Language

Validate against: http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#

Schema ID: http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Language-8.4.0.json

Type: object

Description

DLx uses the term language broadly to refer to any speech variety - whether a language, dialect, idiolect, or even a historical variety. The DLx Language object groups together all the information about the language, including writing systems, its phonological inventory, and metadata (e.g. names and language codes).

Developer Notes

This is a top-level database object

Required Properties

  • name

Properties

The following properties are defined for this object:

  • Type: type

    Type: string

    Read-only: true

    Description

    The type of object. Must be set to Language.

    This item must have the following value:

    "Language"
  • ID: id

    Description

    A unique database identifier for this Language

  • Abbreviation: abbreviation

    Type: string

    Description

    A short, human-readable abbreviation for this Language

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Abbreviation.json

  • Access Rights: access

    Type: object

    Description

    An object describing who may have access to materials on this language.

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Access.json

  • Autonyms: autonyms

    Type: array

    Description

    A list of objects describing autonyms for this language (names for this language in the language itself). For the canonical scientific name, use the name field instead. For other ways of referring to this language by outsiders, use the exonyms field.

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Autonym: autonyms

    Type: object

    Required Properties

    • transcription

    Properties

    The following properties are defined for this object:

  • Bibliography: bibliography

    Type: array

    Description

    A collection of citations to bibliographic references about this language.

    Items must be unique: true

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Citation: bibliography

    Description

    A citation to a bibliographic source about this language

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Citation.json

  • Genetic Classification: classification

    Type: array

    Description

    The genetic classification of this language. This property must be an array of language families (in English), with larger family groupings listed before smaller ones. For example, Spanish might have an array of the following strings: Indo-European, Romance, Ibero-Romance. For language isolates, this property should be an array containing the single string, isolate.

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Language Family: classification

    Type: string

    Description

    The name of a language family, as a string, in English.

  • Contributors: contributors

    Type: array

    Description

    A collection of people who contributed to the documentation, analysis, or curation of this language data in some way. It is strongly recommended that each Person object in this collection have its roles property specified, so that the contribution of each person is known.

    Items must be unique: true

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Contributor (Person - Database Reference): contributors

    Type: object

    Description

    A database reference to a Person object describing a contributor

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/DatabaseReference.json

  • Date Created: dateCreated

    Type: string

    Description

    The date and optionally time that this Language object was created

    This item must also validate against exactly one of the following schemas:

    • Format: date

    • Format: date-time

  • Date Modified: dateModified

    Type: string

    Description

    The date and optionally time that this Language object was last modified

    This item must also validate against exactly one of the following schemas:

    • Format: date

    • Format: date-time

  • Demographics: demographics

    Type: array

    Description

    An array of Demographic objects, each of which contain demographic information about the Language at a specific point in time, and/or at a specific location

    Items must be unique: true

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Demographic Data: demographics

    Type: object

    Description

    The demographic data of this Language, at a specific point in time, and/or at a specific location

    Properties

    The following properties are defined for this object:

    • Date: date

      Type: string

      Description

      The date and optionally time that this Demographic data was created

      This item must also validate against exactly one of the following schemas:

      • Format: date

      • Format: date-time

    • Location: location

      Type: object

      Description

      The geographic Location of this Demographic data

      Referenced Schema

      This item must validate against the following schema:

      http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Location.json

    • Notes: notes

      Type: array

      Description

      A collection of notes about this Demographic data

      Items must be unique: true

      Items

      Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

      Note: notes

      Type: object

      Description

      A Note about this Demographic data

      Referenced Schema

      This item must validate against the following schema:

      http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Note.json

    • Population: population

      Type: integer

      Description

      The Population of speakers included in this Demographic data

      Minimum: 0

    • Status: status

      Type: object

      Description

      The Status of this Demographic data on one or more of the following scales: EGIDS, ELCat (using the LEI), GIDS, and/or UNESCO. The official status scales can be found here.

      Properties

      The following properties are defined for this object:

      • EGIDS: EGIDS

        Type: string

        Description

        The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale, or EGIDS, status of this Demographic data. Either the official level or the official label representing the EGIDS status of the data, as a string.

