{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.malagasy","code":"thing-q7930","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q7930/","name":"Malagasy","alternateNames":["Sakalava Malagasy","Vezo dialect","Sahafatra dialect","Anjoaty dialect","Zafisoro dialect","Plateau Malagasy","Southern Betsimisaraka Malagasy","Masikoro Malagasy","Bara","Fiteny Antankarana","Bezanozano dialect","Northern Betsimisaraka Malagasy"],"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":"An Austronesian language of the East Barito group, the national language of Madagascar and an official language alongside French, spoken by about 25 million people, brought to the island by settlers from Borneo over a thousand years ago and enriched by Bantu, Arabic and French vocabulary, with a standard based on the Plateau or Merina dialect and regional dialects such as Sakalava, Vezo, Sahafatra, Anjoaty and Zafisoro; Malagasy is written in the Latin alphabet since the nineteenth century and has verb-initial word order.","purpose":"Let an agent explain the Malagasy language and its dialects, relay its status, origins and structure from linguistic and official sources, describe history and literature, and route to entries for specific dialects.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Austronesian in Africa","Verb-initial order","Dialect diversity","Latin script"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What Malagasy is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and classification.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is Malagasy, and how is it classified within Austronesian?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about the language, a dialect or the Malagasy people?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"dialects","name":"Dialects","description":"Dialects.","findings":[{"id":"dialects-finding","name":"Dialects","description":"Dialects.","questions":[{"text":"How do Plateau, Sakalava, Vezo, Sahafatra, Anjoaty and Zafisoro varieties differ?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific dialect?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"structure","name":"Structure","description":"Structure and writing.","layers":[{"id":"grammar","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","findings":[{"id":"grammar-finding","name":"Grammar","description":"Grammar.","questions":[{"text":"What are the main features of Malagasy phonology and its verb-initial grammar?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"writing","name":"Writing","description":"Writing.","findings":[{"id":"writing-finding","name":"Writing","description":"Writing.","questions":[{"text":"How did the sorabe Arabic script and the Latin orthography develop?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits sorabe?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"use","name":"Use","description":"Status and use.","layers":[{"id":"status","name":"Status","description":"Official status.","findings":[{"id":"status-finding","name":"Status","description":"Status.","questions":[{"text":"What status does Malagasy hold, and how is it used in education, media and government?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"learning","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","findings":[{"id":"learning-finding","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","questions":[{"text":"How can learners approach Malagasy, and what resources exist?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which entry fits language learning?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"History and literature.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did Austronesian settlers bring the language to Madagascar, and how did contact shape it, as linguists describe?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the settlement of Madagascar?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"literature","name":"Literature","description":"Literature and oral tradition.","findings":[{"id":"literature-finding","name":"Literature","description":"Literature.","questions":[{"text":"What are hainteny, kabary and modern Malagasy literature?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Malagasy literature?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Translate, transcribe and teach Malagasy with attention to its dialects.","Point users to native speakers for sensitive or official translations."],"mustNot":["Present machine output as certified or native-quality Malagasy translation.","Treat one regional variety as correct and others as wrong.","Publish recordings of speakers without consent.","Mistranslate legal or medical text without flagging uncertainty."],"requiresHuman":["Official, legal or medical translations into or out of Malagasy."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Language tools often serve Malagasy speakers poorly, which shuts them out of services.","Language is part of identity; contempt for a variety harms its speakers."],"affectedParties":["Malagasy speakers","Readers of translations"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns a language; it belongs to its speakers.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q2701314","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"East Barito","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"Madagascar","type":"related","note":"with French"},{"target":"Malagasy people","type":"related","note":"the population of Madagascar"},{"target":"Maanyan language","type":"related","note":"of Borneo"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.malagasy","Wikidata: Q7930 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7930)","ISO 639-1: mg","ISO 639-3: mlg macrolanguage"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["speakers: about 25 million - estimates","Latin orthography adopted: 1823 year - under Radama I","closest relatives: Barito languages of Borneo family"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Austronesian language of Madagascar","Plateau or Merina standard; Sakalava, Vezo, Sahafatra, Anjoaty, Zafisoro and other dialects","Malagasy also names the people; French is the co-official language; Comorian is a Bantu language","Not a visible object; written in the Latin alphabet."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the language and dialects","relay status and origins","relay structure and literature","route to specific dialects"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Conflating dialects with the standard","Stale speaker counts","Confusing the language with the people or with Comorian"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Constitution of Madagascar naming Malagasy the national language","Malagasy Academy standardisation","Unicode Latin script"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a language.","Plateau Malagasy, the Merina-based standard","northern dialects such as Sakalava and Anjoaty","southern and western dialects such as Vezo, Sahafatra and Zafisoro","eastern dialects such as Betsimisaraka","Malagasy in the diaspora"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q7930: Malagasy","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7930","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Malagasy language","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malagasy_language","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should the major dialects be separate entries?","How should linguistic references be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q7930/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q7930/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T03:12:16Z","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 2026-10-07T10:10:32+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}}