Z39.98-2012 Structural Semantics Vocabulary

Z39.98-2012 Structural Semantics Vocabulary

Table of Contents

About this vocabulary

This RDF vocabulary, a part of NISO Z39.98-2012, defines a set of terms relating to the description of structural semantics of documents in general, and written works in particular.

You are currently reading the normative W3C XHTML+RDFa expression of this vocabulary. It is also available in informative Notation3 and RDF/XML syntax versions.

Document last modified: 2012-12-19. Refer to the revision history for details.

Major document structures

Standard terms used for the classification, partitioning and dividing of a document.

Document types

fiction
A work of fiction.
non-fiction
A work of non-fiction.
article
A major independent section in a piece of writing, typically appearing in journals, magazines or newspapers.
essay
An essay.
textbook
A textbook.
catalogue
A catalogue.

Document partitions

frontmatter
Preliminary material to the content, such as tables of contents, dedications, etc.
bodymatter
The body content of a document.
backmatter
Ancillary material occurring after the document body, such as indices, appendices, etc..

Document divisions

volume
A component of a collection.
part
A major structural division of a piece of writing, typically encapsulating a set of related chapters.
chapter
A major structural division of a piece of writing.
subchapter
A major sub-division of a chapter.
division
A major structural division that may also appear as a substructure of a part (esp. in legislation).
section
A structural division typically subordinate in importance to a part or division (esp. in textbooks and legislation).
subsection
A major sub-division of a section.

Document sections

foreword
An introductory section that precedes the work, typically not written by the work’s author.
preface
An introductory section that precedes the work, typically written by the work’s author.
prologue
An introductory section that sets the background to a story, typically part of the narrative.
introduction
A section in the beginning of the work, typically introducing the reader to the scope or nature of the work’s content
preamble
A section in the beginning of the work, typically containing introductory and/or explanatory prose regarding the scope or nature of the work’s content
conclusion
An ending section that typically wraps up the work.
epilogue
A concluding section that is typically written from a later point in time than the main story, although still part of the narrative.
afterword
An ending section that typically details the history of the story or its significance.

Document reference sections

toc
A table of contents, typically appearing in the work’s frontmatter, or at the beginning of a section.
appendix
Supplemental information.
glossary
An alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms.
bibliography
A list of works cited.
discography
A list of albums and/or songs by a performer.
filmography
A list of acting roles by a performer.
index
A detailed list, usually arranged alphabetically, of the specific information in a publication.
colophon
A brief description usually located at the end of a publication, describing production notes relevant to the edition.

Titles

title
The title of the work, or, when used in the context of a fulltitle, the primary part of the full title.
halftitle
The title appearing that appears on the first page of a work or immediately before the text.
Inherits from:
title
fulltitle
The full title of the work, either simple, in which case it is identical to title, or compound, in which case it consists of a title and a subtitle.
Inherits from:
title
Same as:
http://purl.org/dc/terms/title
subtitle
An explanatory or alternate title for the work.
Inherits from:
title
covertitle
The title of the work as displayed on the work’s cover.
Inherits from:
title

Preliminary sections and components

published-works
A list of additional works by the author.
title-page
The title page of the work.
halftitle-page
The half title page of the work.
acknowledgments
A passage containing acknowledgments to entities involved in the realization of the work.
imprint
Information relating to the publication or distribution of the work.
imprimatur
A formal statement authorizing the publication of the work.
loi
A listing of illustrations included in the work.
lot
A listing of tables included in the work.
publisher-address
The publisher’s address, which can be abbreviated to city and postal code only.
publisher-address
A note from the publisher.
editorial-note
An explanation of an editor’s method, or a discussion of variant texts.
grant-acknowledgment
Describes financial assistance towards the work.
contributors
A list of contributors to the work.
other-credits
Acknowledgments of previously published parts of the work, illustration credits, and permission to quote from copyrighted material.
biographical-note
A biographical note about the author or authors, here including editors, compilers, and translators).
translator-note
An introductory note from the translator(s).
errata
Publication errata, in printed works typically a loose sheet inserted by hand; sometimes a bound page.
promotional-copy
A promotional description of the book, often containing quotations from reviews.
dedication
An inscription addressed to one or several particular person(s).

Document components

Non-structural components that occur within documents, such as letters, poems, quotations, etc.

pgroup
A group of interrelated paragraphs.
example
A sample, model, illustration or template representative of some aspect of the narrative.
epigraph
A quotation at the start of a document or section that typically introduces or sets the theme for what follows.

