Micro-Genres as Lexical Acts: A Diagnostic Framework for Semantic Governance

Micro-Genre Theory proposes that words are not merely semantic carriers, but genre-conditioned lexical events that exert regulatory force on meaning within discourse. This essay introduces a diagnostic framework for evaluating such lexical units using three tools: the Field Attribution Matrix (FAM), the Genre Trigger Index (GTI), and the Compression Integrity Audit (CIA). These tools provide structural clarity on how individual terms function across epistemic domains, enabling forensic auditing of meaning at the micro-level. By defining "micro-genres" as field-bearing lexical acts and positioning them within their narrative containers (micro-narratives), this framework introduces a replicable diagnostic method relevant to cognitive linguistics, institutional discourse analysis, and the epistemic calibration of artificial intelligence.