With, I hope, more consideration to the reader than Humpty Dumpty I ask the
reader to associate some particular meanings with certain words; though I
discuss the nature of relationships among values in general terms, I abstract
from that discussion very specific meanings for the type relation
and the
verb relate
. Within the universe so carved out, various types of
relation emerge, as do various particular relations; some of these are of such
significance as to deserve names, which I'll endeavour to document in this
directory. I do try to chose names which are compatible with orthodox and
vernacular meanings of the words used, but orthodoxy and the vernatular aren't
always compatible, and sometimes no word presents itself for the task in hand;
hence the need to document my exact intent.
The denotations used in the bestiaries and glossaries below, I document elsewhere: if something with lots of punctuation in it, and/or a ←, confuses you, it's probably a denotation for a relation; likewise, if confused by pieces of italic text (and punctuation), especially if interspersed with bold text and no ordinary-font text, the odds are good you're looking at a template. As matters stabilise, I'll aim to have each entry reference the discourse which introduces it more fully elsewhere; and to use the entries here as the route via which links from other pages using the relevant jargon will reach such primary discussions. This may take some time, though (2001/July8).