatinmeaning:i.e.thedominant
womaninaroyalhouseholdornunnery.Todayitsurvivestomeandominateormaster
somethinginItalian,Catalan,Portuguese,BasqueandRomanian.
Markerwords.
DuringtheprocessofdecodingtheMS408symbols,somewordsstoodoutasmarkersof
definitiveproofthattheprescribedmeaningswerecorrect.Forexample,onSpread70.Right
(usingthenumberingaddedtothemanuscript)Thereisacircleofillustrationsofhumanfigures.
Onefigure,invertedbottomright,hasabeardandistheonlymalefigure,withthewords:opat
asa[Croatian,Slovenian,Polish]whichtranslatesasthisisabbot:i.e.theabbotofthemonastery
wherethemanuscriptwaswritten.
OnSpread2.Left.Showingthedeadlynightshadeplant(Atropabelladonna)thefirstwordisleta,
whichisLatinforkillsorslays:i.e.toreleaselife.Thefirstphraseletaeonaus,therefore
translatesinto‘deadlyasfood’.Notethattheillustrationoftheplantisnotbotanicallyaccurate,
asitshowsasingleberryonthebelladonnavine.Thisistypicalofthemanuscriptasawhole,as
theauthorwasmoreconcernedwiththemedicinalpartsoftheplantsthantheirexactanatomy.
OnSpread79.Left.Thefirstwordispalina[Italian],whichtranslatesasadepthmarkingstickor
rangingrod.(Thepluralispalinae).Theletterpinthisinstanceiselongatedandmarkedwith
depthcalibrationsbywayofillustratingthewordpictographically:i.e.itisaprimitive
illumination.Inpointoffact,afemalefigurecanevenbeseenusingapalinatomeasurethe
bathingdepthonSpread75.Right:fourthfiguredown.
OnSpread84.Left.Thesecondwordisnaror[Romanian]whichtranslatesas
cadaver/corpse/deceased/dead,indicatingatherapyforpatientsstrickenwithgrieffollowing
stillbirthsandmiscarriages.
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OnSpread77.Right.Theheaderwordsread:nasenasorletominaomoslomornenatosar
nomina.Thistranslatesword-for-wordas:Entersand,churning,divine,dissatisfied,terminates,
baby,removed,re-appointed.Thispageevidentlyalludestousingherbaldrugsforforcing
miscarriageofstillbabiesorunwantedbabies,thustoeithersavethemother’slifeortosave
reputation.ThesourcelanguagesarePortuguese,Spanish,Italian,Latin,Greek,Romanian,
CatalanandGalician.
OnSpread99.Right.Therearethreecookingvessels.Thetopillustrationhasthewordolasarota
(olasarota)[Portuguese,Spanish],whichtranslatesaspotsforroasting:i.e.cookingpots.The
middleillustrationhasthewordaposar[Romanian],whichtranslatesassoftened,andthebottom
illustrationhasthewordmæorna[Portuguese,Spanish],whichtranslatesasearthenware/clay.
Thus,theauthorisinstructingthereadertocookthevegetablesbyboilingorsteamingthemin
claypotsuntiltender.Thesecookingpotswerestackedclaytagines,underwhichsmallfires
werelit–aNorthAfricaninfluence.Therearemanyillustrationsoftaginesinthemanuscript,
oftenmistakenfortowersorminaretsduetotheirdecorativedesigns.
OnSpread88.Left.Theheadingwords,betweenthevegetables,read:omoseimaosarosarnornas
omolaomarn,whichtranslatesword-for-word,as:however,Iam,todare,share,vegetables,not
thesame,together.AmodernEnglishtransliterationmightbe:However,Itrymixingdifferent
vegetablesforthesamerecipe.Thus,onecanseehowtheMS408VulgarLatinisusedtoconstruct
sentences.ThisparticularexampleusesVulgarLatinwordsfoundinGreek,Spanish,Estonian,
Latin,ItalianandArmenian.
OnSpread78.Right.Thewordsaccompanyingtheillustrationread:olenrnro,olena,nasaroeque
a,neinara,whichtranslatesas:valuableperfume,divinelight(oliveoil),intheringequally,new
person:i.e.theadditionofscentandoliveoiltothebathrejuvenatesthebather.Theringwould
appear,intheimage,tobesomekindofmixingfunnelinwhichtheoilandperfumewere
combinedandthenblendedwithhotwaterasitflowedintothebath.Note:oliveoilisregarded
asholynourishmentandconduitthroughoutthemanuscript.
OnSpread83.Left.Thefirstthreelinesread:molororqueinadoleinadolinaræordomaromnar
naroræina,dolinaræinadomornoræinaæinananasominaeiminarolasa,naisoeeinadomina
domeinaetnadomardomadolardolinaro.TheVulgarLatinmolorinthisinstanceistheClassical
Latinmollor(soften/calm/pacify)astheClassicalLatinmolor(grind/mill/wear)wouldbe
inappropriate.Thisexampleexplainswhydoubleconsonantswerereintroducedaftertheperiod
oftheMS408manuscript,torefinetheuseofthewrittenlanguageinthepost-Mediaeval.
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Thewordroisanabbreviationforrogo(toask/request:Latin);eiminaistoeliminateinSpanish
andPortuguese;omishom(homine)meaningmaninLatin;narnarmeansfoolish/crazy/up-tight
inRomansch;normeansdaughter-in-lawinAromanian;ræina(reina)meansqueeninthe
Romancelanguages;ominameansomeninLatin;dominameansladyinLatin;domenameans
domain/roominLatin;dolina/dolinarmeansbath/batheinRomancelanguages;domarmeansto
tame/controlinCatalanandPortuguese;doleinameanstherapeuticinCatalan;æinameanswife
inCatalan;etna(ætna)meanstoheat/burninLatin/Greek:naismeansto
begin/commence/createinFrench.Thus,thetransliterationisconstructedbyinserting
connectives,therebyturningtheVulgarLatinintologicalmodernsentences.
So,areasonabletransliterationwouldbe:Calmingwiththerapeuticbathingisalwayscertainto
tamethetensemanandwife.Aqueen’sbathalwaysrelaxesthedaughter-in-lawandwifeto
eliminatetheomen,forittohappen.Beginnowthemethodforthelady’sdomain,andheatthe
roomtomakethebathingsmooth,please!So,thepassageappearstobeadviceforthemother
(queen)ofaprincetoimparttoherdaughter-in-lawasguidanceforseducinghersonand
becomingpregnant.
Itisinterestingtonotethatthewordetna(ætna),giventotheactivevolcanoontheislandof
Sicily,MountEtna,haspresumedetymologicaloriginfromLatinandGreek,viathePhoenician
athana,whichmeansfurnace.Thus,theMS408textservesasconfirmationofthisassociation
withheat/fireinVulgarLatin.ItseemsalsothatthereisaconnectionwiththeLatinaena(æna),
usedelsewhereinthemanuscript,whichmeanstoheat/boilwaterinacoppercauldron:i.e.asa
boiler.
