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Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. Hi, James. 8 What states in the US are consider southern states? 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 . When you're talking about America's West Coast or the Middle East, the directional word is also part of a proper name, and it gets a capital letter. Did the Allman Brothers Band play southern rock or Southern rock? Check your style guide (if applicable) for advice on specific terms. For example, The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) recommends capitalization:2. Should north East south West be capitalized? And if so, when? Capitalizing North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a specific geographical region or culture). It only takes a minute to sign up. As Sven Yargs' answer shows, there is a strong descriptivist argument involved. Is this correct. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); You can also upload a document to get an instant quote. 2 Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. With the passage of time, some words originally derived from proper nouns have taken on a life, and authority, of their own and no longer require capitalization. For example: When words such as "northern", "southern", "western", and "eastern" precede a region or place's name, do not capitalize them as they are only indicating a general location in a region. As an aside, when we toured through the San Francisco Peninsula earlier this year, our guide told us that the natives generally didn't like the name 'Silicon Valley'. And "north" in that sentence refers to a direction (i.e., where you turned), not the place (i.e., Bolton Avenue). editing, are widely recognized as popular names and are thus capitalized. The sentence which is capitalized correctly is My easiest classes are Chemistry and Spanish. This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. 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. "The South" is capitalized because it designates a definite region, e.g., "I was born and raised in the South." More answers below Be the first to read new posts and updates about MLA style. If the writer is referring to the United States and calling it just the States, then states needs to be capitalized. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Erin Wright with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. My name is Erin. Updated on December 22, 2018. Clearly, LA, OC, and SD are part of Southern California, but there are a lot of other places that are located in southern California that are not located in Southern California, such as Palm Springs, Salton Sea, Joshua Tree, Blythe, etc. @Devil07, the geographical adjective "southern" is not usurped -- it just means something different. The mines are in the plateaus western region. Also, if "region" is the first word in a sentence, it is capitalized. The days of the week are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. At 8.47 ("Popular place names or epithets"), CMOS notes that certain other regions and epithets receive initial caps as well. 10 Do I capitalize southern as in the US region? In all cases, though, you should: And if you need help, our expert proofreaders are ready! However, in certain pairings, the common noun appears after a name or proper noun for instance, "the Highlands Region". However, to, not a dash, should be used when from introduces a range of dates (from 2012 to 2013, not from 2012-13). When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as play with), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions. 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.". 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. You should capitalize the words East Coast when referring to a specific region, such as Im traveling to the East Coast, because East Coast is a proper noun in this case. The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. Note that exceptions based on specific regional, political, or historical contexts are inevitable and that an author's strong preference should usually be respected. When in doubt, lowercase. 2023 Caniry - All Rights Reserved The argument I hear is this is a region of the building not a direction, so it should be capitalized. It does not store any personal data. Thank you. The capitalization of as depends upon its function. Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. For example, "western Massachusetts", "northern New Jersey". Hi, Chris. Some common examples of when you should capitalize south include: down South the Deep South 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. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. If it's a name, it's a proper noun. Examples: southern France, northern Canada. Are you supposed to capitalize north south east and west? For example, Southern France is capitalized because it is a proper noun and . The seasons arent proper nouns, so theyre not usually capitalized. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. You should read both Western and Eastern philosophy. In this particular sentence, I is capitalized because it is placed at the beginning of the sentence. When to capitalize North East South West? For example, Silicon Valley isn't a proprietary name or legally defined area, but it receives initial caps anyway. Only a few signs of the zodiac are automatically capitalized (Capricorn, Gemini, Sagittarius, Taurus). If youre referring to a collection of proper nouns, such as the Southern States, this is the case. When used as part of a short-form political affiliation, states should also be abbreviated. So, should you capitalize regions when writing? Do you capitalize the word state when referring to a state? Names of regions should be capitalized if those are proper nouns or denote a country, city, continent, etc. AP style is primarily for journalists and writers who want to conform to traditional journalism styles. 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. ), Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. . when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. This seems a difficult case; as this discussion at. Short story taking place on a toroidal planet or moon involving flying, Doubling the cube, field extensions and minimal polynoms. However, it is only compulsory to do so when "North" is part of a proper noun. For example, NY for New York, use the US Postal Services symbol system. Names of gods are capitalized, including Allah, Vishnu, and God. 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. down South. So capitalize The Pacific Northwest and Central Texas, but not We drove west for two hours., The States that make up The South are usually considered to be: Virginia Tennessee Arkansas Louisiana North Carolina South Carolina Mississippi Alabama Georgia Florida Texas. Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? 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. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). However, when these words are actually part of the place name, they must be capitalized. 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as the Western States. However, if youre referring to a general location, such as the western winds then western should be lowercase. My friend is a southerner. With names of states The same rule applies as with names of nations. Geographic Regions Used as Adjectives The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. If the is used, use Prime Minister. You have entered an incorrect email address! 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). The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. Hi there! Capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. By attaching itself to a common object, the language or country name takes on a new meaning. Do You Capitalize the Word "Queen" in a Sentence? Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Instead, I have compiled a partial list of things people shouldn't capitalize but commonly do anyway. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? They live in the western part of the country. A diathermal wall between two thermodynamic systems in thermodynamics allows heat transfer but does not allow for the transfer of matter across it. I tried to describe the difference in my answer below. 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. The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. (Most uses will be uppercase.) This format is the official USPS postal abbreviation. When writing or proofreading manuscripts, names of regions and their capitalization rules could be tricky to discern or ascertain. Of all the various names or terms, direction names could be the trickiest to handle. 