ARCHIVED RESEARCH PROJECT · completed 2026-09-28 · Starting from f016r, does the double-loop / S-like form recur as one visual family across the manuscript? · Back to Home

PROJECT SUMMARY

QuestionStarting from f016r, does the double-loop / S-like form recur as one visual family across the manuscript?
MethodThe target was defined from the native f016r TIFF (Yale 1006104; 2658 × 3758 pixels), first viewing the whole surface and writing region, then its neutral-extraction candidates. Seeds retain independent candidate IDs and boxes. They describe paired lobes, open caps/opposed bends,…
Important numbers3,451 detected candidate
Finding and conclusionThe paired-lobe core looks like a reusable combining element: it recurs beside other forms, within geometric groups and as initial or terminal material beside similar short bases. It does not look exclusively like a standalone separator or a universally fixed ending. That is a structural…
LimitsThe f016r observation leads to a recurring paired-lobe core within a broader visual family, rather than a defensible single identity for every lookalike. Many examples have a compact central junction and two vertically separated enclosures. Open opposed bends, upright-sided executions, single-lobe forms and regions containing neighboring marks require separate treatment. The pixels do not establish pen order, an accepted unit count or meaning.
MeaningThe f016r observation leads to a recurring paired-lobe core within a broader visual family, rather than a defensible single identity for every lookalike. Many examples have a compact central junction and two vertically separated enclosures. Open opposed bends, upright-sided executions, single-lobe forms and regions containing neighboring marks require separate treatment. The pixels do not establish pen order, an accepted unit count or meaning.

Read the findings preserved from this completed study.

EXPLORE ALL RESULTS

3,451 accessible result rows from 3,451 authoritative meaningful result rows in the declared scope. Review cards are separate.

All rows from the stated saved result sets are accessible; detailed machine arrays remain in the linked source files.

REVIEW NEEDED

9 items need review in the preserved curated card set.

This curated view is separate from the complete meaningful results listed above.

VOYNICH PROJECT

Archived research project · completed 2026-09-28

ARCHIVED RESEARCH PROJECT

Double-loop and open-bend form study

Starting from f016r, does the double-loop / S-like form recur as one visual family across the manuscript?

OPEN THE REVIEW FINDINGS AS COMPLETED

HUMAN REVIEW · AS PRESENTED WHEN CURRENT

Double-loop and open-bend form study

9 source-linked cards. Display images are embedded; original TIFFs and scientific records remain authoritative in the project folder.

44 native-pixel views in nine descriptive panels, starting from f016r. Inspect paired lobes, open bends, nearby marks, uncertain boundaries and similar larger constructions. These are visual observations, not accepted identities or meanings.

FINDINGS FROM THE COMPLETED STUDY · public presentation of [preserved evidence reference]

Double-loop and open-bend form study

The f016r observation leads to a recurring paired-lobe core within a broader visual family, rather than a defensible single identity for every lookalike. Many examples have a compact central junction and two vertically separated enclosures. Open opposed bends, upright-sided executions, single-lobe forms and regions containing neighboring marks require separate treatment. The pixels do not establish pen order, an accepted unit count or meaning.

The 44-view review has nine panels, including eight native f016r examples, several manuscript sections, component alternatives, ambiguous/failed matches, and three larger-construction pairs. Each view has a lossless native crop, wider native context, canonical filename, Yale identity and coordinates. The same review is embedded in the single outer START HERE.html. Display categories are observations by Codex, not human-approved segmentation or identities.

Definition, search and freeze

The target was defined from the native f016r TIFF (Yale 1006104; 2658 × 3758 pixels), first viewing the whole surface and writing region, then its neutral-extraction candidates. Seeds retain independent candidate IDs and boxes. They describe paired lobes, open caps/opposed bends, upright-sided lobes, attached/nearby material, and single-lobe comparators. The latter are excluded from target counts.

All 213 Yale sources were searched through the existing 496,071-region visual index. Fixed screening retained 80,197 sufficiently dark, form-scale regions: mask area ≥130 pixels, height 24–160, width 10–240, darkness ≥25, and threshold-support fraction ≥0.45. Retrieval used 32 × 32 aspect-preserving support, DCT similarity, aspect/area penalties and support intersection-over-union ≥0.38. Scores ≥0.88 are called strong; ≥0.82 form the broad set. These thresholds select similar extracted regions, not an alphabet, calibrated probabilities or every occurrence embedded inside a larger region.