OnSpread53.Right,showingtheoblong-leavedsundewplant(Droseraintermedia),thefirst
wordislanasa.Theobvioustranslationrelatestolana/lanosa,whichmeanwool/woollyinLatin
andItalian.However,lanas(singularlana)isaslangtermformoney,ormonies,inSpanish.Itwas
derivedfromtheerstwhilevalueofwoolascapital,muchliketheEnglishslangtermsformoney
doughandbread.Thus,thefirstline,whichreads:lanasaeoemeonaoma,transliteratesas:cash
isusedtopurchasethisinquantity.
Onspread67.Right-Right(foldout).Thereisacircularchartdepictingtwelvefemalefaces.The
authorisdescribingtwelveclichétypesofwomenfoundincourt,inrelationtosexualcongress
withmenofthecourt.Startingfromtop-rightwehave:1.amonar(lovedrunkard),2.olaisasmor
[amor]naus(smellsloveasfood),3.opeornaomasna(helperofmoods),4.oquasoeornaseon
arta(towhattheygivebrieftime),5.aloausameonra(growbelow,loverwesee),6.oemeat
(onewhosellsit),7.amolas(lovesit),8.aquaisamoros(thoseforloving),9.alonas(withhalo–
angels/virgins),10.noretonadomoeas(desirestobetamed),11.neonas(newones–
girls/neophytes),12.olar[ollar]atarnar(attacheroflooks).Evidently,themanuscriptisquite
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light-heartedandwrylycomicalinitstone.Notethat;thewordnra(wesee)isArabic:
pronouncedne’ra.NottobeconfusedwiththeLatinabbreviationnra[nostra]whichmeansour.
TheotherVulgarLatinwordsaretobefoundamongthesouthernEuropeanRomancelanguages
andClassicalLatin/Greek.
OnSpread80.Right.Therearelabelsaboveaseriesofillustrationsattheheadofthepagethat
seemtodescribethestagesofaprocedure.Thuswehave:1.dosara:takedoses.2.orena:say
prayers.3.olara:onewhoeats.4.oloro:onewhostinks.5.olosa:fitandable.6.opos:bathein
plantjuice/sap(vegetable/fruit).7.orla:wrapintowel.8.omaræina[reina]:becomemother
queen.9.alas:touchedbyangels(winged).10.olais:andscented.Thus,thepatientfirsttakes
medicationandpraysuntiluncleanandpungentphysically,butcleansedspiritually.Thepatient
thenbathesinplantjuicesandemergesrefreshed,angelicandpleasantlyaromatic.
Lookingattheoppositepage(80.Left)thisspreadseemstobeaboutgettinginshapeduring
gestation.Thefirstlinereads:pornæinaorlasadomororomarnaalinorosorosor.This
transliteratesas:Amethodforshapingandcontrollingmother-to-betonourishtheterm.This
methodofbathinginplantjuicesisnowknownasopotherapy,fromopos(juice)andterapeia
(treatment),althoughitnowoftenusesanimalfluidsratherthanplantjuices.
TheillustrationatthebottomofSpread82.Right,seemtorelatetoideaspertainingtothetypes
ofchildrenonemightexpecttoproduce(readclockwise).Thewordsalongthetopofthelower
illustration(left-right)relatetoprenatalbathingandread:olas:fitandable;nasor:waterspout;
olar:tonourish;olarna:tobenourished(fat);nasasa:weir;olaisana:scentmaker.
Thewordsalongthebottomofthelowerillustration(right-left)thendescribepotentialchildren,
thus:oleios:ofolives;araus:ofroses:noror:northern;tolora:sometimes;orlala:ontheborder:
tososr:toomuch.Thefirstthreeevidentlyrelatetocomplexion:i.e.oliveskinned,rosyfaced,pale
toned.Thefinalthreeevidentlyrelatetotemperamentofchildrenwithregardtoeffortrequired
onthepartofthemother:i.e.easygoing,tolerableandveryneedy.Oneoftheimagesofthe
mothercanbeseenholdinganinfantsrattle,whilethechildignoresher.Anothershowsthe
motherholdingupherhandtoremonstratethatshehashadenough,whilethechildreachesout
forattention.
Asthecourtwouldhavebeenacosmopolitanplaceandroyalmarriageswouldhavebeen
politicallymotivated,thenbetrothalsbetweenroyaltyofsouthernandnorthernEuropeanrace
wouldhavebeencommonplace.Therefore,producingchildrenwithdifferentappearancewould
havebeeninevitableduetotheirmixedheritageAstopersonalitythough,wellasanyparentwill
testify,thatalwaysvariesregardless.
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Note;thattheimagesofthechildrenaretypicalofartworksfromtheHighMediaeval.Theyare
essentiallydrawnasminiatureadults,includingbreasts,ratherthanhavingtheproportionsseen
inrealchildren.ArtisticrealismhadbeendevelopedinprofessionalartistryinItalyduringthe
HighRenaissance(c.1490-1527),butlayoramateurartistsstillhadthisprimitiveornaïvestyle.
TheseriesofillustrationsonSpread83.Left,(top-middle-bottom).Appeartodepictapracticeof
infusingwaterwithfemale‘essence’andscentforthepurposeofnourishingthosewhoare
pregnant.Thewordsalongthetopread:omiena(ofmine),omina[homina](lady),nausoma
(mothernourishment),ominar(withgoodomen).Thetwomiddlewordsread:olarea(pot-like:
fatwoman),orleina(neatlined:skinnywoman).Thus,thewaterispreparedwiththeessenceof
varioustypesofwoman.Note:thefiguretop-leftmaybeaself-portraitoftheauthor,orelsea
genericwomanofhertype.
Arrivingatthescenebelow,totheleftwehavethepatienttentativelysteppingintothewater.
Aboveheritsaysolais(tostink)andinfrontofherorlor(water’sedge).Totherightitsays
olorna(scentin)andolor(scented).Inthemiddletherearetwosemi-circularpipes.Abovethe
firstpipeitreads:olooma(wholemother)andolinos(addoils).Betweenthepipesitreads:
ominor(topredict).Belowthesecondpipeitreads:omeina[homeina](sheasone).
AtthebottomofSpread83.Right.Thereisanillustrationoftwowomenstandinginvesselsand
connectedbyapipe.Beneaththepipetherearethewords:emosor(issuer/provider)andortaus
(risen/sprung).Theparagraphbelowthesewordsreads:omenadolenaæinarnareeorrorenar
austornauseina.Thistranslatesas:abandon,suffering,inform,agreeably,their,out,dew,unites,
below,for,nourishing,tool.Atransliterationofthissentencemightbe:Theirfluidsuniteandwork
asanagreeablemethodfornursingbelow,byremovingthesuffering.
Thewordscorrespondingwiththetwooutflowsbelowread:tasornar(beadorned)andnasorta
(intherising).Thesecondparagraphthenreads:torleiadoliasaraortorelareeordomasornaus
ornaiseiarnarostorsmaisemeor.Thistranslatesas:turning,hurt,healing,from,turn,fortune,it
goes,tame,from,nourishment,from,mothers,itis,things-fluid,for,holy,more,acquire,from.A
transliterationmightbe:Thehurtingisturnedintohealingasthenourishmentfromthemothers’
fluidsbringsachangeinfortunefromtheholinessacquired.
Aninterpretationisthatfluidsfromhealthymotherswerebelievedtohealmotherswhowere
sufferingfromcomplicationsormaybejusttheusualconditionofpregnancy.Theillustration
seemstoindicatethatahealthymother(left)wouldwashorrinsehernetherregions,sothatthe
watercouldthenbeusedtocleansetheailingmother(right).Anaïvelogic,typicalofMediaeval
thinking.