        This item must also validate against exactly one of the following schemas:

        • Regular expression to match: ^[0-9|10|6a|6b|8a|8b]$

        • Allowed Values

          • "International"
          • "National"
          • "Regional"
          • "Trade"
          • "Educational"
          • "Written"
          • "Vigorous"
          • "Threatened"
          • "Shifting"
          • "Moribund"
          • "Nearly Extinct"
          • "Dormant"
          • "Extinct"
      • ELCat Level of Endangerment: ELCat

        Type: string

        Description

        The ELCat status of this Demographic data. ELCat uses the Language Endangerment Index, or LEI, scale. This status should be the LEI level of endangerment of this Demographic data, as a string.

        Allowed Values

        • "Safe"
        • "Vulnerable"
        • "Threatened"
        • "Endangered"
        • "Severely Endangered"
        • "Critically Endangered"
      • GIDS: GIDS

        Type: integer

        Description

        The Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale, or GIDS, status of this Demographic data. This is the scale created by Thomas Fishman in his 1991 work Reversing Language Shift. The GIDS status should be represented by the integer, 1-8, that corresponds with the GIDS Stage of the data.

        Minimum: 1

        Maximum: 8

      • UNESCO: UNESCO

        Type: string

        Description

        The UNESCO Language Degree of Endangerment for this Demographic data. This status should be the string representation of the Degree of endangerment level.

        Allowed Values

        • "Safe"
        • "Vulnerable"
        • "Definitely Endangered"
        • "Severely Endangered"
        • "Critically Endangered"
        • "Extinct"
  • Description: description

    Description

    A high-level overview of the Language and the sociohistorical and documentary context for the accompanying data

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/MultiLangString.json

  • Exonyms: exonyms

    Type: array

    Description

    A list of exonyms for this language (names of the language in other languages). For the canonical scientific name of the language (usually in English), use the name field. This field is for any additional exonyms beyond the canonical scientific name. For autonyms (names of the language in the language), use the autonyms field.

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Exonym: exonyms

    Type: object

    Required Properties

    • transcription

    Properties

    The following properties are defined for this object:

  • Glottolog Code: glottolog

    Type: string

    Description

    The Glottolog code for this language variety, as a String in the format abcd1234

    Regular expression to match: ^[a-z]{4}[0-9]{4}$

  • ISO 639-3 Code: iso

    Type: string

    Description

    The ISO 639-3 code for this language variety, as a 3-letter String

    Regular expression to match: ^[a-z]{3}$

  • Link: link

    Type: string

    Description

    A URL where a presentational format for this resource may be viewed

    Format: uri

  • Locations: locations

    Type: array

    Description

    Geographic locations where this language variety is spoken, optionally with geographic coordinate data

    Items must be unique: true

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Location (Database Reference): locations

    Type: object

    Description

    A database reference to a Location object describing a location where this language variety is spoken

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/DatabaseReference.json

  • Language Name: name

    Description

    The canonical scientific name of this language, usually in English, and also optionally in multiple languages. There must be a name provided in at least one language. Use the exonyms field to list other ways this language is referred to, and the autonyms field to list names for the language in the language itself (a.k.a. endonyms).

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/MultiLangString.json

    Minimum number of properties: 1

  • Notes: notes

    Type: array

    Description

    A collection of notes about this language

    Items must be unique: true

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Note: notes

    Type: object

    Description

    A Note about this Language

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Note.json

  • Orthographies: orthographies

    Type: array

    Description

    A collection of orthographies used to represent this Language

    Items must be unique: true

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Orthography: orthographies

    Type: object

    Description

    An orthography used to represent this language

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Orthography.json

  • Phonemes: phonemes

    Type: array

    Description

    The phonological inventory for this language, i.e. a collection of phonemes

    Items

    Each item in this array must adhere to the following schema:

    Phoneme: phonemes

    Type: object

    Description

    A Phoneme object

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Phoneme.json

  • Tags: tags

    Type: object

    Description

    A set of tags for this Language

    Referenced Schema

    This item must validate against the following schema:

    http://schemas.digitallinguistics.io/Tags.json

  • URL: url

    Type: string

    Description

    A URL where the JSON data for this language can be found

    Format: uri

Additional Properties

Any additional properties must adhere to the following schema:

This schema imposes no restrictions. All values are valid.

