# The hierarchy of meaning

*Foundations · lesson 2 of 5 · ~10 min*

## What you will learn

The six primitives every Vercy model is built from, and the four layers of abstraction they live on.

## The chain

```text
Universe → Dimension → Namespace → Object → Projection / Event
```

- **Universe**: the supreme semantic jurisdiction. A company, a product ecosystem, a state, an agent platform. It owns its constitution: the rules nothing inside it may violate.
- **Dimension**: a management context inside a Universe. One product, one department, one simulation. The unit you govern and reason about as a whole.
- **Namespace**: the unit of publication. One coherent meta-model: "Citizens", "Invoices", "Product knowledge, bundle b4". Namespaces are what you version, package and register.
- **Object** (Meta-Object): a semantic point of truth. *This* customer, *this* requirement, *this* law. Objects carry identity, relationships, lifecycle and context.
- **Projection**: a view of Objects generated for a consumer, under a contract. Projections are how knowledge leaves home without moving out.
- **Event**: a change to semantic reality, recorded on an append-only **Semantic Timeline**. Events are why a Universe can answer "what did we believe on March 3rd?".

Beside the chain stand four first-class citizens: **Relationship** (connections are entities, not foreign keys), **Contract** (a semantic license on knowledge), **Context** (why knowledge must be interpreted *this* way), and **Identity** (a constitutional agreement about sameness).

## The four layers (M1 to M4)

The same primitives repeat at every altitude:

| Layer | Contents | Defined by |
|-------|----------|------------|
| M4 | What a Universe, Object, Event *is* | The Constitution (MUC) |
| M3 | How meta-models are built and packaged | The architecture standard (MMAS) |
| M2 | Domain meta-models: "software product", "employee", "polity" | Model authors |
| M1 | Instances: your product, your employee, your law | Universes at runtime |

Read the table bottom-up: your data (M1) conforms to your models (M2), which are built by the rules of M3, which obey the constitution at M4. Change flows top-down slowly (constitutions barely move) and bottom-up fast (instances change every second). The standard spends most of its pages on M3 and M4 precisely because those layers must outlive everything below them.

## Two real mappings

**A software company.** Universe = the Orkestron ecosystem. Dimensions = its surfaces (marketplace, supplier side). Namespaces = one product's model, one knowledge pack. Objects = features, decisions, agents, deals. Projections = dashboards and read-only realm storefronts. Events = missions executed, releases shipped.

**A state (the largest known model).** Universe = the state. Dimension = its management context. Namespaces = 38 meta-models (citizens, ministries, law, value flows...). Objects = thousands of citizens, laws, regions. Events = every transaction and ruling on the polity's timeline. Same six primitives, no new machinery, civilization scale.

## Key takeaways

- Six primitives compose every model: Universe, Dimension, Namespace, Object, Projection, Event.
- Relationships, Contracts, Context and Identity are first-class, never afterthoughts.
- The M1-M4 ladder means the same standard governs your data, your models, and the rules of modelling itself.

## Go deeper

- [Universe](/spec/#04-core-concepts/Universe.md) · [Dimension](/spec/#04-core-concepts/Dimension.md) · [Namespace](/spec/#04-core-concepts/Namespace.md)
- [Object](/spec/#04-core-concepts/Object.md) · [Projection](/spec/#04-core-concepts/Projection.md) · [Event](/spec/#04-core-concepts/Event.md)
- [Case study: a polity as one Dimension](/spec/#06-ecosystem/Case-Study-Axiacracy-MOS.md)

Next: [Sovereignty and federation](03-sovereignty.md)