document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); You can also upload a document to get an instant quote. The main style guides all agree on this, although . Capitalize such words as northern, southern, eastern, and western when they refer to the people in a region or to their political, social, or cultural activities. Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. The AP Stylebook, which is the guiding stylebook for a number of news organizations, including The Daily Tar Heel, advises against using the Oxford comma in most basic series. Should southern be capitalized? Less democratic. Sallie Ward, a Southern belle. For example, The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) recommends capitalization:2. Here are the types of words that should be capitalized: Proper nouns. I live to the west of Detroit Michigan. But the AP Stylebook says to always capitalize Southern when referring to the South in the United States, regardless of whether youre discussing the Civil War. Use lower case for generic or plural references. CMOS looks at what a large relevant tranche of people do; this ultimately defines what is acceptable. When And When Not To. Is north capitalized there? @SvenYargs This is a very useful answer; I'm processing it. Before capitalizing words like east, west, north, and south, check whether you are using them as part of a proper noun or merely to refer to direction or location.Don't capitalize directions (we sailed due east) and locations (western India), but do capitalize compass points when they occur in proper nouns (North Korea, South Sudan, East Dunbartonshire, the Great Western Plains). The question as to whether something should be considered a name or not is one of style, and as such you should adhere to the discipline of your editor, publication, or organization, or in the absence of a house style, you should adopt a suitable. The first instance of when "global" should be capitalized is when used as the first word in a sentence. When the name of a city and state are used together, the name of the state should be abbreviated (except for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah). When referring to regions, capitalize these words. Regardless of what side of the debate table you are on, the different thoughts clearly illustrate how differing opinions could be on the matter, causing people to use capitalization rules the way they deem appropriate. Is that an argument? In the case of prime minister, either both words begin with a capital letter or neither, except, obviously, when it starts a sentence. The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. So you would only capitalize federal when you use it in the name of a federal agency, an act, or some other proper noun. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. When north, south, east, and west refer to generic directions (i.e., the points of the compass), they are not capitalized: The master bedroom is in the east wing of the mansion. But you capitalize them when theyre specific regions or an integral part of a proper name. Todays post explains when to capitalize geographic regions in the United States. The example you give is a generic direction used as an adjective (like the "east wing of the mansion" example in the post), so no capitalization is required. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. When did states go to 2 letter abbreviations? How to tell which packages are held back due to phased updates. The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. Broadly speaking, a region is an area that's divided by: Geographic regions are usually depicted by their not-so-clearly defined, and at times transitory boundaries. Use capital letters in the following ways: The first words of a sentence When he tells a joke, he sometimes forgets the punch line. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. However, there are a few exceptions you should learn about. In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. If it's a name, it's a proper noun. Words Which Should Not Be Capitalized in a Title. For example: I live in The North. For example, most people would capitalize South London because South London is a well-known part of a famous city. Capitalization Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board, program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal name. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. 17th ed., U of Chicago P, 2017,www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec047.html. The first letter of someone's first, middle, and last name is always capitalized, as in John William Smith . In most forms of writings, not capitalizing direction names when they could have been capitalized doesn't bother the readers much. Capitalize these words when they designate regions. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go south on I-90," then you should keep south lowercase. In "the eastern portion of Colorado", however, "eastern" is written in small letters since it doesn't denote people or specific culture or practice. If as is used as a preposition, it is lowercase; if as is used as an adverb, conjunction or pronoun, it is uppercase. West is directly opposite east. Southern California; West Texas; the Lower East Side of New York; If in doubt, use lowercase. At 8.47 ("Popular place names or epithets"), CMOS notes that certain other regions and epithets receive initial caps as well. [Relevant examples:] the South, southern, a southerner (of a country); the South, Southern, a Southerner (in American Civil War contexts); the Deep South; Southern California; the South of France (region); Southeast Asia; South Africa; South African (referring to the Republic of South Africa); southern Africa (referring to the southern part of the continent); south; southern; southward; to the south (directions). How to Export PDF Tables from Adobe Acrobat to Excel (PC & Mac), How to Insert Images into Shapes in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac), How to Align the Periods in Numbered Lists in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac), How to Password Protect Files in Microsoft Word, How to Password Protect PDFs in Adobe Acrobat (PC & Mac). Unless they are actually part of the place name, directions dont need to be capitalized, but this depends on personal preference (e.g., if it might make this clearer to the reader) and whether its specified by a style guide. Please include the research youve done. Settlers moved into the West. Titles should only be capitalized if they precede a proper name when used as part of the name. Which Is More Stable Thiophene Or Pyridine. NOTE: Within certain regions it is not uncommon for many who live there to capitalize the adjective because of the special importance they attach to the regional designation. In a June 11 statement, the National Association of Black Journalists issued a recommendation "that whenever a color is used to appropriately describe race then it should be capitalized . (Cap or no cap on east and west). If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as " the Southern States ." However, if instead you reference a general location, such as "the southern winds," then the word southern should be lowercase. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". It is also a great option for general business writing. Here are directions capitalized in sentences: Words such as "southerner" and "northerner" are usually not capitalized if they denote people. Terms that denote regions of the world or of a particular country are often capitalized, as are a few of the adjectives and nouns derived from such terms. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. Duck Vs. Loon: How Are These Words Connected? Short story taking place on a toroidal planet or moon involving flying, Doubling the cube, field extensions and minimal polynoms. You don't even want to know what he calls pancakes. You should always capitalize Westerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. That's when even the most exhaustive style . When did they standardize state abbreviations? Hi, Michael. The North, The East, The South, and The West. For example, capitalizing "Southerner" in the sentence "As a Southerner, she had a distinct drawl" can be up for debate. Circling back to the "title" rule, if the headline is in sentence case and the word "region" is not the starting word of the title, "region" should be written in lowercase. Should Southern colonies be capitalized? English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. When using a U.S. geographic region as an adjective, the decision to capitalize or lowercase will depend on your style guide. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). For example, "western Massachusetts", "northern New Jersey". You should only capitalize directions, such as south, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the South.". So, if a person is from South Africa, south would be capitalized since it's the proper name of the country. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. The administration's solution: Ease credit for riskier borrowers. Unless you are referring to the Four Seasons, there is no reason for seasons to . Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) suggests lowercasing terms like midwesterner, northerner, southerner, and westerner, except when referencing the Civil War, in which case Northerner and Southerner should be capitalized:6. Whether it's an "official" name or not and how well the thing is defined have no bearing whatsoever. You capitalize state only when it follows the name of the state, as in New York State is also called the Empire State, or when its part of a traditional name for a state, like Empire State or Lone Star State. When it precedes the name of the state, dont capitalize the word unless its part of a title of . Are both letters capitalized in state abbreviations? Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. In June 1963, the Department provided an initial list of abbreviations, but many had only three or four letters, which were still too long. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. Direction-denoting terms such as north, south, east, west, etc. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). If you think southern California has properties which one ordinarily associates with countries or states, or at least you want to convey that this is so, then you should use the capitalization ordinarily used for names of countries or states. However, if, like Northern Ireland and North Korea, the direction is part of the proper name, it should be capitalized. Except for England, the other three countries have their own parliaments. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. 2 Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. So the upshot of my answer is that you didn't miss the memo (or perhaps I should say The Memo) on this issue, but at the same time you didn't notice a larger phenomenon in accordance with which initial-capping Southern California is by no means a unique, inexplicable, or indefensible treatment of a regional name. The concept of a "region" is significant and used widely among the several geography branches, each of which could describe the areas or zones in region-based terms. However, when giving an address, or in tables or other uses in which space is limited, use the US Postal Services symbol system, which consists of a two-letter abbreviation in which both letters are always capitalized and no periods are used (for example, NY for New York). Does Counterspell prevent from any further spells being cast on a given turn? the East, the North, the South, the West (of a country) northern, southern, eastern, western (parts of a country) Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. Home-buyers pay a 1.75% fee up . For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. Meaning of Western world and alternative terms, Specifying geography with cardinal directions, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup, Meaning of " Western world" and alternative terms. The other concern I have is that southern is a geographical term, that I feel shouldn't be usurped in this way. But the AP Stylebook says to always capitalize Southern when referring to the South in the United States, regardless of whether youre discussing the Civil War. In other words, capitalize words such as Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, Son, Daughter, and Sis when they are used in place of the persons name. Likewise, the rules for sentences apply: capitalize the common name at the . If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go north on I-90," then you should keep north lowercase. Usage guide. Another example, "Eastern" in the phrase "Eastern bankers" is capitalized since the word denotes a certain group of people. A recognized geographical region. One reason partisans capitalize "White" or "Black" is to denote its importance in messages, even subliminally, magnified by lowercasing the "other." As always, we believe that labels can oversimplify, and that a specific description is better. By convention, however, southern is capitalized when it refers to the region of California: I live in Southern California. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. In what contexts would I capitalize "city" and "county"? The names of things are known as common nouns. The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) has a useful and detailed discussion of this issue. I don't think there's an established norm for identifying regions of Albania in English (although you might get a different answer if you asked an Albanian, I suppose), but looking at Google Ngrams, "southeastern Albania" seems to be the most common option: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=southeast+Albania%2Csoutheastern+Albania%2Csouth-east+Albania%2Csouth-eastern+Albania&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csoutheast%20Albania%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csoutheastern%20Albania%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csouth%20-%20east%20Albania%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csouth%20-%20eastern%20Albania%3B%2Cc0
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