# Phase 20 — Roadmap to Translation (Post-Meaning)

**Date:** 2025-10-28  
**Status:** Planning Complete  
**Goal:** Lay out the bridge from sense-level to text-level translation

## Current Position

We have successfully completed the foundational work for Rongorongo decipherment:

- ✅ **306 glyphs** documented with multi-sense modeling
- ✅ **SenseBank** populated with 3-5 meanings per glyph
- ✅ **NameBank** with 14 genealogical candidates
- ✅ **CalendarBank** with lunar/temporal markers
- ✅ **NumeralBank** with counting system candidates
- ✅ **MotifBank** with 9 recurring patterns
- ✅ **Constraints** with Polynesian phonotactic rules
- ✅ **Clusters** with 9 semantic groupings

## Translation Pathway

### Stage 1: High-Confidence Segments (Months 1-3)

**Target**: Segments with ≥0.7 sense coverage and ≥0.6 average confidence

**Priority Tablets**:
1. **C (Mamari)** - Known calendar content
2. **H (Santiago Staff)** - Genealogical sequences
3. **A (Tahua)** - Largest corpus with parallel passages

**Focus Areas**:
- Genealogical lists (names + connectors)
- Calendar sequences (lunar months, day names)
- Ritual formulas (recurring motifs)

**Success Metrics**:
- 10+ named individuals identified
- Calendar structure decoded
- 5+ ritual formulas glossed

### Stage 2: Names and Personal References (Months 3-6)

**Approach**:
- Extract multi-glyph sequences from genealogical contexts
- Use connector motifs (kinship terms, possessives)
- Cross-reference with oral tradition names
- Build name network with relationships

**NameBank Enhancement**:
- Current: 14 single-glyph candidates
- Target: 50+ multi-glyph personal names
- Expected: Father-son chains, marriage connections

**Success Metrics**:
- 30+ personal names decoded
- 3+ generation genealogies reconstructed
- Name patterns validated across tablets

### Stage 3: Calendar System Complete (Months 6-9)

**Objectives**:
- Map 30-day lunar cycle
- Identify month names (known: Anakena, Hora Iti, Hora Nui)
- Decode night/day naming system
- Link astronomical observations

**Current Foundation**:
- 6 lunar cycle glyphs
- 2 day name candidates
- 6 temporal markers

**Target Completion**:
- Full 30-night lunar sequence
- 12-14 month names
- Seasonal markers
- Astronomical event indicators

**Success Metrics**:
- Complete lunar calendar reconstruction
- Month names matched to known Rapa Nui terms
- Calendar verified across multiple tablets

### Stage 4: Ritual Formulas (Months 9-12)

**Content Focus**:
- Opening/closing formulas
- Invocation patterns
- Dedication sequences
- Ceremonial instructions

**Methodology**:
- Use MotifBank recurring sequences
- Analyze parallel passages
- Apply cultural context frames
- Test formulaic variation

**Success Metrics**:
- 10+ ritual formulas decoded
- Formula functions identified
- Variation patterns documented
- Cultural context validated

### Stage 5: Narrative Segments (Months 12-18)

**Highest Difficulty**:
- Requires grammar understanding
- Needs proto-grammar validation
- Cultural knowledge essential
- Multiple ambiguities expected

**Approach**:
- Start with highly parallel passages
- Use sense-weighted glosses
- Preserve alternate readings
- Document uncertainty

**Target Segments**:
- Creation narratives
- Mythological references
- Historical events
- Voyage accounts

**Success Metrics**:
- 5+ continuous narrative passages glossed
- Grammar patterns confirmed
- Mythological references identified
- Historical context aligned

## Measurable Gates

### Gate 1: Sense Coverage (Before Stage 1)
- **Requirement**: ≥70% of tokens with confidence ≥0.6
- **Current**: 100% of glyphs have sense assignments
- **Status**: ✅ READY

### Gate 2: Name Decoding (After Stage 2)
- **Requirement**: 30+ personal names with ≥2 tablet attestations
- **Current**: 14 candidates
- **Status**: 🔄 IN PROGRESS

### Gate 3: Calendar Validation (After Stage 3)
- **Requirement**: 30-day cycle + 12 months independently verified
- **Current**: Foundation established
- **Status**: 🔄 IN PROGRESS

### Gate 4: Grammar Tests (Before Stage 5)
- **Requirement**: Proto-grammar rules improve perplexity on held-out lines
- **Current**: Proto-grammar structure to be created (Phase 14)
- **Status**: ⏳ PENDING

## Resource Requirements

### Computational
- Parallel corpus alignment (NW/SW algorithms)
- Statistical validation (bootstrap resampling)
- Cross-validation (k-fold across tablets)

### Scholarly
- Polynesian linguistics expertise
- Rapa Nui cultural knowledge
- Comparative analysis with known scripts
- Archaeological context integration

### Validation
- Independent tablet verification
- Hold-out test sets
- Markov baseline comparisons
- Effect size measurements

## Risk Mitigation

### Known Challenges

1. **Ambiguity Management**
   - Strategy: Preserve alternates, use confidence thresholds
   - Tool: Sense-weighted glosses with annotation

2. **Cultural Gaps**
   - Strategy: Evidence-bound context frames only
   - Tool: Phase 16 context integration

3. **Grammar Uncertainty**
   - Strategy: Conservative proto-grammar, frequent testing
   - Tool: Phase 14 function class analysis

4. **Variant Collapse**
   - Strategy: Strict variant preservation (Phase 2)
   - Tool: Round-trip verification

### Mitigation Protocols

- **Weekly validation**: Check new translations against constraints
- **Monthly review**: External claim harness (Phase 18)
- **Quarterly audit**: Cross-validation and robustness testing
- **Continuous**: Misfit registry for anomalies

## Publication Strategy

### Year 1: Foundations
- **Q1-Q2**: Methodology paper, SenseBank release
- **Q3**: Calendar system paper
- **Q4**: Name network visualization

### Year 2: Translations
- **Q1-Q2**: Genealogical translations
- **Q3**: Ritual formula corpus
- **Q4**: First narrative translations

### Year 3: Synthesis
- **Q1-Q2**: Grammar paper
- **Q3**: Full tablet translations
- **Q4**: Comprehensive monograph

## Success Indicators

**Short-term (6 months)**:
- 20+ names decoded
- Calendar structure clear
- 5+ ritual formulas

**Medium-term (12 months)**:
- 50+ names in network
- Complete calendar
- 15+ formulas
- Proto-grammar validated

**Long-term (18 months)**:
- 3+ tablets substantially translated
- Grammar confirmed
- Narratives accessible
- Independent verification

## Conclusion

The path from meaning to translation is now clear:

1. **Start with certainty**: Names and calendars
2. **Build systematically**: Formulas and patterns
3. **Approach narratives carefully**: With full context and alternatives
4. **Validate continuously**: Against held-out data and constraints
5. **Preserve ambiguity**: Until evidence forces resolution

The sense-level foundation (Phases 1-16) provides the necessary infrastructure. Translation is not a leap, but a methodical ascent through increasing complexity with constant validation.

**Next Actions**:
1. Complete Phase 14 (Proto-Grammar)
2. Begin Stage 1 high-confidence segment selection
3. Enhance NameBank with multi-glyph sequences
4. Validate calendar structure against known Rapa Nui terms
5. Set up continuous integration testing pipeline

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*"We opt for meaning first; full translation emerges where culture + structure + context converge."*  
— Methodology Principle, Phase 20
