{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.sign-language","code":"thing-q34228","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q34228/","name":"sign language","alternateNames":["non-deaf sign language","deaf sign language","Arab sign-language family","Japanese Sign Language family","family sign language","Sign Language in Örebro","manually coded language","diving sign language","Providencia–Cayman Sign Language family","Paraguay–Uruguay Sign Language family","Old Chiangmai–Bangkok Sign Language family","Danish Sign Language family"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.MED"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A language expressed through hand shapes, movement, facial expression and body posture rather than sound, used primarily by deaf communities as natural languages with their own grammar and vocabulary, in hundreds of distinct languages and families such as the Japanese Sign Language family and Arab sign languages, alongside village sign languages, family sign systems and manual codes for spoken languages; sign languages are full languages, recognised officially in many countries and studied in linguistics.","purpose":"Let an agent explain sign languages as natural languages and their diversity, describe their grammar, communities and recognition, support learning and access questions, and address misconceptions, describing deaf communities in their own terms.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Visual-manual modality","Full grammar","Community languages","Legal recognition"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What sign languages are.","layers":[{"id":"concept","name":"Concept","description":"Concept and status.","findings":[{"id":"concept-finding","name":"Concept","description":"Concept.","questions":[{"text":"What is a sign language, why is it a full natural language, and how does it differ from gesture and manual codes?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which sign language is meant?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"grammar","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","findings":[{"id":"grammar-finding","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","questions":[{"text":"How do sign languages use hand shape, movement, space and facial expression grammatically?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits sign language linguistics?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"diversity","name":"Diversity","description":"Diversity and communities.","layers":[{"id":"languages","name":"Languages","description":"Languages and families.","findings":[{"id":"languages-finding","name":"Languages","description":"Languages.","questions":[{"text":"How many sign languages exist, and how are families such as the Japanese and Arab sign language groups related?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific language?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"communities","name":"Communities","description":"Deaf communities.","findings":[{"id":"communities-finding","name":"Communities","description":"Communities.","questions":[{"text":"How do deaf communities describe their languages and cultures in their own terms?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful and attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"access","name":"Access","description":"Learning and access.","layers":[{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Learning.","findings":[{"id":"learn-finding","name":"Learn","description":"Learning.","questions":[{"text":"How can a sign language be learned, and which resources are recommended by deaf organisations?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits language learning?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"interpreting","name":"Interpreting","description":"Interpreting and rights.","findings":[{"id":"interpreting-finding","name":"Interpreting","description":"Interpreting.","questions":[{"text":"What rights to interpreting and accessible services exist, and how is sign language recognised in law?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits accessibility law?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"History and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did sign languages and deaf education develop, including periods of suppression, according to historians and deaf communities?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can sign languages be taught and included in schools?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain that sign languages are full natural languages with their own grammar.","Help arrange qualified sign language interpreters when a deaf person asks."],"mustNot":["Present machine-generated signing or avatars as equal to qualified interpreters for important matters.","Treat a sign language as a signed version of a spoken language.","Assume all deaf people use the same sign language.","Mock signing or use it as a gimmick."],"requiresHuman":["Providing interpretation in medical, legal or emergency settings."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Deaf communities have been denied their languages; recognition is a matter of rights.","Poor interpretation can deny deaf people access to care and justice."],"affectedParties":["Deaf people","Interpreters","Deaf children and families"]},"owners":{"steward":"The deaf communities that use each language.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q184767","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q6752310","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"signed language","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"manual communication","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"Braille script","type":"related","note":"another accessibility-related communication system"},{"target":"multilingualism","type":"related","note":"bilingualism in signed and spoken languages"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.sign-language","Wikidata: Q34228 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34228)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Natural language in the visual-manual modality","Hundreds of distinct languages and families","Fingerspelling represents written words; gesture is not language; manual codes follow spoken grammar","Signed communication using hands, face and body."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain sign languages as languages","describe diversity and grammar","support learning and access","address misconceptions"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Treating sign language as universal or as gesture","Excluding deaf perspectives","Confusing sign languages with manual codes"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Legal recognition of sign languages","Accessibility and interpreting standards","Education policy for deaf children"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Languages expressed by hands and body.","national deaf sign languages","sign language families","village and shared sign languages","family and home sign systems","manually coded spoken languages and tactile signing"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q34228: sign language","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34228","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Sign language","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each sign language be a separate entry?","How should deaf organisations be linked?","How should interpreting services be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q34228/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q34228/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T05:34:48Z","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 2026-10-06T19:51:59+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}}