# A Quantitative Confirmation of the Currier Language Distinction

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25979 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.25979/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 0 of its 21 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Apr 2026.

## 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)

We present a unified quantitative analysis of the Currier A/B language distinction in the Voynich Manuscript, proceeding in two stages. First, we confirm that the distinction is genuine: a Beta-Binomial mixture model applied to character-pair substitution ratios across 185 folios, without access to Currier's labels, selects 2 by BIC and predicts held-out folio labels at 89% accuracy. Second, we show that the A/B contrast is not primitive but is a low-resolution projection of a higher-dimensional generative system. Its dominant component is a discrete boolean "switch" set once per folio, governing the vowel following the digraphs ch and sh. A two-state binomial mixture achieves Delta AIC = 2,549 over a single-state model and assigns 195 of 197 folios unambiguously. This switch does not operate uniformly: word templates divide into fixed contexts and switchable contexts, with template identity accounting for 92% of variance.