Correspondence and Epistolary Research Ontology

• Periodical ^c
• Work ^c

• Lettertext ^c
• Index Information ^c

• Proposition ^c
• Theme ^c
• Illocution ^c

This class encompasses the physical expression of a letter, namely the original manuscript as a communication object. It encompasses various information, such as the textual content of the letter. Its primary function was to facilitate the exchange of textual messages between two or more individuals.

This class comprises the part of the predicate in the form of terms that serve as semantic concepts, describing the scope or range of the verb within the implicit semantic statements mentioned in the letters of the early Romanticism period. In this project, instances of CER10 Proposition are terms from the controlled vocabulary 'Correspondences of Early Romanticism: Propositions’. Its instances consist of terms related to knowledge transfer, intellectual exchange, and collaborative working processes, specifically in connection with research findings in Romanticism studies, letter studies, and the knowledge about the cultural aspects of everyday life during the 1800s.

This class comprises general topics or keywords that are implicitly mentioned within the letters of the early Romanticism period. In contrast to the instances of CER10 Propositions, these issues represent more general and common subjects of a letter, akin to terms found in a 'Schlagwortkatalog' (subject catalogue). In contradistinction to the CER8 Statement Class, which delineates content concerning knowledge transfer, intellectual exchange, and collaborative working processes within the letter texts, the terms enumerated in this class constitute broader thematic aspects of the entire letter.

This class comprises the activities making up processes of correspondence items involving at least two persons. This class and its subclasses have been adapted from the TEI standard for correspondences, specifically drawing from the correspAction element. The aim of this class is to refine categorization in order to illuminate the multifaceted layers inherent in the transmission of written communication. Even though the correspAction element covers the sending, receiving, transmitting, redirecting and forwarding correspondence items, due to the scope of the project, the Version 1.0 of the CER-ontology presently encompasses solely the sending and receiving actions. If needed, additional classes can easily be added by other projects This decision is due to the fact that the current database contains annotations only for the sending and receiving actions, which are consequently the only ones within our current scope of the knowledge domain.

• took place at ^op
• was intended use of ^op

• Sending ^c
• Receiving ^c

This class comprises the sending process of correspondence items involving at least two persons. It has been adapted from the TEI standard for correspondences, specifically drawing from the correspAction element. The aim of this class is to supply information concerning the sending or dispatch of a message.

This class comprises the receiving process of correspondence items involving at least two persons. It has been adapted from the TEI standard for correspondences, specifically drawing from the correspAction element. The aim of this class is to supply information concerning the receipt of a message.

This class comprises the various editing events that lead to the creation and development of instances of CER2 Reference Data Set. It provides insights into the editing process engaged in this progression, offering a comprehensive overview and, at times, specific details regarding the editing procedure. Notes and status notes detailing which editing events have taken place can be added as a CER21 String.

This class comprises identification numbers of authority records, such as the geonames ID of a place or the GND ID of a person. Due to the importance of authority records for the semantic web and LO(U)D and their role in uniquely identifying entities across databases, the subclass was created to set these records apart from other authority documents as specified by E32 Authority Document. It serves to enhance the metadata of letters and provides additional information about instances mentioned within the letters. These identification numbers contribute to enriching the contextual details and knowledge associated with the instances. This class is listed under this module instead of the module “Editing process” as the assignment of authority records to entities constitutes documentations of these entities with external sources. Editing on the other hand describes more of a research process within a project. In the latter case the decisions which led to the annotation of a resource are more likely to be documented and known to the project members. Even though authority records are at best as well documented and were part of a research process, they represent more the result of this process while the editing leading to an annotation of an resource in a letter illustrates more the process itself.

This class comprises the textual representation of a letter, specifically focusing on its semantic, written content. It does not address the material aspects of the letter, meaning that the origin of the text (whether from the original manuscript or a printed version) is not considered. In this project, the texts are transcribed and edited in adherence to the guidelines of the Digital Edition of the Correspondence of August Wilhelm Schlegel (KAWS). Following these guidelines, the texts are in diplomatic transcription.

This class refers to the time when a Correspondence Action (CER12 Correspondence Action) was realised and when an editing process was closed (CER15 Editing).

