TEI Structure and Basic Core Components

TEI Structure
&
Basic Core Components

Dr James Cummings

@jamescummings

http://slides.com/jamescummings/tei-structure-core-mca

Thanks as ever to many members of the TEI Community

TEI Document Structure(s)

A TEI document is represented by means of:

the root <TEI> element which contains both, data and metadata or
a sequence of <TEI>elements may be combined to form a <teiCorpus> element.

The TEI file may be representing a document of any size, form, or complexity -- from a postcard to a multi-volume encyclopedia
A TEI Corpus may be a collection of TEI files, a library catalogue, a linguistic corpus

Each element could represent a collection of encoded texts, versions of a text, or samples of a language corpora, etc.

Front Matter

The front matter <front> represents distinct sections of a text e.g.:
- 'preface' a foreword or preface addressed to the reader
- 'ack' a declaration of acknowledgement by the author
- 'dedication' a fomal dedication to one or more persons
- 'abstract' a summary of the content
- 'contents' a table of contents
- 'frontispiece' pictorial frontispiece, possibly including a text

Because cultural conventions differ as to which elements are grouped as front matter and which as back matter, the content models for the front and back elements are identical.

<titlePage> the title page of a text, appearing within the front or back matter
<docTitle> the title of the document
<titlePart> subsection or division of the title of a work
- @type specifies the role: e.g. main, sub, alt, short, desc
<docAuthor> the name of the author
<docImprint> the imprint statement (place, date, publisher)
<docDate> the date of the document

Back Matter

'appendix' an ancillary self-contained section of a work
'glossary' a list of terms associated with definition texts
(<list type="gloss">)
'notes' a section where notes are gathered together
'bibliogr' list of bibliographic citations (<listBibl>)
'index' any form of index of the work
'colophon' statement describing the physical production of the work
and many more...

For Example: Previously Printed Index

Global Attributes

Some features (potentially) apply to everything, therefore members of the attribute class att.global can appear in every TEI element:

@xml:id provides a unique identifier for any element
@n provides a number or name for an element (not unique)
@xml:base provides a base URI reference for resolving relative URIs
@xml:lang specifies the language of any element, using an ISO standard code (e.g. ISO 639-1)
@xml:space specifies how whitespace should be managed by applications
@rend, @style and @rendition provide ways of specifying the visual appearance (rendition) of any element (att.global.rendition)
@resp points to the agency responsible; @cert for certainty

Inside the <body>

Hierarchical grouping of text sequences into textual divisions and subdivisions by means of nested <div> elements.

Use the @type attribute to distinguish different kinds of <div> divisions
- Epic, Bible → book
- Report → part, section
- Novel → chapter
- Drama → acts, scenes
- Reference book → sections
- Diary → entries
- Newspaper → sections, issues
and possibly @n to provide a name or number

Components of a <div>

What do devisions contain (apart from other divisions)?

Headings, tagged with <head>
Prose, which may be organized as a sequence of
paragraphs <p>
Poetry, divided into metrical lines <l>, optionally grouped into stanzas <lg>
Drama, divided into speeches <sp>, containing an
optional speaker label <speaker>, followed by a mix of <p> or <l> elements, optionally mixed up with stage directions <stage>

Original Layout Information

Within the <text> element the logical view is privileged, but the physical view can be encoded as well through 'empty' elements:

<pb/> marks the start of a new page
<cb/> marks the start of a new column
<lb/> marks the start of a new line
<gb/> marks the start of a new gathering

and for other forms of milestone:

<milestone/> marks to the beginning of a boundary point.

Paragraphs

A paragraph is a significant organizational unit for all prose texts

<p> marks paragraphs in prose
<p> can contain all the phrase-level elements in the core module
- Phrase-level elements must be entirely contained within a paragraph
- Inter-level elements can appear either within a paragraph or between
- paragraphs (e.g. list, bibiographic citations, etc.)
- Chunks (eg. paragraphs, anonymous block)

Highlighting

<hi> word or phrase which is graphically distinct from the surrounding text

@rend specifies the visual appearance; the values are defined by each project
@style, @rendition renditions using external standards, like CSS

Foreign Phrases

<foreign> word or phrase not written in the same
language than the surrounding text
- @xml:lang global attribute to specify the language, using an ISO standard code (e.g. ISO 639-1)

Emphasis

<emph> words or phrases which are emphasized for
linguistic or rhetorical effect
- original rendition recorded with: @rend, @rendition and @style

Quotation

The TEI distinguishes a variety of 'distinct' text enclosed in quotation marks (or indicated by other means):

<q> separated from the surrounding text with quotation marks, e.g. direct speech, technical term, slang etc.
<said> passages thought or spoken aloud
- @direct direct or indirect speech
- @aloud vocalized or signed speech
<quote> passages attributed to an external source
<cit> quotation from some other document, together with a bibliographic reference

Simple Editorial Changes

The core module provides some phrase-level elements which may be used to record simple editorial interventions.
<choice> groups alternative encodings for the same point in a text
- Abbreviations:
  - <abbr> abbreviated form
  - <expan> expanded form
- Errors:
  - <sic> apparent error
  - <corr> corrected error
- Regularization:
  - <orig> original form
  - <reg> regularized form

Regularisation

Emendation and Correction

versus

Addition, Deletion, and Ommisions

<add> addition to the text
<del> letter, word or phrase marked as deleted in the text
<unclear> illegible or inaudible passage which cannot be read with confidence
<gap> indicates a point where material is omitted

Names

<name> a proper noun or noun phrase
<rs> a string referring to some person, place, object, etc.
- @type attribute specifies the type of the name in more detail

Note: Including the namesdates module gives many more name elements (for personal, place, organisational, and geographic names).

Addresses

Elements to distinguish postal and electronic addresses

<address> contains a postal address
<email> contains an email address
<addrLine> a non-specific address line
<street> a full street address
<postCode> a postal or
zip code
<postBox> a postal box
number
<name> can also be
used within address

Dates and Times

<date> contains a date in any format @when contains the regularized form; YYYY-MM-DD
- @calendar to specify the calendar system
<time> contains a time of day in any format
- @when contains the regularized form: HH:MM:SS

(More attributes added if the namesdates module is loaded)

Lists

<list> (a sequence of items forming a list)
<item> (one component of a list)
<label> (label associated with an item)
<headLabel> (heading for a column of labels)
<headItem> (heading for a column of items)

Bibliographies

<bibl> a structured or unstructured bibliographic entry
- <title>, <editor>, <title>, <pubPlace>, <publisher>, <date>, etc. for further structuring
<biblStruct> a structured bibliographic entry

Verse

<lg> a formal unit (e.g. stanza) containing one or more verse lines
<l> contains a single verse line

The verse module extends this with more elements for metrical analysis.

Drama

<sp> an individual speech in a performance text, or passages presented as such in prose or verse text
<speaker> provides the name of one or more speakers in a dramatic text
<stage> provides stage directions within a dramatic text

The drama module extends this with more elements for dramatic structures like cast lists.

TEI Structure
&
Basic Core Components