How would you interpret this and why?

[Anton]

That brings up another problem with VMS text. If that is two vords, then a half-space counts as a space. That means about 5,000 half-spaces are omitted from transcripts.

It depends how consistently we want to read the spaces in the text.

Yes, in fact it's a big problem and it manifests itself when you are beginning to work with vord counts. For example, when on one and the same page there are cheol, dy, and cheoldy, there is the question about the latter. Was the space neglected to pack the text densely? Or is it a vord in itself?