Annotations

annotation
Explanatory information about passages in the work.
introductory-note
An annotation whose purpose is to provide an introductory note.
Inherits from:
annotation
commentary
An annotation whose purpose is to provide commentary.
Inherits from:
annotation
clarification
An annotation whose purpose is to provide a clarification.
Inherits from:
annotation
correction
An annotation whose purpose is to provide a correction.
Inherits from:
annotation
alteration
An annotation whose purpose is to indicate an alteration made to the source document, such as the re-arrangement or removal of content.
Inherits from:
annotation
presentation
An annotation whose purpose is to describe some aspect of the document layout, such as the formatting of a page or conventions used in rendering the content.
Inherits from:
annotation
production
A temporary annotation not intended as part of the finished document, such as a production note
Inherits from:
annotation
attribution
An annotation whose purpose is to provide a source or attribution.
Inherits from:
annotation

Production roles

author
An author of a work.
editor
An editor of a work.
general-editor
The general editor of a work.
commentator
A commentator on a work.
translator
A translator of a work.
republisher
A republisher of a work.

Description types

structure
A structural description for a piece of content (e.g., a table structure summary).

Addresses

Physical

geographic
A positional location, typically expressed by coordinates.
postal
A postal or mailing address.

Virtual

email
An email address.
ftp
A file transfer protocol address.
http
A hypertext transfer protocol address.
ip
An internet protocol address.

Asides

aside
Secondary or supplementary content.
Secondary or supplementary content, typically formatted as an inset or box.
Inherits from:
aside
practice
A review exercise or sample.
Inherits from:
aside
notice
A notification.
Inherits from:
aside
warning
A warning.
Inherits from:
aside
marginalia
Marginalia.
Inherits from:
aside
help
Instructions/advice to the reader on using the work.
Inherits from:
aside

Dialogue/Drama

drama
A work of fiction intended for performance.
scene
A structurally significant segment of a drama.
stage-direction
An instruction to an actor or director, included in the work.
dramatis-personae
A listing of the roles or characters appearing in the work.
Inherits from:
collection
See also:
persona
persona
The name or identity of an individual role or character appearing in the work.
See also:
dramatis-personae
actor
The name of the actor who plays a character in the work.
See also:
dramatis-personae
role-description
A description of a character in the work.
See also:
dramatis-personae
speech
An utterance by a persona.
See also:
persona

Diaries

diary
A diary.
diary-entry
A diary entry.

Figures

figure
An instance of a figure, which may include a title, caption and credits in addition to an image or table.
plate
A figure or image typically printed on a coated unnumbered page.
A section of a document containing more than one image, figure or plate. Gallery pages may be numbered or unnumbered, and on regular or special stock.

Letters

letter
An instance of a formal, informal or business letter.
sender
The name and address of the sender of a letter.
recipient
The name and address of the recipient of a letter.
salutation
An expression of greeting at the start of a letter.
valediction
An expression of farewell at the end of a letter.
postscript
An additional paragraph or note occurring after a signature in a letter.

Emails

email-message
An instance of a email message.
to
The recipient(s) email address line.
from
The sender’s email address line.
cc
The carbon copy email address line.
bcc
The blind carbon copy email address line.
subject
The email subject line.

Lists

collection
A set of interrelated items.
orderedlist
A list where the order of the list’s items is significant.
Inherits from:
collection
unorderedlist
A list where the order of the list’s items is not significant.
Inherits from:
collection
abbreviations
A list of abbreviations.
Inherits from:
unorderedlist
timeline
A chronological list of events
Inherits from:
orderedlist

Notes

note
A footnote or a rearnote, linked from the main text via a note reference
See also:
noteref
footnotes
A collection of notes appearing at the bottom of a page.
Inherits from:
collection
See also:
footnote
footnote
A note appearing at the bottom of a page.
Inherits from:
note
See also:
footnotes
rearnote
A note appearing in the rear (backmatter) of the work, or at the end of a section.
Inherits from:
note
See also:
rearnotes
rearnotes
A collection of notes appearing at the rear (backmatter) of the work, or at the end of a section.
Inherits from:
collection
See also:
rearnote

Verse

verse
A work typically composed of metered or rhyming lines (as opposed to prose).
poem
A poem.
Inherits from:
verse
song
A song.
Inherits from:
verse
hymn
A hymn.
Inherits from:
song
lyrics
The text of a song.
Inherits from:
verse
See also:
song

Document text

Terms for describing text elements.

text
A segment of text.
phrase
A group of lexical words, comprising a single unit within a sentence.
Inherits from:
collection
text
keyword
A key word or phrase.
sentence
A group of lexical words comprising a lexical sentence.
Inherits from:
phrase
topic-sentence
A phrase or sentence serving as an introductory summary of the containing paragraph.
concluding-sentence
A phrase or sentence serving as a concluding summary of the containing paragraph.
t-form
An informal second-person pronoun.
Inherits from:
phrase
v-form
A formal second-person pronoun.
Inherits from:
phrase

Abbreviations

acronym
An abbreviation formed from initial letters of a name or expression, pronounced as a word.
initialism
An abbreviation formed from initial letters of a name or expression, with each letter pronunced separately.
truncation
An abbreviation formed from the first part of a word.

