Numerous attempts have been made to decipher the manuscript:
- Cryptographers during World War II: Renowned codebreakers such as William Friedman, who cracked the Japanese PURPLE cipher, analyzed the text but failed to make conclusive progress.
- Linguistic and statistical analysis: Modern computational linguistics studies have found that the text exhibits statistical properties similar to natural languages, such as word frequencies and entropy patterns, yet it resists any direct translation or correlation to known languages.
- Hoax theories: Some scholars argue the manuscript might be an elaborate hoax with meaningless gibberish designed to look like a genuine codex.
- Language hypotheses: Others propose it encodes a natural language in a complex cipher or shorthand system, with candidates ranging from extinct languages like Etruscan or proto-Romance tongues, to constructed languages.
Scientific Advances and Modern Technologies
In recent decades, new tools such as multispectral imaging, computerized pattern recognition, and AI-assisted analysis have been applied to the Voynich Manuscript. These have helped reveal:
- Palimpsest traces: Faint erased text and sketches hidden beneath visible writing.
- Material composition: Insights into the inks and pigments used, helping to confirm the medieval origin.
- Repetitive linguistic structures: Some computational models suggest the manuscript uses an algorithmic or formulaic text generation method.
Yet, despite these advances, no universally accepted translation or interpretation has emerged. shutdown123