Copyright 2005 © John Bullitt
Although I have found the traditional editorial tools (see the References) indispensable, the peculiarities of HTML and the idiosyncrasies of this website call for something more: hence this style sheet. These notes summarize some of the trickier points of style that I've had to address in my work on Access to Insight, plus a few basic matters of style that I always seem to forget.
Here and there I include references (in bold) to pertinent sections or pages in the References.
This style sheet is under constant development. Known errors (FIXMEs) are marked with special text.
¡!Important note: In early 2005 I began converting the website to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Until every page in the website is fully CSS-enabled, there will be some glaring inconsistencies of style between the CSS- and non-CSS pages. I am also in the process of migrating to a more consistent and flexible file naming scheme that accommodates translations of the same text by different authors. The sections in this document that refer to these and other issues that are not yet fully implemented across the entire website are marked thus: ¡!.
The superficial aspects of texts (layout, spelling, obviously misplaced commas, etc.) may be modified, but never the content, without the approval of the author or publisher.
Exception: When I extract individual suttas from books, I may remove the footnotes for ease of reading. There are always links from the suttas back to the books, where the original notes may be found. Compare, for example, Piyadassi Thera's translation of the Ratana Sutta as it appears in his book The Book of Protection with its appearance as an individual sutta. FIXME: This example doesn't link back to the book.
There are many different rules for spelling: American or British? brahmin or brahman? Nibbana or Nirvana?. Pick one or the other and stick to it. Mixing up styles distracts the reader. It is inexcusable for a single document to contain both "flavour" (British) and "color" (American).
This website includes texts from many different authors and publishers, each of whom has his or her preferred standards of style. Rather than try to blindly force everything into a single, unified style, I've instead tried to preserve consistency within each particular genre or category of texts: sutta translations tend to follow one style; books in the Buddhist Publication Society's Wheel series follow another; articles by the Thai forest ajaans follow another; and so on.
British | American | Notes and tips |
---|---|---|
arbour behaviour colour endeavour favour fervour flavour harbour honour humour labour odour savour splendour |
arbor behavior color endeavor favor fervor flavor harbor honor humor labor odor savor splendor |
Regexp search: [a-xz]our
Be careful when making global changes — you don't want to change devour, nourish, flourish, etc. And watch for prefixes and suffixes (dis-, un-, -able, -ite, -ing, -ably, etc.). |
practise | practice | |
analyse | analyze | Beware of analyses (pl. of analysis) |
authorise characterise criticise memorise |
authorize characterize criticize memorize |
Search for oris. |
skilful fulfil |
skillful fulfill |
|
centre centring lustre meagre metre |
center centering luster meager meter |
Be careful with global changes: changing *centre* to *center* would change centred to centerd! |
cheque, chequered | check, checkered | |
learnt | learned | |
plough | plow |
Some authors claim that "an historical" avoids confusion with the word ahistorical, but I stick with CMS13.
There is no consensus yet on the "correct" spelling of this word. There are good arguments either way: website would find good company alongside other familiar contractions, such as bandwagon, heartbeat, and meatball, while web site is consistent with band shell, heart attack, and meat locker. I can't think of any good examples of hyphenated compound nouns that might lend support to web-site (heart-like and meat-flavored don't count, as each one is built from a noun plus an adjectival combining form). Some people prefer Web site (capitalized), in deference to "World Wide Web" (always capitalized). But I prefer the simple, unadorned, compactness of website. Time will tell.
Ajaan Geoff has pointed out that brahman (a member of the Hindu priestly caste) is more sensible since it's more akin to the Pali brahmana from which the English word is derived. According to the OED2: "The form Brahmin, a corruption of the Indian vernacular pronunciation, is still all but universal in popular use; during the present century Orientalists have adopted the more correct Brahman, which (often written Brâhman or Bráhman) is employed by most writers on India." Admittedly, that OED entry was written a long time ago (probably in the early part of the 20th century), but until someone can make a compelling case in favor of brahmin, I'll stick with brahman.
According to the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, Brahman and Brahma are alternate spellings of the word for the Hindu Absolute (the dictionary prefers Brahman). Interestingly, however, OED2 does not even allow Brahman as an alternate spelling of Brahma. No wonder there's so much confusion: even the great lexicographer's can't agree how to spell the word! To summarize: at Access to Insight, there is Brahma (the Hindu Absolute, etc.) and there is brahman (the priest). There are no brahmins here.
Geek note:To hunt down British spellings, commas outside quotes, etc., scattered across the website I use a rudimentary typo detector and spell checker. Its associated list of suspect words and word fragments contains my most up-to-date list of variant spellings.
It all depends on context. An informal essay treats Pali in one way. A chanting guide calls for another style. And articles containing detailed explorations of the etymology and meaning of Pali phrases call for something else altogether.
