capitalisation of Nouns?

[J. P. Gilliver]

I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on if
you learn it.

In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously part
of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have in
front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are situate
within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings have such
capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".

I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone know
when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I find it
irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know why; I
suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary Emphasis.)

[Graeme Wall]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on if
you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously part
of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have in
front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are situate
within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings have such
capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone know
when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I find it
irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know why; I
suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary Emphasis.)

I'm 11 years older than you and I wasn't taught it either.

[Charles Ellson]

On Thu, 30 Nov 2023 14:55:58 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver"

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on if
you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously part
of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have in
front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are situate
within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings have such
capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone know
when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I find it
irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know why; I
suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary Emphasis.)

Apart from the usual proper/personal nouns, capitalisation is often
seen where the noun refers to matters in the specific context of the
documents. Thus e.g. "the Sea" is not the same as the all-encompassing
"the sea" but only the body of water which is in the context of the
document. It is IME more now a peculiarity of legal English than of
general "proper" English. The full capitalisation of "NAME" (if it
isn't a typo) above is possibly more a case of emphasis for those
enumerators who would otherwise have put only an initial.

[Colin Bignell]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on if
you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously part
of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have in
front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are situate
within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings have such
capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone know
when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I find it
irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know why; I
suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary Emphasis.)

Of the four types of nouns, I was taught to capitalise only proper
nouns, aka the names of people, places, organisations etc. When and by
whom, I can't say, but we were introduced to writing with lower case
letters in primary school so it was probably then, which, for me, was
during the 1950s.

[Ian Goddard]

Post by Colin Bignell

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on
if you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously part
of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have in
front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are situate
within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings have such
capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone know
when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I find
it irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know why; I
suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary Emphasis.)

Of the four types of nouns, I was taught to capitalise only proper
nouns, aka the names of people, places, organisations etc. When and by
whom, I can't say, but we were introduced to writing with lower case
letters in primary school so it was probably then, which, for me, was
during the 1950s.

I'm the '44 vintage and this is more or less what I was taught - or
maybe it's just what I grew up reading. However, names of languages are
included such as Latin.

What's more Fowler also agrees and also points out verbs and adjectives
derived from capitalised nouns should also be capitalised, e.g.
Latinised & Latinate.

[J. P. Gilliver]

[]

Post by Ian Goddard

Post by Colin Bignell
Of the four types of nouns, I was taught to capitalise only proper
nouns, aka the names of people, places, organisations etc. When and by
whom, I can't say, but we were introduced to writing with lower case
letters in primary school so it was probably then, which, for me, was
during the 1950s.

Now you mention it, yes, I think I was taught only to capitalise proper
names, and a few exceptions like days of the week, months, and so on.

I might capitalise parts of an expression, but usually only jocularly
and informally - such as "excessive capitalisation is a Bad Thing."

Post by Ian Goddard
I'm the '44 vintage and this is more or less what I was taught - or
maybe it's just what I grew up reading. However, names of languages
are included such as Latin.

Yes, agreed. (It's noticeable that that isn't the case in some other
languages, such as I think French.)

Post by Ian Goddard
What's more Fowler also agrees and also points out verbs and adjectives
derived from capitalised nouns should also be capitalised, e.g.
Latinised & Latinate.

I suppose so. I'd have referred to my Partridge if I hadn't lost it - if
only to see whether I agreed with what he said; I found him an excessive
pedant, but very logical and thus a pleasure to read, whether I agreed
with what he said or not. (Always amused me that, presumably, a
partridge is one of the things a fowler would hunt.)

[Graeme Wall]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I suppose so. I'd have referred to my Partridge if I hadn't lost it - if
only to see whether I agreed with what he said; I found him an excessive
pedant, but very logical and thus a pleasure to read, whether I agreed
with what he said or not. (Always amused me that, presumably, a
partridge is one of the things a fowler would hunt.)

That thought never occurred to me!

[john1]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on
if you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously
part of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have
in front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are
situate within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings
have such capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone
know when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I
find it irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know
why; I suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary
Emphasis.)

In my case I think it started out as a mixture of what I was taught at
school from the fifties (and essays etc which were corrected by
teachers, who probably had their own ideas on capitalisation!) as well
as assimilation through reading books and papers. And then later,through
working for various publishers.

There is some history of the change over time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization_in_English

There are plenty of style guides including their current capitalisation
rules available for specific organisations and publishers, some are
published as books e.g.
Harts Rules for Oxford University Press (OUP)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart%27s_Rules
and
The Times Style Guide
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-style-guide-a-guide-to-english-usage-b0wnq9lsl

This link gives some of relevant New Harts Rules on capitalisation
https://premium-oxforddictionaries-com.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/secondary/harts_rules/5-1-general-principles

Another example is in The Guardian and Observer style guide; see under
"capitals" on this page
https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-c which starts:

"Times have changed since the days of medieval manuscripts with
elaborate hand-illuminated capital letters, or Victorian documents in
which not just proper names, but virtually all nouns, were given initial
caps (a Tradition valiantly maintained to this day by Estate Agents).

