The Language of Notes

Note types in a PKM system are similar to parts of speech in language. This approach provides clarity and structure for my note system.

There are many questions about the language we use in a PKM system that surface when thinking about how we actually create our notes or maps.

How do we describe what they're about? What do they actually represent? What's an appropriate convention for identifying various types of notes? What metadata properties provide support?

Note grammar

When considering the types of notes, it seems similar to concepts of language, grammar, and parts of speech with nouns and adjectives.

I'm thinking that using an adjective before a note or map helps clarify its type and purpose. This provides additional structure and context to the mental model of a knowledge graph of objects with relationships.

Many notes are about things (nouns), like the Obsidian app; some notes might be about statements, opinions, or phrases with subject, verb, object, and/or prepositions or conjunctions.

Parts of speech

In the English language, the parts of speech categorize words based on their functions within sentences.

  • Nouns: People, places, things, or ideas ("note", "map")
  • Verbs: Actions, states, or occurrences ("is", "has")
  • Adjectives: Describe or modify nouns
  • Adverbs: Modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, often indicating manner, place, time, or degree
  • Prepositions: Relationships with nouns ("in", "on")
  • Conjunctions: Connect words, phrases, or clauses ("and", "or", "but")

There are a few extra parts as well. Pronouns are used as substitutes for nouns to avoid repetition like "it" or "they". Interjections show strong emotions or sudden outbursts of feeling ("wow", "hey").

These allow construction of meaningful sentences and provide a structure for the language. Effective use improves communication and clarity.

Subjects, objects, and predicates

A complete sentence contains a subject and predicate. The subject is the person, thing, or idea that the sentence is about; everything else including the verb is the predicate, which can contain an object.

The subject is the doer of the action or main focus on a sentence; it usually comes before the verb and performs the action of the verb or is described by the predicate.

The predicate provides information about the subject, or what the subject is doing. An object is a noun directly affected by the verb's action.

The object receives the action (direct) or is affected by it (indirect), and it's usually after the verb.

PKM model

So what is the architecture, or model, of a PKM system? As software architecture is described by Martin Fowler, it's the important stuff, whatever that is.

So what is the important stuff, and how do we describe it for enhanced understanding so it's more useful to us throughout our life. I think this includes the language that we use for the types of notes and links we have in our PKM system.

This language can be used as we think, write, and develop our notes as illustrated by these sentences.

  • A spark triggers an idea.
  • We write a note about the idea.
  • A map connects related notes.
  • Our interest initiates an effort.
  • Actions develop our idea.
  • We publish a blog post about it.

Models

Language helps to define any model to describe and communicate concepts in any domain with clarity.

A domain model is a web of connected objects that represent elements of a problem domain that incorporates data properties, relationships, and functional behavior.

In a PKM system, we can think about it as a model with notes, metadata, and links with knowledge and actions across time.

Ubiquitous language

When developing software, a domain model is based on objects, attributes, relationships, and events.

As Eric Evans explains in Domain-Driven Design, this requires ubiquitous language for a shared understanding of the problem to be solved with an application.

Summary

It also helps to have appropriate language for concepts, names, and relationships for the model of your PKM system. A PKM system is more than just a bunch of "notes" with "links".