I have published a variety of other capitalization posts related to time periods, geographic features, people, and product names. But, generally, you only need to capitalize a direction in a place name if the direction is a standard part of the places 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). She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations. 'I have no authority for this opinion, other than my intuition as an English speaker.' If the is used, use Prime Minister. When did states go to 2 letter abbreviations? the Southern States the Eastern Seaboard Northern Ireland the Western Hemisphere Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length). 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 . Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? The direction word makes it a proper noun. Another example, "Eastern" in the phrase "Eastern bankers" is capitalized since the word denotes a certain group of people. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. The argument I hear is this is a region of the building not a direction, so it should be capitalized. Racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and are capitalized. Seasons. In contrast, The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends lowercasing specific U.S. geographic regions used as adjectives:3. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. If it's a general noun such as a river, lake, ocean, etc., the region need not be capitalized. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In some cases, like country and city names, this is clear. The sentence reads "I turned on north Bolton." Don't capitalize these words when they refer to the general location, geography or climate of a region. If the writer is referring to the United States and calling it just the States, then states needs to be capitalized. Do you know "what is the Western Hemisphere?" I is always capitalized, along with all its contractions. 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. After all, it was named after its inventor, Edwin Southern, and therefore the use of the capital is justified. 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. Southern, according to a co-author, should not be capitalized because it is an adjective rather than a noun. The geographical areas "The North," "The East," "The South," and "The West" are treated like proper nouns. The first instance of when "global" should be capitalized is when used as the first word in a sentence. Here Chemistry and Spanish are the proper nouns. When common nouns like party, river, and street are included in a proper name, capitalize them. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN. When these words are included in the place name, however, they must be capitalized. When they indicate compass direction, lowercase north, south, northeast, and so on, but capitalize when it indicates a region: the West Coast. Except for England, the other three countries have their own parliaments. As a result, noun will always be the first capital letter. That's when even the most exhaustive style . The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". 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 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. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Names of people People's names are proper nouns, and therefore should be capitalized. The same applies for related adjectives and other compass directions: We live in the eastern part of the country. Did any DOS compatibility layers exist for any UNIX-like systems before DOS started to become outmoded? It also looks at when to capitalize those regions when they are used as adjectives and to describe U.S. geographic populations. However, it is only compulsory to do so when "North" is part of a proper noun. 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. 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. But in other cases, it is more a matter of convention and habit. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever you choose. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. The street is named Bolton Avenue. However, I was recently advised by someone who I consider to be educated to capitalize "southern" in this context. seems less related to the usual descriptivist process, more opinion-based. The word white is not usually capitalized in this situation; men would never be. The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. My friend is a southerner. capitalization. However, if you use the word southern instead of a general location, such as the southern winds, the word should be lowercase. 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 headlines, the periods are omitted. Back East. 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). Lowercase with names of nations (southern France) unless they indicate a political division (South Korea). Generally, you do not need to capitalize the names of the seasons. Do I capitalize southern as in the US region? Guidance to capitalize proper nouns in APA Style. Whether youre writing an essay, email, or cover letter, youll likely use parentheses. Should compass directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west) ever be capitalized? Hi, Michael. 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. Use lowercase when referring to directions on a compass. On a cloudless night, I studied Pisces, a constellation in the North sky. You should always capitalize Southerner since it refers to a group of people who are proper nouns. Not capitalizing when referring to a general direction. Only capitalize state when it follows the states name, such as New York State is also known as the Empire State, or when it is part of a traditional state name, such as Empire State or Lone Star State, can be capitalized. So: North Carolina is north of South Carolina and east of West Virginia. Strength Vs. Strong: Differences, How To Tell Them Apart? However, if youre referring to a specific region, such as the east coast of the United States, keep the words lowercase. You should only capitalize "east" when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as "in the East" or "in the Middle East". The obvious examples of this are countries, states, cities, and other geographical areas: We study the history of Eastern Europe. He's one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. 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. Words such as one, it, its, its, him, and own should all be capitalized no matter where they appear in a title. In case it's not obvious, I have a bachelor's in writing. 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. AP Style states that when referring to the names of a nation, directions should . There is room for variation here: if you live in Coventry and youre writing for other Coventry residents, then perhaps writing South Coventry would make sense. With names of states The same rule applies as with names of nations. It might be amusing to look for instances of "southern Southern California" or "northern Southern California". "southern California" is not the same as "Southern California". I assume CMOS have done reasonable research before arguing against a rigid insistence on 'the principles sketched in [an earlier section of CMOS]' and have thought carefully before arguing against ignoring authors' strong preferences. Capitalize north, south, east, west, and derivative words when they designate definite regions or are an integral part of a proper name. Todays post explains when to capitalize geographic regions in the United States. To Capitalize or not to Capitalize Independence? 5 Should states and territories be Capitalised? By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Is this correct. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. The state abbreviations are always the same: two letter abbreviations with uppercase letters and no periods or spaces between them. You should capitalize North, South, East, and West when theyre part of a proper noun (i.e., the name of a unique thing). English Proofreading and Copyediting Prices, Spanish Proofreading and Copyediting Prices, northern New Jersey, western Massachusetts. Do you capitalize state when referring to a state? And if so, when? This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It only loosely defines a region of California and its border is not officially defined either. Youd also capitalize the first word and (according to most guides) the last word of a title, regardless of what part of speech they are. 5 Free French-to-English Translation Services, Broad geographical regions (e.g., the North or the Far East), People from a specific region (e.g., Northerners, Southerners), Cultures or movements related to a region (e.g., Western philosophy). If the designation is widely known, the "direction" terms are capitalized for instance, "Southern California". This is the sentence that is capitalized correctly. We also lowercase the terms when they refer to people: My friend is a southerner. Without capitalization, it could refer to anyone in the southern hemisphere, or perhaps southern England. The Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook, for instance, say to only capitalize Southern when referring to the American Civil War. Do not capitalize them when they follow possessive pronouns such as her, his, my, our, your. 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. Direction-denoting terms such as north, south, east, west, etc. 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 . To find out when to capitalize North, South, East, and West, read our guide to capitalizing directions below. . If youre referring to the Western States, for example, youre referring to a group of proper nouns. To know what other words you should capitalize, try our free title capitalization tool. In general, you should capitalize the names of countries and languages. However, a co-author argues that southern should not be capitalized, because it is an adjective, not a noun. 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. Despite that, knowing how to capitalize names of places, regions, geographical features, directions, etc. Here are some rules to follow. 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. The state postal codes were formalized into two character abbreviations in 1963. 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). My name is Erin. The periods are omitted in headlines. capitalization, maps, writing tips.