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Thesemarkerwordsandphrasesarevitallyimportant,astheydemonstratethevalidityofthe
decryptionmethod,evenwhensomewordsaretrickytodefineorlocate:i.e.wenowknowthe
spellingmustbecorrectandthatthewordexistedeventhoughitmaynowhavebecomeobscure
oraltered.Therefore,itbecomesamatterofdetectiveworkinfiguringoutwhatthemeaningof
anunknownwordislikelytohavebeenandthenenteringitintoaworkinglexiconwitha
provisionaldefinition.Inmostinstances,repeateduseofthesamewordenablesthetighteningof
thedefinition,bycomparingcontexteachtimeitisrevisited.Inaddition,researchoftenunearths
informationthatultimatelyservesasconfirmationofsuspicion:i.e.thewordisfoundhidingina
modernlanguage.
HerearesomemoreexamplesofexcerptsandpagestranslatedintoVulgarLatinand
transliteratedintoEnglish.ThetransliterationswereachievedbyusingalexiconofVulgarLatin
orproto-RomancewordscompiledfromClassicalLatin,fromcontemporaryRomancelanguages
andothermodernlanguages.Manywordshavevariouspossibleinterpretationsandcognatesas
discussed,sothisislargelyamatterofeducatedreckoningaccordingtocontextandother
pointers.Thetechniqueistopencil-inlikelymeanings,andthenmakeadjustmentsasrequired.
ThefirsttwoexamplesshowtheexcerptsintheiroriginalMS408fonttodemonstratethe
conversionofMS408symbolstoItalics.
PalaeographyExamples.
Belowareexamplesofthepalaeographictechniqueusedintranslatingthemanuscripttextinto
proto-Romance.InessenceitbecomesacombinationofLatinandRomancewords/phrases,as
anyLatinwordstakepriorityinordertoavoidpotentialambiguityintheRomancederivatives.
Thatway,weknowthatthetranslationisfaithfultoareasonabledegreeofaccuracy.
Transliterationthenbecomesamatterofinterpretingtheresultingsequences.
Spread11,Left.Plant:Campanulapersicifolia.Peach-leavedbellflower.Pagetextsequence.Palaeography. Manuscript Latin Romanceline1. paus(palus)(singular:pau) stems,stalks–Portuguese.naus food,edible æio(æio) totheor–Italian.peiea(peiea) forthe–Italian.doma dome(pregnantbelly) naus food emeos acquiremouth(consume,eat) omana mothersurvive,flourish t terminus(full-stop) ais Isay,Iassert line2. nais birth–French.naus food eleae shetois–Catalan,Portuguese,Italian.emeos acquiremouth(consume,eat) eous theus–Catalan.dom ofwhom,ofwhich–OldFrench.
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eonaus thefood emea acquireto naus food,feed line3. næo(nio) child,boy–Portuguese,Catalan,
Galician.amia tomine–Portugueseleor read,detect–Portuguese.orla andthe–Portuguese.eorna Igo,proceedsurvive (line4:newparagraph) domea householder mos habit,way,custom æous(aos) tothe–Portuguese.naus food domeia household æemeia toacquireit alos(aloser) favoured,praised–OldFrench.nais young,new,fresh,tender line5. æoa(aoa) tothe–Portuguese.le’ea(leio) readit–Galician.naus food domea householder domos Home eor Igo,proceed naus food doleala doleitout,distribute,supply line6. æous(aos) tothe–Portuguese.eos them æemea toacquireit domadomous domedweller(babyinbelly) dolor ache,pain,sorrow eos them aus below(netherregions) line7. dolor ache,pain,sorrow eala sheat–Romanian.eor Igo,proceed eila theyit–Romanian.naus food nais young,new,fresh eeleas andshe–Portuguese.Areasonabletransliterationmightbe:
Theediblestemsareeatenathomebythemotherforherhealth.Iassertthattheyarebirthfood,so
thatIcantellthatthechildwillsurvive.Thehousekeepermakesahabitofacquiringthemfresh,
whentheyaretheirbest.So,Igotocollectthemandsupplythemtothehomeforachesandpainsin
thebellyanddownbelow.
Spread2B.UpperParagraph.Plant:Knapweed.Centauria.
Manuscript
Latin
Romance
line1. lanais(l’anais) theyearly–Portuguese.apeor(apear) toshed–Portuguesenaus food,nutrition omear(omear) personproceed apeaus(apeás) collect,takedown–Spanish
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eleorta itrisen line2. nos us,we–Catalan.eosa(eos) that,the elas they–Portuguese,Occitan,Galician.T terminus æos(aos) tothe–Portugueseemea(emea) acquire,procure,getit emo purchase,buy line3 domaus(domás) totame,control–Spanishemeeaa gether eos that ea she ana equalmeasure–Italianeaus waters–Frenchline4. ae method–OldFrenchauna(aunar) tomix,merge–Spanishemon itismy–Catalanna thrive,survive epea ofstomach–Italiannar toupset,tomadden–RomanschT terminus eomausn(nous) ofthe ourevils,illnesses–Frenchomo(homo) man,person eos that ar would–Romanianæo(io) exclaim naus food,nutrition eor iproceed nas thrives,survives ameaus(amelus) foetus nas thrives,survives line5. T terminus aus below,beneath naisn(nousaisnous) oursayour nlor our them–Romaniantos cough,burp–Catalan,Occitanamorna(amorna) thrive love–Catalanneor entwine nea new epea ofstomach–Italian.line6. æos(aos) tothe–Portuguese.elea itis nausa(nausea) sickness eornas iproceedthrive
Mostofthewordshaveonlyonedefinition,eitherintheoriginalLatinorinaderivedRomancelanguage,andthesequencesappeartohavelogicintheirmeaning.Furthermore,nowordswereproducedthathadnodefinitionandthusmadenosense,whichisastrongindicatorthatthesymbolkeyisalsocorrect.Inthisparticularparagraph,theauthorofthemanuscriptisevidentlysayingthattheplantinquestionproducesfood(flowerheads)onayearlybasis,whicharecollectedwhentheyarerisen.Theygoontosaythattheremedyisgiveninequalmeasurewithwaterasatreatmentforupsetstomach,andthatsicknessinthebellyiscured,enablingtheunbornbabytosafelysettleanddevelopasnormal.Theplantappearstobeaspeciesofknapweed(Centauriaspp.).SomeMediterraneanspecieshavewhitishflowers,ratherthanthefamiliarpurple.Theflowerswereusedfor‘fluxesofthebelly’inMediaevaltimes.Theywereeitherpulpedandmixedwithwater,ormadeintoadecoction–areducedliquor.Theterm‘knap’isacorruptionof‘knop’,whichmeantan
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ornamentalknobinMediaevalEnglish.,duetotheappearanceoftheflowerhead.Asthisherbalinformationalsoconcurswiththetranslatedmanuscripttext,thenitwouldseemreasonabletoconcludethatthesolutionworks,bothinrespectoftheproposedlanguageofthemanuscriptandtheproposedsymbols.
ExcerptsfromMS408manuscript,translatedandtransliterated.
Example1.
