should southern be capitalized should southern be capitalized

9 Should north southeast and West be capitalized? Titles should only be capitalized if they precede a proper name when used as part of the name. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! Sallie Ward, a Southern belle. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). Otherwise, the word should be lowercased, as in "the god of war.". But, generally, you only need to capitalize a direction in a place name if the direction is a standard part of the places name. When possessive pronouns like her, his, my, our, and your are used, do not capitalize them. 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. It's the inconsistency or the abrupt switching between capitalized letters and lowercase letters is what that puts readers off. But if someone prefers "African American," use that term rather than a more generic "black." It was first put into effect for large businesses, but it was gradually adopted as a standardized format by everyone. I wanted to know how to write Southeast Albania correctly (proof reading). As explained in the post, some people do capitalize terms like "the North" when they refer to a well-established geographical area. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia? You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). southern Atlanta; But capitalize compass points when part of a proper name. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. 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). For example, capitalizing "Southerner" in the sentence "As a Southerner, she had a distinct drawl" can be up for debate. 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. But it would be unusual to do this for a less well-known location, such as south Coventry.. When dealing with geographic terms, capitalize nouns such as "river", "lake", etc. The word god is generally not capitalized if it is used to refer to the generic idea of a deity, nor is it capitalized when it refers to multiple gods. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. So, if a person is from South Africa, south would be capitalized since it's the proper name of the country. 8 What states in the US are consider southern states? For places names and proper names, the word "Southern" should be capitalized, but in other contexts, it is not. What states in the US are consider southern states? This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. Be the first to read new posts and updates about MLA style. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic, as are those lacking any signs of reasonable research. Names of racial and ethnic groups are treated as proper nouns, which means they are capitalized (e.g., African American, Asian American, Black, European American, First Nations, Hispanic, Native American, Latinx, White). What is, In a front-wheel drive setup, theyre what transfers power to the wheels via the transmission or differential (in a rear-wheel drive setup). Everyone on the bus tour enjoyed the southern food in Tennessee. . Be consistent (e.g., dont use south England in one part of a document and South England in another if youre referring to the same place). Similar is the case with the following set of words: Here are a couple of sentences for further clarity on the matter: When terms such as "southern district" and "western region" are used as names for specific units within an organization, capitalize them. Which sentence is capitalized correctly on a cloudless night? Thus, we have rigid goldenrod but Missouri goldenrod, azure penstemon but Torrey's penstemon and California penstemon. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. It might be amusing to look for instances of "southern Southern California" or "northern Southern California". 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. MLA style followsThe Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. Characteristics. 6 Does the word federal need to be capitalized? I still don't see any "descriptivist argument", much less a strong one. In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. It also looks at when to capitalize those regions when they are used as adjectives and to describe U.S. geographic populations. 2 Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? The sentence which is capitalized correctly is My easiest classes are Chemistry and Spanish. In 1963, the state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations. Does Counterspell prevent from any further spells being cast on a given turn? Most style guides recommend capitalizing "West Coast" when referring to the western seaboard of the U.S. hi, should i capitalize 'west' in 'west Africa' or 'north' in north Africa'? However, a co-author argues that southern should not be capitalized, because it is an adjective, not a noun. We always use a capital letter when we write the days of the week. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN. Here are a few sentences with the word "region" in them: If part of a title or headline, the word "region" can be capitalized to conform to title capitalization rules. 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. In headlines, the periods are omitted. As Sven Yargs' answer shows, there is a strong descriptivist argument involved. The Chicago Manual of Style. @Devil07, the geographical adjective "southern" is not usurped -- it just means something different. However, if you use the word southern instead of a general location, such as the southern winds, the word should be lowercase. As a result, noun will always be the first capital letter. He's one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositionshowever, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters. Coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet & so (FANBOYS). MLA style follows The Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. West is directly opposite east. It is also a great option for general business writing. The water and land global areas are further divided into subregions bounded by huge geographical features influencing large-scale ecologies. Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? 