{
  "vercy": "1.0-draft",
  "publication": {
    "status": "research-draft",
    "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed",
    "publishableCanonical": false,
    "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T02:51:47Z",
    "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",
    "enrichment": {
      "pass": 3,
      "engine": "claude",
      "producedAt": "2026-10-06T10:00:00Z",
      "ingestedAt": "2026-10-06T07:12:33+00:00",
      "fields": [
        "agent_conduct",
        "ethics",
        "owners"
      ]
    },
    "gate": {
      "passed": true,
      "version": "1.0",
      "at": "2026-10-06T19:52:01+00:00",
      "evidence": [
        "completeness 1.00",
        "sense: Wikidata description",
        "2 live sources",
        "review by codex: pass"
      ]
    }
  },
  "metaModel": {
    "id": "THING-Q5885",
    "registryId": "vr.tr.tamil",
    "name": "Tamil",
    "version": "0.2.0-wave.3",
    "entryKind": "thing",
    "family": "Thing Registry",
    "domain": [
      "INF.MED"
    ],
    "status": "research-draft"
  },
  "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q5885/",
  "model": {
    "registry_id": "vr.tr.tamil",
    "name": "Tamil",
    "purpose": "Let an agent explain the Tamil language and its varieties, relay its status, script and literature from linguistic and official sources, describe history and diglossia, and route to entries for specific dialects and periods.",
    "definition": "A classical Dravidian language spoken by about 80 million people, official in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry, in Sri Lanka and in Singapore, with a large diaspora including Malaysian Tamil, a literary history of over two thousand years from the Sangam poetry through Middle Tamil to modern Tamil, diglossia between formal and spoken registers, regional dialects such as Palakkad Tamil and Bangalore Tamil, community varieties such as Iyengar Tamil, and the Arwi tradition of writing Tamil in Arabic script.",
    "what_it_is_for": "Not applicable; a language.",
    "affordances": [
      "explain the language and varieties",
      "relay status and script",
      "relay history and literature",
      "route to specific dialects"
    ],
    "distinguishing_features": [
      "Classical literary tradition",
      "Diglossia",
      "Official in three countries",
      "Distinct script"
    ],
    "appearance": "Not a visible object; written in the Tamil script.",
    "visual_identification": [
      "Classical Dravidian language of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and the diaspora",
      "Old, Middle and Modern Tamil; regional, community and diaspora dialects; Arwi script",
      "Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu are related Dravidian languages"
    ],
    "physical_properties": [
      {
        "quantity": "native speakers",
        "typical_range": "about 80",
        "unit": "million",
        "note": "estimates"
      },
      {
        "quantity": "classical language status in India",
        "typical_range": "2004",
        "unit": "year",
        "note": ""
      },
      {
        "quantity": "earliest inscriptions",
        "typical_range": "about 3rd century BCE",
        "unit": "date",
        "note": "Tamil-Brahmi"
      }
    ],
    "families_and_kinds": [
      "Old Tamil of the Sangam period",
      "Middle Tamil",
      "Modern Tamil, formal and colloquial",
      "regional dialects such as Palakkad and Bangalore Tamil",
      "community varieties such as Iyengar Tamil",
      "Sri Lankan Tamil",
      "diaspora varieties such as Malaysian and Singapore Tamil",
      "Arwi, Tamil in Arabic script"
    ],
    "related_models": [
      {
        "relation": "is a kind of",
        "target": "Tamil languages",
        "why": "in registry terms"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is written in",
        "target": "Tamil script",
        "why": "the alphabet"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is official in",
        "target": "Tamil Nadu",
        "why": "Sri Lanka and Singapore"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is related to",
        "target": "Malayalam",
        "why": "a sister language"
      }
    ],
    "identifiers": [
      {
        "scheme": "ISO 639-1",
        "value_or_pattern": "ta",
        "note": ""
      },
      {
        "scheme": "ISO 639-3",
        "value_or_pattern": "tam",
        "note": ""
      }
    ],
    "standards_and_regulation": [
      "Official language laws of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and Singapore",
      "Indian classical language status",
      "Unicode Tamil block",
      "Tamil Virtual Academy and government standardisation"
    ],
    "failure_modes_and_hazards": [
      "Conflating formal and colloquial registers",
      "Stale speaker counts",
      "Politicised presentation of language identity, with positions attributed"
    ],
    "in_scope": [],
    "out_of_scope": [],
    "characteristics": [],
    "agent_conduct": {
      "may": [
        "Translate, transliterate and generate Tamil text, flagging dialect and uncertainty.",
        "Describe the language, its script, dialects and classical literature from scholarly sources.",
        "Support Tamil in interfaces, search and accessibility tools."
