{ "model": { "rank": 407, "code": "thing-q1860", "model_id": "vr.tr.english", "name": "English", "purpose": "Let an agent handle English by variety, register, usage, learning and plain-language practice, respecting varieties and learners.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Information and virtual systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "INF", "domain": "INF.MED", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q1860/", "tier": 2, "score": 396, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "history of English", "plain English", "English language in Algeria", "English language in Switzerland", "English language in Lebanon", "English language in Ukraine", "English in the Netherlands", "English language in Sweden", "English language in Spain", "Jewish English varieties", "Pijin", "English language in Puerto Rico", "English language in Europe", "Falkland Islands English", "Denglisch", "Middle English", "Zimbabwean English", "Hong Kong English", "Luminar English", "Pirate English", "South African English", "Cyrillic English", "Degawa English", "dialects of English", "English as a second or foreign language", "Zambian English", "Maltese English", "International English", "Rwandan English", "Legal English", "Insular English", "English language in Japan", "English in Shavian", "English in Deseret", "English in Latin", "English in Braille", "English language in Poland", "English language in Germany", "Philippine English", "Standard English" ], "aliasCount": 134, "merged": 134, "knownIn": 396, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q1860", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1860", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-11T08:29:38Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 1, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q1860", "registryId": "vr.tr.english", "name": "English", "version": "0.2.0-wave.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "INF.MED" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1860/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.english", "name": "English", "purpose": "Let an agent handle English by variety, register, usage, learning and plain-language practice, respecting varieties and learners.", "definition": "A West Germanic language originating in England, now a global lingua franca with many national varieties, spoken as a first or additional language by more than a billion people by most estimates.", "what_it_is_for": "Communication in daily life, science, business, diplomacy and culture.", "affordances": [ "choose a variety and spelling convention", "write in plain English", "learn and teach English", "translate to and from English" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Global lingua franca", "Many national varieties", "Irregular spelling", "Large vocabulary from many sources" ], "appearance": "Written in the Latin alphabet; spoken with many accents.", "visual_identification": [ "Varieties such as British, American, Indian, Nigerian English", "Spelling differences such as -our and -or", "Plain English guidelines" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "speakers", "typical_range": "about 1.5 billion", "unit": "people", "note": "first and additional language together; the count depends on who is counted as a speaker, so treat it as an estimate, not a census figure" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "British and Irish English", "North American English", "Australian and New Zealand English", "South Asian and African Englishes", "English-based creoles (related)" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "West Germanic language", "why": "category" }, { "relation": "is written in", "target": "Latin script", "why": "script" }, { "relation": "is described by", "target": "dictionaries and style guides", "why": "references" }, { "relation": "is related to", "target": "Scots and Frisian", "why": "relatives" } ], "identifiers": [ { "scheme": "ISO 639-1", "value_or_pattern": "en", "note": "language code" }, { "scheme": "BCP 47", "value_or_pattern": "en-GB, en-US and others", "note": "variety tags" } ], "standards_and_regulation": [ "No single regulator; style guides and dictionaries", "Plain language laws in some countries" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Treating one variety as the only correct one", "Jargon and inaccessible writing", "Mistranslation of idioms" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "variety", "name": "Variety", "description": "Which English.", "rationale": "Varieties differ.", "layers": [ { "id": "variety", "name": "Variety", "description": "Regional form.", "findings": [ { "id": "variety-finding", "name": "Variety", "description": "Variety.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which variety of English is expected?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which spelling convention follows from it?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "register", "name": "Register", "description": "Formal or informal.", "findings": [ { "id": "register-finding", "name": "Register", "description": "Register.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which register suits the audience?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Is jargon avoided?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "usage", "name": "Usage", "description": "Correctness.", "rationale": "Usage guides help.", "layers": [ { "id": "grammar", "name": "Grammar", "description": "Rules.", "findings": [ { "id": "grammar-finding", "name": "Grammar", "description": "Grammar and usage.", "questions": [ { "text": "What do reputable usage guides say?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the rule prescriptive or descriptive?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "plain", "name": "Plain English", "description": "Clarity.", "findings": [ { "id": "plain-finding", "name": "Plain", "description": "Plain English.", "questions": [ { "text": "How can the text be made clearer?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Is it readable for the intended audience?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "learning", "name": "Learning", "description": "Learners.", "rationale": "Many people learn English.", "layers": [ { "id": "levels", "name": "Levels", "description": "CEFR.", "findings": [ { "id": "levels-finding", "name": "Levels", "description": "Proficiency levels.", "questions": [ { "text": "What proficiency level is needed?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "text": "Which test certifies it?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "resources", "name": "Resources", "description": "Study.", "findings": [ { "id": "resources-finding", "name": "Resources", "description": "Learning resources.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which resources suit the learner?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Are they accessible?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "translation", "name": "Translation", "description": "Other languages.", "rationale": "Translation needs care.", "layers": [ { "id": "equivalents", "name": "Equivalents", "description": "Meaning.", "findings": [ { "id": "equivalents-finding", "name": "Equivalents", "description": "Translation.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does the translation keep the meaning and tone?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "text": "Are idioms handled?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "respect", "name": "Respect", "description": "Varieties and accents.", "findings": [ { "id": "respect-finding", "name": "Respect", "description": "Respect for varieties.", "questions": [ { "text": "Are all varieties and accents treated with respect?