Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of Language specification

Timestamp:

Oct 21, 2009, 10:03:24 AM (15 years ago)

Author:

kthoden

Comment:

--

Language specification

@@ +1 @@
+{{{
+#!html
+
+    <h1>Language Specification in Arboreal</h1>
+
+<p>Arboreal's language architecture (cf. <a
+href="textarch.png">schematic</a>) requires that the language of text
+be somehow specified. Here are the rules Arboreal uses:
+
+<ol>
+<li>Language may be specified in the document metadata. Arboreal
+determines the language by using the XPath query under the
+<b>&lt;locator&gt;</b> tag in the <b>&lt;metadata&gt;</b> definition
+in the docspec file. For Archimedes texts, the language is specified
+in the <b>&lt;lang&gt;</b> section under <b>&lt;info&gt;.</b> E.g.:
+
+
+<p><pre>
+<b>&lt;info&gt;</b>
+...
+    <b>&lt;lang&gt;</b>it<b>&lt;/lang&gt;</b>
+...
+<b>&lt;/info&gt;</b>
+</pre></p>
+
+<li>Any element (tag) may have a <b>lang</b> attribute. The value set
+here applies to the entire subtree for which the element is the root
+(unless the setting is overridden by a <b>lang</b> attribute of some
+descendant node or nodes). This language setting overrides the
+language (if any) that is specified in the document metadata. Note
+that the language may be set for the entire document simply by
+supplying a <b>lang</b> attribute for the root element. E.g.:
+
+
+<p><pre>
+<b>&lt;root lang=&quot;la&quot;&gt;</b>
+...
+</pre></p>
+
+<li>The text under certain elements is considered as a single unit,
+called an <b>amalgamation</b>. Nodes to which this behavior applies
+are called <b>container</b> nodes. The nodes considered containers are
+enumerated under <b>&lt;containers&gt;</b> in the docspec file. (Also:
+any node that is the root of a subtree containing only text nodes is
+automatically considered a container node.) In the Archimedes <acronym
+title="Document Type Definition">DTD</acronym>, <b>&lt;s&gt;</b> is a
+container. The amalgamation belonging to a container may consist of
+text in only a <i>single</i> language. In the case of multilingual
+documents, however, it will sometimes be necessary for a container
+(e.g., a sentence) to contain text in more than one language. To allow
+for this possibility, elements may defined as <b>subcontainers</b> in
+the docspec file. Text that belongs to a subcontainer is treated as
+the amalgamation of the subcontainer, not of the (parent) container.
+In the Archimedes doctype, <b>&lt;foreign&gt;</b> is defined as a
+subcontainer. Thus we can have something like:
+
+
+<p><tt><b>&lt;s id=&quot;Academica2.18.3&quot;
+lang=&quot;la&quot;&gt;</b>Cum enim ita negaret quidquam esse quod
+comprehendi posset (id enim volumus esse <b>&lt;foreign
+lang=&quot;el&quot;&gt;</b>a)kata/lhpton<b>&lt;/foreign&gt;</b>), si
+illud esset, sicut Zeno definiret, tale visum (iam enim hoc pro
+<b>&lt;foreign
+lang=&quot;el&quot;&gt;</b>fantasi/a|<b>&lt;/foreign&gt;</b> verbum
+satis hesterno sermone trivimus), visum igitur impressum effictumque
+ex eo unde esset quale esse non posset ex eo unde non
+esset...<b>&lt;/s&gt;</b></tt></p>
+
+<li>If no language is specified anywhere in the document, the document
+is considered to be in the default language. This default may be set
+in the <a href="https://itgroup.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de:8080/tracs/Arboreal/wiki/Configuration">preferences dialog</a>
+
+</ol>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>The code used for the language is always the two- or three-letter
+code specified in <a
+href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/langcodes.html"><acronym
+title="International Standards Organization">ISO</acronym> 639</a>.
+These codes are <i>not</i> case-sensitive. The codes for languages
+we're currently using are:</p>
+
+<p><blockquote>
+<table border="yes">
+<tr><td><code>ar</code></td><td>Arabic</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>de</code></td><td>German</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>en</code></td><td>English</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>el</code></td><td>Greek</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>fr</code></td><td>French</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><code>it</code></td><td>Italian</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>la</code></td><td>Latin</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>zh</code></td><td>Chinese</td></tr>
+</table>
+</blockquote></p>
+
+<p>For an sample document that illustrates language embedding, see <a href="https://itgroup.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de:8080/tracs/Arboreal/attachment/wiki/Scrapbook/testbed.xml">testbed.xml</a>
+
+}}}