Austronesian
Let an agent handle Austronesian by branches, member languages, speakers, history of dispersal and resources, using self-designations and attributing scholarly views.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Classification Family tree.
Branch
Which branch.
Branch
Branch.
- Which branch does this language belong to, according to reference classifications? provenance
- Do references disagree? boundary
Dispersal
Origins and spread.
Dispersal
Dispersal.
- What do linguists and archaeologists say about the Austronesian homeland and spread? provenance
- Which models are debated? boundary
Speakers Communities.
Numbers
Speaker figures.
Numbers
Speaker numbers.
- How many speakers does this language have, according to recent sources? provenance
- First or second language? boundary
Names
Self-designations.
Names
Self-designations.
- What do speakers call their language? provenance
- Which names are exonyms or dialect labels? provenance
Vitality Endangerment.
Status
Endangerment.
Status
Endangerment status.
- How endangered is this language, according to UNESCO or other assessments? provenance
- Is it taught in schools? provenance
Revival
Revitalisation.
Revival
Revitalisation.
- Which revitalisation programmes exist, such as language nests? provenance
- How can outsiders support them respectfully? action
Resources Learning and technology.
Learning
Courses.
Learning
Learning resources.
- Which grammars, dictionaries or courses exist? provenance
- Who publishes them? provenance
Technology
Language technology.
Technology
Language technology.
- Which keyboards, spell checkers or translation tools support this language? provenance
- How good is their quality? boundary
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Malimpung, Central Palawano, Brooke's Point Palawano, Putoh, Romblomanon, Lun Bawang, Malayo-Polynesian, Bobat, Letti, Proto-Maluku Tengah, Dayak, Agutaynen
What it is Filled
One of the largest language families in the world, with more than a thousand languages spoken from Madagascar to Rapa Nui and from Taiwan to New Zealand, comprising the Formosan languages of Taiwan and the Malayo-Polynesian branch, which includes Malay and Indonesian, Javanese, Tagalog and Filipino, Malagasy, Maori and Hawaiian.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent handle Austronesian by branches, member languages, speakers, history of dispersal and resources, using self-designations and attributing scholarly views.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Very wide geographic spread
- More than a thousand languages
- Origin often placed in Taiwan
- Many endangered languages
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present a language as a dialect or as inferior to a national language.
- Publish recordings or sacred knowledge of a community without its consent.
- Claim a migration or ancestry story as settled when scholars disagree.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing documentation of an endangered language.
May
- Describe the Austronesian family, its branches and its speakers from linguistic sources.
- Support learning and documentation of Austronesian languages with community consent.
Moral aspects Filled
- Many Austronesian languages are endangered; speakers' communities should lead their documentation.
- Origin theories touch on Indigenous identity and land claims.
Who is affected
- Speakers and their communities
- Indigenous peoples of Taiwan and the Pacific
Owners Filled
Steward
The speakers of its languages; nobody owns the family.
Master systems
- Language catalogues such as ISO 639-3
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q7524744 - registry parent class
- Q783787 - registry parent class
- Q783816 - registry parent class
related
- language family - category
- Malay and Indonesian - example
- Tagalog - example
- Glottolog and Ethnologue - references
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.austronesian
- Wikidata: Q49228 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49228)
- ISO 639-5: map Austronesian languages (collective code)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Languages across Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific
- Formosan languages in Taiwan
- Papuan and Australian languages are other groups
- Not physical; shown in family trees, maps and grammars.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- identify the branch of a language
- summarise theories of Austronesian dispersal
- find speaker figures and resources
- support endangered language revitalisation
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Unsourced speaker figures
- Presenting dispersal theories as settled
- Using exonyms instead of self-designations
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- National language policies
- UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Context of use required Filled
- Linguistics, history and language resources.
- Formosan languages
- Western Malayo-Polynesian languages
- Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages
- Oceanic languages
- Malagasy
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q49228: Austronesian - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Austronesian languages - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should branches be separate entries?
- How should dispersal theories be recorded?
- How should endangered languages be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q49228/spec.json