[tei-council] List @type musings

[Paul Schaffner]

Reflections on @type. I'm not sure that it is possible to arrive
at a non-arbitrary selection of possible values. But if it were,
these are the circuitous routes by which I would probably arrive
there.

[1] @type on <list might seem analogous to @type on <div.
   When typing  divs I try, usually unsuccessfully, to use the attribute
   to represent either (1), in the case of a repeating
   division, the principle on which the division is made;
   or (2) in the case of singleton divs, the generic
   category into which the division falls. So in the former
   case if a text (say a diary) is divided by the day, 
   type="day" or type="entry" reflects that organizing principle; if
   it is divided by the theorem, then @type="theorem".
   In the latter case, the singletons, I use lots of 
   @type="preface" @type="index" @type="colophon" @type="license" etc.
   On this principle, if a list is like a div, in an index 
   divided by the letters of the alphabet, each contained 
   list might be typed as @type="letter" since that is the basis on
   which each list is distinguished from the others.

    <div type="index">
     <list type="letter" n="a">
     <list type="letter" n="b">
   
   and singleton lists should if possible be generically
   typed
   
    <list type="instructions">
    <list type="witnesses">
   
   
[2] @type on <list might seem related to @type on <lg>.
  I tend to use @type on <lg> mostly when the
  type of line group has implications for its form (and by
  'form' I mean something more than its rendering).
  
  Hence <lg type="verse paragraph"> applies to loosely
  formatted semanticallly based assemblies of lines, akin
  to prose paragraphs. <lg type="stanza"  or <lg type="refrain"
  apply to something more regular. And <lg type="couplet"
  <lg type="quatrain" obviously have strong implications
  for the number of lines contained in each.
  
  It is probably on this basis that I tend to
  apply @type to <list> most often in those cases
  when the type has implications not only for the
  content but for the form of the list, or for the
  kind of relationships to be expected between the items, e.g.
  
  <list type="syllogism">
    <item>All Cretans are liars.</item>
    <item>Menalaus is a Cretan.</item>
    <item>ERGO M. is a liar.</item>
  </list>
  
  Or perhaps, using 'form' a little more loosely, for
  lists that border on verse:
  
  <list type="litany">
    <item>God save us from drought.</item>
    <item>God save us from pestilence.</item>
    <item>God save us from wickedness in high places.</item>
    <item>Praise be to God.</item>
  </list>
  
  or lists that map a narrowly constrained set of
  possible connections
  
  <list type="genealogy">
    <item>Charles Smith m. Jane Doe
        <list type="offspring">
        <item>Bill m. June Roe
           <list type="offspring">
           <item>Junie</item>
           <item>Billy Jr.</item>
           </list>
        </item>
        <item>Charles II
           <list type="marriages">
           <item>m. Rachel R.
              <list type="offspring">
              <item>Rutabaga</item>
              <item>Roughage</item>
           </item>
           <item>m. Rebecca Q.
              <list type="offspring">
              <item>Querulous</item>
              <item>Quarrelsome (d. in a brawl.)</item>
              </list>
           </item>
           </list>
        </item>
        </list>
   </item>
</list>

Our practice may, however, be eccentric.

pfs
           
           
           
  
  


-- 
Paul Schaffner  Digital Library Production Service
PFSchaffner at umich.edu | http://www.umich.edu/~pfs/