Pali words appear on this website in either of two forms: (1) "stripped" form, in which the diacritical marks are omitted (except for the palatal nasal ñ); and (2) Velthuis form, which is summarized here:
Two basic rules are observed: (1) long vowels are doubled: aa ii uu. (2) For consonants, the diacritic mark precedes the letter it affects. Thus, the retroflex (cerebral) consonants (usually typeset with a dot underneath) are: .t .th .d .dh .n .l. The pure nasal m (niggahiita; typeset with a dot underneath) is .m. The guttural nasal (n with a dot above) is represented by "n . The palatal nasal (n with a tilde) is ~n. Example: paa.naatipaataa verama.nii sikkhaa-pada.m samaadiyaami.
The particular Pali style is determined by the type of article or book. The style should be consistent throughout the entire document, or at least within its major sections.
Examples:
The first step in that solution is symbolized in the Siddhartha story by the prince's reaction to the fourth person he saw on his travels outside of the palace: the wandering forest contemplative. The emotion he felt at this point is termed pasada, another complex set of feelings usually translated as "clarity and serene confidence." It's what keeps samvega from turning into despair.
Ñanamoli (not ~Naa.namoli)
Thanissaro (not .Thaanissaro)
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (not Mahaa-satipa.t.thaana Sutta)
Type 2: Articles containing brief Pali technical discussions. In articles involving brief linguistic or technical discussions, use the stripped form, except on first occurrence, when the Velthuis form is also given in square brackets. Pali words may either be italicized throughout or only on first occurrence, depending on the particular text. (7.55CMS15 recommends first occurrence italics, which is manageable in simple or short documents. But keeping track of first occurrences in complex documents can quickly become an editor's nightmare.) Sutta titles and proper names are stripped and set in roman type.
The virtue of mudita [muditaa], i.e., finding joy in the happiness and success of others, has not received sufficient attention either in expositions of Buddhist ethics, or in the meditative development of the four sublime states (brahma-vihara [brahma-vihaara]), of which mudita is one.
If the appearance of bracketed Velthuis Pali would disrupt the readability of the document, it may instead be embedded as comments, tagged thus:
The HTML source for the preceding example with commented Velthuis would look like this:
The virtue of <i>mudita,</i> <!-- VVV muditaa VVV --> i.e., finding joy in the happiness and success of others, has not received sufficient attention either in expositions of Buddhist ethics, or in the meditative development of the four sublime states <i>(brahma-vihara),</i> <!-- VVV brahma-vihaara VVV --> of which mudita is one.
The virtue of mudita, i.e., finding joy in the happiness and success of others, has not received sufficient attention either in expositions of Buddhist ethics, or in the meditative development of the four sublime states (brahma-vihara), of which mudita is one.
The over-arching idea here is to preserve the diacritical information that accompanies manuscripts published on ATI. Someday someone will be able to make good use of even the commented diacritics.
Type 3: Articles containing extensive Pali technical discussions. Use italicized Velthuis throughout. Sutta titles and proper names use Velthuis and are set in roman type.
Buddhism describes the characteristics of all things in three statements: Sabbe sa"nkhaaraa aniccaa, sabbe sa"nkhaaraa dukkhaa, sabbe dhammaa anattaa, meaning all conditioned things are impermanent, all conditioned things are unsatisfactory, all phenomena are non-self.100 Here the change of terminology in the last statement seems important. The Sa.myutta Commentary explains the last statement as: Sabbe dhammaa anattaa ti sabbe catubhuumakaa dhammaa.101 The Visuddhimagga explains the four bhuumis or planes as kaamaavacara, ruupaavacara, aruupaavacara, and lokuttara, meaning...
Kammassakomhi kamma-daayaado kamma-yoni kamma-bandhu kamma-pa.tisara.no. Ya.m kamma.m karissaami kalyaa.na.m vaa paapaka.m vaa tassa daayaado bhavissaamiiti.
I am the owner of my actions, heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and live dependent on my actions. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (not Maha Satipatthana or Maha-Satipatthana)
Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta (not Cula Kammavibhanga or Cula-Kammavibhanga)
Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta (not Cula-malunkyovada Sutta)
Maha-Saccaka Sutta (not Maha-saccaka Sutta)
Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta (not Aggi-vacchagotta Sutta)
Ajaan Leewould be correctly alphabetized thus:
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Phra Ajaan Thate
Sayagyi U Ba Khin
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Upasika Kee Nanayon
Ba Khin, Sayagyi U
Bodhi, Bhikkhu
Kee Nanayon, Upasika
Lee, Ajaan
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Thate, Phra Ajaan
Exceptions: (1) If including the punctuation inside the quote marks would introduce some sort of ambiguity, then keep that punctuation outside the quote marks. For example, if a filename containing a period is quoted, any following punctuation should appear after the closing quote mark. (e.g., Download the file "bulk.zip". — not Download the file "bulk.zip.") (2) If a sentence ends with an ellipsis in quotes, the final period is omitted.
Be it a pleasant feeling, be it a painful feeling, be it neutral, one's own or others', feelings of all kinds [SN XXXVI.2; It's an apostrophe, not a quotation mark!]
