Add specification of `<gap>` to critical text schema

[stenskjaer]

I think: The <gap> element should be used to indicate when a scribe leaves spaces (fenestrae) in the text, possibly because he can't read his exemplar.

Example:

The third line reads "... remedium quod Frater Thomas possuit [space ca. 8 letters] errores Commentatoris".

I would like to mark the space as follows:

remedium quod Frater Thomas possuit <gap extent="8" unit="characters"/> errores Commentatoris

This is already in the diplomatic schema. But I see it might belong in the critical too, especially when you make critical editions of single witness texts.

Types of gaps I think there are different types of gaps. This is one example, showing a scribal omission. I would call this a fenestra.

But I also think, as we have discussed before (#68) this could be used to mark a gap that is noticed by the editor. This I would call a lacuna.

I realize that these two things represent different phenomena. One is physical and noticed by the scribe, the other is not present in the physical manifestation and noticed by the editor. But in both cases there is something missing in the text.

I would thus suggest the following.

<gap>: Represents a section of missing text. gap@type="fenestra": The scribe leaves an empty space in the manuscript, indicating that something is missing. gap@type="lacuna": The editor notices that some text is missing and indicates that.

In both cases the @extent and @unit can be used. In the case of @type="fenestra" this date is easy to fill in, while you might not always know how much is missing in a lacuna, but sometimes it may be clear enough (in the interpretation of that editor).

I already use this in my transcriptions for the lacuna, and I am very inclined to do the same with the fenestra.

Any thoughts?

[stenskjaer]

I want to follow up a bit on this, because I also think this might be the right element to indicate material that is skipped by the editor.

I may be transcribing a text that is rather long, but where I am only interested in a short section and can't put the time into transcribing all of it. Then I want to indicate how much I skip to avoid the misunderstanding that my partial transcription of an item is complete.

For that I have used <gap> as follows:

<p xml:id="da-31-l1l1-ch9hn8">
  <gap extent="66" unit="lines" reason="editorial">
    Divisio and exposition until 402a3, <quote>proper utraque
    haec</quote>
  </gap>
  Deinde cum dicit
  <cit>
    <ref><quote type="lemma">propter utraque haec</quote></ref>
    <bibl>
      <name ref="#Aristotle">Arist.</name>
      <title ref="#Arist.DA">DA</title> I.1, 402a3.
    </bibl>
  </cit>
  tangit quod ista scientia sit meliorum demonstrationum et

The properties are the standard TEI properties of the element. As the element only indicates where something is missing in the text, I don't think it is counter-intuitive to put some content that is not transcription inside the element to describe what is skipped. But opinions may differ on that.

I don't know what you think if this potential use? As I read it, it is in keeping with the TEI intention of the element, as described here: http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/tei-p5-doc/en/html/ref-gap.html On the other hand, we may want to determine it's type explicitly as I have speculated about here above with something like gap@type="editorial" in stead of using the @reason property (or alternative change the suggested @type properties to @reason in the above suggestion.

[lucianacioca]

I think the solution is very reasonable. If we typify the gap to mean it's intentional and has editorial purposes, it pretty much covers the whole situation.