A look through newspaper archives would show greater use of capitals the
further back you went. The tendency towards lowercase, which in part
reflects a less formal, less deferential society, has been accelerated
by the explosion of the internet: some web companies, and many email
users, have dispensed with capitals altogether.

Our style reflects these developments. We aim for coherence and
consistency, but not at the expense of clarity. As with any aspect of
style, it is impossible to be wholly consistent – there are almost
always exceptions, so if you are unsure check for an individual entry in
this guide. But here are the main principles:

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Post by john1

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on
if you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously
part of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have
in front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are
situate within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings
have such capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone
know when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I
find it irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know
why; I suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary
Emphasis.)

In my case I think it started out as a mixture of what I was taught at
school from the fifties (and essays etc which were corrected by
teachers, who probably had their own ideas on capitalisation!) as well
as assimilation through reading books and papers. And then later,through
working for various publishers.
There is some history of the change over time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization_in_English
There are plenty of style guides including their current capitalisation
rules available for specific organisations and publishers, some are
published as books e.g.
Harts Rules for Oxford University Press (OUP)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart%27s_Rules

Try to get the 39th edition of the original. The Oxford Style Guide is
a waste of paper.

Post by john1
and
The Times Style Guide
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-style-guide-a-guide-to-english-usage-b0wnq9lsl
This link gives some of relevant New Harts Rules on capitalisation
https://premium-oxforddictionaries-com.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/secondary/harts_rules/5-1-general-principles
Another example is in The Guardian and Observer style guide; see under
"capitals" on this page
"Times have changed since the days of medieval manuscripts with
elaborate hand-illuminated capital letters, or Victorian documents in
which not just proper names, but virtually all nouns, were given initial
caps (a Tradition valiantly maintained to this day by Estate Agents).
A look through newspaper archives would show greater use of capitals the
further back you went. The tendency towards lowercase, which in part
reflects a less formal, less deferential society, has been accelerated
by the explosion of the internet: some web companies, and many email
users, have dispensed with capitals altogether.
Our style reflects these developments. We aim for coherence and
consistency, but not at the expense of clarity. As with any aspect of
style, it is impossible to be wholly consistent – there are almost
always exceptions, so if you are unsure check for an individual entry in
this guide. But here are the main principles: "

[Ian Goddard]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
I know that in German, Nouns are capitalised; it's just part of the
Grammar of the Language, and something you are taught fairly early on if
you learn it.
In English, People still do it quite a lot - but it was obviously part
of what one was taught at some Point: an 1881 Census Form I have in
front of me has along the top "The undermentioned Houses are situate
within the Boundaries of the", and all the Column Headings have such
capitalisation, such as "NAME and Surname of each Person".
I (born 1960) don't remember ever being taught to do this. Anyone know
when it stopped [being something one was officially taught]? (I find it
irritating, especially in modern Text, though I don't know why; I
suppose I imagine the Words being spoken with unnecessary Emphasis.)

Just to quote a contrary case, I'm working on a C18th copy of a map
supposedly of the time of Henry V. This includes a list of landmarks,
some of which have two word names. The first word is capitalised and
the second not, e.g. "Within edge". Many of them do have the faintest
of hyphens but not Within edge.

[JMB99]

Post by Ian Goddard
Just to quote a contrary case, I'm working on a C18th copy of a map
supposedly of the time of Henry V.  This includes a list of landmarks,
some of which have two word names.  The first word is capitalised and
the second not, e.g. "Within edge".  Many of them do have the faintest
of hyphens but not Within edge.

Conventions change over the years, if you look in old newspapers they
usually have streets as "high-street" with no capitalisation.

[Peter Johnson]

Post by JMB99

Post by Ian Goddard
Just to quote a contrary case, I'm working on a C18th copy of a map
supposedly of the time of Henry V.  This includes a list of landmarks,
some of which have two word names.  The first word is capitalised and
the second not, e.g. "Within edge".  Many of them do have the faintest
of hyphens but not Within edge.

Conventions change over the years, if you look in old newspapers they
usually have streets as "high-street" with no capitalisation.

I was about to post the example of High-street in newspapers when I
read this, as I have seen dozens, if not hundreds, like that. I
suppose that the capitalisation of street, road, crescent &c followed
the abandonment of the hyphen, which I suspect was 1950s onwards.

[J. P. Gilliver]

Post by Peter Johnson

Post by JMB99

Post by Ian Goddard
Just to quote a contrary case, I'm working on a C18th copy of a map
supposedly of the time of Henry V.  This includes a list of landmarks,
some of which have two word names.  The first word is capitalised and
the second not, e.g. "Within edge".  Many of them do have the faintest
of hyphens but not Within edge.

Conventions change over the years, if you look in old newspapers they
usually have streets as "high-street" with no capitalisation.

I was about to post the example of High-street in newspapers when I
read this, as I have seen dozens, if not hundreds, like that. I
suppose that the capitalisation of street, road, crescent &c followed
the abandonment of the hyphen, which I suspect was 1950s onwards.

Never thought of that; I suspect you're right. The abandonment of the
hyphen is a great loss to comprehension: actually, people still use the
odd one, but seem terrified of using two, where they would be
appropriate and clarify things no end.