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 referring to regions, capitalize these words. So you would only capitalize federal when you use it in the name of a federal agency, an act, or some other proper noun. However, the Associated Press Stylebook does not recommend capitals in that case. Here is part of that discussion: 8.46 Regions of the world and national regions. Hi, James. "southern California" is not the same as "Southern California". We also lowercase the terms when they refer to people: My friend is a southerner. The word white is not usually capitalized in this situation; men would never be. The mines are in the plateaus western region. Posted by If the is used, use Prime Minister. 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). seems less related to the usual descriptivist process, more opinion-based. My friend is a southerner. Opportunities exist on the east and west sides of the city. the Deep South. By prevailing usage, roughly the most southerly one-third or two-fifths of California is referred to as Southern California, in initial caps. The correct answer is option C. In option A, the word Chemistry is only capitalized leaving the other proper noun in lower case. The Starved Rock Lodge offers world-famous midwestern hospitality in a scenic environment. The storm is heading east. In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, etc., when they indicate compass direction. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Hi, Mary. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. For example, we capitalizenorth,south,east, andwest when the terms refer to regions or cultures: Customs in the East differ from those in the West. Do not capitalize these words when they merely indicate general location or refer to the geography or climate of the region. the Southern States the Eastern Seaboard Northern Ireland the Western Hemisphere 1 The Midwest is the breadbasket of the United States. Don't capitalize these words when they refer to the general location, geography or climate of a region. The problem is, there doesn't appear to be a consensus. When Should You Capitalize Geographic Regions in the United States? The word "southern" is not part of the official name of California or any city or county, so I never capitalize it. A title like this would appear as: A Guide to English: Perfecting Grammar in an Academic Paper. Hello! Capitalize regional terms when they refer to a commonly accepted proper name of an area. Should "west coast" be capitalized if it is referring to the western region of the U.S.? Am I a midwesterner or a Midwesterner? Instead of using the frequently used double-space, only use one space after a period to properly follow AP style guidelines. 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. Most of the north is sandy, and the northern coast is mountainous. When referring to Greek, Roman, and other groups of gods and goddesses, only the name is capitalized. Use a hyphen to show a range of dates and do not repeat 20 (2012-13, not 2012-2013). Federal or federal? Only when it's very apparent or writing the direction names in small letters looks completely off, capitalize them. 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. State names had to be abbreviated to make room for the ZIP code. South-East Albania? The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. For example, "Global is a proper noun." . Likewise, the rules for sentences apply: capitalize the common name at the . Another example, "Eastern" in the phrase "Eastern bankers" is capitalized since the word denotes a certain group of people. Do You Capitalize "Real Estate"? Use lower case for generic or plural references. Have you ever visited the Western United States? 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. Whether it's an "official" name or not and how well the thing is defined have no bearing whatsoever. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites owner is strictly prohibited. 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). For example, "western Massachusetts", "northern New Jersey". If you are referring to a group of proper nouns such as the Southern States. However, if youre referring to a general location, such as the southern winds then southern should be lowercase. 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. Explanation: Because, Pisces is a noun. The term "region" is a general noun, and it's usually not capitalized, as a result. You should read both Western and Eastern philosophy. The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. When there is no proper name, lowercase "mountain", "gorge", "valley", "beach", and other geographical features. 1 Is south capitalized when referring to Southern states? 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 . 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. Generally, you do not need to capitalize the names of the seasons. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. The word states would remain lower case if states is referred to in a general way, such as There are two senators for each state.. Job seekers, Is Pepsi the owner of KFC? By attaching itself to a common object, the language or country name takes on a new meaning. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. More answers below Yes, Southern is capitalized because it refers to the South (= the southern US). English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as "go south on I-90," then you should keep south lowercase. Southern, on the other hand, is capitalized by convention when it refers to California: I live in Southern California. In contrast, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends lowercasing specific U.S. geographic regions used as adjectives:3. "I" is always capitalized, along with all its . The same rules apply to capitalizing western as capitalizing west. 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. 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. So, noun will be always first capital letter. But things become tricky once we get down to the details. when they indicate compass direction, but capitalize when they indicate a region: the West Coast. Keep reading to learn everything there is to regions and their capitalization, rules for related terms and phrases, what a region is, etc. This confusion can also be attributed to the fact that certain region names have direction names in their official names, such as "the Middle East".