Examples

The following are example values for this schema:

  • {
      "abbreviation": "chiti",
      "access": {
        "AILLA": "password",
        "note": {
          "eng": "Materials on this language should not be made available to non-tribal members without permission."
        }
      },
      "autonyms": [
        {
          "transcription": {
            "APA": "sitimaša",
            "IPA": "sitimaʃa",
            "Mod": "sitimaxa",
            "Swad": "sitimaša"
          },
          "note": {
            "text": "This is the traditional name used for the Chitimacha language by the Chitimacha people themselves. It most likely derives from _siit‑_ 'body of water' + _‑ma_ pluractional + _‑x_ topic marker, meaning 'people of the waters'. This is most likely a reference to the fact that the Chitimacha people live deep in the bayou waterways of Louisiana."
          }
        }
      ],
      "bibliography": [
        {
          "citationKey": "Swadesh1946"
        }
      ],
      "contributors": [
        {
          "abbreviation": "DWH",
          "roles": [
            "researcher"
          ]
        },
        {
          "abbreviation": "BP",
          "roles": [
            "speaker"
          ]
        },
        {
          "abbreviation": "Swad",
          "roles": [
            "researcher"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dateCreated": "2018-10-13T18:16:57.497Z",
      "dateModified": "2018-10-13T18:17:06.515Z",
      "defaultOrthography": "modern",
      "exonyms": [
        {
          "transcription": "Shetimashas",
          "note": {
            "text": "This is the name commonly used for the language by French colonials, borrowed from the Chitimacha name for the language, _Sitimaxa_."
          }
        },
        {
          "transcription": "Chetimachas"
        }
      ],
      "glottolog": "chit1248",
      "id": "4d633ee3-25ba-4add-83cf-b588ba51f758",
      "iso": "ctm",
      "link": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Chitimacha",
      "locations": [
        {
          "name": "Charenton"
        }
      ],
      "name": {
        "eng": "Chitimacha",
        "fra": "Chitimachas",
        "spa": "chitimacha"
      },
      "notes": [
        {
          "text": "The best documentary materials on this language are those compiled by Morris Swadesh in 1930–1934."
        },
        {
          "text": "Chitimacha is a language isolate."
        }
      ],
      "orthographies": [
        {
          "abbreviation": "Mod",
          "graphemes": [
            {
              "form": "a",
              "pronunciation": [
                "a"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "aa",
              "pronunciation": [
                "aː"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "b",
              "pronunciation": [
                "pˀ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "c",
              "pronunciation": [
                "t͡ʃ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "d",
              "pronunciation": [
                "tˀ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "dz",
              "pronunciation": [
                "t͡sˀ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "e",
              "pronunciation": [
                "e"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "ee",
              "pronunciation": [
                "eː"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "g",
              "pronunciation": [
                "kˀ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "h",
              "pronunciation": [
                "h"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "j",
              "pronunciation": [
                "t͡ʃˀ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "k",
              "pronunciation": [
                "k"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "m",
              "pronunciation": [
                "m"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "mq",
              "pronunciation": [
                "ˀm"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "n",
              "pronunciation": [
                "n"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "nq",
              "pronunciation": [
                "ˀn"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "o",
              "pronunciation": [
                "o"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "oo",
              "pronunciation": [
                "oː"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "p",
              "pronunciation": [
                "p"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "q",
              "pronunciation": [
                "ʔ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "s",
              "pronunciation": [
                "s"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "t",
              "pronunciation": [
                "t"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "ts",
              "pronunciation": [
                "t͡s"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "u",
              "pronunciation": [
                "u"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "uu",
              "pronunciation": [
                "uː"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "w",
              "pronunciation": [
                "w"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "x",
              "pronunciation": [
                "ʃ"
              ]
            },
            {
              "form": "y",
              "pronunciation": [
                "j"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "link": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Chitimacha/orthographies/Modern",
          "name": "Modern",
          "notes": [
            {
              "text": "This is the official orthography used by the Chitimacha Tribe."