This class is used to refer to places involved in a Correspondence Action (CER12 Correspondence Action) and places which are mentioned in a letter text (CER4 Index Information). They may have an additional authority record like geo names (CER16 Authority Record) but this is not mandatory. Places are not used to give more information about the provenance of a letter, as this is not within the ontology’s scope.

The scope of the ontology covers databases documenting initial transcription and editing of letters but also cases where existing data is gathered and integrated into a secondary database, i.e. a knowledge graph. This class is intended to reference the datasets which are the basis of the secondary database. Therefore, the purpose of this class is to provide a reference for the provenience of the data and to document the editing process of the letters as far as it has happened prior to integration into the current database.

This class defines the language in which the letter text (CER3 Lettertext) of a letter from the romantic circle is written. A letter text may have more than one language.

The class CER22 Identifier comprises codes in the form of numbers assigned to instances of all classes in order to identify them uniquely and permanently.

The class CER17 Person refers exclusively to editors and historical persons, as these are the only persons collected in the data.

• has language ^op
• has generic term ^op
• has component ^op

• implied in ^op
• carries ^op

This class comprises index information referring to the semantic representation of historical persons, historical periodicals, historical works, historical institutions and places within the text of a letter. This means that entities of this class represent a textual conceptualization of these historical persons, periodicals, works, institutions, and places, not their physical manifestation, which is expressed in the classes CER17 Person, CER19 Place, CER5 Periodical, CER6 Work and CER7 Institution.

• lists ^op
• has subject ^op
• has object ^op
• has component ^op

This class comprises periodicals that are referenced, mentioned, and discussed within the letters of the early Romanticism period.

This class comprises works that are mentioned, talked about and discussed within the letters of the period of early Romanticism. The instances of the class CER6 Work hold information about the title and author(s) of a certain work. Some of the instances may also contain information translations, receptions e.g. about the work.

This class comprises institutions that are referenced, discussed, and mentioned within the letters of the early Romanticism period.

This class comprises semantic statements that are implicitly mentioned within the letters of the early Romanticism period and extracted into a formal syntax by an editor. These statements are defined as 'grundlegenden Einheiten einer Erzählung' and describe content related to knowledge transfer, intellectual exchange, and collaborative working processes within the letter texts. Although the actual content of these statements is written by a historical person, the implicit and intended meaning, expressed through general terms of a controlled vocabulary, is provided by an editor. It is important to note that modelling such statements involves inherent uncertainty and subjectivity. The statement class serves as a framing point connected to the classes that make up the contents of the statements. In general, the syntax of these statements can take two forms: either a triple in the form of Subject – Illocution (as Predicate, represented by a verb) – Object (SPO-Triple), or a quadruple in the form of Subject – Illocution (as Predicate, represented by a verb) – Proposition (as an expanded part of the Predicate that describes the range of the verb) – Object. The elements subject and object are represented through the class CER4 Index Information. Within the project context, the Subject element is only represented through a Person, ergo an instance from the class CER17 Person. Anyhow this may change, depending on the usage of the ontology. To ensure the flexibility of the model, the decision was made to keep it open and so not to set a constraint. The predicate in form of illocution respectively proposition is represented through the class CER9 Illocution respectively CER10 Proposition. The instances of this class are represented by statement IDs, which contain information about the triple or quadruple structure of the statement.

• implied in ^op
• has subject ^op
• has object ^op
• has illocution ^op
• has proposition ^op

This class comprises the part of the predicate in the form of a verb within the implicit semantic statements mentioned in the letters of the early Romanticism period. In this project, instances of CER9 Illocution are terms from the controlled vocabulary 'Correspondences of Early Romanticism: Illocutions'. Its instances consist of verbs related to knowledge transfer, intellectual exchange, and collaborative working processes. The illocutions follow Searle's illocutionary types, which classify verbs into assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarative groups.

• is about ^op
• has generic term ^op

• has illocution ^op
• has proposition ^op

This property associates an instance of CER16 Authority Recordt, with an instance of CER4 Index Information (e.g. mentioned persons, places, periodicals, works and/or institutions) which it lists for reference purposes.

This property describes the appearance of one or more statements within the text of a letter. It connects a statement with the lettertext in which this statement is mentioned implicitly.

