Transcription

The transcriptions that we make usually have a double purpose:

• they document the state of the text as encountered on the (manuscript or printed) page, thereby facilitating the creation of a diplomatic edition,
• they encode all the decsions made by the editors to create a reading text out of the diplomatic transcription, facilitating the display of a reading text.

Physical structure

The logical structure was discussed under Text structure. The physical structure is usually encoded using so-called milestone (empty) elements: they do not contain their content, but are placed where certain properties of the text change. The elements that we commonly employ are

• linebreak: <lb>
• page break: <pb>

Linebreaks and page breaks are placed at the beginning of the line or page.

In many of our editions we want to be able to reproduce the physical linebreaks in the ms or printed text, as well as the logical units that are the result of editorial interpretation. Because of that we usually encode <lb/> elements even where the onset of a new paragraph or a new verse line would dictate a new linebreak anyway.

Writing process

We use the following elements:

• <add> Addition;

It is a <add>complete</add> text.

• <del> Deletion;

It is <del type=strikethrough>not</del> a complete text.

• <restore> Used to mark an earlier deletion that is undone;

<restore seq="2"><del seq="1">cocktail</del></restore>
<del seq="2"><add seq="1">drink</add></del>

• <retrace> A letter or word retraced to clarify the intended word or letter

Transpositions

Two (or more) pieces of text that have switched position are encoded using the hi:transpose element. The transposed texts are written in their original order. The target attribute indicates where the text fragment is moved. Example:

<hi:transpose seq="1" xml:id="i1" target="#i2">development</hi:transpose> <hi:transpose seq="1" xml:id="i2" target="#i1">art</hi:transpose>

Visual characteristics

• <hi> Highlight (if you need to highlight something and then specify how it appears in the source). The content of the rend-attribute is project-specific, though we try to use the same values for the same phenomena in all projects. If you need multiple values (like underlined and superscript) just enter them separated by a space: <hi rend="underline super">.

<hi rend="underline">This text is underlined</hi>

<hi rend="underline bold">This text is underlined and bold</hi>

Reproduction of the source

• <space> Empty lines, using dim="vertical" and the unit and quantity attributes to indicate the number of lines;

<space dim="vertical" unit="lines" quantity="2"/>

• <unclear> Uncertain reading of the text, for example due to damage or bad handwriting. If there is a number of possible readings,

group the <unclear> elements within a <choice>:

A single <unclear>word</unclear> is hard to read.

A single wor<choice><unclear>d</unclear><unclear>k</unclear></choice> is hard to read.

• <gap> If text is completely illegible and cannot be transcribed at all the <gap> element is used.

The size of the gap can be indicated using the unit and quantity attributes.

A single <gap quantity="1" unit="word"/> is illegible.

• <metamark> Indicates a sign added to aid in reading the text, for instance to indicate where a text is continuing.
• <damage> Damage or text loss;

<damage extent="whole leaf" agent="rubbing"> ... </damage>

Editorial interventions

Incorrect text

An incorrect text can be encoded in <sic>. The corresponding correction is incoded into <corr>. Both elements goes into <choice>, as in the example:

<choice><sic type="grammar">Happely</sic><corr>Happily</corr></choice>

Supplied text

Where the text is believed to be incomplete, editors can supply information:

The last letter is missin<supplied>g</supplied>.

Attributes

Some attributes are available on a number of elements to further qualify the content:

• @rend This is one of the global attributes in TEI, so it is allowed with a lot of elements. It indicates how the element in question was rendered or presented in the source. The allowed values are defined in the schema;
• @place Indicates the location of (e.g.) an addition (above, below, margin, etc) or the closer;
• @type Used to classify or sort elements.

Different source types have teheir own special characteristics, and the XML elements that encode these qualities of the text will vary to a certain extent per project.

See also

• Transcription (MVN)
• Transcription (Mondrian)
• XML Huygens