# Evidence of Layered Positional and Directional Constraints in the Voynich Manuscript: Implications for Cipher-Like Structure

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.19762 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.19762/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 23 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [The "handedness" of language: Directional symmetry breaking of sign usage in words](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1509.09121/) (2015)
- [Directionality of the Voynich Script](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.10573/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [A Glyph Is Not a Letter, a Token Is Not a Word, a Space Is Not a Space: What the Units of Voynichese Are Not](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.17096/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The Voynich Manuscript (VMS) exhibits a script of uncertain origin whose grapheme sequences have resisted linguistic analysis. We present a systematic analysis of its grapheme sequences, revealing two complementary structural layers: a character-level right-to-left optimization in word-internal sequences and a left-to-right dependency at word boundaries, a directional dissociation not observed in any of our four comparison languages (English, French, Hebrew, Arabic). We further evaluate two classes of structured generator against a four-signature joint criterion: a parametric slot-based generator and a Cardan grille implementing Rugg's (2004) gibberish hypothesis. Across their full tested parameter spaces, neither class reproduces all four signatures simultaneously. While these results do not rule out generator classes we have not tested, they provide the first quantitative benchmarks against which any future generative or cryptanalytic model of the VMS can be evaluated, and they suggest that the VMS exhibits cipher-like structural constraints that are difficult to reproduce from simple positional or frequency-based mechanisms alone.