Spread10.Left.FieldPansy(Violaarvensis)(VulgarLatin:dopeapeo:TheLittlePeas).Paragraph
One.
VulgarLatin
VulgarLatin.
quoeosoposonaopaæosnausdopeapeodoquoræorequeornaus
neosdoauselausemeoseoreosepeornaomadolausna
aleaeosalausnausemeaomausolaoeeitnaus
ameamealausemeosomoromamorna
Transliteration.
Whentherearetheoppositeofgoodyearsforthegrowthofthelittlepeas,theyoungpods,which
haveanequalreputation,arepraisedandeatenwhenharvestedbycuttingoffatthejoint.They
prayforthepodstogrowandlo,theywitnesspods.Ifthepraiseisinsufficientthenthefinalharvest
collectedthreatenstobedisappointing.
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Example2.
Spread100.Right.Cookinginstructions.Textplacedbetweenplantillustrationsasheader.
VulgarLatin.
eotasoæortoeosequeaomiaseoquasataseasnausna
osasotoquasa
eortaistoimatosasanaloele
Transliteration.
Fortheirbigroasttheyneedtobecookedequally,soplacethefoodintheroasterinapileandstir
andmashthecelebrationinside.
Note:Thephoneme‘a’atthebeginningof‘aso’isnotafreea,becauseitisclearinthisinstance
thataseparatewordisbeingwritten–thuspunctuationwasusedflexibly.Thephoneme‘a’at
theendof‘equea’isnotafreeaeither,forthesamereason.
Example3.
Spread85.Left.Antenatalbathing.Illustrationannotationsx3.
Vulgarlatin.
omnanasenanasosasa
tousoleiiatorolara
olasanaisoraeeleanæina
olenatoreianaisorna
naseaaæleaoeina
Transliteration.
Allofthemasone,theyenterthesanctuary.
Eachhasoliveoilforthepregnantbelly.
Muchrecordofitexistsforthismethod.
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Holylightstrikesthemothersandadorns
thembytheorganbeingpenetratedwithoil.
Example4.
Spread79.Left.Sacredbathing.First5lines.
VulgarLatin.
palinaorqueinadolinatpeaeinasornosoqueinadolina
oræinadolinasæenaemenaominalinanarnarnoromanar
dolinaeemadoræinaolinanoriitoreiadominanasa
orearænareieleaorleinareieleiarorlinalaisor
dosorleiaorlaisoretiaoreielanasolarnaroreina
Transliteration.
Toremoveanydoubt,measurethedepthofthewomen’sbathingpoolwithapalina[measuring
rod]forconfidencethatthemethodwillworkduringthebathing.Thesacredlevelofthebathing
poolwillsummonthedivinepowerofgod’sholyfireandlighttoapproach.Thiswillenablethe
mistressinthebathingpooltospirituallyelevateandremovethethingthattroublesher,asa
daughterofgodinthegoldenglowontheforeshore.Formacircleofchantinginunisonnow,so
thatthemethodenableshertoenvisiontheholyfire.
Note:Hereweseetheaforementionedwordpalinausedincontext.Clearly,thedepthofthe
waterwasconsideredanimportantpartoftheprocedure.
Example5.
Spread84.Left.Oliveoilasgrieftherapy.Firstparagraph.
VulgarLatintranslation.
pornalanaroromenaemaisopeinadomaræenaeepeinaopeia
noræenadolinaæenadominareiemeinadolinadomareianas
domauseemeanarorlinaæenadomarnadolausnaisæenaomeia
naisaeienaomeionanornadominadoleinadolinasæiornadorora
dollaræenadomaiseinaeinornausomausæenadoleinaolaus
einadomeinaomaræenatorereetoleoræenadolar
doleiaomeiadolaroreinananordollarorlæinadoleinadollar
torleinadolausolauseinoleia
ororasaolasea
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Englishtransliteration.
Tobegintoforgetthedeceased,thisisinductiontoamethodofconstraint.Overwhelmedwomen
bathetoacquiregod’sholylightwhentheyareaffectedbyatimeofgriefandinjuryfollowingbirth.
Theill-fatedladyinmourningusesthesebathstosoothethepainandtopray.Itisamethodof
takingcontrolbynourishingtheselfthroughpraiseduringmourningandbyapplyingoliveoilto
thesorrowfulwoman,tocalmandsoothe.Thetormentandinjuryarereducedbypraiseandby
anointingwithoil.
PrayandprayagainAbundance
Example6.
Spread34.Left.Helianthusannuus/Helianthustuberosus(sunflower/topinamber)
VulgarLatin.
masasnausanaisemeianortæelaosauses
lenanasanaomaomarnaisenaamasaomasaeasa
naseeleananalaelenaolanasa
molasænanardolasænomonaeinaamenanonanais
menaeonaolauseeleanosasremeanamanaalaseilana
aeionasorausolasenaenaornaolasena
mænaæequenaæelenaorlinanausolaeiorosaisenaænaposas
nasasæeialeinaoleaolasolinaeanausnananasausolasa
tasosauseosasælaisæoreeleaasausolaisnarna
reoasoseiaronausoosoleinaolara
masarleiaosasa
Transliteration
Anabundanceoffoodyearly,toharvestfromthetopandthebottom.Theygiveenergytoupliftthe
motherandthebabyasone.Kneadthelife-upliftingenergyintothedough.Nowbakethesacred
breadandchopitintopiecesasgenerousofferingsforNona[godofbabies/birth].Nowtakecontrol
ofthepassingtimewithpraise.Asthetimetocomeapproachesinthemorning,cradlingandprayer
areusedtoadornthecontractions.Manna[heavenlybread]isunequalledasaholyfoodforthe
wellbeingoflifebelow.Nowplaceitinoilofholylight[oliveoil]asfoodforthecontractionsand
consumetothebottomwithchantingandpraise.Themealisgoodnessandanointsthebelly,but
youmustalsoreadyourlittleone.
Note:Theauthorseemstoconfusethesunflower(Helianthusannuus)andthetopinamberor
Jerusalemartichoke(Helianthustuberosus),asbothbelongtothegenusHelianthusandwerenew
arrivalsinsouthernEuropeinthe16thcentury,havingbeenintroducedfollowingtheirdiscovery
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inNorthAmerica.Theimmatureplantslookalmostidentical,butthematuresunflowerhasthe
largeseed-headwhilethematuretopinamberhastherootrhizomes,sobotharecombinedhere
inoneillustration.Thisobservationfitsverywellwiththepresumedearly16thcenturyoriginof
themanuscript,justwhentheHelianthusspecieswerebecomingnewlyestablishedinthe
Mediterraneanasexoticnewfoods.
PresumingitwasaJesuitabbey,theJesuitsoperatedundertheauspicesofthePortuguese
Empire,whichincludedmuchofItaly,IberiaandtheMediterraneaninbetween(Russell-Wood,
1992).Notealso,onSpread69.Right:theportraitofayoungwomanwearingablue‘gable-hood’:
labelledolara[ollara]whichmeanslooker:i.e.abeauty.Thistypeofheaddressoriginatedinthe
TudorEnglishcourtcirca1490,withElizabethofYork,andthefashionwouldtakesometimeto
influencecostumeinsouthernEurope,followingCatherineofAragon’spresenceattheFieldof
theClothofGold(1520).Infact,theillustrationshowsalatershort-sidedgable-hood,which
correspondswith1534onwards,justwhentheJesuitmovementwasbecomingestablished.