Numerals

cardinal
A value indicating quantity.
ordinal
A value indicating rank or position.
ratio
An expression of the magnitude of two quantities relative to each other.
percentage
A value that defines proportionality to a whole, including percent sign if present.
phone
A phone number, including area code and international dialing code.
isbn
An International Standard Book Number.
currency
A currency value, including the denomination indicator.
postal-code
A postal or zip code.
result
A single value that includes two or more sets of numbers separated by spaces.
fraction
A single fraction with a numerator and denominator, and without a preceding whole number.
mixed
A whole number followed by a fraction with a numerator and denominator.
decimal
A single value where the integral number is separated from the fractional value by a decimal point or comma.
roman
A single value expressed using roman numerals.
weight
A single weight value, including units.
measure
A single value of measure, including units.
coordinate
A value expressing the location of a point in n-dimensional space, including degree, minute and other indicators if specified.

Value Groups

range
A numeric, spatial or temporal range of values, as expressed by the start and end values.
result
The outcome of an event, such as a sporting match or vote.

Proper Nouns

place
The name of a city, state, province, country or other geographic or political entity. .
nationality
The name of a nationality, national group, or other designator of association. .
organization
The name of an organization, corporation, or other business entity. .
taxonomy
The name of a species, genus or other taxonomic classification. .
product
The brand name of a product, medication, etc. .
event
The name of a religious, sporting, or other event, holiday or festival. .
award
The name of an award or prize. .

Personal names

personal-name
A proper name identifying a person, often composed of a given name and a family name.
Inherits from:
http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/#term_name
given-name
The part of a personal name that distinguishes the person from a group of persons sharing the same surname. Also known as ‘forename’ or ‘first name’. .
Equivalent to:
http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/#term_givenName
surname
The part of a personal name that associates the person with a group of persons sharing the same surname. Also known as ‘last name’.
See also:
family-name
family-name
The part of a personal name that indicates the family to which the person belongs. Often used in conjunction with a honorific.
Inherits from:
surname
See also:
surname
Equivalent to:
http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/#term_familyName
name-title
The part of a personal name that signifies veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. .
Equivalent to:
http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/#term_title
signature
The handwritten, digital or stamped representation of a person’s name.

Words

word
A lexical word.
Inherits from:
text
compound
A word created by the combination of two or more stems.
homograph
An instance of a set of words with the same spelling but different etymologies and often pronunciations (e.g. bass the instrument and bass the fish).
portmanteau
A word created from the merging of two other words (e.g. brunch from breakfast and lunch).

Word Parts

root
The primary lexical unit of a word.
stem
The word form common to all its inflected variants.
prefix
An affix attached to the front of a stem.
suffix
An affix attached to the end of a stem.
morpheme
The smallest linguistic unit of a word with semantic meaning.
phoneme
The smallest linguistic unit of a word that forms a sound.
grapheme
The smallest linguistic unit of a written word.

Artwork

illustration
An illustration.
photograph
A photograph.
decorative
Artwork serving only a decorative purpose, not contributing relevant information.
The publisher’s logo.
Inherits from:
decorative
frontispiece
A frontmatter illustration.
Inherits from:
illustration

References

reference
A reference to another information entity – a resource, fragment, concept, or notion.
resolving-reference
A reference which contains data intended to allow resolving the target entity.
Inherits from:
reference
nonresolving-reference
A reference to a non-resolving target – a concept, notion or other imprecisely defined entity.
Inherits from:
reference
noteref
A reference to a note, typically appearing a superscripted symbol in the main body of text
Inherits from:
resolving-reference
See also:
note
annoref
A reference to an annotation
Inherits from:
resolving-reference
See also:
annotation
citation
A reference to bibliographic work, resolving to an entry in a directly or indirectly identified bibliography
Inherits from:
resolving-reference
See also:
bibliography
nonresolving-citation
nonresolving-citation
An imprecise reference to a bibliographic work.
Inherits from:
nonresolving-reference
See also:
citation
continuation
A reference to another segment of the current work that constitutes the logical continuation of the current segment.
Inherits from:
resolving-reference
continuation-of
A reference to another segment of the current work that the current segment is a continuation of.
Inherits from:
resolving-reference

Custom Content (Republishing)

image-placeholder
A placeholder for a reference to a non-existing or deliberately removed image.
Inherits from:
nonresolving-reference

Priority

primary
Indicates the current element has primary importance (for example, may identify the primary table of contents for a work or a primary source).
secondary
Indicates the current element has secondary importance.
tertiary
Indicates the current element has tertiary importance.