{"id":6395,"date":"2020-11-05T02:30:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T02:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/?p=6395"},"modified":"2024-04-20T14:05:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T14:05:19","slug":"fun-facts-87-capitonym","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2020\/11\/05\/fun-facts-87-capitonym\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Facts About English #87 – Capitonyms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Kinney<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A capitonym<\/em> is a word that changes its nuance, meaning, and sometimes pronunciation when it’s capitalized; capitalization being applied due to one form being a proper noun<\/a>, such as Bill<\/em>\/bill<\/em>, or an eponym<\/a>, such as Augustus\/august<\/em>. Some capitonyms are homonyms (Rose<\/em>\/rose), and others can be heteronyms (Polish<\/em>\/polish<\/em>, Tangier\/tangier<\/em>) where pronunciation changes accordingly. The word capitonym<\/em> is a portmanteau of the word capital<\/em> with the suffix -onym<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the list of first names above, last names that are capitonyms often fall in the realms of labor, colors, and animals, like baker<\/em>, cook<\/em>, farmer<\/em>, brown<\/em>, white<\/em>, green<\/em>, wolf<\/em>, fox<\/em>, and parrot<\/em>. When first meeting people with such surnames, best to spare them your witticism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitonyms may or may not be etymologically related in their capitalized and un-capitalized forms. The month of May<\/em> and the verb may<\/em> don’t share an etymology, whereas Catholic<\/em> and catholic<\/em> both derive from a Greek adjective meaning “universal.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capital letters can be used to differentiate a set of objects or people and an example of that set, like a moon<\/em> and the Moon<\/em>, a dad<\/em> and Dad<\/em>, or a bible<\/em> and the Bible<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious contexts have very specific rules for capital spelling. The general word god<\/em> is capitalized to God<\/em> when referring to the deity of monotheistic religions. When referencing said deities, common pronouns like me<\/em>, mine<\/em>, you<\/em>, and yours<\/em> are usually capitalized as well. Within the liturgy, there is Mass<\/em> as opposed to physical mass<\/em>, and church<\/em> denoting a building compared to Church<\/em> when referring to members of a religious group. In the same lofty vein, words carrying a meaning of transcendence, religious or secular, are often capitalized, such as Truth<\/em>, Beauty<\/em>, and Justice<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because political parties are often named after political philosophies, capital letters differentiate one who supports a philosophy, such as a conservative believing in a philosophy of conservatism, and one who claims herself a Conservative<\/em> in support of the Conservative Party<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there’s one pesky little glitch in the English scheme to differentiate capitonyms: the beginning of a sentence. Consider the mental sort and the necessity of context and punctuation when reading these examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n