LegendhasitthatSamueldeChamplainintroducedthetopinambertoEuropeintheearly1600s,
butthisseemstobeincorrect.ThesunflowerarrivedinSpainintheearly1500sshortlyafterthe
EuropeandiscoveroftheAmericas,andthemanuscriptillustrationshowsaplantwiththeseed
headofthesunflowerbuttherhizomesofthetopinamber.
Giventhecontentoftheaccompanyingtext,therewouldappeartobenootherexplanation,apart
fromone:itmaybethatanotherHelianthusspecieswasintroducedandgrownforawhile,such
asMaximiliansunflower(Helianthusmaximiliani),whichproducesbothseedheadsandedible
rhizomes.ItalsooriginatesfromanareaofNorthAmericathatwasexploredearlierthanthe
regionwhereHelianthustuberosusoriginated.SoitmayhavebeenpopularinsouthernEurope
untilsupersededbyboththesunflowerandthetopinamber,astheyhadsuperiorseedheadsand
rhizomesrespectively.Infact,thenumberofseedsshownintheseedheadswouldseemto
concurwiththishypothesis.
Althoughtheillustratedleavesarepalmatetherestoftheplantiscertainlyinkeepingwiththe
Helianthusform,soitseemsthattheartistmayhaveusedsomeimaginativelicenseforthe
foliage.Perhapstheyweredrawnoff-seasonwithnolivingplanttoobserve,ortheysimplydidn’t
bothertolookbecausetheleaveswereunimportant.Or,perhapstheysimplyrepresentthe
handsoflanceolatefoliagethattheMaximiliansunflowerhas,incontrastwiththeothertwo
species.Notealso,thatthebluishcolouringaroundtheseedheadsisnotintendedtoshowblue
petals,astheplantisinseed,sothecolouringactuallyrepresentsthegreyishhueofthedried
sepals.
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Thefirstdocumentedreferencetothemanuscript,in1637,fitswellwiththistimeline,asclearly
itsoriginandwritingsystemhadhadsufficienttimetobecomeamysterytothosewhowere
attemptingtoreadandunderstanditscontentsatthattime.Thus,by1637,themanuscriptwas
about100yearsold.ItmayhavetravelledtoPraguefromtheItalianpeninsulasimplybecause
theroyalcourthadrelocatednorthwhentheHolyRomanEmpirehadlostitssouthernmost
territoriesfollowingthereignofCharlesV(1500-1558),whohadalsobeenmonarchofthe
CrownsofAragonandCastile.
Also,RudolfII(1552-1612)hadspentseveralyouthfulyears(11-19yrs)atTheEscorio,Spain,
underthetutelageofPhilipII(1527-1598),futureKingofSpainandPortugal,sohemayeven
haveacquiredthemanuscripttherebeforeeventuallyresidinginPragueCastle,whereGeorgius
Barschiuslaterbecameacquaintedwithit.Rudolfhadbeenfascinatedbytheoccult,magicand
astrology,sothemanuscriptwouldhavebeenavalueddocumentinhiscollection,especiallyasit
seemedtobewritteninsecretcode.ItisnotedinthediaryofJohnDee(1527-1608),of1586,
thatRudolfhadpurchasedabookwrittenincipher,whichmay,ormaynot,havebeentheMS
408manuscript(Halliwelletal,2013).Thisisevidentlywherethemanuscriptbecame
erroneouslyattributedtoRogerBacon,ofthe13thcentury,asDeehadalsosoldanumberof
BaconmanuscriptsduringhisEuropeantravels(1583-89).
Whatevertheactualsourceofthemanuscripttohiscollection,Rudolfrelocatedhisroyalcourt
fromViennatoPraguein1583,sothemanuscriptwouldhavebeenonlytwoorthreedecadesold
whenitfounditswaytotheBohemiancapital.Despitethis,itslanguageandwritingsystem
werealreadyunknowntothenorth,andthepassageoftimesawtheRomancelanguagesand
Italicsevolve,sothatthemanuscript’smeaningwassubsequentlylosttothesouthalso.Bythe
timeBarchiusattemptedtounderstandthemanuscriptinthe1630snoone,northorsouth,
knewhowtointerpretitssymbolsandlanguageanylonger,andthatwouldremainthecasefor
380years.
DuringtheHighMediaevalperiodciphersbecamepopularforconcealingpotentiallydangerous
informationrelatingtopoliticalconspiraciesandforconcealingpotentiallydangerousideasand
beliefsfromtheCatholicChurch,soitwouldhavebeenlogicaltopresumethatmanuscriptMS
408waswrittenincodetoo,simplybecauseitusedunfamiliarsymbolsthatboresome
resemblancetotheabstractandarbitraryqualitiesofthoseusedforgenuinecodes.
DuetotheubiquitousandmigratorycultureofHighMediaevalroyalcourtandtheproto-
Romancelanguageusedforthemanuscript,itmaybethattheprecisegeographicaloriginofthe
manuscriptcannotbeascertainedasitmightwellhavebeencreatedanywherearoundthenorth
Mediterraneancoastalarc,whereamonasteryandroyalcourthadco-existedintheearlymid-
16thcentury.
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Example7.
Spread76.Left.Centralillustration:Negotiatingthepriceofoliveoil.
VulgarLatin.
olæatasar-nolarnasor-narnanaræn–narlasdolar–nraosa–omarea–narnadomin–slar
alina–orleaomora
Transliteration
Themoneynose(negotiator),whospeaksheatedly,appraisesthepriceofoliveoil.Wedisagreeand
thesternmotherspeaksaccusinglytocutthepricebycontrollingthemwithease,becausegod’s
lightwehonour.
Note:TheArabicwordnramaybeseenagainhere,inthephrasenraosa(weseedisagreement),
althoughitcouldalsobetheabbreviationfornostra,toform‘ourdisagreement.’Bothoptions
workequallywell.
Example8.
Spread94.Right.Ivy(Hederahelix)usedasatranquilizingdrug.
VulgarLatin.
meinaopauteinausnæeinadopeinarlionausomanausoas
noseionaolausonasolarolaisomanausdomasolasoraus
monareorladollarænadolaomonadoloreiadolaisopasa
æosorleenaeiinalarenaeinausoseorlasasa
nauseelasorlausorlionaalausomaisnasolienaalaso
tausealadomenaomaraeinanarnaeeleauseldoqu
peinasosauseioslatosartakoeleiaorlaisasa
amadolausalarenadolaotaisealainanasa
omasenanamena
Transliteration
Iseeatrulypotentmedicineasanamazingmethodforrelaxingandsoothing,forwhichwepraise
ourgraciousgod.Ithasagoodsmellingodourtohelpthemothercontrolthenauseawavesand
bringsalvationtoournoblemonarch.Cut,boilandchoppiecesofthemagicalremedywhenthe
achingoccurs,andthequeenwillhavegoldendreamsasthelittleoneproceedsbelow.Theberries
areprunedfromtheedge,withthegreenerywhereitismostfragrantontheouterbranches.Itisa
holymethodforcontainingthefirebeloweverywhere,whenthepainbelowreaffirmsitshold.First
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chantforthelittleoneandthenthemasticresinwillcarrytheproblemawaywiththesame
purpose.
