Symbol Emergence from Structural Coupling

Function in corpus

Derives symbol-like substitution structure from multi-context token participation without semantic primitives. Fills the second gap deferred by Paper 57 and provides the structural account of symbolic equivalence that Paper 60 uses to distinguish closure from genuine participation.

Details

Connected papers: Systems, Boundaries, and Re-Identifiability; Language as a Self-Organizing Constraint Regime; Closure vs Participation: Structural Distinctions in Constraint Regimes Tokens can be recognized and reused across contexts. But symbol-like structure requires more: the capacity for substitution — for one token to stand in for another across constraint contexts while preserving constraint satisfaction. This paper derives how that capacity emerges structurally, without invoking representation or reference.\n\nThe argument proceeds from multi-context participation. When tokens participate in multiple structurally coupled constraint contexts, recurring configurations appear where different tokens occupy overlapping structural roles. Where two tokens can substitute for each other in a shared context without violating its constraints, they are structurally interchangeable in that context — constraint-equivalent, not semantically equivalent.\n\nThis local interchangeability grounds context-grounded equivalence classes: sets of tokens substitutable for each other within specific constraint contexts. These are the structural analog of symbols: enabling systematic substitution without any underlying referential meaning.\n\nThe paper depends on the stronger re-identifiability conditions from Paper 3 — mere token distinguishability sufficient for Paper 57 is not enough for symbol emergence.

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