{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.weak-inflection","code":"thing-q7977953","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q7977953/","name":"weak inflection","alternateNames":["Germanic weak conjugation"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.REL"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"In Germanic languages, the pattern of verb conjugation that forms the past tense and past participle with a dental suffix, as in English walk, walked, rather than by vowel change as in strong verbs, and by extension the adjective and noun declension patterns that Germanic grammarians call weak; the weak conjugation is the productive pattern for new verbs.","purpose":"Let an agent explain weak inflection in Germanic grammar, distinguish weak from strong verbs and weak from strong adjective declension, relay descriptions from grammars of English, German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, and support learning and analysis.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Dental suffix in the past","Productive pattern for new verbs","Term also used for adjective and noun declension classes","Specific to Germanic grammatical tradition"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"concept","name":"Concept","description":"What weak inflection is.","layers":[{"id":"verbs","name":"Verbs","description":"Weak verbs.","findings":[{"id":"verbs-finding","name":"Verbs","description":"Verbs.","questions":[{"text":"What defines a weak verb, and how does the dental suffix pattern work?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the form weak, strong or irregular?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"declension","name":"Declension","description":"Weak adjectives and nouns.","findings":[{"id":"declension-finding","name":"Declension","description":"Declension.","questions":[{"text":"What does weak mean for adjectives and nouns in German and older languages?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about verbs or about declension?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"languages","name":"Languages","description":"Across Germanic languages.","layers":[{"id":"modern","name":"Modern","description":"Modern languages.","findings":[{"id":"modern-finding","name":"Modern","description":"Modern.","questions":[{"text":"How does weak inflection appear in English, German, Dutch and Scandinavian languages?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific language?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"historical","name":"Historical","description":"Older stages.","findings":[{"id":"historical-finding","name":"Historical","description":"Historical.","questions":[{"text":"How were weak classes organised in Gothic, Old English and Old Norse?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"analyse","name":"Analyse","description":"Analysis and learning.","layers":[{"id":"analysis","name":"Analysis","description":"Analysing forms.","findings":[{"id":"analysis-finding","name":"Analysis","description":"Analysis.","questions":[{"text":"How is a given verb form analysed as weak, and what sound changes disguise it?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which grammar describes the form?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"learning","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","findings":[{"id":"learning-finding","name":"Learning","description":"Learning.","questions":[{"text":"How do learners acquire weak and strong patterns, and what errors occur?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking for correction of their text, which needs the language entry?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"theory","name":"Theory","description":"Origins and study.","layers":[{"id":"origin","name":"Origin","description":"Origin of the pattern.","findings":[{"id":"origin-finding","name":"Origin","description":"Origin.","questions":[{"text":"What is the origin of the dental suffix, and how is it explained, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Proto-Germanic?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How is the weak and strong distinction taught?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain the weak inflection of Germanic verbs and how it differs from strong verbs.","Classify verbs as weak or strong in teaching and analysis, noting irregular weak verbs."],"mustNot":["Classify an irregular weak verb as strong without explaining the sound change.","Confuse the weak verb pattern with the weak declension of adjectives or nouns.","Present a learner's overgeneralised weak form as standard usage."],"requiresHuman":["Correcting published teaching materials that misclassify verbs."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Learners are marked down for forms they were taught wrongly.","Dialect forms are often judged as errors rather than as a different norm."],"affectedParties":["Language learners","Teachers","Speakers of dialects"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns it; it belongs to the Germanic languages and their speakers.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q4423888","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q53996674","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"inflection","type":"related","note":"a conjugation and declension pattern"},{"target":"strong inflection","type":"related","note":"vowel change pattern"},{"target":"Germanic languages","type":"related","note":"the language family"},{"target":"historical Germanic grammar","type":"related","note":"the tradition that named it"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.weak-inflection","Wikidata: Q7977953 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7977953)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Past tense with a dental suffix: walked, machte, maakte","Strong verbs change the vowel: sing, sang, sung","Weak adjective declension in German follows a definite article","Not visible; seen in verb endings such as -ed, -te, -de and in adjective endings."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["identify whether a verb or adjective form is weak or strong","explain the dental suffix pattern","relay language-specific descriptions from grammars","support learners and translators"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Calling irregular verbs strong when they are weak with sound changes","Mixing verb and adjective senses of weak","Overgeneralising the weak pattern in learning"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation; descriptive and historical grammars define the classes"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Forming past tenses, participles and declensions in Germanic languages.","weak verb conjugation in English, German, Dutch and Scandinavian languages","weak verb classes in Old English and Gothic","weak adjective declension after definite determiners","weak nouns in German and Old English","mixed and irregular weak verbs"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q7977953: weak inflection","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7977953","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Weak inflection","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_inflection","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should adjective and noun weak declension be separate entries?","How should language grammars be linked?","How should historical classes be represented?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q7977953/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q7977953/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T19:51:39Z","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 XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}