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A written text is divided into pages and lines; and into chapters, paragraphs and sentences. The former are related to the medium, while the latter are related to the meaning of the text. What are technical terms that describe this two types of partitioning?

I asked ChatGPT this question, and the answer contained the following terms (This jumble of therms is clearly not satisfying and I include them just to show the state of my research):

  • Physical Divisions, Typographical Divisions, Codicological Markup, Presentational Markup, Codicological divisions, Physical Layer, Typographic Layer
  • Logical Divisions, Semantic Divisions, Structural Markup, Content Markup, Structual Divisions, Logical Layer, Semantic Layer

I was pleased to learn that there exists a science called codicology but quickly found out it covers manuscript codices only. And while it covers medium related partitioning, it can hardly be the technical term for it, due to its thematic restriction.

I also find the termd markup and semantic doubtful in this context. I kindly ask any knowledgeable linguist to shed light on aspects of this question.

The goal of this question is to find a precise, technical pair of terms that distinguish between the concepts of medium- and content/meaning-related partitioning.

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    I would call the formatting elements or units, or presesntational units. I've rarely come across a context where it is necessary to give names to these groups of items. Commented Apr 19 at 15:52
  • @ColinFine Currenty I am thinking about a system that quotes text by referencing passages via meaning related positions. I think precise names are required to express the related problems clearly. Commented Apr 19 at 17:02
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    meaning related positions? What does that mean? In any event, you are mixing apples and oranges, in my opinion. Depending on the epoch, typography and layout and one thing. Narrative content is not logical and not a division. ChatGPT, what a rabbit hole. It's important to understand a field before throwing things in that thing and opening for something sensible. Books have chapters, if anything, not partitions. Commented Apr 19 at 22:15
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    @Lambie What are chapters, if not a way to partition a text? A meaning-based (or better: content-based) position would be, for example, ‘chapter 3, paragraph 7, sentence 2’, as opposed to a medium-based position like ‘page 3, column 1, line 7’. The latter would change if the medium changes; the latter will not. The distinction between the two is a crucial one when creating indices in books. Commented Apr 19 at 23:59
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    [Correction to the above: the latter would change if the medium changes; the former will not.] Commented Apr 21 at 8:52

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