The shape retrieval, three spacing analyses, topology measurements, neighbor clusters, base-comparison leads, code snapshots and audit notes were hashed in before current section/proposed-hand labels were joined. No transcription, EVA, language theory or decipherment was used. The analyst had prior project and handwriting-study knowledge; this is algorithmic label isolation, not a claim of an independently blinded replication. No medieval abbreviation comparison was undertaken in this study.

1. How common?

ObservationResultWhat it counts
f016r strong retrieval21Extracted target-family regions
f016r broad retrieval22Includes the opposed open-bend comparator
f016r inspected family examplesAt least 23The broad examples plus a clear missed paired form, feature local index 516
Manuscript strong retrieval1,176Target-family regions on 190 Yale manuscript image surfaces
Manuscript broad retrieval2,455Includes uncertain and false matches
Single-lobe strong comparators186Excluded from both target totals

All nine unnumbered binding/cover/flyleaf views yielded zero strong targets. The remaining 204 manuscript surfaces include partial/combined foldout scans: 190 surfaces is not 190 independent folios. Different scans can contain the same ink. Counts were not deduplicated across overlapping partial views because panel ownership is unspecified in some Yale labels.

A fixed random audit of 72 strong matches showed plausible paired constructions, with closure and ink-quality uncertainty; it did not measure recall. The 48-example broad audit included at least two definite failures: texture and a diagonal stroke. f016r's visibly missed local-516 example independently demonstrates incomplete recall. Long combinations, tiny writing, faint ink and curved diagrams are especially liable to be missed. An exact manuscript frequency is not established. The family is nevertheless widespread and repeatedly visible on f016r.

2–4. Forms, closures and component alternatives

Review familyDefensible observationRemaining distinction
Closed paired lobesVertically stacked enclosures with a narrow junction recurWhole-form identity and stroke order unknown
Open caps / opposed bendsSome have an enclosed lower lobe and open/filled cap; others are fully opposed open curvesFaint closure, execution variant and a different construction can resemble one another
Upright-sided lobesA relatively straight side beside lobes can produce a B-like visual impressionOverlaps closed/open families; not an established separate identity
Extended / attached / nearbyA hook, descending trace or neighboring enclosure accompanies the paired formCandidate ownership and physical attachment vary
Possible two-component regionsSome masks split the construction or include separate neighboring marksConnectivity does not establish two repeated units
Single-lobe relativesOne enclosure or upper-loop construction shares part of the geometryKept as comparators rather than counted as paired forms
Ambiguous casesPale/filled junctions, texture and incomplete boundaries remainPreserved rather than forced into a class

The strong set's best-seed neighborhoods, not mutually exclusive identities, are 1,065 paired-lobe, 53 upright-sided, 29 open-cap/opposed-bend and 29 attached/nearby matches. Unequal seed coverage and contrast affect these totals. In particular, the open-cap neighborhood mixes visibly closed, filled and truly open examples; its count is not the true frequency of open forms.

For a topology check, cavities smaller than eight normalized pixels were ignored. 958/1,176 strong regions (81.5%) retained at least two vertically separated substantial cavities. Exact cavity totals were: zero 9; one 206; two 928; three 32; four 1. Extra cavities can come from a neighboring mark or texture. This is normalized-mask topology, with native examples supplied for inspection, not a reliable inventory of pen loops.

Only 14 strong regions had multiple substantial normalized components. Native inspection of that set mostly shows the paired form plus a neighboring mark; faint breaks can also split the paired construction. Consequently it does not demonstrate two repeated independent lobes. Many native closed examples look like one interconnected paired construction, with unequal upper/lower geometry and a shared central trace. That favors a compact whole-form description over automatically counting two identical repetitions. It still cannot tell whether the scribe made one stroke, several strokes or a composite unit. Connected ink and a linguistic/written unit are different questions.

5. Position in surrounding structures

“Beginning/middle/end” here refers to left-to-right geometric proximity, not accepted reading order, words or linguistic boundaries. A separate screen retained 98,881 smaller writing-like regions for neighbors (area ≥70; height 12–160; width 6–240; darkness ≥25; threshold-support ≥0.35). Neighbors require at least 45% vertical overlap and compatible height alignment. A gap divided by the mean candidate height determines whether neighboring material remains in the same provisional group.

Maximum gap / heightBeginningMiddleEndIsolated
0.25562235198181
0.4044839224096
0.6035153123856

The target occurs in all four situations. “Mostly initial” versus “mostly internal” changes with the spacing rule. There is therefore no robust exclusive positional role, and these counts do not establish enrichment relative to all forms. Curved/rotated writing and material inside unsplit larger candidates remain underrepresented.