Note:IntheMediterraneanregion,ivyexudesasappyresin(mastic),whichwasusedas
medicinalincense.Sothepatientbothingestedthemedicineandbreathedinfumesfromthe
mastic.
Example9.
Spread37.Left.WildLupinBeans(Lupinusalbus).Firstparagraph.
VulgarLatin.
peasotadoquososaæoausmeiaeelieaomausepeasnaus
domaseoromausdomosamasoeoseimaeleosnosa
neameaamostomausdopeosomasomeaust
domeosalamananausemeos
Transliteration
Theseseed-headsaregrownaspartofmycourtcollectiontobeeatenasfood.Theyareanew
favourite,sowegrowthemathometocontrolthecrop.Theherbgrowsevenmoreandcanbe
acquiredathomefrommygarden.
Example10.
Spread78,Right.Therapeuticbathingforpost-natalgrief.Maintext,firstparagraph.
VulgarLatin.
mæinosæinadopeinadolinanadolorola
doleinadolinaæinameinaomasorlinanasa
deleenadomarnoreinadolenadolaisorlina
alienadomarnoræinadolinaseemeiaolosnosos
dolarominadolinadolinanardolenatnasa
næinadolinaolasdolenaæinaalenaæinadola
teinaleinadolinaeelendolaiseinadominana
næinaneinadoleinaomenaomormenaoraus
dolaoleinaæeimadomeinaomeaæeleenatoloros
nosæilenadolorlienaomenaormenaeeleena
dolinaorlenadolaisolenalenamornadoleinana
toseieleaoseelenanorlenadolininadolasor
neeleenadolenadolinaolenanarasoleinorlais
doloromenolaiseinosarosa
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touslaslenapæiamenormna
oreinadolaisnasasolais
aeiosausoleinadolaiser
toræinanarænadolaena
reinadolaiseeelarolena
aeendolaisnauseelenars
taisæeoosleinasousoliena
dolienalenadoleiadolinaoror
tolienaliorrosaisorleiasaus
toræialataosæinadienasaisaor
nauseelearnaurarna
Transliteration.
Thisisawisdomtherapybathingmethodforthetreatmentofmothersingrief.Themourning
therapybathispotent,becauseitusesthedivineglowtoremovethesorrow.Webuythefragrance
forthewisdomtherapybathandthedivinepowerreducesthesorrowwithitsholyfire.Itisawise
methodofharvestingthesorrowbybreathingandremoving.Thisdeviceallowstheladytomourn
withoutpain.Themethodallowsanewstartbyusingtheguidanceofprayertokillandleave
behindthemourning.Youanointalloftheareawithbalsamandtheenergysoothesthelow-mood
inastroke.Thebathingenergycausesthemourningtoceaseastherepeatedbathingshapesitby
usingtheholylightintheoilandchanting.Thesorrowisperceivedbytheforceandisalleroded
andremovedbytheoils.Youreaffirmbelowbyanointingthepainandthenwashingaway.Theholy
lightremovesthenauseaanditisdeparted.Weaskforthefragrancetouseitsenergybelowby
praying.Thefragrancebringssmoothnessandcomforttherebelow,sotheconditionisturnedand
carriedawaybywisdomoverdayswiththefoodofbreathingtheairofholyfireandlight.
Note:Althoughthetransliterationisabestapproximationoftheauthor’smessage,onecanstill
seethatthetextisnotverysuccinct,asitisgivenovertopersuasiverepetition.Thisisquite
typicaloftheoverallprosestyle.Inmodernterms,wemightsaytherearemanyadjunctsand
disjuncts.
Example11.
Spread1.Right.Theveryfirstlineofthemanuscript:Theoriginalbooktitle.
VulgarLatin.
Quaeeatalarasamausæoreosemesetalotæorna
Transliteration.
Whatprotectiononeneedstobesuretoacquirefortheevilssetinone’sfate.
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Palaeographicanalysisoftheabove.Manuscript Latin RomanceQua what,which,that eeat(eat) Iproceed a of,to lar protection(householdspirit) as at,in-Catalana of,to maus(singular:mal) evils-Frenchæor(eor) proceed eos them,they eme Iacquire set but,hence a of,to lot fate(one’slotinlife)-French.æor(eor) proceed na moveforward,survive(swim,float,
fly)
Conclusion:AsmostwordscanbesourceddirectfromLatin,withdefinitivemeanings,andtheremaindercanbelocatedunalteredwithintheRomancelanguages,thenthetranslationtoItalicsisunambiguous.Thelanguageisproto-Romance,asitcombinesLatinwithRomance,andthesymbolsareproto-Italic.OthersuitabletransliterationsintomodernEnglishmightbe:
1. Theprotectiononeneedstoacquiretosurvivetheevilssetinone’sfate.2. Protectionfromevilsthatoneneedstoacquiretosurviveone’slotinlife.3. Iacquireprotectionfromtheevilsinlifeinordertosurvivemyfate.
ThisexampledemonstratesthattheproposedsolutiontomanuscriptMS408iscorrect,asthe‘degreesoffreedom’areminimalandthesequenceofresultingwordsisclearlymeaningful:i.e.ittakeslittleinterpretiveefforttotransliteratethemintoalogicalsentenceinmodernEnglish.Inaddition,giventhenatureofthecontentofthemanuscript,theoutcomeofthetranslationandtransliterationwouldseemtobeappropriateasanintroductoryline.Theauthorisexplainingthatthebookwillprovideinstructiontothereaderwithregardtotreatmentofphysicalandmentalmaladiesinordertobecarriedthroughlife.Centraltothebeliefsystemwastheideaoftheprotectivehouseholdspirit:lar.
Example11b.Palaeographicanalysisofline2,Spread1.Manuscript Latin Romancet(terminus) full-stop,period osa Idislike,hate eleas(eles) them-OldPortugueseos tospeak,tomouth, a as lais religiousservant-OldFrencheo Igo maus(singular:mal) evils–Frenchæas(eas) Iact ait Isay,assert emeas Iprovide emeas Iprovide nas(na:singular) Toswim,float,survive
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Conclusion:AsmostwordscanbesourceddirectfromLatin,withdefinitivemeanings,andtheremaindercanbelocatedunalteredwithintheRomancelanguages,thenthetranslationtoItalicsisunambiguous.Thelanguageisproto-Romance,asitcombinesLatinwithRomance,andthesymbolsareproto-Italic.SuitabletransliterationsintomodernEnglishmightbe:
1. Idislikethem[evils]so,asyourreligiousservant,Igotothoseevilsandsay,andactandasserttoprovideyoursurvival.
2. Asyourreligiousservant,Isayandactandasserttodoublyprovideyouwithsurvivalfromthoseevils.
Again,thisexampledemonstratesthattheproposedsolutiontomanuscriptMS408iscorrect,asthe‘degreesoffreedom’areminimalandthesequenceofresultingwordsisclearlymeaningful:i.e.ittakeslittleinterpretiveefforttotransliteratethemintoalogicalsentenceinmodernEnglish.Inaddition,thesecondlinehaslogicalcorollaryfromthefirstline:1.Theprotectiononeneedstoacquiretosurvivetheevilssetinone’sfate.2.AsyourreligiousservantIsay,andactandasserttodoublyprovideyouwithsurvivalfromevils.Theauthorisclearlysellingherknowledgeandexpertisetotheintendedreader,whomwepresumetohavebeenafemaleroyalofcourt.
