{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.language-classification","code":"thing-q20477577","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q20477577/","name":"language classification","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.KNW"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"Language classification is the systematic grouping of languages according to explicit criteria, especially common historical descent, structural properties, or features associated with geographical contact.","purpose":"Enable an agent to interpret, compare and apply classifications of human languages while preserving the criteria, evidence and uncertainty behind each assignment.","scope":{"in":["Genealogical, typological and areal bases for grouping human languages","Selection and identification of languages, varieties and historical stages as classification units","Categories, group memberships and relationships asserted by a named scheme","Evidence, methods and uncertainty supporting classification decisions","Comparison, application and revision of language classification schemes"],"out":["Complete grammars, dictionaries and descriptions of individual languages","Language acquisition, teaching and proficiency assessment","Automatic detection of the language used in a document or recording","Design and classification of programming or formal languages","Legal recognition, official status and language policy decisions","Institutional organisation of linguistics and biographies of its practitioners"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["It groups or relates identified language units under explicit criteria; merely listing language names or identifiers is insufficient.","It distinguishes claims of shared descent from similarity in linguistic features and from relationships associated with geographic contact.","It classifies language units across a declared comparison set, rather than assigning a language label to a particular text or recording.","Its categories concern languages and varieties; ethnic identity, nationality and writing system do not by themselves establish linguistic group membership.","Its assignments are attributable to a scheme and evidential basis, allowing competing classifications to coexist."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"classification-basis","name":"Classification basis","description":"The linguistic question a classification answers and the meaning of its groupings.","layers":[{"id":"grounds-for-grouping","name":"Grounds for grouping","description":"The criteria that make language units members of a group.","findings":[{"id":"grouping-criterion","name":"Grouping criterion","description":"Record whether a grouping asserts descent, structural similarity, contact association or a specified combination.","questions":[{"text":"What linguistic relationship does membership in this classification assert?","id":"grouping-criterion-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"If several criteria are combined, how can an agent distinguish the contribution of each?","id":"grouping-criterion-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"relationship-semantics","name":"Relationship semantics","description":"The logical meaning of categories, links and overlapping memberships.","findings":[{"id":"category-and-link-meaning","name":"Category and link meaning","description":"Specify whether categories form a hierarchy, permit overlap or represent positions on independently assessed dimensions.","questions":[{"text":"Does a link mean descent, inclusion, similarity or contact, and which inferences does that meaning permit?","id":"category-and-link-meaning-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Can a language belong to multiple groups under the same criterion, and how should those memberships be interpreted?","id":"category-and-link-meaning-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"language-unit-boundaries","name":"Language unit boundaries","description":"The identities, granularity and periods of the language units being compared.","layers":[{"id":"language-and-variety-identity","name":"Language and variety identity","description":"Identification of the linguistic entity behind each label.","findings":[{"id":"unit-delimitation","name":"Unit delimitation","description":"Record what each unit includes and whose convention determines its boundary.","questions":[{"text":"Does this label denote an individual language, a variety, an umbrella grouping or another unit?","id":"unit-delimitation-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which source determines the boundary, and which named varieties does it include or exclude?","id":"unit-delimitation-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"historical-and-attestation-scope","name":"Historical and attestation scope","description":"The relationship between classification units and the language evidence available for particular periods.","findings":[{"id":"stage-specific-coverage","name":"Stage-specific coverage","description":"Separate a language's historical stages and attested varieties where their differences affect classification.","questions":[{"text":"Which historical stage, regional variety and attestation period does the assignment concern?","id":"stage-specific-coverage-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What evidence permits the assignment to extend beyond the varieties or periods directly sampled?","id":"stage-specific-coverage-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"linguistic-evidence-and-method","name":"Linguistic evidence and method","description":"The observations and reasoning that support each kind of language grouping.","layers":[{"id":"descent-evidence","name":"Descent evidence","description":"Assessment of evidence used to argue for genealogical relationships and subgrouping.","findings":[{"id":"genealogical-argument","name":"Genealogical argument","description":"Capture the argument for shared descent or a particular subgroup, including how alternative explanations were assessed.","questions":[{"text":"What comparative evidence supports the proposed descent relationship or subgroup, and where is the argument documented?","id":"genealogical-argument-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How does the argument assess borrowing, chance resemblance and shared retentions as alternatives to the claimed relationship?","id":"genealogical-argument-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"structural-and-contact-evidence","name":"Structural and contact evidence","description":"Feature observations and contact arguments underlying typological and areal groupings.","findings":[{"id":"feature-and-contact-assessment","name":"Feature and contact assessment","description":"Record how features are defined and sampled, and whether a claim concerns similarity alone or an explanation through contact.","questions":[{"text":"Which features were coded, from which varieties, and how were variation and missing observations handled?","id":"feature-and-contact-assessment-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"For an areal claim, what supports contact as an explanation beyond geographic proximity or shared features?","id":"feature-and-contact-assessment-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"assignments-and-disagreement","name":"Assignments and disagreement","description":"Attributable language memberships, their assessed support and differences between schemes.","layers":[{"id":"membership-assessment","name":"Membership assessment","description":"The status and evidential limits of individual classification assignments.","findings":[{"id":"qualified-assignment","name":"Qualified assignment","description":"Attach each membership or withheld assignment to a scheme, source and explicit assessment.","questions":[{"text":"Who asserts this membership, in which scheme version, and with what stated qualification?","id":"qualified-assignment-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"If no membership is assigned, does that reflect insufficient evidence, excluded coverage, conflict or a claim about the absence of demonstrated relatives?","id":"qualified-assignment-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"cross-scheme-comparison","name":"Cross-scheme comparison","description":"Comparison