Roman numerals
Enable an AI agent to recognise Roman numerals, interpret them under an explicit convention, assess ambiguity or irregularity, and decide whether transcription, conversion or correction is justified.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
5 bundles · 10 layers · 10 findings · 21 questions
Numeral recognition Establish whether an observed string functions as a Roman numeral and what belongs to that string.
Numerical intent
Separate numeral use from words, initials and decorative lettering.
Roman numeral candidate
Record the candidate sequence and the contextual evidence for treating it as numerical notation.
- What evidence makes this sequence a Roman numeral rather than a word, abbreviation or set of initials? definition
- Which surrounding labels, neighbouring numbers or repeated layout patterns support or challenge that reading? boundary
Token and marks
Determine numeral boundaries and retain marks that may affect interpretation.
Observed sequence
Preserve the letters, numeral characters, spacing and attached marks before interpretation.
- Which characters and marks belong to this numeral, and which are punctuation or neighbouring text? boundary
- Does the available image or text support an exact transcription, including any overline or uncertain stroke? provenance
Notation conventions Identify the rules under which the numeral is to be interpreted and assessed.
Symbol repertoire
Establish which symbols and modifiers the selected convention recognises.
Symbol values and modifiers
Record supported symbol meanings, including any marked or specialised forms.
- What values does the selected convention assign to the symbols present in this numeral? definition
- What source establishes the meaning of any overline, enclosing mark or unfamiliar numeral sign in this context? provenance
Composition rules
Establish permitted ordering, repetition and subtraction for the intended use.
Permitted numeral forms
Make the applicable formation rules explicit instead of assuming one universal canonical form.
- Which repetitions, subtractive pairs and symbol orderings does this convention permit? definition
- Does the intended setting accept alternatives such as IIII and IV, and what evidence or requirement decides that? boundary
Numerical reading Derive supported values and distinguish interpretability from conformity.
Value derivation
Explain how a numerical reading follows from symbols and composition rules.
Supported value
Associate each candidate value with its parsing and governing convention.
- What value follows when this sequence is parsed under the selected convention? measurement
- Which symbols are added, subtracted or modified, and does another supported parsing yield a different value? measurement
Reading status
Assess whether a reading is settled, variant, nonconforming or unresolved.
Interpretability and conformity
Keep reading confidence separate from adherence to the selected formation rules.
- Is this numeral conforming, an accepted variant, nonconforming or indeterminate under the identified convention? boundary
- If a value seems recoverable despite an irregular form, what evidence supports reporting it rather than leaving the value unresolved? action
Use and evidence Connect numeral readings to their contextual function and the evidence preserved in an occurrence.
Numeral function
Identify what the numeral does within a name, label, date or statement.
Value and referent
Distinguish the numeral's numerical reading from the entity or sequence position it denotes.
- Does this occurrence express a quantity, an ordinal, a date component or a label? definition
- Which containing name or reference must remain attached to the numeral so that its referent is not lost? boundary
Attestation and condition
Track the source and legibility of the numeral used for interpretation.
Transcription basis
Separate directly visible symbols from editorial expansions, reconstructions and machine readings.
- Was this numeral read from an original object, an image, an edition, a manual transcription or OCR output? provenance
- Which characters are damaged, supplied or uncertain, and how do those uncertainties affect the possible values? boundary
Conversion and preservation Determine when numeral production, conversion and normalisation preserve the intended meaning.
Value conversion
Control conversion through explicit input readings and target notation rules.
Conversion preconditions
Establish whether a supported value can be represented in the requested output convention.
- Is the input value sufficiently settled to convert, and does the target convention support that value? boundary
- Which Roman numeral form should be generated under the requested output convention, and does reading it back recover the same value? action
Normalisation and fidelity
Distinguish faithful transcription from editorial changes and value-preserving replacements.
Justified transformation
Record the purpose, evidence and consequences of changing a numeral's written form.
- Does the task require preserving the observed numeral, normalising it to a named convention or correcting an evidenced error? action
- Would changing case, spacing, marks or an additive form erase evidence or alter a name, citation or identifier? boundary
- How will the original form and the reason for each change remain available after transformation? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Roman numeral in basic notation
What it is Filled
This model owns Roman numerals as a numeral notation and its written instances, including symbol interpretation, composition conventions, numerical readings, contextual roles and permitted transformations.
