Writing System

• CURIE: gmeow:WritingSystem
• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/WritingSystem
• Category: class
• Defined by: gmeow:slices/language
• Box roles: TBox role (What is this?)

A first-class system for visually or tactilely representing language — a script: Latin, Han (kanji), Hiragana, Katakana, Arabic, Braille, or a bespoke conlang/AI script. Carries gmeow:scriptCode (ISO 15924 when one exists, else a bespoke identifier), a type (gmeow:writingSystemType) and a direction (gmeow:textDirection). Bound to the languages that use it — co-equally and simultaneously — through gmeow:WritingSystemUsage; bespoke and non-linear scripts (Ithkuil) are first-class.

Structure

Subclass of: gmeow:InformationObject

Practical Pattern

Use gmeow:WritingSystem as a specialized kind of gmeow:InformationObject. Add statement metadata or a standpoint when the assertion needs provenance, confidence, or vantage.

Example Snippets

These snippets are generated from canonical slice examples and trimmed to the Turtle blocks where this term appears.

Inscription Reading

• Source: slices/extensions/archaeological-evidence/examples/inscription-reading.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-extensions-archaeological-evidence-examples-inscription-reading

# --- Script + language attribution: also a reified, vantage-scoped claim.
ex:cuneiform a gmeow:WritingSystem ; rdfs:label "Cuneiform"@en .
ex:akkadian  a gmeow:Language ; rdfs:label "Akkadian"@en ; gmeow:bcp47Tag "akk" .

Notation Systems

• Source: slices/core/notation/examples/notation-systems.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-core-notation-examples-notation-systems

# --- A script IS a notation system: the Latin writing system, viewed as the
#     encoding notation it provides.
ex:latin a gmeow:WritingSystem ;
    rdfs:label                  "Latin script"@en ;
    gmeow:writingSystemAsNotation ex:latinNotation .

Common Companion Terms

gmeow:InformationObject

External Equivalences

Equivalent or closely aligned targets: wd

Linkages

Generated from the canonical mapping DSL. SSSOM files are the generated public interchange form for term equivalences.

Term Equivalences

Usage Advice

Use when

• Use to mint a script as a first-class object — Latin, Han, Arabic, Braille, or a bespoke conlang/AI script — separately from the languages that use it, so one language written in several scripts and one script shared across languages are both modelled co-equally.

Avoid when

• Avoid folding the script into the Language itself (a language is not its script) and avoid treating ISO 15924 as identity; mint a bespoke scriptCode when no standard code exists rather than refusing the script.

How to use

• Mint the WritingSystem, give it a gmeow:scriptCode, gmeow:writingSystemType, and gmeow:textDirection, and bind it to each language that uses it through a gmeow:WritingSystemUsage relator rather than a direct attribute, so co-equal multi-script usage is first-class.

Examples

• ex:scriptLatin a gmeow:WritingSystem; gmeow:scriptCode "Latn".