deontic modality

• CURIE: gmeow:deonticModality
• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/deonticModality
• Category: property
• Defined by: gmeow:slices/norms
• Box roles: RBox role (What is this?)

The deontic force of this norm. Functional: one norm, one force — a rule that both permits and obliges is two norms. A norm carrying a modality must also carry an issuer (SHACL): no anonymous oughts.

Structure

Property shape: object property; gmeow:Norm -> gmeow:DeonticModality; functional

Practical Pattern

Use gmeow:deonticModality from gmeow:Norm to gmeow:DeonticModality when the relationship itself belongs in the native GMEOW graph.

Example Snippets

These snippets are generated from canonical slice examples and trimmed to the Turtle blocks where this term appears.

Food Safety Compliance

• Source: slices/extensions/norms/examples/food-safety-compliance.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-extensions-norms-examples-food-safety-compliance

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: norms, deontic modality, and compliance . A gmeow:Norm in
# a gmeow:NormativeSystem carries a gmeow:deonticModality — obligation /
# prohibition / permission / recommendation — the deontic stance the rights slice
# applies to assets, here applied to CONDUCT. Whether an event lives up to a norm
# is not a bare boolean: it is a reified gmeow:ComplianceAssessment binding the
# assessed event, the assessed norm, and a gmeow:complianceVerdict (held /
# not-held / undetermined), AS OBSERVED by an assessor with a method — so a
# contested compliance ruling can coexist with another (P9).
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/norms/> .
@prefix rdfs:  <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd:   <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

# --- An OBLIGATION norm within that system. A norm names its gmeow:normIssuer —
#     there is no ought, only ought-ACCORDING-TO an authority (the keystone).
ex:handwashNorm a gmeow:Norm ;
    rdfs:label            "Staff must wash hands before food preparation"@en ;
    gmeow:deonticModality gmeow:deonticObligation ;
    gmeow:normIssuer      ex:healthAuthority .

Common Companion Terms

gmeow:Norm, gmeow:DeonticModality

Usage Advice

Use when

• Use to set a norm's single deontic force from the gmeow:DeonticModality vocabulary.

Avoid when

• Avoid giving one norm two forces (it is functional — a rule that both permits and obliges is two norms) and avoid asserting a modality without also asserting gmeow:normIssuer (SHACL forbids anonymous oughts).

How to use

• Assert gmeow:deonticModality once per norm and pair it with gmeow:normIssuer; split a multi-force prescription into separate norms.

Examples

• ex:n1 gmeow:deonticModality gmeow:deonticObligation.