should southern be capitalized should southern be capitalized

It only takes a minute to sign up. in the southwestern part an eastward direction These words usually do get capitalized when they describe a region of the world or of a country, but there are some exceptions. By prevailing usage, roughly the most southerly one-third or two-fifths of California is referred to as Southern California, in initial caps. Erin Wright, 20122023. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. Canada, Western European nations and developed parts of Asia; Global Southern countries are those that are less economically developed such as nations in Africa and some parts of Asia [29 . At the most basic level, the standard advice is to lowercase north, south, east and west when used as compass directions and to capitalize them when they are used as part of a proper noun or adjective or refer to regions or geographic areas. Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. are widely recognized as popular names and are thus capitalized. For example: I live in The North. Each morning, the sun rises in the east . Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. If youre referring to a specific location, such as the western winds, western should be lowercase. As a result, noun will always be the first capital letter. However, the forms bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree and master's are acceptable as general terms. Is South capitalized when talking about the Civil War? ANS: Demand, Copyright 2023 TipsFolder.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. The mines are located in the western part of the plateau. Duck Vs. Loon: How Are These Words Connected? How should "Northern Europe" be capitalized? But you capitalize them when theyre specific regions or an integral part of a proper name. Using Kolmogorov complexity to measure difficulty of problems? Todays post explains when to capitalize geographic regions in the United States. In general, you should capitalize the names of countries and languages. Capitalize proper nounsand adjectives derived from proper nouns. As explained in the post, some people do capitalize terms like "the North" when they refer to a well-established geographical area. But when the words are used in specific contexts, denote people belonging to a particular region, or refer to their social, political, or cultural activities, they are capitalized. Is Southern capitalized in southern states? This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. (1) often capitalized: of or relating to any of various population groups having dark pigmentation of the skin (black Americans) (2) : of or relating to the African-American people or their culture (black literature) (a black college) (black pride) (black studies) From Merriam-Webster Dictionary Part of the definition for white English Proofreading and Copyediting Prices, Spanish Proofreading and Copyediting Prices, northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts. When in doubt, lowercase. North, South, East and West as Proper Nouns You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). It might be amusing to look for instances of "southern Southern California" or "northern Southern California". States should also be abbreviated when used as part of a short-form political affiliation. To summarize the advice above, we suggest: However, capitalization may depend on the style guide youre using. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When did they standardize state abbreviations? The word should only be capitalized if it appears in the body's name. Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the Southern food in Tennessee. What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. The official USPS postal abbreviation is this format. The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. 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. [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). In 1963, the state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations. When used to refer to direction and location, dont capitalize the names of directions like north, south, east, or west; however, when they appear in the names of places and regions, do capitalize these words. The term "region" is a general noun, and it's usually not capitalized, as a result. doesn't shout the need for "capitalization", it's safe to write it in lowercase. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. The United Kingdom, for instance, is a region that comprises four countries: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Chicago style is best for writers who want to adhere to traditional publishing standards and academic writers in non-scientific fields. In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. So, should you capitalize regions when writing? Binomial nomenclature is, of course, also used for animals, including the singularly curious one designated as Homo sapiens. The name of a theatrical play, but this is also a conventional geographical region that would be capitalized anyway. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. The plant common name has to conform to the rules of English, however, so if there's a proper noun in the common name, it must be capitalized. Names of regions should be capitalized if those are proper nouns or denote a country, city, continent, etc. When to capitalize North East south west? 8 What states in the US are consider southern states? Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. You should capitalize "North," "South," "East," and "West" when they're part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. proofreading, You should only capitalize directions, such as south, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the South.". If these geographic areas are part of a name, however, such as "River Thames", capitalize the term. Do you capitalize north? Are you supposed to capitalize north south east and west? The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and gloves. So, if a person is from South Africa, south would be capitalized since it's the proper name of the country. Should compass directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west) ever be capitalized? The capitalization of as depends upon its function. Hi, James. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. After all, it was named after its inventor, Edwin Southern, and therefore the use of the capital is justified. Proper nouns should always be capitalized. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. The geographical areas "The North," "The East," "The South," and "The West" are treated like proper nouns. However, in certain pairings, the common noun appears after a name or proper noun for instance, "the Highlands Region". 'I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker.' Popular usage sets the rules for standard practice especially in the case of region names. What states in the US are consider southern states? Otherwise, the word should be lowercased, as in "the god of war.". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Q. Debating with an editor over capitalization of the word bicentennial. There's not enough context in your example to offer any solid advice (e.g., the "north" of where? When referring to a specific region, you should capitalize the words East Coast such as Im traveling to the East Coast since East Coast is a proper noun in this case. One exception to this rule: common objects with a country or nationality as part of the name ( french fries, scotch whiskey, venetian blinds, and so forth). This seems a difficult case; as this discussion at. The same rule applies for specific regions when you add -ern onto the end of a direction. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) suggests capitalizing terms like Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner:5. Rule 1. So it would be best to check your style guide if you have one and to make sure whatever you choose is used consistently. Why distinguishes money from other assets in the economy. , Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence. Capitalize the traditional geographic regions in the United States: the Midwest, the North, the South, the West, and the combined regions (i.e., the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Southwest). West is directly opposite east. These should not be capitalized unless they are the first or last word of the title. Capitalize such words as Northerner, Southerner, and Midwesterner. Prepositions, such as at, around, by, after, along, for, from, of, on, to, with & without. Capitalize the first word of every sentence. Hi, Chris. It was put into effect at first for big businesses, but was then gradually adopted by everyone as a standardized format. This is known as 'title case'. When words like northern, southern, eastern, or western precede a place name, they aren't usually capitalized because they only indicate a general location within a region. Is Grandma a well-behaved woman? When combining with another common noun to form the name for a region . Here Chemistry and Spanish are the proper nouns. 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. When we write the days of the week, we always use a capital letter. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). This format is the official USPS postal abbreviation. Though a direction is a general noun, it could at times be not that straightforward to ascertain whether it's a common noun or a proper noun. The following examples illustrate not only the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS] but also variations based on context and usage. Capitalization For WebCT Users in Writing Classes: The "caps" icon (usually immediately before a word) indicates either that the following word ought to be capitalized (for one of the reasons listed here) or, if it is already capitalized, that it shouldn't be. My friend is a southerner. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Please note that my close-vote reason was 'lack of reasonable signs of research'; I believe that there are differences between the 'northern Europe' example and this one. Thus, we have rigid goldenrod but Missouri goldenrod, azure penstemon but Torrey's penstemon and California penstemon. Did any DOS compatibility layers exist for any UNIX-like systems before DOS started to become outmoded? For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. You should only capitalize directions, such as north, when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the North.". Wotan is one of the gods in Wagner's Ring Cycle. When words like northern, southern, eastern, or western precede a place name, they arent usually capitalized because they only indicate a general location within a region. I is always capitalized, along with all its contractions. That means you should lowercase articles, Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. Dont capitalize names of directions like north, south, east, and west when used to refer to direction and location, but do capitalize these words when they appear in the names of places and regions. 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. Here are some rules to follow. However, when the terms southerner and northerner refer to people on either side of the United States civil war, the civil war was fought between Southerners and Northerners. As a general thumb rule, if a particular direction (north, south, etc.) Best Book Writing Software and Book Writing Apps, Cursive Text Generator , Buscador de palabras y descifrador de palabras. Other assets have a wide range of liquidity. Capitalize names of organizations, institutions, stores, businesses, teams, political parties, and government bodies. However, it is accepted that these are capitalized when discussing the American Civil War, for example, and, as mentioned in this article in the final Summary section, some style guides prefer north and south to always be capitalized when referring generally to these areas of the United States. Examples: southern France, northern Canada. When Should You Capitalize Geographic Regions in the United States? The seasons arent proper nouns, so theyre not usually capitalized. The sentence which is capitalized correctly is My easiest classes are Chemistry and Spanish. In terms of "human geography", the regions and their subregions are elucidated by the ethnography discipline. Note that it doesn't seem to be treated as a compound proper noun (e.g., searching for "Southeastern Albania" produces an error since Ngrams is case sensitive and there don't seem to be any instances of that capitalization in the Google Books database). Is north capitalized there? The correct sentence is Carlotta and I love Halloween. I still don't see any "descriptivist argument", much less a strong one. