BCP-47 tag

• CURIE: gmeow:bcp47Tag
• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/bcp47Tag
• Category: property
• Defined by: gmeow:slices/language
• Box roles: RBox role (What is this?)

An OPTIONAL external BCP-47 language tag used only when projecting GMEOW's internal private-use literals into vocabularies that require standard language-tag literals. Non-functional because a language may expose several valid BCP-47 tags across script, region, or variant contexts; broad registry alignments such as ISO 639-3 codes and Glottocodes remain gmeow:languageCode values.

Structure

Property shape: datatype property; gmeow:Language -> xsd:language

Practical Pattern

Use gmeow:bcp47Tag from gmeow:Language to xsd:language when the relationship itself belongs in the native GMEOW graph.

Example Snippets

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

Multilingual Document

• Source: slices/core/language/examples/multilingual-document.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-core-language-examples-multilingual-document

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: language as a first-class entity. A gmeow:Language is a
# reified individual carrying its gmeow:bcp47Tag — not a bare string column — so a
# document can be gmeow:writtenInLanguage SEVERAL co-equal languages at once
# (a bilingual manual), with no primary language privileged. The Language objects
# are minted (there is no closed enum of languages); the document is an
# InformationObject, the domain of gmeow:writtenInLanguage.
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/language/> .
@prefix rdfs:  <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .

# --- Languages: first-class, BCP-47-tagged. English already exists as the core
#     seed gmeow:langEnglish — reused, not re-minted. Japanese has no seed, so it
#     is minted, declaring its internal private-use tag for @lang annotations.
ex:japanese a gmeow:Language ;
    rdfs:label        "Japanese"@en ;
    gmeow:bcp47Tag    "ja" ;
    gmeow:languageTag "ja" .

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" .

Common Companion Terms

gmeow:Language

Projects To

Linkages

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

Projection Coverage

Usage Advice

Use when

• Use to declare the standard BCP-47 tag(s) the projection layer substitutes for an private-use-language-tag private-use tag when serializing to consumers that require standard language-tag literals (Wikidata, schema.org JSON-LD).

Avoid when

• Avoid using it as the language's identity or as a general registry alignment (that is gmeow:languageCode), and avoid forcing one tag — a language legitimately exposes several BCP-47 tags across script/region/variant, so it stays non-functional.

How to use

• Attach the standard BCP-47 tag(s) alongside gmeow:languageTag; the projection compiler reads bcp47Tag to reconstruct conformant @lang literals on export, falling back across the listed tags by context.

Examples

• gmeow:langMandarin gmeow:bcp47Tag "zh", "zh-Hans".

Use For Consumers

• gmeow:consumerSchemaOrgJsonLd
• gmeow:consumerWikidata