List of witnesses in footnotes (add \fw ...\fw*)

[klassenjm]

Proposal

• Add character marker pair \fw …\fw* for “footnote witness list”. For distinguishing a list of sigla representing witnesses in critical editions.

A companion USX 3.0 proposal exists at: ubsicap/usx#31

Background

Apparatus entries of printed critical editions are densely packed with information. One key part is the list of witnesses supporting a specific reading. The witnesses are usually represented by sigla consisting of one character, an abbreviation, or a number.

There are two main reasons for distinguishing witness lists from other text in digital representations of apparatus entries: A clearly distinct list of witnesses makes it easy to add linking and to check for errors.

Digital representations have the ability to explicate the compact notation of apparatus entries, e.g. by linking to an explanation of a witness sigil (which may be shown as a pop-up window).

The high density of witness lists makes the process of changing or inserting something in it error-prone. Ideally, a critical edition project in Paratext has its own tool for checking if a witness sigil is inserted correctly – similar to other Basic Checks for references or quoted text.

At the moment, the Institute for New Testament Textual Research (together with GBS) is using Paratext to work on a new edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (NA29). Another project that could benefit from this notation is the Old (Church) Slavonic Ostrog Bible 1581 (OSTR1581). GBS is working on bringing further critical editions to Paratext.