Closed and open systems

Back to top: Closed and open systems

The concept

I mentioned above the relevance of the dichotomy between closed and open systems using as an example the contrast between a paradigm and a list. This is a fundamental principle of grammatical analysis. A grammar deals essentially with paradigms or closed systems: thus a Latin verbal conjugation admits only of three persons singular and three persons plural, which means that there cannot be, for example, a dual, but also that there must be three persons in either number.

The significance of the concept of a closed system lies in its predictive power. If, in the entire corpus of Latin texts, there were no example of the word amat, we would still know that it is a legitimate word, because it is “grammatical” as the third person singular of the verb amare.

Back to top: Closed and open systems

-emic and -etic

The distinction between closed and open systems is often subsumed under the terms -emic and -etic, borrowed from linguistics.

A phon-emic system is a closed system of acceptable sound ranges in any given language: being closed, there is a limited number of acceptable items, which are seen, paradigmatically in function of their reciprocal contrast. Thus in a given language ther may be a distinction between b and p, while in another they both constitute the same phoneme. Reciprocal understanding among speakers depends on this system.

A phone-tic¹ system, on the other hand, is an open system where any sound as uttered by a speaker can be defined acoustically or in some other way: the contrast with other sounds is not predetermined by a paradigm, but is fully open. Thus there may be many different renderings of either b or p, without that affecting the speakers’ ability to understand each other. The differences, if noted, would be considered as a matter of “accent.”

Back to top: Closed and open systems

The UGR grammar

How does this apply to the archaeological domain? It is what this grammar aims to achieve.

For an example in the UGR system, see below under folders

For more details see Buccellati 2006; Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 2025 pp. xxx; and especially Buccellati 2017 3.4.1).

Back to top: Closed and open systems

The “canonical” dimension

A grammatical system is closed in the specific sense that has just been defined. An important corollary is that a closed or -emic system is the one on which a program can ideally operate.

I use the term “canonical” to refer to a set of data that are grammatically organized and can thus be properly accessed by a specifically designed program. For an example see below under folders.

Back to top: Closed and open systems

Notes