Example12.
Spread3.Right.Pondweedforurinaryinfections:Hydrillaverticillata.Water-nymph.
VulgarLatin.
mæiotdopareosemeornaisata
aeioseosnasadomeasaeasa
oeosdoeioseornausemea
teiaeoseareasaeasaeo
dollareororateasaemeor
aemauseosemeosaomarnasa
omeordonauseosaæosanasao
aæioseoseorolanatao
æoaosæiornasaomeonaor
anaseoremeosa
peioræortortæioræia
olanausdoleordoteonasaoemea
doleiadomæiadolonadolæiaeiona
eosdonaisoleiadoliia
mæioasosaæasoseosoretaeosaomeosa
omeoreorteiorelæadoleosadolornaus
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toeosaoliosaameonadoleionartasa
peiornosaæonausdopeiosdoporopeordoma
omeosoreiosdoiosnaisdomiordotaus
aeioseoronauseortausolorosasa
Transliteration.
Medicationforurinaryinfectiontheyacquirefromthewater-nymph[plant].Theymassagethe
domewhereitispainfulwhilethesubstancemakesitgoawaybyformingaveil,sothatanewday
beginsfromthesuffering.Itcollectsthebadbecauseourlovegrantsthatitisfoundandconveyed
fromthelake.Itisgatheredforthepotinthemouthsofteenageswimmerslikedabblingducks.
Thecontortionsbecomeworsewithage,whendownbelowhurts,butgodliftsthesadnesswithhis
gifttotheconditionatthecausewhentheyconsenttogivetheointment.
Idaretourinateaboutanhourafteradministeringthelove.Thepainfulnessisremovedbythe
substance’sointmentverypleasantlyandatanagreeablerate.
Atourworstagethismedicationisusedtocontrolthebody,byreaffirmingtheorgan.Italso
reaffirmstheopeningandstopstheloweraroma.
Note:ClearlythenaïveMediaevallogicwassuchthaturinaryinfection(cystitis)wasnaturally
associatedwithbodiesofwater,sowaterplantswerebelievedtoholdthecure.Astherewasno
scientificknowledgeofthebodyfightingoffinfectionwithantibodies,thennaturalrecoveryfrom
infectionswouldhavebeenattributedtotheadministeredhomeopathicremediesandthereby
perpetuatedbeliefinthem.
Discussion.
HavingtranslatedandtransliteratedvariouskeywordsandexcerptsoftheMS408manuscript,it
demonstratesthatthedescribedmethodofdecryptioniscorrect.ThetranslationstoVulgarLatin
areaccurateastheyare‘letterforletter-wordforword’,whilstthetransliterationsareamatter
ofinterpretation,giventhattheVulgarLatinvocabularyisambiguousandthatthegrammatical
structureissimplifiedandprimitivebycomparisonwithmodernlanguage.Itissimilartothe
waynewspaperssimplifytheirheadlinecopy,byusingonlythekeywordsandomittingthe
connectivestosaveonspace,leavingthereadertoputthemin.
Despiteitssimplicity,theMS408alphabetisalsomisleading.Thisisduetoanumberoffactors:
theabsenceofdedicatedpunctuationmarks(resultinginsymbolduality,diphthongs,
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triphthongsandquadraphthongs);theclosesimilarityofsymbolswithdifferentphonetic
meaning;theproto-Italicstageinevolutionofthesymbols;thelanguagebeinglargelyunknown
duetoitsownevolutionarystageandbeinghiddenwithinmanymodernlanguages.Thesymbols
areprototypesastheyhadnotyetbeenfullydefined,andonecanseehowmostoftheireventual
modernformscameintobeingaspunctuationdeveloped.ThereisnoindicationthattheMS408
symbolsareacodedesignedtopreventaccess,butmerelyaphoneticalphabetthatrequired
identifyingalongwithgrammaticalrulesthatrequiredapprehending.
ThelanguageusedisalatedialectofVulgarLatinorproto-Romance,withgreatlysimplified
wordandsentencecomposition,whichhasconsequentlyresultedinhighambiguityinword
meaning.Thisisfurtheramplifiedbytheabsenceofvariousphonemes,eitherbecausetheyhave
beendropped,becausetheyhavebecomesilentorbecausetheyhaveyettobeadoptedas
syllabicjunctionsornewphonemes.
Indicationsarethatthemanuscriptisanexampleoftheinformalspokentonguerenderedinto
text,ratherthantheproductofanyformalityortaughtstandard.Itseemslikelythatthelanguage
wastheItalianlinguafrancawithinhighsociety,courtsandmonasteriescomprisingpeoplefrom
manynationalities,duetopolitical,businessandspiritualmigrationsintheHighMediaevalin
southernEurope.Tothatextent,itismuchlikethe‘VulgarEnglish’spokenandwrittenacross
Europeinthemodernday,whichisusuallyadequateforgeneraldiscussionbutofteninadequate
fordetailedandspecificcommunication.
ClassicalLatintypicallyusestheclosureofwordstoindicatespecificmeaninginterms,butthis
hasbeenlargelylostintheMS408formofVulgarLatin,leavingthereadertointerpretmeaning
fromcontext.ItseemsthatthissimplificationofLatinhadanironicconsequence,asitforcedthe
introductionofnewwordsinordertore-establishmorespecificmeaningsandincrease
vocabulary,sothatVulgarLatinultimatelyspeciatedintoitsdescendentRomancelanguages
whenthepoliticalmapcausedmultipleculturalisolationsfollowingtheendoftheMediaeval.
Zodiacpages.
Foranyonewhoisscepticalabouttheidentificationofproto-Romanceasthelanguage,oneonly
needstoexaminethezodiacpages(Spreads70-75).Thecentralzodiacsymbolshaveoverwritten
wordlabels,givingthenamesofthemonths,usingfamiliarItalics,butstillusingtheproto-
Romancelexicon.Theythereforefunctionasdefinitiveproof,asthewordssurvivetodayin
variousRomancelanguages:Portuguese,Catalan,SpanishandFrench.Theselabelswerethus
addedtothemanuscriptfairlysoonafterthemanuscriptwascompleted,whenproto-Romance
wasstill.
