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Language & Terminology

This meta-model describes languages, scripts and their varieties, the concepts and terms of specialist domains, glossaries that collect them, translations that connect them, and the locale conventions that combine language with territory. It is its own model because linguistic reference data is consumed by every model that displays a label or stores multilingual text, and because terminology (concept-based, authority-managed) follows different rules from free text and must be modelled once for the whole catalogue.

IDworld.n9-language-and-terminology
Version history0.2.0-legacy
CategoryReference example
IndustryCross-industry
Domainknowledge-information
Tagslanguage, terminology
Data structure

Bundles and layers

Bundle

language

The languages of the world

Layers

languageAndScript`: languages, scripts, orthographies · `varietyAndUsage`: dialects, regional variants, registers

Bundle

terminology

Domain meaning fixed in words

Layers

conceptAndTerm`: concepts, definitions, terms, usage status · `glossaryAndDomain`: glossaries, term collections, domains

Bundle

translation

Crossing language boundaries

Layers

equivalenceAndTranslation`: translations and equivalence degrees · `localeConvention`: locale tags and formatting conventions

Findings

Catalogue-native findings must describe the information grouped by each layer. This legacy version does not declare them separately.

Questions & artifacts

Questions, artifact requirements and serial naming rules are required by Vercy vNext; they remain unassigned in this reference version.

Service layers

How this specification operates

Dimension & namespace

  • REFERENCE `world.identifierNaming` (N8): language, script and locale codes are registered identifier schemes.
  • REFERENCE `world.creativeWork` (N5): expression languages and translated works reference languages here.
  • REFERENCE `world.place` (P1): territories inside locale tags.
  • MIX-IN (offered): a multilingualLabel facet that sibling models apply to display names and definitions under this model's namespace.
  • imports: iso-639-15924 (REFERENCE): language and script code sets carried as scheme references.
  • imports: tbx (ALIGN): termbase structure of concept, term and usage.
  • imports: bcp-47 (ALIGN): locale tag composition rules.

Canon, patches & standards

  • REFERENCE `world.identifierNaming` (N8): language, script and locale codes are registered identifier schemes.
  • REFERENCE `world.creativeWork` (N5): expression languages and translated works reference languages here.
  • REFERENCE `world.place` (P1): territories inside locale tags.
  • MIX-IN (offered): a multilingualLabel facet that sibling models apply to display names and definitions under this model's namespace.
  • imports: iso-639-15924 (REFERENCE): language and script code sets carried as scheme references.
  • imports: tbx (ALIGN): termbase structure of concept, term and usage.
  • imports: bcp-47 (ALIGN): locale tag composition rules.

Artifact formats & serial data

Format-independent core. Concrete artifact formats and naming prefixes are not declared in this legacy version.

Policies & accepted processes

  • `terminologyLicenseContract`: reuse terms for glossaries and term collections.
  • `translationServiceContract`: engagement terms for producing and approving translations.
  • `glossaryContributionContract`: terms under which contributors add terms to a managed glossary.

Read / add / edit / delete

CRUD procedures and interface bindings are not declared in this legacy version.

Ownership, roles & access

The neutral owner archetype is a knowledge steward at class level for reference data (languages, scripts, locales), while glossary and translation records belong to their authors and commissioning organizations. Access is always granted by the respective owner through the catalogue's S1/S2 ownership and access models, with exports audited via S4.

Existing assembly

Objects, relationships, events and projections

Objects

  • `language`: a natural or constructed language; key attributes: languageCodeRef, autonym, status.
  • `script`: a writing system; key attributes: scriptCodeRef, direction, exemplarCharacters.
  • `languageVariety`: a dialect, regional variant or register; key attributes: varietyType, region, parentLanguageRef.
  • `concept`: a unit of domain meaning; key attributes: conceptId, definition, domain.
  • `term`: a word or phrase denoting a concept in one language; key attributes: lemma, languageRef, partOfSpeech, usageStatus.
  • `glossary`: a managed collection of terms for a domain; key attributes: glossaryId, domain, ownerRef, termCount.
  • `translation`: a rendering of a term into another language; key attributes: sourceTermRef, targetTermRef, equivalenceDegree, approvedBy.
  • `locale`: a language plus territory convention set; key attributes: localeTag, languageRef, territoryRef, conventions.

Relationships

  • `language` -> writtenIn -> `script` (N:N): languages and their writing systems.
  • `languageVariety` -> variantOf -> `language` (N:1): the variety's parent language.
  • `term` -> denotes -> `concept` (N:N): terms name concepts; synonyms and homonyms follow.
  • `term` -> collectedIn -> `glossary` (N:N): membership of managed term collections.
  • `translation` -> renders -> `term` (N:1): the source term the translation carries across.
  • `concept` -> broaderThan -> `concept` (N:N): hierarchy within a domain's concept system.
  • `locale` -> basedOn -> `language` (N:1): the language component of the locale tag.

Events

  • `termAdded`: a term entered a glossary with a usage status.
  • `definitionRevised`: a concept's definition was changed by its authority.
  • `translationApproved`: a translation reached approved equivalence status.
  • `glossaryPublished`: a glossary edition was released for use.
  • `varietyRecognized`: a dialect or variant was formally recognized in the register.
  • `localeConventionUpdated`: formatting conventions of a locale changed.

Projections

  • `termLookupView`: term, concept, definition and approved translations; omits contribution history.
  • `bilingualGlossaryExport`: paired source and target terms for one domain and language pair; omits other languages.
  • `codeListView`: language, script and locale codes with names; omits terminology content.