{"title":"Voice, Tone, and Rhythm Rules","version":"1.0.0","rule_count":12,"rules":[{"id":"VOI-001","name":"Declare voice before polishing","domain":"voice","layer":"document","strength":"context_default","human_logic":"IF a document lacks a voice profile, THEN define relationship, formality, energy, warmth, confidence, and permitted vocabulary ELSE use the profile.","when":{"path":"document.voice_profile","operator":"missing","value":true},"then":[{"action":"define","target":"document.voice_profile","dimensions":["relationship","formality","energy","warmth","confidence","vocabulary"]}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Voice becomes consistent when its variables are explicit.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["WEB-003","WEB-004","BK-013"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-002","name":"Tone responds to reader state","domain":"voice","layer":"paragraph","strength":"context_default","human_logic":"IF reader emotion changes, THEN adjust directness, warmth, pace, and reassurance without changing facts ELSE maintain baseline tone.","when":{"path":"context.emotional_temperature","operator":"in","value":["anxious","angry","grieving","urgent"]},"then":[{"action":"adjust","target":"paragraph.tone","preserve":["facts","requirements"],"dimensions":["directness","warmth","pace","reassurance"]}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Tone is the local adaptation of a stable voice to the reader’s situation.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["WEB-003","WEB-004","BK-026"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-003","name":"Address the reader directly in instructions","domain":"voice","layer":"sentence","strength":"context_default","human_logic":"IF the reader performs the action, THEN use an imperative or YOU; do not call the reader THE USER ELSE name the actual actor.","when":{"path":"sentence.actor","operator":"eq","value":"reader"},"then":[{"action":"select","target":"sentence.person","value":"second_person_or_imperative"}],"else":[{"action":"name","target":"sentence.actor"}],"unless":[],"because":"Direct address makes responsibility clear and supports a helpful tone.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["WEB-003","WEB-004"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-004","name":"Vary sentence length for function","domain":"rhythm","layer":"paragraph","strength":"heuristic","human_logic":"IF sentence lengths are mechanically uniform, THEN vary them according to emphasis, explanation, transition, and pace ELSE retain.","when":{"path":"paragraph.sentence_length_variance","operator":"eq","value":"near_zero"},"then":[{"action":"vary","target":"paragraph.sentence_lengths","by_function":{"short":"emphasis_or_transition","medium":"core_explanation","long":"qualified_relationship"}}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Controlled variation creates rhythm and maps length to cognitive function.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-011","BK-013","BK-019"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-005","name":"Short sentence after complexity","domain":"rhythm","layer":"paragraph","strength":"creative_option","human_logic":"IF a dense explanation reaches its key consequence, THEN a short sentence may isolate the payoff ELSE continue normal cadence.","when":{"all":[{"path":"paragraph.dense_explanation","operator":"eq","value":true},{"path":"paragraph.key_consequence.position","operator":"eq","value":"next"}]},"then":[{"action":"isolate","target":"paragraph.key_consequence","as":"short_sentence"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Contrast in length can direct attention to the consequence.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-011","BK-019"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-006","name":"Read prose aloud","domain":"rhythm","layer":"document","strength":"heuristic","human_logic":"IF prose is intended for humans, THEN read representative passages aloud or with text-to-speech and flag breath, ambiguity, repetition, and unnatural stress ELSE retain.","when":{"path":"document.audience","operator":"neq","value":"machine_only"},"then":[{"action":"test","target":"document","method":"aloud_or_text_to_speech","flags":["breath_overload","ambiguity","accidental_repetition","stress_mismatch"]}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Sound reveals problems silent visual review can miss.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-005","BK-019","WEB-004"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-007","name":"Place emphasis at structural edges","domain":"rhythm","layer":"sentence","strength":"heuristic","human_logic":"IF one idea deserves emphasis, THEN place it at the sentence opening or ending rather than burying it mid-clause ELSE retain.","when":{"path":"sentence.emphasis_target","operator":"exists"},"then":[{"action":"move","target":"sentence.emphasis_target","destination":"opening_or_ending","choose_by":"coherence"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Beginnings frame attention; endings receive terminal stress.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-008","BK-019"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-008","name":"Limit accidental alliteration and rhyme","domain":"rhythm","layer":"sentence","strength":"heuristic","human_logic":"IF repeated sound distracts from serious meaning AND is unintended, THEN vary one word ELSE retain purposeful sound pattern.","when":{"all":[{"any":[{"path":"sentence.alliteration_density","operator":"eq","value":"high"},{"path":"sentence.accidental_rhyme","operator":"eq","value":true}]},{"path":"sentence.sound_pattern_intended","operator":"eq","value":false}]},"then":[{"action":"replace","target":"sentence.one_sound_repeating_word","preserve":"meaning_and_voice"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Sound should support rather than trivialize the message.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-019"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-009","name":"Use repetition with a job","domain":"rhythm","layer":"paragraph","strength":"creative_option","human_logic":"IF a word or structure repeats, THEN retain it only for cohesion, emphasis, rhythm, motif, instruction consistency, or technical precision ELSE vary or delete it.","when":{"path":"paragraph.repetition.exists","operator":"eq","value":true},"then":[{"action":"verify","target":"paragraph.repetition.function","allowed":["cohesion","emphasis","rhythm","motif","instruction_consistency","technical_precision"]},{"action":"delete_or_vary","target":"paragraph.repetition","when":"function_missing"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Repetition is powerful when patterned and tiring when accidental.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-011","BK-019","WEB-004"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-010","name":"Metaphor must preserve the model","domain":"voice","layer":"paragraph","strength":"hard_constraint","human_logic":"IF a metaphor explains a mechanism, THEN map its relevant correspondences and state its boundary when overextension would mislead ELSE use it only decoratively.","when":{"path":"metaphor.function","operator":"eq","value":"explanation"},"then":[{"action":"verify","target":"metaphor.mapping","require":["source","target","shared_relation"]},{"action":"qualify","target":"metaphor","include":"where_the_analogy_breaks","when":"overextension_risk"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"A vivid analogy can create a false mental model if its limits stay hidden.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-008","BK-037"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-011","name":"Calibrate confidence to evidence","domain":"voice","layer":"sentence","strength":"hard_constraint","human_logic":"IF wording expresses certainty, THEN match modal strength to evidence and uncertainty ELSE retain.","when":{"path":"sentence.epistemic_claim","operator":"eq","value":true},"then":[{"action":"align","target":"sentence.confidence","value_from":"evidence.strength_and_uncertainty"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Tone must not make a claim sound more certain than the evidence allows.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-026","WEB-012","WEB-013"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}},{"id":"VOI-012","name":"Avoid institutional self-centering","domain":"voice","layer":"document","strength":"heuristic","human_logic":"IF WE/OUR language displaces the reader’s need or action, THEN rewrite around the reader or subject ELSE retain clear author responsibility.","when":{"all":[{"path":"document.first_person_plural_rate","operator":"eq","value":"high"},{"path":"document.reader_need_displaced","operator":"eq","value":true}]},"then":[{"action":"reframe","target":"document","center":"reader_need_or_subject"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"Reader-centered prose is not the same as hiding who is responsible.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["WEB-003","WEB-004","WEB-002"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]}}]}