[tei-council] List @type musings

[Lou Burnard]

+1 from me

On 01/08/14 17:02, Martin Holmes wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>
> I particularly like the examples of "index", "instructions",
> "witnesses", "syllogism", and "litany"; these strike me as generic and
> textual enough that they might well be added to "gloss" as suggested
> values, and they don't have the random, arbitrary feel of
> "shoppingList", since they have an association with specific genres of
> real texts. These examples are great. This would add weight to the
> notion that @type is for this kind of thing, rather than for
> layout/style. Does anyone have any objections to my adding these five to
> the spec?
>
> Cheers,
> Martin
>
> On 14-08-01 08:03 AM, Paul Schaffner wrote:
>> 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
>>
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