            }
          ],
          "punctuation": [
            ".",
            "?",
            "!"
          ]
        },
        {
          "abbreviation": "APA",
          "graphemes": [],
          "link": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Chitimacha/orthographies/APA",
          "name": "Americanist"
        }
      ],
      "phonemes": [
        {
          "airstream": "pulmonic",
          "ipa": "t",
          "manner": "plosive",
          "place": "alveolar",
          "voicing": "voiceless"
        },
        {
          "airstream": "pulmonic",
          "ipa": "t͡ʃ",
          "manner": "affricate",
          "place": "post-alveolar",
          "voicing": "voiceless"
        },
        {
          "airstream": "ejective",
          "ipa": "t͡ʃˀ",
          "manner": "affricate",
          "place": "post-alveolar",
          "voicing": "voiceless"
        }
      ],
      "tags": {
        "morphologicalType": "synthetic"
      },
      "type": "Language",
      "url": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Chitimacha"
    }
  • {
      "name": "Shangaji",
      "description": "Shangaji is spoken in three small villages in the Nampula province of Mozambique. The deposit focuses on the variant spoken in Naatthembo village, just west of the Sangage peninsula which begins north of Angoche town. Naatthembo has more or less 4000 inhabitants and represents the major Shangaji speaking centre with the two other locations; Nakonya village and the Likookha area in Mogincual adding more or less 500 and 700 speakers to this number of speakers which is in decline due to a lack of intergenerational language transfer. Nthamala village, some 10 km away from Naatthembo, no longer has Shangaji speakers because of a complete shift to the regional lingua franca Makhuwa (Enlai). The Shangaji deposit thus responds to an urgent documentation need, also because the language is one of four coastal languages that are believed to bear traces of the Swahili world which once stretched from Somalia to the south of Mozambique."
    }
  • {
      "name": "Muskogee",
      "demographics": [
        {
          "date": "2015-01-01",
          "location": {
            "name": "Oklahoma"
          },
          "notes": [
            {
              "text": "Muskogee is also spoken in Florida"
            },
            {
              "text": "This population data is based on a 2015 census"
            }
          ],
          "population": 4470,
          "status": {
            "EGIDS": "Shifting",
            "ELCat": "Severely Endangered",
            "GIDS": 7,
            "UNESCO": "Definitely Endangered"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  • {
      "abbreviation": "gusii",
      "access": {
        "note": {
          "eng": "Unless otherwise noted, materials for this language may be made publicly accessible, and the speakers in the content identified."
        }
      },
      "autonyms": [
        {
          "transcription": {
            "IPA": "ékeɣusií",
            "Gus": "ékegusií",
            "Swa": "ekegusii"
          }
        }
      ],
      "classification": [
        "Niger-Congo",
        "Atlantic-Congo",
        "Benue-Congo",
        "Bantoid",
        "Bantu",
        "Northeast Bantu",
        "Great Lakes Bantu",
        "Logooli-Kuria (E40)"
      ],
      "contributors": [
        {
          "abbreviation": "KB",
          "roles": [
            "lexicographer",
            "speaker"
          ]
        },
        {
          "abbreviation": "GM",
          "roles": [
            "lexicographer",
            "reviewer",
            "speaker"
          ]
        },
        {
          "abbreviation": "DWH",
          "roles": [
            "researcher"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dateCreated": "2018-10-13T18:17:24.477Z",
      "dateModified": "2018-10-13T18:17:34.512Z",
      "exonyms": [
        {
          "transcription": {
            "swa": "Kisii"
          },
          "note": {
            "text": "This is the most typical way that Swahili speakers refer to the language."
          }
        },
        {
          "transcription": {
            "swa": "Kikisii"
          },
          "note": {
            "text": "This is a Swahili version of the name of this language. It is an alternate for simply `Kisii`."
          }
        }
      ],
      "glottolog": "gusi1247",
      "id": "708d1bd4-84f6-42e5-8b09-5c64493441b3",
      "iso": "guz",
      "link": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Gusii",
      "locations": [
        {
          "key": "Kisii"
        }
      ],
      "name": {
        "eng": "Gusii",
        "spa": "gusii",
        "swa": "Kisii"
      },
      "notes": [
        {
          "text": "In older versions of your notes, you referred to this language as Kisii rather than Gusii."
        }
      ],
      "orthographies": [
        {
          "abbreviation": "Practical",
          "direction": "ltr-ttb",
          "graphemes": [],
          "link": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Gusii/orthographies/Practical",
          "name": "Practical",
          "punctuation": [
            ".",
            "?",
            "!"
          ]
        },
        {
          "abbreviation": "Swahili",
          "direction": "ltr-ttb",
          "graphemes": [],
          "link": "https://data.digitallinguistics.io/languages/Gusii/orthographies/Swahili",
          "name": "Swahili",
          "notes": [
            {
              "text": "This orthography represents the way that the language is written when using the Swahili orthography. Tone is omitted from this orthography."
            }
          ],
          "punctuation": [
            ".",
            "?",
            "!"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "phonemes": [],
      "type": "Language"
    }