An Encoding Model for Earlier Japanese Lexicography: The TEI-Based Encoding of Heian-Era Dictionaries

Abstract

This paper describes an efficient encoding model using a TEI-based schema for the earlier Japanese dictionaries (–1615), namely Heian-era Chinese character dictionaries. Structural annotation allow us to mediate the structural invisibility in earlier dictionaries that hinders the wider use of those materials. Moreover, encoding these materials in a uniform model will clarify their structural differences. The schema, TEI (Text Encoding Initiative), is a globally accepted text-encoding convention that encompasses a variety of encoding ideas, including those for dictionaries and lexical databases. There has been little literature on the application of TEI to traditional East Asian dictionaries, whose encoding raises a number of considerations. This paper establishes a method of efficient encoding of the characteristic elements of earlier dictionaries.