This property documents that an instance of the Index Information (CER4) within lettertext is about a specific thing in the real world like a Person (CER17), Institution (CER7), Work (CER6), Periodical (CER5) or Place (CER19). The instance of the Index Information (CER4) represents the textual abstraction of these things in the context of a letter. Nevertheless these things exist as realities in the real world independently of the letter or its context.

This property associates an instance of CER8 Statement with an instance of CER4 Index Information in the role of subject of this statement. For the knowledge domain in the CER-ontology, only Index Information which is about a Person (CER17) can be attributed as subjects. This is expressed through restrictions in the logical data model, but on a conceptual level all entities in a letter can potentially be assigned as subjects of a statement.

This property associates an instance of CER8 Statement with the instance of CER4 Index Information used in the attribution. As a result, the instance of CER4 Index Information becomes the object of this statement.

This property associates an instance of CER8 Statement with an instance of CER9 Illocution, which has the role of the verb or predicate in this statement. It constitutes as the connection between the subject and the object of a statement and is mandatory.

This property associates an instance of CER8 Statement with an instance of CER10 Proposition, which serves as an expansion that specifies the range of the verb or predicate in a statement. It gives more context to the illocution of a statement and is optional.

This property describes the connection between an instance of a CER2 Reference Data Set that documents an instance of CER3 Lettertext or CER1 Letter. This property intent is to show that this Reference Data Set (CER2) isn't representing the content of a letter as a whole but only the parts of a letter (in this case the lettertext) which are the result of an editing process or that the Letter (CER1) which applies to a Reference Data Set (CER2) is the result of an editing process. Even though the original manuscript existed in the real world, an instance of Letter (CER1) embodies its representation in scholarly editions, as digital copies and inferred letters. These representations are then collected in an editing software, which is the database for instances of CER1 Letter. The Lettertext (CER3) which is referred to is already an edited text in terms of a research object, which is making a proposition about reality.

This property links an instance of CER15 Editing to the instance of CER2 Reference Data Set, which was created in an editing process. Thereby it represents the research process of conceptualising the intellectual content of the instance of CER2 Reference Data Set. It does not necessarily represent the act of creating the first digital carrier of the instance of CER2 Reference Data Set, but rather the process that concludes to the data set which represents the sources (the lettertexts) in the project “Correspondence of Early Romanticism''.

This property describes the identification of any item in this knowledge domain by a unique identifier.

The Lettertext (CER3) “Jena d. 7. März 1798. Mein werthester Herr Hofrath, Gestern, da ich erst Abends zurückgekommen war, brachte mir Hr. Horn den ersten Band von der neuen Ausgabe Ihres Shakspeare, welchen Sie die Güte gehabt, ihm für mich mitzugeben. (...)” has language ‘Deutsch’ (CER20).

This property defines that an instance of Letter (CER1) as a physical manifestation carries the Lettertext (CER3) as its textual representation. Textual representation for the CER knowledge domain is defined as the content of a letter in its written form.

This property documents that an instance of a Lettertext (CER3) is about a generic theme (CER11) which describes as a general and common subject the text as a whole, similar to a keyword.

This property associates an instance of CER3 Lettertext with instances of Index Information (CER4) mentioned within this lettertext. These instances of Index Information (CER4) are by themself a structural part of the Lettertext (CER3) they are mentioned in.

This property associates an instance of CER12 Correspondence Action or CER15 Editing with the instance of CER18 Time-Span during which the Correspondence Action (CER12) (like Sending (CER13) or Receiving (CER14)) or the Editing process was ongoing. The associated instance of CER18 Time-Span is understood as the real time-span during which the phenomena making up the temporal entity instance were active.

This property describes the Place (CER19) where a Correspondence Action (CER12) happened, meaning the sending and receiving place.

This property describes the Person (CER17) involved in or responsible for an Editing (Activity) (CER 15) or for a Correspondence Action (CER12), for example sender(s) or receiver(s) of a letter or the person

This property relates an instance of CER12 Correspondence Action with instances of CER1 Letter, which was created specifically for this Correspondence Action. This means that the intended use of a letter in the knowledge domain of the CER-ontology is that it’s part of a Correspondence Action. The Correspondence Action (in Sending or Receiving) is the crucial difference between a text as a document or composition and a text as a letter in terms of a communication medium.