Proper Names

The tagging of proper names (level 3) is done in elements specified on the semantics of the respective proper names:

• <persName>: personal name
• <orgName>: name of an organization
• <placeName>: place name
• <name type="artificialWork">: naming of a work of art or building

In doing so, the <persName> element is no longer substructured (i. e. there is no further distinction between the first name and last name of a person, for example). Name additions that are not in the source are not reproduced in the transcription.

All mentioned proper name elements can contain a @ref attribute. This receives a unique URI as a value, which refers to an external resource that specifies the proper name in more detail (for example, references to the Gemeinsame Normdatei (Integrated Authority File) GND, the Getty Thesaurus, or a specially compiled proper name database).

Truncated proper names (e. g. North and Baltic Sea) are tagged as such by adding an attribute value pair @full="abb" (for "abbreviation") to the respective enclosing proper name element.

<placeName full="abb">Nord-</placeName> und <placeName>Ostsee</placeName>

The reference to an external resource in the @ref attribute (see above) points to the complete form of the proper name abbreviated by truncation. The completed proper name can also be reproduced in the text by using the <choice> element with the sub-elements <orig> and <reg>.

<placeName full="abb">
  <choice>
    <orig>Nord-</orig>
    <reg>Nordsee</reg>
  </choice>
</placeName>
und <placeName>Ostsee</placeName>

To the use of <choice> see also chap. Editorial Changes.