alphabet
Let an agent explain alphabets and their kinds, describe specific alphabets and their histories, support learning and transliteration, and separate extended senses.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Identify Which alphabet.
Which
Identifying a script.
Which
Identification.
- Which alphabet or script is this text written in, and which language does it likely represent? definition
- How do alphabets, abjads, abugidas and syllabaries differ? definition
Specific
A specific alphabet.
Specific
Specific alphabet.
- What are the letters, order and history of this alphabet, according to linguistic sources? provenance
- Which entry fits it? action
Use Learning and writing.
Learn
Learning an alphabet.
Learn
Learning.
- How can this alphabet be learned, including letter forms, sounds and handwriting? action
- Which resources exist? provenance
Transliterate
Transliteration.
Transliterate
Transliteration.
- How is this name or text transliterated between alphabets, and which standard applies? action
- How is it encoded in Unicode? provenance
History Origins.
Origins
History of alphabets.
Origins
Origins.
- How did alphabets develop from early Semitic scripts, and how are they related? provenance
- Which alphabets were invented deliberately? provenance
Reform
Reforms and politics.
Reform
Reforms.
- How have alphabet reforms and script changes been decided, and what positions surround them, attributed to whom? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral? boundary
Senses Extended senses.
Codes
Phonetic and code alphabets.
Codes
Code alphabets.
- Is a phonetic alphabet, spelling alphabet, Morse code or the genetic alphabet meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can writing systems be taught comparatively? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- expanded genetic alphabet, Morse alphabet, Georgian scripts, Latin-script alphabet, Arabic-script alphabet, phonetic alphabet, constructed alphabet, tactile alphabet, Pahlavi scripts, Scandinavian alphabet, Khanty alphabets, Khutsuri
What it is Filled
A standardised set of letters representing the sounds of a language, ordered conventionally, such as the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Georgian and Arabic scripts and their language-specific alphabets, together with derived systems such as phonetic alphabets, spelling alphabets, Morse code and, by extension, symbol sets such as the genetic alphabet; alphabets are segmental writing systems distinct from syllabaries and logographic scripts.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain alphabets and their kinds, describe specific alphabets and their histories, support learning and transliteration, and separate extended senses.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Segmental
- Ordered
- Language-adapted
- Historically related
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Confuse a script with a language's alphabet when describing a writing system.
- Transliterate names inconsistently on official or identity documents.
- Corrupt text through wrong character encodings and present the result as correct.
- Mock or rank alphabets or the communities who use them.
Only with a human decision
- Changing the official spelling of a person's name in records.
May
- Write, convert and transliterate text between alphabets following a stated standard.
- Explain the history and structure of an alphabet, citing sources.
- Use the spelling alphabet in use by the service being contacted.
Moral aspects Filled
- Alphabets and scripts are tied to identity; suppressing them has been used against minorities.
- Inconsistent transliteration of names can deny people access to services.
Who is affected
- Speakers and writers of the language
- People whose names are transliterated
- Learners
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody: held in common by its users, with language academies setting standard forms.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q16889133 - registry parent class
- Q4563817 - registry parent class
- Q8192 - registry parent class
related
- writing system - category
- segmental writing system - category
- letter - the units
- Swedish - a language with its own alphabet
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.alphabet
- Wikidata: Q9779 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9779)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Letters for sounds
- Conventional order
- Syllabaries represent syllables; abjads omit most vowels
- Ordered sets of letters.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain alphabet types
- describe a specific alphabet
- support learning and transliteration
- separate extended senses
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Confusing script and alphabet
- Encoding problems
- Inconsistent transliteration
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Unicode and character encoding standards
- Transliteration standards
- Spelling alphabet standards such as the NATO alphabet
Context of use required Filled
- Writing languages with letters.
- Latin-script alphabets
- Cyrillic and Greek alphabets
- Georgian and Armenian scripts
- Arabic-script alphabets as abjads
- phonetic, spelling and code alphabets
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q9779: alphabet - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Alphabet - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each alphabet be a separate entry?
- How should Unicode charts be linked?
- How should extended senses be split?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q9779/spec.json