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Thezodiacpagesinsequence:70L.MiddleImage:rainclouds,Rightimage:faceshoweredwithwater=Aquarius.February.Nooverwriting.Note:Representingwaterwaslaterdonewithewersoramphorae.70R.Image:twofishes=Pisces.Overwrittenword:mars–MarchinFrench.71L.Image:goat=Aries.Overwrittenword:abril–AprilinPortuguese/Catalan.71R.Image:goat=Aries.Overwrittenword:abril–AprilinPortuguese/Catalan.72L.Left:Image:bull=Taurus.Overwrittenword:ayo(mayo)–MayinSpanish.Middle:Image:bull=Taurus.Overwrittenword:ayo(mayo)–MayinSpanish.Right.Image:boyandgirlwins=Gemini.Overwrittenword:duny(juny)–JuneinCatalan.Note:Same-sextwinssymbolisthemorefamiliarinthemodernday.72.Image:twolobsters(rawandcooked)=Cancer.Overwrittenword:dulho(julho)–JulyinPortuguese.Note:thefamiliarcrabsymbolwasadoptedlater.72R.Left.Image:lion=Leo.Overwrittenword:agost–AugustinCatalan.Right.Image:virgin=Virgo.Overwrittenword:setembre–SeptemberinCatalan.73.L.Image:scales=Libra.Overwrittenword:octobre–OctoberinFrench.73R.Image:scorpion=scorpio.Overwrittenword-noveba–ninth/NovemberinCatalan.Note:Thescorpionwasoftenincorrectlydrawnasamythicalanimalwithalongstingingtail,becausepeoplehadnotseenarealspecimen.74.Missing.75.L.Image:archer–Sagittarius.Overwrittenword:decembre–DecemberinFrench.Note:TheSagittariussymbollaterbecameacentaur.Note:Capricorn(January)ismissingfromthezodiacsequence:Therearepagescutfromthemanuscriptbetween75.Land75.R.Note:Theletter‘j’isstillrepresentedasaproto-Italicinverted‘d’inJuneandJuly:theletter‘m’hasbecomesilentatthestartofMay:inAprilthereistheclassicb/v/pphoneticcrossover.
Conclusion.
Inplainterms,thewritingsystemusedfortheMS408manuscriptwasinadequateand
transitional,asitwasanattempttopullspokenVulgarLatinbacktothewrittenpage,followinga
longperiodoforaltradition.Inevitably,itsproto-Italicsymbolswouldrequirerefinement,along
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withthedevelopmentofpunctuationandgrammar,untilthemodernItalicsystememerged.
Concurrently,VulgarLatintransitionedintoproto-Romanceandgaverisetothevarious
Romancelanguages,astheyeachevolvedinrelativegeopoliticalisolation.Thus,VulgarLatinwas
absorbedintothemodernlanguages,whereitnowsurvivesinfragmentaryandvestigialform,
muchliketheDNAofanancestralspeciesunderpinningthegeneticmakeupandrelatednessof
severalnewspecies.
WithregardtothecontentoftheMS408manuscript,itisevidentlyratherprosaic,and
sometimesanodyne,informationregardingherbalremedies,distillationsandtherapiesin
combinationwithprayer.Inmodernparlanceitisabookonhomeopathy,withspecificantenatal
andpostnatalfocusthroughpraise.Asitisbelief-systembased,ratherthanscientificallybased,
therearefrequentspiritualandreligiousreferencesaspartoftheinstructionandguidance.This
wasinevitableatapointinhistorywhereempiricalmedicalunderstandingwasyettodevelop,
socommuningwiththeirgodplayedanimportantroleinallaspectsoflife,asitwasbelievedto
holdswayoverone’sfate.
Theillustrationsarenaïveandlargelyinaccurate,orimprecise,especiallythoseoftheplants,as
theauthorwasclearlymoreconcernedwiththeusefulpartsoftheplantsthantheirexact
botanicalanatomy.Fewarenamed;probablybecausecommonorlocalnameswouldhavehad
novalueinamultinationalcommunityandscientificnaminghadn’tyetbeeninvented,whichis
whytheyaredrawnandpainted.Inaddition,thesketchesmaynothavebeentakenfromliving
specimens.Nevertheless,mostspeciescanbeidentifiedquitereadilywithalittleresearchand
commonsensebasedonthevisualcluesandinformationinthetext.
Theprimitivefigurativedrawingsanddiagramsarereallyillustrationsofimaginedbelief
concepts,ratherthanreality,designedtoaddvisualmeaningtothetext,whichoftenuses
ambiguouswordingandoftenimpartslittlepracticalinformationrelativetoitsverbosity.Thus,
themanuscriptrequiredtheinclusionofillustrationsforthereadertomorefullyunderstandthe
textandtherebyaccesstheinstructionoffered.Ofcourse,ifindeedtheauthorwasalinguistic
foreignerthentheywouldalsohavebeenawareofthelimitationsoftheirvocalandwritten
language,sotheillustrationswouldhavebeenanattempttoembellishtheircommunication.
Atthattimedistillationwasabranchofthefancifulideaofalchemy.Itwasbelievedthat
supernaturalenergiescouldbeextractedfromcertainplantsdependingontheircharacteristics:
oftenduetotheirresemblancetopartsofthehumananatomyortoChristianemblems.Inthe
caseofoliveoil,itscolourwasevidentlybelievedtorepresentthegoldenglowofholiness,so
thatonemightbeanointedwithholinessoronemightconsumethesameholiness.Thusone
couldbeexternallyandinternallycommunicatedwithgodbyusingoliveoilastheconduit,which
musthavebeenaveryreassuringnotionintimesofemotionalandphysicaldistressandneed
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whenlittleelsewasavailableasidefromrecuperationandrest.Ofcourse,wenowknowthat
oliveoilishighlynutritiousscientifically,anditseemsthattheanecdotalbenefitsofconsumingit
wereattributedtohigherauthorityinstead.
AstotheauthororauthorsoftheMS408manuscript;thecluessuggestsomeonewhodivided
theirtimebetweencollectingandgrowingherbs,andimpartingmedicaladviceandguidanceto
court:mostlikelyanunoffairlyhighrank,whohadcultivatedareputationforhomeopathy,
natalcareandmattersoftheheart:aMediaevalobstetrician,gynaecologistandpractitioner.It
maybethatthevariationinhandwritingisduetoherhavingusedvariousunderlingstodictate
herwords,orthatherownwritingstylesimplyvarieddependingonhermoodandcircumstance.
Fig.30AnexerciseinreadingtheMS408font:
ThekeycharacteristicsoftheMS408manuscript.
• Dedicatedpunctuationmarksarelacking,exceptforsingleletterabbreviations:e.g.‘t’
forterminus.
• Uppercaseandlowercaseletterdifferentiationisabsent.
• Differentletterandphraseformsareusedtodenotepunctuation,aswellassentence
structure.
• Thesymbolsareproto-Italic,combiningvariousAncientalphabeticpointsoforigin:
Latin,Greek,Arabic,PhoenicianandSemitic.
• Thelackofdoubleconsonantswasanindicatoroflikelylanguage,duetotheir
abandonmentduringtheEarlyMediaeval(DarkAges).
• ThelanguageisVulgarLatinorproto-Romance,whichhasbeenabsorbedintothe
modernRomancelanguagesandsomenon-Romancelanguages.
• Themanuscriptalphabetisrelativelysmall(15characters)andlackssomestandard
modernphonemes,whichhasresultedinhighambiguityofmeaninginwordsand
phrases.
• Themanuscriptistheonlyknowndocumentwritteninproto-Romancelanguageand
usingproto-Italiclettersymbolsasitswritingsystem.
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Symbol-ItalickeyforMS408.
Symbol Italic Symbol Italic
a(trapped)
A(free)
ais Aus
æ (ae, a, e, i)
D
e(short)
e’e(intonation)
e,ee(long)
I
l(ll)
Ele(elle)
m(mm)
Eme(emme)
n(nn)
O
p(pp)
Epe(eppe)
qu Eque
r(rr)
s/z(ss,zz)
s/z(ss,zz)
s/z(ss,zz)
sa/za T(tt)
ta U
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