{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.afroasiatic","code":"thing-q25268","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q25268/","name":"Afroasiatic","alternateNames":["ancient Puntite","Kehek","Harari–East Gurage","South Canaan","Berber","Chadic","Cushitic","Omotic","Semitic","Egyptian","Fogaha","Western Berber / Amazigh"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.MED"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A large language family of North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Western Asia, with several hundred languages in branches including Semitic (such as Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya and Hebrew), Amazigh (Berber), Chadic (such as Hausa), Cushitic (such as Somali and Oromo), Egyptian and the debated Omotic branch.","purpose":"Let an agent handle Afroasiatic by branches, member languages, classification debates, speakers and resources, using self-designations such as Amazigh and attributing debated views.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Several hundred languages","Ancient written records","Wide geographic spread","Some branches debated"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"classification","name":"Classification","description":"Family tree.","layers":[{"id":"branch","name":"Branch","description":"Which branch.","findings":[{"id":"branch-finding","name":"Branch","description":"Branch.","questions":[{"text":"Which branch does this language belong to, according to reference classifications?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Do references disagree?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"debate","name":"Debate","description":"Contested questions.","findings":[{"id":"debate-finding","name":"Debate","description":"Debates.","questions":[{"text":"Why is Omotic membership debated, and where was the family homeland, according to linguists?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Who holds which view?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"features","name":"Features","description":"Shared traits.","layers":[{"id":"morphology","name":"Morphology","description":"Roots and patterns.","findings":[{"id":"morphology-finding","name":"Morphology","description":"Root-and-pattern morphology.","questions":[{"text":"How does root-and-pattern morphology work in this language?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is it found in all branches?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"scripts","name":"Scripts","description":"Writing systems.","findings":[{"id":"scripts-finding","name":"Scripts","description":"Scripts.","questions":[{"text":"Which script is used for this language?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Are there competing scripts?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"speakers","name":"Speakers","description":"Communities.","layers":[{"id":"numbers","name":"Numbers","description":"Speaker figures.","findings":[{"id":"numbers-finding","name":"Numbers","description":"Speaker numbers.","questions":[{"text":"How many speakers does this language have, according to recent sources?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"First or second language?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"names","name":"Names","description":"Self-designations.","findings":[{"id":"names-finding","name":"Names","description":"Self-designations.","questions":[{"text":"What do speakers call their language, such as Tamazight for Amazigh varieties?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which names are exonyms?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"resources","name":"Resources","description":"Learning and history.","layers":[{"id":"learning","name":"Learning","description":"Courses.","findings":[{"id":"learning-finding","name":"Learning","description":"Learning resources.","questions":[{"text":"Which grammars, dictionaries or courses exist?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which variety do they teach?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"ancient","name":"Ancient","description":"Ancient languages.","findings":[{"id":"ancient-finding","name":"Ancient","description":"Ancient languages.","questions":[{"text":"Which ancient Afroasiatic languages are attested, such as Egyptian and Akkadian?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Where are the texts held?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe the Afroasiatic family and its branches, citing linguistic sources.","Support speakers of its languages with accurate translation and script handling."],"mustNot":["Present disputed classifications or homeland theories as settled.","Use the language family to make claims about race or ancestry of peoples.","Treat minority Afroasiatic languages as dialects of dominant ones.","Translate in ways that erase distinctions speakers consider important."],"requiresHuman":["Choosing which language or script to use for communities in sensitive settings."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Many smaller languages of the family are endangered and their speakers marginalized.","Language classifications have been misused to rank peoples."],"affectedParties":["Speakers of the languages","Endangered language communities"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns it; it belongs to the languages' speakers.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q20162172","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"language family","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"Arabic","type":"related","note":"example"},{"target":"Hausa","type":"related","note":"example"},{"target":"Glottolog and Ethnologue","type":"related","note":"references"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.afroasiatic","Wikidata: Q25268 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25268)","ISO 639-5: afa Afro-Asiatic languages (collective code)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Scripts such as Arabic, Ge ez, Hebrew and Tifinagh","Triconsonantal roots in Semitic","Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan are other families","Not physical; shown in family trees, maps, scripts and grammars."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["identify the branch of a language","summarise classification debates with sources","find speaker figures and resources","explain shared features such as root-and-pattern morphology"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Presenting debated branches as settled","Unsourced speaker figures","Using exonyms instead of self-designations"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["National language policies","Official recognition of Amazigh in Morocco and Algeria"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Linguistics, education and language resources.","Semitic","Amazigh (Berber)","Chadic","Cushitic","Egyptian and Omotic (debated)"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q25268: Afroasiatic","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25268","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Afroasiatic languages","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afroasiatic_languages","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should branches be separate entries?","How should classification debates be recorded?","How should scripts be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q25268/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q25268/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-11T13:11:21Z","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":"filled","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 2026-10-06T19:51:57+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane INF: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}