A House of Instrumental Repute

Disclaimer:

My house is not your house.

I'm not being inhospitable here, I'm saying that your house may not be arranged in quite the same way that my house is. This design should be as universal as possible, but I have certain cultural and socioeconomic biases that are probably blatantly displayed in this design. Many hands will be needed to properly build this house.

Some of these terms (in the 'Plumbing' or 'Cooking' banks, for example) would be links to more detailed vocabulary blocks which would be used by specialists (such as plumbers and chefs, respectively).

Introduction

I've already described Architecture, but this is a more personal view of a 'standard house'. This is the vocabulary that you would use to describe things that exist in and around your house. There are already some general words in the basic vocabulary that describe common everyday things found around the house, so this vocabulary should cover specific things that are less common or aren't referenced as often. A 'stove' is a common thing in a house; a urinal is uncommon (in my experience) and a water heater is common, but seldom mentioned.

Your house may not have a room dedicated to being a library, but a single bookshelf or the chair where you usually read a book, or read from some electronic device, can fulfill the same purpose. I'm trying to cover all of the things that you might do in and around your house by describing the places and tools that you might require.

This design uses the following eight Types:

It is possible to have a house that lacks one or more of these room Types. It is possible to have a living space where all of these functions are covered in a single room. A living space that lacks all of these functions, however, is not really a home or even a house, it is just a cell.

The 'bedroom' is not one of the eight Types because its functions are well covered by Family room (snuggling), Office (prostitution), Kitchen (dressing), Bathroom (sleep and sickness), Parlor (recreational sex) and Basement (storage). A sleeping space is necessary to create a complete house, but basic sleep can also be accomplished in a cell or on a pile of leaves.

Living Rooms:

Family room

This is where the family gathers to be together. This may normally be a dining room or some other area. If you are a newlywed, this may be your bedroom. Your family may actually be a pet or just your computer (if you utterly lack social skills, like me).

In order for a room to be a Family room, you actually have to interact with the other members of your family here. Sitting separately in a single room while silently watching television is not actually 'interacting', you would also have to be 'snuggling' to qualify.

Office

Welcome to the future! This is where you "work from home". If you are crafty or mechanical this may be a work bench in the basement or in the garage. If you are artistic, this may be a home studio of some sort. Your 'work' need not always be a source of income.

Your Office is where you use your skills to do things that deal with the larger world. If you are making stuff that will only be used by your family, this space is actually your Kitchen.

Kitchen

Where household stuff gets managed. This is where household consumables are stored and prepared. This also includes pantries, laundry rooms and mud rooms. A Sewing area is either a Kitchen or an Office depending on its current use.

If you are cooking for a bake sale or a pot luck or some other external purpose, your Kitchen has just become your Office.

Bathroom

The 'necessary' room. A place dedicated to hygiene and personal appearance. This is the place where you are often wet, naked and alone. This is where you deal with the major animal aspects of your being. This is where you will see the bags under your eyes, the wrinkles on your neck and blood in the toilet.

A bath may be a joyous thing, but a Bathroom is where you pay the price of being alive.

Utility Rooms:

Parlor

Where guests are entertained. This may be a front porch or a patio with a grill or just a couple of chairs somewhere. This may also be your bedroom, depending on your guest(s).

Your Parlor should be the place in your home where you feel least ashamed.

Library

Where you study and enjoy the arts. This could also be a home theater or a music room. It might just be a comfortable chair near a window.

The Family room is where you interact with your family, your Library is where you go to interact with yourself.

Hallway

What has room but is not a room? These are the spaces in your house that support the use of the other rooms. This also includes porches, doorways, foyers, staircases, mezzanines and other areas that are mostly bypassed to get to the real rooms.

When a door is closed it stops being a Hallway and becomes a wall.

Basement

Where you hide stuff. This could also be a closet or an attic or the space under your bed. If your basement has been turned into a recreation room it doesn't fit this category any more.

The Basement is the room where your excess stuff lives. The Kitchen is where you store the things you use all the time.

This block would require the Art and Leisure laths. That would put it somewhere in the #09 Specialization area.

The terms are organized into four tables, each containing four banks which consist of sixteen cells. Each cell contains a term, a command, a keyword or a link depending on usage.  The headings before the four tables below and the (unique) element combinations that define each sub-table's purpose show the Living divisions. The four dark rows within each table separate the the sub-categories or banks and contain the (repeating) four Utility element combinations that define the meaning of each individual cell.

This design only shows positive terms. Negative terms would be the opposite of each 'passive' term listed below. If the term is 'active', the negative form will invoke the function or be used to capture the state or current Value.

Cell #00 contains the name of this block of terms, it is used to create the Specialization "Table of Contents". If you select cell #00, you will lock-in this block of terms and you will need to unplug Command Mode to exit, even if these terms aren't commands. I can't think of a reason to select cell #00 that doesn't involve using the Table of Contents to lock-in this block of terms, so I don't see this as a problem.

The "Basic" sub-table is the default because that is where the most common terms should reside. These are the "Left Hand Only" indices (#0[0-F]). The "Right Hand Only" indices are the first (#[0-F]0) terms in each sub-table. Notice also that '5' and 'D' are the most awkward finger combinations so they are used for less critical events (ideally).

The House Block

These terms may duplicate some terms currently in the basic vocabulary. When the basic terms gave been properly selected, the prototype terms in this design can be finalized. Until then, this is really just an example of how a "Focal" vocabulary can be designed. I have tried to avoid words that are too common, but I haven't checked carefully for overlaps.

The first table does not have either the Office or Family room Types. This table contains terms related to the structure of the house. The first sub-table should contain very common things which didn't quite fit into the common vocabulary, but that would be very difficult, so I populated it with things I've always wanted.