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "text": "Is native-speaker bias avoided?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should varieties be separate entries?", "How should language tags be linked?", "How should plain language guidance be linked?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "work, medium or creative form", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a English, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent handle English by variety, register, usage, learning and plain-language practice, respecting varieties and learners.", "characteristics": { "substance": "information", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "read and interpreted", "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: history of English, plain English, English language in Algeria, English language in Switzerland, English language in Lebanon, English language in Ukraine, English in the Netherlands, English language in Sweden, English language in Spain, Jewish English varieties, Pijin, English language in Puerto Rico.", "134 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 396 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a English, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "content that has to be carried by something else", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "read it and act on what it says", "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "What is seen is a copy or a performance, not the work. Recognising the work means recognising the content through whatever is carrying it." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "history of English", "plain English", "English language in Algeria", "English language in Switzerland", "English language in Lebanon", "English language in Ukraine", "English in the Netherlands", "English language in Sweden", "English language in Spain", "Jewish English varieties", "Pijin", "English language in Puerto Rico" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 396 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 134 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one English from another, and a English from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a English sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a English from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a English passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a English between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a English, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a English is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "content-and-access", "name": "Content, encoding and access", "description": "What a English says, how it is encoded and who may read it.", "rationale": "An informational thing carries content that can be copied, versioned and withheld, none of which its physical carrier explains.", "layers": [ { "id": "content-and-encoding", "name": "Content and encoding", "description": "The content itself, its format and its language.", "findings": [ { "id": "content-and-format", "name": "Content, format and language", "description": "What a English contains and in what form it is held.", "questions": [ { "id": "content-and-format-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the content of a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "content-and-format-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the content of a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "content-and-format-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the content of a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "access-and-rights", "name": "Access, rights and retention", "description": "Who may read, copy or change it, and for how long it is kept.", "findings": [ { "id": "access-rules", "name": "Access rules and retention", "description": "The permissions attached to a English and the period it survives.", "questions": [ { "id": "access-rules-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes access to a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "access-rules-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about access to a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "access-rules-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once access to a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "work-and-manifestation", "name": "Work, version and copy", "description": "Which level of English a statement is about.", "rationale": "The work, the edition, the file and the copy in hand are four things; rights and content attach to different ones.", "layers": [ { "id": "levels", "name": "Levels of the thing", "description": "Work, expression, manifestation and item, in plain terms.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs at each level", "description": "Which facts hold for the work and which only for one copy.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "For English, which facts belong to the work itself, which to a version, and which to a single copy?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifier exists at each level, and which one is being cited?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "versions", "name": "Versions, editions and variants", "description": "How versions differ and which is canonical to whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "version-record", "name": "Versions and canonicity", "description": "Differences that matter and who calls one authoritative.", "questions": [ { "id": "version-record-q01", "text": "Which versions or editions of English exist, and how do they differ substantively?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "version-record-q02", "text": "Who treats which version as authoritative, and for what purpose?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "authorship-and-rights", "name": "Authorship, rights and permitted use", "description": "Who made English and what may be done with it.", "rationale": "Rights are jurisdictional, time-limited and attached to a level, and an agent that ignores that will copy what it may not.", "layers": [ { "id": "authorship", "name": "Authorship and contribution", "description": "Who contributed what, and in what capacity.", "findings": [ { "id": "contribution-record", "name": "Contributors and roles", "description": "The people and bodies behind it, with their roles.", "questions": [ { "id": "contribution-record-q01", "text": "Who authored or contributed to English, in what roles, and how is that attested?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "contribution-record-q02", "text": "Where authorship is disputed or anonymous, what is recorded instead?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "rights", "name": "Rights and permissions", "description": "Which rights subsist, where, until when, and what they permit.", "findings": [ { "id": "rights-record", "name": "Rights, term and permitted acts", "description": "The regime in force and what it allows.", "questions": [ { "id": "rights-record-q01", "text": "What rights subsist in English, in which jurisdictions, and until when?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "rights-record-q02", "text": "Which acts are permitted without further permission, and which must an agent refuse?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a English came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a English and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a English is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a English, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a English, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a English is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }