{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.swahili","code":"thing-q7838","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q7838/","name":"Swahili","alternateNames":["Congo Swahili","Kiamu","Kingozi","Kiunguja","KiKAR","Kiswahili","Sheng","Bajuni dialect","Bravanese","Cifundi dialect","Kihadimu","Sidi"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.MED"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A Bantu language of the Sabaki group spoken as a first language along the East African coast and islands and as a lingua franca by tens of millions across Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries; called Kiswahili by its speakers, it has many dialects such as Kiunguja, Kiamu and Congo Swahili, a large Arabic-derived vocabulary, a standard form based on Zanzibar speech, and official status in several states and the African Union.","purpose":"Let an agent describe Swahili, its dialects, history and status from linguistic sources, relay speaker figures with sources, explain its grammar and writing in outline, and point to learning and reference resources.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Bantu grammar with noun classes","Large Arabic-derived vocabulary","Lingua franca across East Africa","Standard based on Kiunguja"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"identify","name":"Identify","description":"What Swahili is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Language and varieties.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is Swahili, and what dialects and varieties exist?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about Swahili or a related Sabaki language?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"status","name":"Status","description":"Status and speakers.","findings":[{"id":"status-finding","name":"Status","description":"Status.","questions":[{"text":"Where is Swahili official or widely spoken, and how many speak it, with sources?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"structure","name":"Structure","description":"Grammar and writing.","layers":[{"id":"grammar","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","findings":[{"id":"grammar-finding","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","questions":[{"text":"How do noun classes, agreement and verb morphology work in outline?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits Bantu grammar?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"writing","name":"Writing","description":"Writing and vocabulary.","findings":[{"id":"writing-finding","name":"Writing","description":"Writing.","questions":[{"text":"How is Swahili written, and where does its vocabulary come from?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History and culture.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did Swahili develop on the coast and spread inland, as linguists and historians describe?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Swahili culture?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"literature","name":"Literature","description":"Literature.","findings":[{"id":"literature-finding","name":"Literature","description":"Literature.","questions":[{"text":"What are the main traditions of Swahili literature and media?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific work or author?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Learning and policy.","layers":[{"id":"learning","name":"Learning","description":"Learning resources.","findings":[{"id":"learning-finding","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","questions":[{"text":"Which resources exist for learning Swahili?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits language learning?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"policy","name":"Policy","description":"Language policy.","findings":[{"id":"policy-finding","name":"Policy","description":"Policy.","questions":[{"text":"How do language policies and standardisation bodies shape Swahili?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the information current?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Translate to and from Swahili and state the regional variety used, such as coastal or Congolese.","Describe the language's history, grammar and standardisation bodies."],"mustNot":["Present machine translation into Swahili as certified for legal, medical or asylum use.","Treat Swahili speakers' regional varieties as incorrect.","Erase the Arabic and Bantu roots or the coastal communities whose language it first was."],"requiresHuman":["Relying on a Swahili translation in court, healthcare or immigration decisions."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Swahili unites many nations; language choices in public life affect who is included.","Poor translation in services can deny people their rights."],"affectedParties":["Swahili speakers","Speakers of other East African languages"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: held in common by its speakers; national language councils guide the standard.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q2209395","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q33146","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Sabaki language","type":"related","note":"the subgroup"},{"target":"Bantu language","type":"related","note":"the family"},{"target":"Tanzania","type":"related","note":"and Kenya and Uganda"},{"target":"Comorian","type":"related","note":"a sister language"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.swahili","Wikidata: Q7838 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7838)","ISO 639-1: sw","ISO 639-3: swa macrolanguage, with swh and swc"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["first language speakers: about 15-20 million people - estimates vary","total speakers: about 100-200 million people - estimates vary widely","noun classes: about 15-18 count - by analysis"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Bantu language of the Sabaki group","Noun class system and Arabic loanwords","Comorian and Mijikenda are related Sabaki languages, not Swahili","Not a visible object; written in the Latin alphabet today and historically in Arabic script."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["describe the language, dialects and status","relay speaker figures with sources","explain grammar and writing in outline","point to learning resources"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Conflating dialects with the standard","Unsourced speaker figures","Ignoring regional varieties"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["National language policies of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda","African Union working language status","Standardisation bodies such as BAKITA in Tanzania"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Communication across East and Central Africa.","Standard Swahili","coastal dialects such as Kiunguja, Kiamu and Kimvita","Congo Swahili and other inland varieties","historical and literary forms such as Kingozi","pidginised forms such as KiKAR","Sheng and other urban mixes as related codes"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q7838: Swahili","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7838","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Swahili","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should major dialects be separate entries?","How should corpora and dictionaries be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects and a pidgin; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q7838/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q7838/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T21:47:58Z","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 2026-10-06T19:52:02+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}}