diff --git a/specs/XKB/ch10.xml b/specs/XKB/ch10.xml
index d4b57536..5604048c 100644
--- a/specs/XKB/ch10.xml
+++ b/specs/XKB/ch10.xml
@@ -2393,7 +2393,7 @@ To set the
 It does not wait for a reply, and normally returns
 <symbol>True</symbol>.
 Specifying a value of
-<emphasis>0</emphasis>
+<literal>0</literal>
  for the
 <parameter>delay</parameter>
 parameter causes
diff --git a/specs/XKB/ch11.xml b/specs/XKB/ch11.xml
index 02940d37..2277924b 100644
--- a/specs/XKB/ch11.xml
+++ b/specs/XKB/ch11.xml
@@ -277,9 +277,8 @@ used when the
 <emphasis>ComposeLED</emphasis>
  control is implemented, a consistent convention between implementations is to
 everyone’s benefit. If a named indicator is used for this purpose, the
-recommended name is "
-<emphasis>Compose</emphasis>
-". Note that some implementations may use an unnamed, custom hardware LED for
+recommended name is “<literal>Compose</literal>”.
+Note that some implementations may use an unnamed, custom hardware LED for
 this purpose.
 </para>
 
@@ -312,9 +311,7 @@ While the Xkb extension does not specify the type of bell to be used when the
 <emphasis>BeepOnComposeFail</emphasis>
  control is implemented, a consistent convention between implementations is to
 everyone’s benefit. If a named bell is used for this purpose, the recommended
-name is "
-<emphasis>ComposeFail</emphasis>
-".
+name is “<literal>ComposeFail</literal>”.
 </para>
 
 
diff --git a/specs/XKB/ch20.xml b/specs/XKB/ch20.xml
index 3ca2523c..580f986c 100644
--- a/specs/XKB/ch20.xml
+++ b/specs/XKB/ch20.xml
@@ -250,20 +250,16 @@ described below. Each of the fields in
 composed of characters from the ISO
 <emphasis>Latin1</emphasis>
  encoding, but can contain only parentheses, the wildcard characters
-‘
-<emphasis>?</emphasis>
-’ and ‘
-<emphasis>*</emphasis>
-’, and characters permitted in a component class or member name
+‘<literal>?</literal>’ and ‘<literal>*</literal>’,
+and characters permitted in a component class or member name
 (see <link linkend="Component_Names">section 20.1</link>). A pattern may be
 <symbol>NULL</symbol>,
 in which case no components for that type is returned. Pattern matches with
-component names are case sensitive. The ‘
-<emphasis>?</emphasis>
-’ wildcard matches any single character, except a left or right parenthesis;
-the ‘
-<emphasis>*</emphasis>
-’ wildcard matches any number of characters, except a left or right
+component names are case sensitive. The
+‘<literal>?</literal>’
+wildcard matches any single character, except a left or right parenthesis;
+the ‘<literal>*</literal>’
+wildcard matches any number of characters, except a left or right
 parenthesis. If an implementation allows additional characters in a component
 class or member name other than those required by the Xkb extension (see
 <link linkend="Component_Names">section 20.1</link>), the result of comparing one of the additional characters to
@@ -651,21 +647,18 @@ The individual fields in
  are
 <emphasis>component expressions</emphasis>
  composed of keyboard component names (no wildcarding as may be used in
-<function>XkbListComponents</function>
-), the special component name symbol ‘%’, and the special operator
-characters ‘
-<emphasis>+</emphasis>
-’ and ‘
-<emphasis>|</emphasis>
-’. A component expression is parsed left to right, as follows:
+<function>XkbListComponents</function>),
+the special component name symbol ‘<literal>%</literal>’,
+and the special operator characters
+‘<literal>+</literal>’ and ‘<literal>|</literal>’.
+A component expression is parsed left to right, as follows:
 </para>
 