In scope
- Recognition of Roman numeral tokens and their boundaries within surrounding text or inscriptions
- Symbol values, additive and subtractive composition, and convention-dependent restrictions
- Historical or specialised forms, including extended notation, when supported by evidence
- Numerical interpretation, ambiguity and conformity to an identified convention
- Uses as quantities, ordinals, dates, sequence labels or identifiers
- Faithful transcription, numerical conversion and convention-specific normalisation
Out of scope
- Latin alphabet letters and words when they do not function as numerals
- The people, rulers, publications, clocks or monuments that carry numeral labels
- Calendar systems and the conversion of dates between calendars
- Arithmetic algorithms and calculation devices beyond interpreting or producing numeral notation
- General typography, font design and optical character recognition systems
- Other numeral systems, except as targets or comparators for Roman numeral conversion
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise Roman numerals, interpret them under an explicit convention, assess ambiguity or irregularity, and decide whether transcription, conversion or correction is justified.
Distinguishing features Filled
- A candidate uses symbols with an evidenced Roman numeral role; merely containing I, V, X, L, C, D or M does not establish that role.
- A numerical reading follows the selected convention's composition rules rather than decimal place value.
- Surrounding context supports a numerical function, distinguishing a numeral such as MIX from the same letters used as a word.
- Unusual repetitions, ordering or marks are assessed against an identified usage convention rather than automatically treated as errors.
- A numeral's value is distinguished from its referent: IV can express four while functioning as a chapter label or an ordinal in a name.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present one modern convention as the only valid way to write Roman numerals.
- Misread a date on a historical document without flagging uncertainty.
- Alter Roman numeral dates on records or inscriptions.
Only with a human decision
- Correcting a numbering in an official document or legal text.
May
- Convert between Roman numerals and Arabic numbers, noting variant forms.
- Read dates and numbering on monuments, clocks and documents.
Moral aspects Filled
- Misread dates and numbers can corrupt historical and legal records.
- Inscriptions are heritage and should not be altered.
Who is affected
- Readers
- Historians and archivists
- Users of numbered documents
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the notation; it is held in common.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q2001982 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.roman-numerals
- Wikidata: Q38918 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38918)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Observed numeral form: Exact visible or encoded sequence, preserving case, spacing, marks and uncertain characters
- Numeral recognition status: confirmed numeral | candidate numeral | ambiguous with nonnumerical text | rejected
- Governing convention: Identified rule set or documented usage tradition, with supporting evidence; otherwise unresolved
- Interpreted value: Dimensionless numerical value, candidate values or unresolved
- Composition pattern: additive | subtractive | mixed | extended or specialised | unresolved
- Convention conformity: conforming | accepted variant | nonconforming | indeterminate
- Contextual function: quantity | ordinal | date component | sequence label | identifier component | other evidenced role | unresolved
- Occurrence context: Containing text, inscription, object or document location, with relevant neighbouring content
- Transcription certainty: clear | partially uncertain | damaged or incomplete | competing transcriptions
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Letters I, V, X, L, C, D and M used as numbers.
- Subtractive pairs such as IV and IX.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Identify candidate Roman numerals and distinguish them from surrounding alphabetic text.
- Derive and explain numerical readings under explicitly selected conventions.
- Check conformity and report accepted variants separately from unsupported or erroneous forms.
- Convert between Roman numeral notation and another numerical representation within a supported range.
- Produce a normalised form while preserving the observed form and explaining each change.
- Withhold conversion or correction when ambiguity, damage or identifier use makes the action unjustified.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Misreading variant forms such as IIII or additive notation.
- Errors in large numbers written with overlines or other conventions.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- The Unicode Standard issued by the Unicode Consortium defines dedicated Roman numeral characters for digital text representation.
- ISO/IEC 10646 issued jointly by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission includes Roman numeral characters in the Universal Coded Character Set.
Context of use required Filled
- Roman numerals appear on monuments, clock faces, book preliminaries and numbered sequences such as chapters and royal names.
- Reading or converting them requires attention to historical conventions, subtractive notation and contextual uses of repeated symbols.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q38918: Roman numerals - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Roman numerals - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which documented contemporary conventions should the model support initially, and what exact formation rules and numerical ranges does each specify?
- Which historical and regional variants require explicit support, and which primary examples establish their readings?
- How should overlines, enclosing marks and specialised large-number forms be distinguished when their meaning depends on context?
- Should attested fractional notation and conventions for expressing absence or zero fall within this registry entry, and what evidence supports that boundary?
- Which transcription and character-encoding equivalences preserve numeral meaning, and which risk losing significant visual or editorial evidence?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q38918/spec.json