6. Immediate visible neighbors

The neighbor contact sheet shows four representatives of each of eight deterministic geometry clusters, N1–N8. These retain candidate boundaries, so a neighbor can contain several visible forms. At the 0.60 gap rule, 769 left neighbors and 882 right neighbors were recorded; “before/after” means left/right only.

The leading left clusters were N1 (190; mixed upright/looped constructions), N8 (167; compact rounded enclosures), and N7 (108; longer low horizontal combinations). The leading right clusters were N3 (161; compact short-stroke/arched pieces), N2 (148; wider short-stroke runs with curved ends), and N4 (144; upper-loop/descending-curve constructions). N1 in particular is heterogeneous. These are useful recurring visual contexts, not assigned neighbor identities or a transcription. Full counts and representatives are in .

7–8. Sections and proposed hands, revealed after the freeze

Only archived image-locus metadata, section tags and proposed Davis hand relationships were joined. No annotated form or transcription table was used. The archive is derivative metadata and the proposed hands are hypotheses. Multiple or missing assignments remain unknown. Yale's combined/partial labels are preserved; no unspecified panel identity is supplied.

Archived sectionYale viewsStrong targetsPer 1,000 screened geometric regionsPaired / upright / open-neighborhood / nearby
Herbal11767220.58609 / 33 / 17 / 13
Astronomical/zodiac (Astro)12101.319 / 1 / 0 / 0
Bathing/biological (Balneology)201017.4789 / 2 / 2 / 8
Pharmaceutical (Pharma)114610.7738 / 2 / 4 / 2
Recipe/text (Stars)2220810.29195 / 9 / 2 / 2
Mixed/unknown, including unnumbered views311396.76125 / 8 / 4 / 2

This is a retrieval-density comparison, not true glyph frequencies. Different scale, layout, ink and segmentation can cause section differences. Astro's low result particularly cannot establish visual absence in diagrams. The unknown bucket includes complex foldouts; it is not a new section.

Strong candidates occur in each proposed hand group: 1 = 644, 2 = 203, 3 = 204, 4 = 10, 5 = 37, unknown = 78. These uneven totals do not demonstrate writer preferences.

Prediction used 1,015 labeled strong occurrences, grouped into 88 complete-folio holdouts. Recto/verso and explicitly related combined/partial views were kept in the same fold. Five fixed folds, equal weight per folio group, and darkness/height covariates limit pseudoreplication and some acquisition confounds. Two outcomes were tested: substantial paired cavities and the upright-sided best-seed neighborhood. Smaller log loss is better.

Predictor set (plus darkness/height)Paired cavitiesUpright-sided neighborhood
Quality only0.49100.2035
Section0.48330.1965
Proposed hand0.49480.2044
Local context0.50880.2167
Section + context0.50250.2079
Section + context + hand0.50260.2104

Section-only predictions were modestly better than hand-only, but folio-bootstrap intervals for their differences included zero: paired cavities +0.0115 [−0.0078, +0.0312]; upright-sided +0.0079 [−0.0046, +0.0239]. Adding hand to section/context did not improve mean held-out performance; its intervals also included zero. The Herbal-only check (672 occurrences, 61 folio groups) likewise showed no clear additional hand benefit.

The study does not establish that context/section is a stronger determinant than writer. Section has the better exploratory point estimates; local context alone does not. Section/hand confounding, few unusual variants and topology's sensitivity to ink prevent a stronger claim. This f016r-defined study is not a replacement for previous differently anchored handwriting experiments.

9. Similar larger constructions with/without the form

The frozen search found 29 short-base comparison leads from 1,416 queries against 25,733 eligible base pairs. Review panel D09 displays three inspected pairs:

The base descriptors were matched separately, with constituent cosine ≥0.86, aspect-log differences ≤0.35 and combined score ≥0.92. The paired form itself was not used to make the bases similar. Native contexts show that adjacent material and execution still differ. These are recurring construction leads, not proven identical underlying strings or historical additions/deletions. An undetected target may also remain outside the matched base.

What does it look like functionally?

The paired-lobe core looks like a reusable combining element: it recurs beside other forms, within geometric groups and as initial or terminal material beside similar short bases. It does not look exclusively like a standalone separator or a universally fixed ending. That is a structural appearance, with no assigned meaning or linguistic category.

The safest unit conclusion is a family of related appearances containing a recurring compact paired construction. The evidence supports that recurring construction more strongly than either “every lookalike is one identical unit” or “every example is two repeated units.” Stroke count, component ownership, and the relation of the open forms remain ambiguous.

Review images

Embedded from the preserved project files (display copies; originals remain in the project folder).