of classification claims without assuming that matching names imply matching groups.","findings":[{"id":"disagreement-localisation","name":"Disagreement localisation","description":"Identify whether schemes differ in unit boundaries, members, relationship claims, ranks or terminology.","questions":[{"text":"Do the schemes disagree about linguistic relationships, or do they use different labels, ranks or classification units?","id":"disagreement-localisation-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which memberships and relationships can be mapped between the schemes without losing their original meaning?","id":"disagreement-localisation-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"application-and-revision","name":"Application and revision","description":"Appropriate uses of language classification and the handling of changes to its claims.","layers":[{"id":"task-fit-and-inference","name":"Task fit and inference","description":"The decisions a classification can support and the conclusions that require separate evidence.","findings":[{"id":"permitted-classification-use","name":"Permitted classification use","description":"Connect a proposed use to the scheme's criteria, coverage and limitations.","questions":[{"text":"Does this scheme support the intended task, such as ancestry lookup, feature comparison or selection of a language sample?","id":"permitted-classification-use-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which proposed conclusions about intelligibility, ethnicity, proficiency or legal status require evidence beyond group membership?","id":"permitted-classification-use-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"classification-change","name":"Classification change","description":"Revision of language boundaries, memberships and relationships as evidence or conventions change.","findings":[{"id":"revision-impact","name":"Revision impact","description":"Distinguish evidential reclassification from renaming or unit redefinition, and preserve prior assignments for interpretation.","questions":[{"text":"Was this change prompted by new linguistic evidence, a revised unit boundary, a naming decision or a changed classification method?","id":"revision-impact-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which lookups, comparisons and derived conclusions need review after the change, and how will the earlier assignment remain traceable?","id":"revision-impact-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-confidence-notes","name":"Check these first","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these check these first hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-confidence-notes-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-identifiers","name":"Identifiers and schemes","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-identifiers-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-standards-and-regulation","name":"Standards and regulation","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-regional-variation","name":"Regional variation","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-regional-variation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of language classification this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain how languages are classified and the evidence behind each grouping.","Report classifications with their sources and note where scholars disagree."],"mustNot":["Present a disputed family grouping as settled.","Label a language a dialect, or the reverse, to take a political side.","Use classification to rank languages or their speakers as superior or primitive."],"requiresHuman":["Publishing a classification that a speaker community disputes."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Whether a variety is called a language affects rights, schooling and identity.","Endangered language communities deserve accurate, respectful description."],"affectedParties":["Speakers of minority and endangered languages","Linguists","Educators"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: a field of knowledge; registration authorities assign language codes.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q24249534","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.language-classification","Wikidata: Q20477577 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20477577)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Classification basis: Genealogical, typological, areal, mixed or another explicitly defined basis","Classification unit: Language, named variety, dialect grouping, historical stage or another explicitly delimited unit","Scheme attribution: Named scheme linked to its author or maintainer, source and edition or release","Membership semantics: Exclusive group membership, overlapping membership, feature profile, graded assignment or explicitly defined alternative","Relationship structure: Hierarchy, network, partition, multidimensional grouping or explicitly defined alternative","Temporal coverage: Language stages or attestation periods to which the classification applies","Evidence coverage: Counts or proportions of sampled varieties, features or comparison items, with the denominator and sampling method stated","Assignment assessment: Supported, provisional, disputed, unassessed or withdrawn, attributed to a named assessor","Unassigned-unit explanation: Outside coverage, insufficient evidence, conflicting evidence, no demonstrated relatives under the scheme or another stated reason"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Determine whether a scheme is suitable for a genealogical, structural or contact-related question.","Resolve a language name to the intended variety and historical stage before assigning membership.","Trace a classification claim to its criteria, evidence and attributed assessment.","Compare assignments across schemes while distinguishing incompatible claims from different classification purposes.","Propose, revise or withhold an assignment with an explicit explanation.","Retrieve related languages under a selected scheme without implying unrelated social or political conclusions."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Outdated or politically driven classifications persist in reference works."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["ISO 639-3, Codes for the representation of names of languages, International Organization for Standardization."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Language classification is used in linguistics, education and language documentation to organize comparisons among languages.","It supports research into shared ancestry, structural similarities and contact effects, with each grouping interpreted according to its stated criteria."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q20477577: language classification","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20477577","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Language classification","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_classification","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Does the registry intend language classification to mean the general practice, a field of study or specifically genealogical classification?","Does this entry cover human languages exclusively, including signed languages, or also formal and programming languages?","Which reference schemes and editions should anchor language identities, group names and comparisons for the intended deployment?","Which conventions should govern language-versus-dialect boundaries and historical stages when reference sources disagree?","How should the selected schemes represent contact-derived varieties and other cases for which a single-parent hierarchy may be inadequate?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q20477577/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q20477577/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T10:53:10Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"not-applicable","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:28+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane INF: no invented physical properties.","interaction.recognition":"Language classification is an abstract organizational scheme with no intrinsic visual appearance."},"score":1.0}}