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). He's one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. In what contexts would I capitalize "city" and "county"? That's when even the most exhaustive style . Prepositions, such as at, around, by, after, along, for, from, of, on, to, with & without. U.S. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. If a is used, go with prime minister.). The Department decided on the current two-letter abbreviations in October 1963. I still don't see any "descriptivist argument", much less a strong one. The rules are fairly standard for title case: Capitalize the first and the last word. Common nouns are the names of things. Here Chemistry and Spanish are the proper nouns. And Wisconsin is known as the Badger State (not "the badger state") even though its official name is Wisconsin. In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. 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. (Cap or no cap on east and west). 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). The state abbreviations are always the same: two letter abbreviations with uppercase letters and no periods or spaces between them. North, east, south, and west are the four cardinal directions, often marked by the initials N, E, S, and W. East and west are at right angles to north and south. Capitalize the pronoun. The United Kingdom, for instance, is a region that comprises four countries: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. 'I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker.' Alternatively, some style guide suggest that all of the main words (i.e. When we write the days of the week, we always use a capital letter. September 18, 2013, at 9:56 pm. 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. 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. If states is being referred to in a general manner, such as There are two senators for each state, then the word states would remain lower case. The pastor prayed that God should deliver us from our sins. Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. Capitalize the Southern California region? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. The administration's solution: Ease credit for riskier borrowers. Capitalize locations in a country if the proper noun is given in other words, the name of a region or city, such as the Congo, the Mississippi River, etc. capitalization. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Capitalize My Title makes title capitalization easy. But, generally, you only need to capitalize a direction in a place name if the direction is a standard part of the places name. 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). Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, capitalization, Chicago style, dictionaries. The periods are omitted in headlines. Here are directions capitalized in sentences: Words such as "southerner" and "northerner" are usually not capitalized if they denote people. Chicago style is best for writers who want to adhere to traditional publishing standards and academic writers in non-scientific fields. 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. 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).1. 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. Yes, Southern is capitalized because it refers to the South (= the southern US). Capitalize directions that are names; North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions. Time arrow with "current position" evolving with overlay number. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved The difference between the phonemes /p/ and /b/ in Japanese. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). Whichever version you use, then, we'd suggest not capitalizing the direction, just the country name. Should I capitalize "the north" and "the south" in my work on the southern campaign of the Revolutionary war? When words like northern, southern, eastern, and western precede a place name, they are not ordinarily capitalized, because they merely indicate general location within a region. 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. But the AP Stylebook says to always capitalize "Southern" when referring to "the South" in the United States, regardless of whether you're discussing the Civil War. It's the inconsistency or the abrupt switching between capitalized letters and lowercase letters is what that puts readers off. But southerner and northerner are capitalized when they refer to people on either side of the civil war in the United States: Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate direction or general location. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. That means you should lowercase articles, Lowercase north, south, northeast, etc. Human settlements and their impact on the physical geography, and, The communication between the environment and humanity, The precipitation is the maximum in the interior, Cattle-breeding techniques or practices could vary across, Urundi and Ruanda are fertile, healthy, high-lying, and thickly populated, This text isn't a law but an abstract of the several special usages obtained in those, She passed the Lake Amadeus and the Reynolds range in that direction but had to turn, Many scholars are now studying the global. Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court? Are seasons capitalized or not? Western (and Northern) blots however, were not named after inventors but were given these names in honor of . That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. Some could argue the word "Southerner" in the sentence denotes someone who belongs to a specific region, and the letter "S" should therefore be capitalized. In general, midwesterners are friendly and down to earth. Is Grandma a well-behaved woman? It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of The Content Authority. Direction-denoting terms such as north, south, east, west, etc. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go north on I-90," then you should keep north lowercase. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. [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). We always use a capital letter when we write the days of the week. For example, most people would capitalize South London because South London is a well-known part of a famous city. Currently, Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary capitalizes Midwesterner, Northerner, Southerner, and Westerner, while Websters New World College Dictionary and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language only capitalize Midwesterner and allow northerner, southerner, and westerner to be capitalized or lowercased.7. Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. Here is part of that discussion: 8.46 Regions of the world and national regions. Using Kolmogorov complexity to measure difficulty of problems? The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) has a useful and detailed discussion of this issue. When they indicate compass direction, lowercase north, south, northeast, and so on, but capitalize when it indicates a region: the West Coast. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? only if it's a proper name. What about capitalizing a Southerner or a Southerner? The same applies for related adjectives and other compass directions: We live in the eastern part of the country. For example, the "river" is a general noun and not capitalized. The pronoun "I" NOTE: When terms like western region and southern district are used to name organizational units within a company, capitalize them. A recognized geographical region. Southern California; West Texas; the Lower East Side of New York; If in doubt, use lowercase. As a compass direction, south and southern are not capitalized: Capitalize each term when it is used as a proper name or as part of a proper name, and if the region is widely known: The Civil War pitted the South against the North. (I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker. (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 The following examples illustrate not only the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS] but also variations based on context and usage. As explained in the post, some people do capitalize terms like "the North" when they refer to a well-established geographical area. States and territories Use initial capitals for words in the formal name. However, be consistent and do not write: "Visitors to southern California climbed while visitors to northern California fell." Should south be capitalized?