 <itemizedlist>
 <listitem>
   <para>
-The special component name "
-<emphasis>computed</emphasis>
-" may be used in
+The special component name “<literal>computed</literal>”
+may be used in
 <structfield>keycodes</structfield>
  component expressions and refers to a component consisting of a set of
 keycodes computed automatically by the server as needed.
@@ -673,9 +666,7 @@ keycodes computed automatically by the server as needed.
 </listitem>
 <listitem>
   <para>
-The special component name "
-<emphasis>canonical</emphasis>
-" may be used in
+The special component name “<literal>canonical</literal>” may be used in
 <structfield>types</structfield>
  component expressions and refers to a partial component defining the four
 standard key types:
@@ -688,25 +679,22 @@ and
 </listitem>
 <listitem>
   <para>
-The special component name ‘
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-’ refers to the keyboard description for the device specified in
+The special component name ‘<literal>%</literal>’
+refers to the keyboard description for the device specified in
 <parameter>device_spec</parameter>
  or the keymap names component. If a keymap names component is specified that
-does not begin with ‘+’ or ‘|’ and does not contain ‘
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-’, then ‘
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-’ refers to the description generated by the keymap names component.
+does not begin with
+‘<literal>+</literal>’ or ‘<literal>|</literal>’ and does not contain
+‘<literal>%</literal>’, then ‘<literal>%</literal>’
+refers to the description generated by the keymap names component.
 Otherwise, it refers to the keyboard description for
 <parameter>device_spec</parameter>.
 </para>
 </listitem>
 <listitem>
   <para>
-The ‘
-<emphasis>+</emphasis>
-’ operator specifies that the following component should
+The ‘<literal>+</literal>’
+ operator specifies that the following component should
 <emphasis>override</emphasis>
  the currently assembled description; any definitions that are present in both
 components are taken from the second.
@@ -714,9 +702,8 @@ components are taken from the second.
 </listitem>
 <listitem>
   <para>
-The ‘
-<emphasis>|</emphasis>
-’ operator specifies that the next specified component should
+The ‘<literal>|</literal>’
+ operator specifies that the next specified component should
 <emphasis>augment</emphasis>
  the currently assembled description; any definitions that are present in both
 components are taken from the first.
@@ -724,9 +711,8 @@ components are taken from the first.
 </listitem>
 <listitem>
   <para>
-If the component expression begins with an operator, a leading ‘
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-’ is implied.
+If the component expression begins with an operator, a leading
+‘<literal>%</literal>’ is implied.
   </para>
 </listitem>
 <listitem>
@@ -751,12 +737,12 @@ Here is a slightly more involved example: the expression
 "acme(ascii)+de(basic)|iso9995-3" constructs a German (de) mapping for the
 ASCII keyboard supplied by the "acme" vendor. The new definition begins with
 the symbols for the ASCII keyboard for Acme (
-<emphasis>acme(ascii)</emphasis>
+<literal>acme(ascii)</literal>
 ), overrides them with definitions for the basic German keyboard (
-<emphasis>de(basic)</emphasis>
+<literal>de(basic)</literal>
 ), and then applies the definitions from the default iso9995-3 keyboard
 (
-<emphasis>iso9995-3</emphasis>
+<literal>iso9995-3</literal>
 ) to any undefined keys or groups of keys (part three of the iso9995 standard
 defines a common set of bindings for the secondary group, but allows national
 layouts to override those definitions where necessary).
@@ -769,17 +755,16 @@ ordering are.</para></note>
 <para>
 Note that the presence of a keymap
 <parameter>names</parameter>
- component that does not contain ‘
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-’ (either explicit or implied by virtue of an expression starting with an
+ component that does not contain
+‘<literal>%</literal>’
+ (either explicit or implied by virtue of an expression starting with an
 operator) indicates a description that is independent of the keyboard
 description for the device specified in
 <parameter>device_spec</parameter>.
 The same is true of requests in which the keymap names component is empty and
 all five other names components contain expressions void of references to
-‘
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-’. Requests of this form allow you to deal with keyboard definitions
+‘<literal>%</literal>’.
+Requests of this form allow you to deal with keyboard definitions
 independent of any actual device.
 </para>
 
@@ -808,9 +793,9 @@ If a required component has not been specified in the
 <parameter>names</parameter>
  structure (the corresponding field is
 <symbol>NULL</symbol>
-), the server substitutes the expression "
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-", resulting in the component values being taken from
+), the server substitutes the expression
+“<literal>%</literal>”,
+ resulting in the component values being taken from
 <parameter>device_spec</parameter>.
 In addition, if
 <parameter>load</parameter>
@@ -818,9 +803,9 @@ In addition, if
 <symbol>True</symbol>,
 the server modifies
 <parameter>names</parameter>
- if necessary (again using a "
-<emphasis>%</emphasis>
-" entry) to ensure all of the following fields are non-
+ if necessary (again using a
+“<literal>%</literal>”
+ entry) to ensure all of the following fields are non-
 <symbol>NULL</symbol>
 :
 <structfield>types</structfield>,