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go south on I-90," then you should keep south lowercase. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate direction or general location. Do You Capitalize the Word "Queen" in a Sentence? If you are merely referring to a . If it's a general noun such as a river, lake, ocean, etc., the region need not be capitalized. In other words, when the word "region" is a part of a name or is being specific in its meaning, the word is capitalized. A recognized geographical region. Instead, I have compiled a partial list of things people shouldn't capitalize but commonly do anyway. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go north on I-90," then you should keep north lowercase. AP style is primarily for journalists and writers who want to conform to traditional journalism styles. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. - thanks! You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Most of the north is sandy, and the northern coast is mountainous. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". If it's a name, it's a proper noun. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. The mines are in the plateaus western region. The mines are located in the western part of the plateau. Should I capitalize "the north" and "the south" in my work on the southern campaign of the Revolutionary war? What is the rule for state abbreviations? Hi, Lynne. That means that official names of departments and units should be capitalized and not when referring to just a type of department or unit. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. 'CMOS recognizes that common usage and context determine conventional approaches to capitalization in connection with the treatment of certain terms related to regions.' The main style guides all agree on this, although . Do you capitalize Southern in southern United States? Use lower case for generic or plural references. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. So, noun will be always first capital letter. The names of things are known as common nouns. However, as in the case of plant names, animal names are not capitalized ("I spotted a red-tailed hawk," not "I spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk"), except when an element of the name is a proper noun, as in "Steller . This suffix makes the direction an adjective, and when it describes a specific region, it should be capitalized. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. If youre referring to the Western States, for example, youre referring to a group of proper nouns. However, widely known designations are capitalized: the Upper East Side, Southern California. Unless you are referring to the Four Seasons, there is no reason for seasons to . AP Style says it should be capitalized while the Chicago Style Manual says it should be lowercased. Names of gods are capitalized, including Allah, Vishnu, and God. Thank you. Guidance to capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. What does it mean that the Bible was divinely inspired? seems less related to the usual descriptivist process, more opinion-based. For instance, the term "ecoregion" is used commonly in environmental geography, "bioregion" in biogeography, etc. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. During the Civil War, Northerners and Southerners battled in twenty-three states. I live to the west of Detroit Michigan. rev2023.3.3.43278. Except for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah, the name of a city and state should be abbreviated when they are used together. (There is a lot of leniency on whether to capitalize "The." Few would argue that the region is called "The North" as . Characteristics. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. But if someone prefers "African American," use that term rather than a more generic "black." When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. It is also a great option for general business writing. Certain public figures get capitalized, but others dont. And "north" in that sentence refers to a direction (i.e., where you turned), not the place (i.e., Bolton Avenue). Titles should only be capitalized if they precede a proper name when used as part of the name. Dont capitalize the word when it precedes the states name unless its included in a states title. Lorry Vs. Truck: Meaning And How To Use Each One, Turnip Vs. Radish: Meaning And Differences Of These Words. Pronouns that refer to any god or gods should be lowercased. The seasons are not proper nouns and are therefore not normally capitalized. Example: "War-weary ministers in London asked themselves why they fought a costly war in the [north] when they had friends in the Carolinas and Georgia.". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Capitalize My Title makes title capitalization easy. 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. Therefore, use "Black" and "White" instead of "black" and "white" (do not use colors to refer to other human groups; doing so is considered pejorative). Lowercase to when it functions in an infinitive. Is that an argument? Of course, they should be capitalized at the start of sentences and in titles, as they are with other nouns. You can even submit asample document for free to see how our services work. Rule 2. Lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other lowercase letters are used when indicating compass direction. Just make sure you are consistent with the letter case. The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. 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. To properly follow AP style guidelines, only use one space after a period, as opposed to the often used double-space. Which sentence is capitalized correctly Carlotta? The state abbreviations are always in the same format: two letter abbreviations where both letters are uppercase and no periods or spaces between each letter. Others may argue that the word simply denotes the direction of the region the individual lives and must not have the capital letter. down South. But southerner and northerner are capitalized when they refer to people on either side of the civil war in the United States: 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. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. However, to, not a dash, should be used when from introduces a range of dates (from 2012 to 2013, not from 2012-13).