Scope note

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An instance of classificatory status is the collective ascription of a type to an object by a community. The substance of the classificatory status is the communal commitment to the classification of the object in question according to the designated type.

Instances of classificatory status are recognizable through evidence of community members adopting the intentional stance of so-classifying the object in question, as observable from direct witnesses, through the reports of competent observers or through evidence of a declarative act [e.g.: E17 Type Assignment] initiating this status.

Instances of classificatory status may come to be through a formal process such as a declarative act of classification [E17 Type Assignment], or may have arisen through habit, fiat or be of unknown origin. Instances of classificatory status may end either though a formal process, such as a new declarative act of classification, be officially declassified, or may simply fade out of use, be eliminated by fiat or be of unknown reason. 

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