Lexical Acts as Micro-Genres: A Diagnostic Framework for Genre-Conditioned Meaning

This abstract introduces Micro-Genre Theory, an original lexical-rhetorical framework developed by Keith Shepherd. It proposes that individual lexical units such as titles, roles, and status terms function as genre-conditioned acts within structured semantic and institutional environments. Extending beyond Semantic Field Theory (SFT) and Lexical Field Theory (LFT), this model incorporates genre theory, rhetorical function, and cognitive schema mapping to classify and diagnose terms based on their semantic domain, academic field, micro-genre function, and audience uptake. The framework has immediate applications in law, politics, branding, medicine, and theology, offering a new standard for precision in discourse analysis and meaning transfer. This abstract formally stakes the intellectual ground for Micro-Genre Theory as a new diagnostic system for forensic semantics, rhetorical cognition, and institutional language analysis.