What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to understand semantic processes as dynamic elements within a relational field of meaning.

March 21, 2026Open Access

The Black Box of Semantics: Between Freedom and Constraint

Key Points

The aim is to understand semantic processes as dynamic elements within a relational field of meaning.
Develops a theoretical framework for semantic processes
Analyzes dynamics of meaning as relational configurations
Investigates microvitic influences affecting semantic relations
Considers the implications of language models in accessing hidden meanings
Semantic processes are shown to be metastable and evolving.
The inner structure of meaning remains largely inaccessible to direct observation.
Language models may provide new insights into the organization of semantic fields.

Abstract

This paper develops a theoretical framework in which semantic processes are understood as the dynamics of an evolving field of meaning. Meanings, concepts, and interpretations are treated not as isolated units, but as elements of a relational configuration whose patterns can stabilize, transform, and reorganize into new states. The essay argues that the dynamics of this field are metastable and partly shaped by microvitic influences that spread within the field and modulate semantic relations. At the same time, the paper draws attention to an epistemological problem: the inner organization of both individual and collective meaning-space remains largely inaccessible to direct observation. In this sense, semantics appears as a black box. Recent developments in large language models, however, open up possible methodological perspectives. If there is at least a partial structural similarity between human and machine-learned semantics, such systems may help make the hidden regularities of semantic fields more empirically accessible.

The Black Box of Semantics: Between Freedom and Constraint

Key Points

Abstract

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