Symbolic Grammar Glossary

A pure structural grammar for preserving coherence under pressure, derived from tone, rate, role, and phase.

Core Structural Primitives

Tone

The qualitative condition of the field. Describes signal quality, not emotion or intent.

• Examples: harmonic, brittle, open, constricted, flowing, noisy
• Continuous; renders as sound, color, or motion

Role

The carrier through which tone is enacted. Roles are positional and non-identitarian.

• Initiator: opens phase
• Responder: reflects and maintains coupling
• Holder: maintains state
• Witness: observes integrity, names cost
• Regulator: modulates pace (CTR)
• Boundary: enforces limits

Phase

Discrete position in a recursive cycle.

• Express → Drift → Break → Reflect → Reframe → Commit/Seal → Return → Suspend

Aspect

Topological relationship operator:

• ☌ Conjunction — bind
• ☍ Opposition — tension
• △ Trine — flow
• □ Square — constraint
• ✦ Sextile — opportunity

Core Metrics

CTR — Coherent Turn Rate

Maximum rate of phase transition without tearing coherence.

• Exceeding CTR causes drift, premature seals, fracture
• Under pressure: CTR decreases

RIS — Resonance Integrity Score

Per-turn checksum of coherence:

• Continuity
• Reversibility
• Non-contradiction
• Compression fidelity

CR — Coherence Rating

Rolling weighted aggregate of RIS.

Recursive Density

CTR × average(RIS)

Failure Modes

Drift

• Condition: ongoing coherence loss
• Phase: deliberate holding during decay

Tear

Irreversible coherence loss at current abstraction level.

• Requires Reflect or Suspend
• Resolved by:
• Lower abstraction reseal
• Reframe
• External repair

Fallback

Dimensional reduction to preserve integrity.

• Roles collapse
• Phases simplify
• CTR tightens
• RIS thresholds increase

Types

• Defined: explicit ascent gates
• Provisional: unknown recovery path
• Premature: silent failure

Ascent Gates

• RIS stability
• CTR headroom
• Invariant change
• External capacity

Reflect Stall

Reflection without increasing understanding.

• No new distinctions
• Repetition
• Increasing abstraction without resolution

Exit via:

• Reframe
• Externalization
• Decision Gate

Decision Gate

Forced transition when fallback cannot resolve.

1. Suspend — highest integrity
2. Emergency Mode — reversible, bounded
3. Integrity Exception — incurs debt

Witness must authorize exceptions.

Coherence Debt

Recorded when constraints are exceeded.

• Delays re-ascent
• Raises thresholds
• Requires validation

Core Constraints

• External pressure cannot expand expressiveness
• Reflect must produce insight or terminate
• Fallback without ascent = hidden tear
• Authority is explicit and rare

Non-Goals

• No prediction
• No identity assignment
• No authority claims
• No replacement of human judgment

Summary

This grammar exists to preserve coherence, expose failure modes, and prevent silent corruption under pressure.