{ "model": { "rank": 2394, "code": "thing-q25433", "model_id": "vr.tr.low-german", "name": "Low German", "purpose": "Let an agent describe Low German as a language with regional varieties and a legal status, relay identifiers, recognition and revitalisation information, distinguish it from German dialects and Dutch, and route learning and translation questions to resources.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Information and virtual systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "INF", "domain": "INF.MED", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q25433/", "tier": 2, "score": 107, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "Low Saxon", "Westniederdeutsch", "Northern Low German", "Southern Low German", "Friso-Saxon dialects", "Old Saxon", "East Low German", "Middle Low German", "German Low German", "Northern Low Saxon", "Westphalian", "Eastphalian", "Dutch Low Saxon", "Pomerano", "Low Prussian", "Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch", "East Pomeranian", "Brandenburgish", "Holsteinisch", "Oldenburgisch dialect", "Schleswigsch", "Dithmarsch", "Hamburgisch dialect", "Münsterlandisch dialect", "East Westphalian", "Achterhooks", "Zutphens", "Veluws", "Drèents", "Sallaans", "Tweants", "Stellingwarfs", "Gronings", "Kloosters", "Nordostniederdeutsch", "West Pomeranian", "Koschneiderisch", "South Oldenburg Platt", "Oost-Veluws dialect", "West-Veluws dialect" ], "aliasCount": 48, "merged": 48, "knownIn": 107, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q25433", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25433", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-12T19:36:31Z", "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": 3, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q25433", "registryId": "vr.tr.low-german", "name": "Low German", "version": "0.2.0-wave.3", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "INF.MED" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q25433/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.low-german", "name": "Low German", "purpose": "Let an agent describe Low German as a language with regional varieties and a legal status, relay identifiers, recognition and revitalisation information, distinguish it from German dialects and Dutch, and route learning and translation questions to resources.", "definition": "A West Germanic language of northern Germany and the eastern Netherlands, also called Low Saxon, descended from Old Saxon and once the language of the Hanseatic League; today spoken mainly by older and rural speakers in many regional dialects, recognised as a regional language under the European Charter, and distinct from Standard German, Dutch and Frisian.", "what_it_is_for": "Communication and regional identity in northern Germany and the eastern Netherlands.", "affordances": [ "explain varieties and their distribution", "relay recognition and language policy", "find learning and literature resources", "distinguish it from Standard German and Dutch" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "West Germanic without the High German consonant shift", "Many dialects, no single standard", "Recognised regional language in Germany and the Netherlands", "Descends from Old Saxon and Middle Low German" ], "appearance": "Written in Latin script with several regional spelling conventions; sounds closer to English and Dutch than Standard German in some respects.", "visual_identification": [ "No High German consonant shift: water, maken, dat", "Regional spelling conventions rather than one standard", "Standard German, Dutch and Frisian are separate entries" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "speakers", "typical_range": "a few million", "unit": "people", "note": "estimates vary widely by definition and survey" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "West Low German dialects such as Westphalian, Eastphalian and Northern Low Saxon", "East Low German dialects such as Mecklenburgish and Brandenburgish", "Dutch Low Saxon varieties", "Plautdietsch spoken by Mennonite communities abroad", "historical Old Saxon and Middle Low German" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "West Germanic language", "why": "the branch" }, { "relation": "descends from", "target": "Old Saxon", "why": "its ancestor" }, { "relation": "is confused with", "target": "German", "why": "it is not a dialect of Standard German" }, { "relation": "is related to", "target": "Dutch", "why": "a close neighbour" } ], "identifiers": [ { "scheme": "ISO 639-2", "value_or_pattern": "nds", "note": "Low German" }, { "scheme": "ISO 639-3", "value_or_pattern": "nds and others", "note": "Plautdietsch and Dutch Low Saxon have separate codes" }, { "scheme": "Glottolog", "value_or_pattern": "code per variety", "note": "" } ], "standards_and_regulation": [ "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, part III in several German states", "Recognition as a regional language in the Netherlands", "State education and media provisions" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Treating Low German as a dialect of German", "Language shift and loss of speakers", "Inconsistent spelling across regions" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identify", "name": "Identify", "description": "What the language is.", "rationale": "Identity and boundaries.", "layers": [ { "id": "identity", "name": "Identity", "description": "Language identity.", "findings": [ { "id": "identity-finding", "name": "Identity", "description": "Identity.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is Low German, how does it differ from Standard German and Dutch, and what are its codes?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the text Low German or a High German dialect?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "varieties", "name": "Varieties", "description": "Dialects.", "findings": [ { "id": "varieties-finding", "name": "Varieties", "description": "Varieties.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which dialect groups exist, and where is each spoken?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific dialect?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "status", "name": "Status", "description": "Recognition and vitality.", "rationale": "Policy and numbers.", "layers": [ { "id": "recognition", "name": "Recognition", "description": "Legal status.", "findings": [ { "id": "recognition-finding", "name": "Recognition", "description": "Recognition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What legal recognition and support does Low German have in Germany and the Netherlands?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits minority language rights?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "vitality", "name": "Vitality", "description": "Speakers.", "findings": [ { "id": "vitality-finding", "name": "Vitality", "description": "Vitality.", "questions": [ { "text": "How many people speak or understand it, and how is that measured?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "text": "What do surveys say about transmission to younger generations?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use", "name": "Use", "description": "Learning and literature.", "rationale": "Practical use.", "layers": [ { "id": "learning", "name": "Learning", "description": "Learning resources.", "findings": [ { "id": "learning-finding", "name": "Learning", "description": "Learning.", "questions": [ { "text": "How can Low German be learned, and which dictionaries and courses exist?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which spelling convention applies?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "culture", "name": "Culture", "description": "Literature and media.", "findings": [ { "id": "culture-finding", "name": "Culture", "description": "Culture.", "questions": [ { "text": "What literature, theatre and media exist in Low German?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits a specific author?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History and study.", "rationale": "The language has a past.", "layers": [ { "id": "past", "name": "Past", "description": "Historical stages.", "findings": [ { "id": "past-finding", "name": "Past", "description": "Past.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did Old Saxon become Middle Low German, the Hanseatic language, and modern dialects?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "study", "name": "Study", "description": "Linguistics.", "findings": [ { "id": "study-finding", "name": "Study", "description": "Study.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do linguists classify Low German and its varieties?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits Germanic languages generally?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should dialect groups be separate entries?", "How should speaker estimates be sourced?", "The registry entry has merged aliases for historical stages and dialect groups; should they be split off?" ], "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 Low German, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent describe Low German as a language with regional varieties and a legal status, relay identifiers, recognition and revitalisation information, distinguish it from German dialects and Dutch, and route learning and translation questions to resources.", "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: Low Saxon, Westniederdeutsch, Northern Low German, Southern Low German, Friso-Saxon dialects, Old Saxon, East Low German, Middle Low German, German Low German, Northern Low Saxon, Westphalian, Eastphalian.", "48 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 107 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 Low German, 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": [ "Low Saxon", "Westniederdeutsch", "Northern Low German", "Southern Low German", "Friso-Saxon dialects", "Old Saxon", "East Low German", "Middle Low German", "German Low German", "Northern Low Saxon", "Westphalian", "Eastphalian" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 107 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 48 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 Low German from another, and a Low German 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 Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German 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 Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German 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 Low German between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a Low German 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 Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German 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 Low German contains and in what form it is held.", "questions": [ { "id": "content-and-format-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the content of a Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German and the period it survives.", "questions": [ { "id": "access-rules-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes access to a Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German 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 Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 Low German is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a Low German, 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 Low German, 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 Low German 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 } } } }