Names of places

Encoding Instructions (new P5 version)

The WWP uses placeName to tag instances of locations referred to by proper nouns. In this case, a “place” is defined as a geographical or social designation of location, including geographical features such as mountains, rivers, fields, etc., and socially or legally defined locations such as towns, counties, countries, streets, districts, etc. Named monuments, bridges, towers and canals also take placeName.

The WWP tags all place names using placeName, regardless of their rendition. We do not use the more detailed elements for encoding geographical locations: settlement, region, country, geogName, and bloc. We do not use a key attribute for placeName.

In cases where a placeName may carry a possessive - for example, London’s demographic, or Jamaica’s lawyers - the apostrophe ess belongs inside the placeName wrapper. Even if renditionally distinct from the rest of the name, possessives do not warrant the use of hi or mcr.

In connection with personal names, we encode the names of places as long as they retain their explicit reference to a place rather than functioning simply as a surname. Thus the word “of” (or some similar construction) must be present, as in “William, Duke of Norfolk” or “John of Gaunt”. The placeName should be nested inside the persName.

We do not encode personal names within place names. In cases where the place name and personal name seem both to be present, we encode the most direct reference, the one which is functioning actively in the sentence. For instance:

     placeNameSt. Michael’s Mount/placeName [because it is referring most directly to the place]

We treat movable objects as things, not places, and encode their names using name, not placeName. We treat institutions as organizations, not places, and encode their names using orgName. However, a reference to the building where an organization meets would be encoded with placeName, since that building is a structure.

Example 1. Sample 
            distinctions between <placeName>, <name>, and 
            <orgName>:
            <placename>: England, County Cork, Stratford, Westminster, Pall 
            Mall, Downing Street, Whitechapel, Marston Moor, the Canary Islands, 
            the Thames, the Badlands, the Wash, the Alps,  Mount Rushmore,
            Stonehenge, Wells Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Bodleian Library, 
            the Capitol, the Houses of Parliament, the Parthenon, the White Horse Inn,
            the Queen Mary (a ship at anchor)
            <name>: the Queen Mary (a ship at sea), the Mona Lisa (even if referring
            to its physical location), Air Force One
            <orgName>: Oxford University, Parliament, Congress, the 
            Queen’s Bench, the AFL-CIO, the Stationers’ Guild