# ¶ Textual Encoding Initiative

Textual Encoding Initiative (TEI) is a [consortium](https://tei-c.org/) and an [XML standardized markup language](https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp) used for encoding literary texts, historical documents, and the like. During the process, scholars use TEI to "markup" texts to indicate different aspects such as titles, chapter headings, line breaks, and handwritten marginalia, as well as to note significance and inscribe interpretation. Most commonly TEI is used to create critical editions and facsimiles. 

**Related terms:**

* **Markup languages** use tags to define elements within a digital document. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is used for encoding texts and employs a number of different standards and schemas.
* **Markup tags** are in and out marks that “wrap” a text element, e.g., a title, header, single word, paragraph, etc. Below is a simple example using the more commonly known markup language, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language):

```
<h2>Their Eyes are Watching God</h2>
<p><em>Their Eyes are Watching God</em> was written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1937.
</p>
```

In a web browse the above looks like:

### &#x20;    Their Eyes are Watching God

&#x20;    *Their Eyes are Watching God* was written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1937.&#x20;

The \<h2> tag marks the title as a header and determines the specific size of the header. The \<p> tag marks the sentence as a paragraph or a general body of text and the \<em> tag marks the title as emphasized (italicized).&#x20;

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