      ],
      "must_not": [
        "Present a machine translation as reliable in legal, medical or asylum matters without human review.",
        "Treat one national or regional variety as the only correct Tamil.",
        "Render Tamil script or names incorrectly in ways that change meaning or identity.",
        "Use the language's political history to inflame communal feeling."
      ],
      "requires_human": [
        "Using machine translation in asylum, legal or medical proceedings.",
        "Publishing Tamil content under an organisation's name."
      ]
    },
    "ethics": {
      "considerations": [
        "Tamil language rights have been at the centre of conflict and discrimination, including in Sri Lanka.",
        "Poor translation in asylum and medical settings costs people their rights and safety."
      ],
      "affected_parties": [
        "Tamil speakers",
        "Asylum seekers and diaspora communities",
        "Users of public services"
      ]
    },
    "owners": {
      "steward": "The speech communities; state language bodies and academies maintain standards.",
      "master_systems": []
    }
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "wikidata",
      "title": "Wikidata item Q5885: Tamil",
      "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5885",
      "url_status": "live",
      "what_it_supports": "identity and sense of the item",
      "checked_by": "wikidata-api"
    },
    {
      "id": "wikipedia-en",
      "title": "Wikipedia: Tamil language",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language",
      "url_status": "live",
      "what_it_supports": "general description of the item",
      "checked_by": "wikidata-api sitelink"
    }
  ],
  "structure": {
    "bundles": [
      {
        "id": "understand",
        "name": "Understand",
        "description": "What Tamil is.",
        "rationale": "Linguistics.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "definition",
            "name": "Definition",
            "description": "Definition and classification.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "definition-finding",
                "name": "Definition",
                "description": "Definition.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What is Tamil, and how is it classified within Dravidian?",
                    "kind": "definition"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Is the question about Tamil in general, a period, a dialect or a diaspora variety?",
                    "kind": "boundary"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "varieties",
            "name": "Varieties",
            "description": "Varieties.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "varieties-finding",
                "name": "Varieties",
                "description": "Varieties.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What are the regional, community and diaspora varieties, such as Palakkad, Iyengar and Malaysian Tamil, and what is Arwi?",
                    "kind": "definition"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits the specific variety?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "structure",
        "name": "Structure",
        "description": "Script and grammar.",
        "rationale": "Linguistics.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "script",
            "name": "Script",
            "description": "Script.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "script-finding",
                "name": "Script",
                "description": "Script.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How does the Tamil script work, and how is Tamil encoded and typed?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which references are standard?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "grammar",
            "name": "Grammar",
            "description": "Grammar and diglossia.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "grammar-finding",
                "name": "Grammar",
                "description": "Grammar.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What are the main features of Tamil grammar, and how do formal and colloquial registers differ?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits Tamil grammar?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "use",
        "name": "Use",
        "description": "Status and use.",
        "rationale": "Regulation.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "status",
            "name": "Status",
            "description": "Official status.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "status-finding",
                "name": "Status",
                "description": "Status.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What official status does Tamil hold in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore, and how is it used in education and media?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which sources are cited?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "learning",
            "name": "Learning",
            "description": "Learning.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "learning-finding",
                "name": "Learning",
                "description": "Learning.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How can learners approach Tamil, and what resources exist?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits language learning?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "context",
        "name": "Context",
        "description": "History and literature.",
        "rationale": "Context.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "history",
            "name": "History",
            "description": "History.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "history-finding",
                "name": "History",
                "description": "History.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How did Tamil develop from Old Tamil through Middle Tamil to the modern language?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits Middle Tamil?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "literature",
            "name": "Literature",
            "description": "Literature.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "literature-finding",
                "name": "Literature",
                "description": "Literature.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What are the major works of Tamil literature, from the Sangam anthologies and Tirukkural to modern writing?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits Tamil literature?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "openQuestions": [
    "Should Old Tamil and Sri Lankan Tamil be separate primary entries?",
    "How should linguistic references be linked?",
    "The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects and a script tradition; should they be split off?"
  ],
  "statistics": {
    "bundles": 4,
    "layers": 8,
    "findings": 8,
    "questions": 16
  }
}