The discussion in the four paragraphs beginning with the phrase, "Vision arose...," takes two sets of variables [SN XLVI.11]
To avoid misunderstanding it is better to be quite specific, such as — "Bhante, if you need any more food...," "If you need a new pair of sandals..." Unless specified an invitation can only be accepted for up to four months. [The Bhikkhus' Rules: A Guide for Laypeople; The period is omitted before "Unless" because of the preceding ellipsis.]
WRONG: Then the Blessed One uttered the exclamation: "Kondañña knows! Kondañña knows!," and that is how [SN XLVI.11]
BETTER: Then the Blessed One uttered the exclamation: "Kondañña knows! Kondañña knows!" — and that is how [SN XLVI.11]
"He directly knows water as water... fire as fire... wind as wind..." [MN 1]
"Then does Master Gotama hold the view: 'The cosmos is finite: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless'?"
"...no..." [MN 72]
"...'after death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist'... does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation; to calm, direct knowledge, full awakening, Unbinding." [MN 72]
do this:
If the file should ever get separated from its directory (as, for example, when it's sent as an e-mail attachment) you can tell at a glance what it is. If I receive a file named "22.html" I can't tell immediately if it's chapter 22 from the Dhammapada, sutta 22 from the Majjhima Nikaya, or something else altogether.
Examples:
I maintain a list of reserved translator codes.
Sutta file names have intrinsic meaning and contain translator codes.
Section |
Template [FIXME: these examples need links.] |
Notes |
---|---|---|
DN | dn-SS-ttt.html |
SS = sutta number (01, 02,... 34) ttt = translator code |
MN |
mn-SSS-ttt.html mn-018-tb0.html |
SSS = sutta number (01, 02,... 152) ttt = translator code |
SN | sn-YY-SSS-ttt.html |
YY = samyutta number (01, 02,... 51) SSS = sutta number (001, 002,... 999) ttt = translator code |
AN |
an-BB-SSS-ttt.html
an-03-065-st0.html |
BB = book number (01, 02,... 11) SSS = sutta number (001, 002,... 999) ttt = translator code |
Khp |
khp-ttt.html
khp-tb0.html |
ttt = translator code It doesn't make practical sense to split up Khp's small sections into separate files. |
Dhp | dhp-CC-ttt.html |
CC = chapter code (01, 02, ... 26) ttt = translator code |
Ud | ud-C-SS-ttt.html |
C = chapter code (1, 2,... 8) SS = sutta code (01, 02, ... 99) ttt = translator code |
Iti |
iti-N-ttt.html
iti-1-tb0.html |
N = nipata code (1, 2, ... 4) ttt = translator code Each nipata contains up to 50 suttas. Someday it may be prudent to subdivide Iti into individual suttas (itiSSS-ttt.html), but not until we have translations from more translators. |
Sn | snp-V-SS-ttt.html |
V = vagga code (1, 2, ... 5) SS = sutta code (01, 02,...) ttt = translator code |
Thag Thig |
thag-CC-PP-ttt.html thig-CC-PP-ttt.html |
CC = chapter number (00, 01, 02,... 99) PP = poem number (00, 01, 02,... 99) (note that chapter 1 contains > 99 poems. But they're small and will always be kept in a single file.) PP = 00 stands for a chapter that is "complete," either because it contains (a) just one poem or (b) a complete chapter. ttt = translator code |
Miln |
miln-ttt.html
miln-jk0.html |
ttt = translator code I don't have enough suttas yet to justify more granularity. |
For html details, see the sutta template.
Complex: PALI NAME (REFERENCE NUMBER) — ENGLISH NAME {ALTERNATE REFERENCE NUMBER} [TRANSLATOR1 | TRANSLATOR2 | ...]. BLURB. {ADDITIONAL NOTE}
Examples:
...Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa.Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa...
NO | YES |
---|---|
index.html#Ananda | index.html#ananda |
index.html#Samma-Ditthi | index.html#samma-ditthi |
index.html#samma_ditthi | index.html#samma-ditthi |
NO | YES |
---|---|
... <b><a href="foobar.html">click here</a></b> ... | ... <a href="foobar.html"><b>click here</b></a> ... |
NO | YES |
---|---|
It is stream-winning (sotapatti). It is stream-winning (<i>sotapatti</i>). |
It is stream-winning (sotapatti). It is stream-winning <i>(sotapatti).</i> |
If square brackets are used to attribute a verse passage, the attribution should be italicized. Example (SN IX.6):
They don't know bliss who haven't seen Nandana, abode of the eminent devas, glorious, of the Thirty-three.
You fool, don't you know the arahants' maxim? — ...
In suttas:
In Indexes:
The Lion's Roar: Two Discourses of Buddha (Bhikkhu Ñanamoli, trans.; Bhikkhu Bodhi, ed.; BPS WH 390, 1993)
In my comments "AG" refers to Ajaan Geoff (a.k.a. Thanissaro Bhikkhu).
The Chicago Manual of Style. 13th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. ("CMS13")
The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. ("CMS15")
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2d ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. ("OED2")
O'Connor, Patricia T. Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996. ("PTO")
Strunk, W., Jr. and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. 2d ed. New York: Macmillan, 1972. ("SW2")
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1983. ("W9")
Webster's Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1998. ("W10")