Quotation marks

Abstract

Quotation marks should be captured where possible as renditional information modifying the element that motivates their appearance.

quotation rendition entity
said quote

Encoding Instructions (new P5 version)

The WWP transcribes quotation marks using entity references, encoded as part of the rend attribute on the element that motivates them, using the pre and post keywords on the rend attribute. (See renditional encoding for more detail; 115)

When double quotation marks delimit the beginning and end of a quotation they are encoded as left double quote and right double quote using the standard ISO entity references “ and ”. When single quotation marks delimit the beginning and end of a quotation they are encoded as left single quote and right single quote using the standard ISO entity references ‘ and ’.

The repeated quotation marks which sometimes appear along the margins within a quotation are encoded using the bestow keyword of the rendition ladder on the said or quote element. In addition, the rendition of multiparagraph quotations can be managed using bestow, although the encoding is somewhat involved (see example 2).

The four entity references mentioned above are the only ones the WWP uses to encode quotation marks:

  • “
  • ”
  • ‘
  • ’

We do not use " or ' to capture quotation marks. See 053 and 058 for more information on the elements quote and said.

Examples

A simple quotation

<said rend="pre(&amp;ldquo;)post(&amp;rdquo;)">How delightful,</said> she thought to herself.

A multi-paragraph quotation in which the first paragraph has no closing quotation mark, using bestow to give each p element an initial quotation mark, and using post to give the entire quotation a closing quotation mark.

     <quote rend="post(&amp;rdquo;)bestow((pre(&amp;ldquo;))(p))">
       <p>How I left that place, I cannot remember...only that the
         path was long and dark and full of terrors.</p>
       <p>But in the end, as I struggled towards the light, I found
         my spirits uplifted and my limbs strengthened by the purer
         air.</p>
     </quote>

A quotation in which marginal quotation marks are encoded using bestow

<quote rend="pre(&amp;ldquo;) post(&amp;rdquo;) bestow( ( pre(&amp;ldquo;) ) (lb) )">Long
multiline quotation here...</quote>
Direct speech encoded with <said>:
        <said rend="pre(&ldquo;)post(&rdquo;)">Bless 
        me! </said> he said, looking about him, <said
        rend="pre(&ldquo;)post(&rdquo;)">I never 
        did.</said>
        
Quoted material encoded with <quote>:
        If we reflect whether <quote rend="slant(italic)"> to 
        be, or not to be</quote>, we are surely lost.
        
Quotations whose status is uncertain should still be 
        encoded with <quote>:
        <p>I then spoke to him plainly, saying <said 
        rend="pre(&ldquo;) post(&rdquo;)">If I were in 
        your shoes, I would not <quote rend="pre(&lsquo;) 
        post(&rsquo;)">taunt the chicken</quote> with such 
        vainglory.</said></p>
        This example uses <quote>even though we have no idea 
        where the phrase “taunt the chicken” comes from. (Note that this usage 
        would need to be carefully distinguished from <gloss> or <term>, 
        which would be appropriate if it seemed that the phrase in question was a 
        technical term rather than a quotation.)