Picture by Klaus Schmeh, through Wikimedia Commons
Magazineyar, which is spoken and written in Hungary, ranks among the many onerousest European languages to study. (The U.S. Foreign Service Institute places it within the second-to-highest level, accompanied by the dreaded asterisk labeling it as “usually extra difficult than other languages in the identical category.”) However when you master its vowel harmony system, its definite and indefinite conjugation, and its eighteen grammatical cases, amongst other notorious features, you possibly can lastly get pleasure from the work of writers like Nobel Laureates Imre Kertész and László Krasznahorkai within the original. Alas, no diploma of mastery will probably be a lot assist if you wish to belowstand a a lot outdateder — and, in its manner, way more notorious — Hungarian textual content, the Rohonc Codex.
“Little is understood about this e-book earlier than it was bequeathed to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1838,” writes The Artwork Informationpaper’s Garry Shaw. “Its 448 pages bear illustrations covering Biblical themes and an as but unreadready textual content, written utilizing round 150 different symbols.”
Just like the well-knownly cryptic Voynich Manuscript, a lot covered right here on Open Culture, “there was a lot speculation over what language, if any, is encoded — ranging from outdated Hungarian to Sanskrit, or perhaps a specially invented one — in addition to debate over the e-book’s origin and date of creation.” Most colorfully, some attribute it to the notorious 9teenth-century forger Sámuel Literáti Nemes.
Download this PDF scan of the Rohonc Codex, and you may behold to yourself each its typically allureingly simple medieval-style illustrations — lots of which exhibit a mixtureture of Christian, Pagan, and Muslim symbolism — and the fiendishly regular-looking script in opposition to which generations of would-be decipherers have banged their heads. Right here within the twenty-twenties, perhaps artificial intelligence can do its half, as has been tryed with the Voynich Manuscript, to construct upon earlier analyses. A kind of, conducted within the early 9teen-seventies, determined that, whatever the language by which the Rohonc Codex was written, it exhibits no traces of case finishings. To enthusiasts of weird manuscripts, that discovery probably means little, however to students of Magazineyar, nothing may come as a higher reduction.
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Primarily based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. He’s the creator of the newsletter Books on Cities in addition to the books 한국 요약 금지 (No Summarizing Korea) and Korean Newtro. Follow him on the social internetwork formerly often known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
