<delSpan> (deleted span of text) marks the beginning of a longer sequence of text deleted, marked as deleted, or otherwise signaled as superfluous or spurious by an author, scribe, annotator, or corrector.
Attributes:
type classifies the deletion, using any convenient typology.
Datatype: CDATA
Legal values:
overstrike deletion indicated by line crossing out the text.
erasure deletion indicated by erasure of the text.
bracketed deletion indicated by brackets in the text or margin.
subpunction deletion indicated by dots beneath the letters deleted.
Default: #IMPLIED
Example:
resp (responsible) signifies the editor or transcriber responsible for identifying the hand of the deletion.
Datatype: IDREF
Values: must be one of the identifiers declared in the document header, associated with a person asserted as responsible for some aspect of the text's creation, transcription, editing or encoding (see chapter 17 ).
Default: %INHERITED
Example:
cert (certainty) signifies the degree of certainty ascribed to the identification of the hand of the deletion.
Datatype: CDATA
Default: #IMPLIED
Example:
hand signifies the hand of the agent which made the deletion.
Datatype: IDREF
Values: must be one of the hand identifiers declared in the document header (see section 18.2.1 ).
Default: %INHERITED
Example:
to identifies the endpoint of the deleted passage, by giving the ID of an <anchor> or other element placed there.
Datatype: IDREF
Values: any valid SGML identifier, used on a later element.
Default: #REQUIRED
Example:
Note

Both the beginning and the end of the deleted material must be marked; the beginning by the <delSpan> element itself, the end by the to attribute. The element pointed at by to is understood to be included within the deleted passage.

status indicates whether the deletion is faulty, e.g. by including too much or too little text.
Datatype: CDATA
Legal values:
excess start some text at the beginning of the deletion is marked as deleted even though it clearly should not be deleted.
excess end some text at the end of the deletion is marked as deleted even though it clearly should not be deleted.
short start some text at the beginning of the deletion is not marked as deleted even though it clearly should be.
short end some text at the end of the deletion is not marked as deleted even though it clearly should be.
unremarkable the deletion is not faulty.
Default: 'unremarkable'
Example:
Note

Marking a deletion as faulty is inescapably an interpretive act; the usual test applied in practice is the linguistic acceptability of the text with and without the letters or words in question.

Example 
<p>Paragraph partially deleted.  This is the undeleted
portion <delSpan resp=author to=a23>and this the deleted
portion of the paragraph.
<p>Paragraph deleted together with neighboring material.
<p>Second fully deleted paragraph.
<p>Paragraph partially deleted; in the middle of this
paragraph the deletion ends and the anchor point marks
the resumption <anchor id=a23> of the text. ...
Note

Both the beginning and ending of the deleted sequence must be marked: the beginning by the <delSpan> element, the ending by the target of the to attribute.

The text deleted must be at least partially legible, in order for the encoder to be able to transcribe it. If it is not legible at all, the <delSpan> tag should not be used. Rather, the <gap> tag should be employed to signal that text cannot be transcribed, with the value of the reason attribute giving the cause for the omission from the transcription as deletion. If it is not fully legible, the <unclear> element should be used to signal the areas of text which cannot be read with confidence. See further sections 18.1.7 and, for the close association of the <delSpan> tag with the <gap> , <damage> , <unclear> and <supplied> elements, 18.2.4 .

The <delSpan> tag should not be used for deletions made by editors or encoders. In these cases, either the <corr> tag or the <gap> tag should be used.

Tagsetadditional tag set for text criticism
ClasseditIncl [and indirectly also:] globincl
Filenameteitran2
Content: May contain character data and phrase-level elements.
Parents[none]
Children[none]
Declaration
<!ELEMENT delSpan       - O  EMPTY                              >
<!ATTLIST delSpan            %a.global
          type               CDATA               #IMPLIED
          resp               IDREF               %INHERITED
                                                  
          cert               CDATA               #IMPLIED
          hand               IDREF               %INHERITED
                                                  
          to                 IDREF               #REQUIRED
          status             CDATA               'unremarkable' >
See 18.1.4

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