International Journal of English and Studies

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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Capitonyms are Traps for users of English? ______Dr Aruna Kumar Behera, Associate Professor Dept of Language & Literature, Sri SathyaSai Institute of Higher Learning (Deemed to be University) Bangalore-560 067 ______Abstract Capitonym is a semantic ambiguous device where the meaning and pronunciation is Keywords: Capitonyms, Pronunciation, altered when capitalized. It refers to a word Meaning, Lower Case, Upper Case, which mostly changes its meaning and Capitalization. sometimes its pronunciation too when the letter changes the case, for example, from lower case to upper case. Generally, a word is capitalized in case of it being a proper noun or eponym. The word capitonym is Introduction a portmanteau word formed with Capitonym is a word that changes capital and the suffix -onym. One major its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) challenge with capitonyms is that it is based on whether or not it is capitalized. difficult to identify it when used at the (Joshi: 2014). Some of the major beginning of a sentence. The words, characteristics of capitonyms are that they August, Lima, and Polish, for example, are have the same spelling except for always capitalised if used to mean the capitalization, and different meaning when eighth month, Peru’s capital, and one from capitalized; they may have the same or Poland respectively. On the contrary, different pronunciation. Capitonyms have words, such as ill, nice, and worms when distinct meanings or senses when they are referred to as sick, good, and crawling capitalized as opposed to generic senses. In creatures respectively start with capital other words, they are dual meaning words letters only when used at the beginning of which change their meaning, and sentences. In this paper, we attempt to sometimes even pronunciation, e.g. Mobile understand what capitonyms in general are, (the city in Alabama) is pronounced how they are used, the challenges they differently than a mobile phone. They are, pose, and suggest ways to use them in fact, a subset of homonyms. They are properly. ISSN: 2581-8333 Copyright © 2021 SP Publications Page 229

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

RESEARCH ARTICLE often difficult to identify if used at the generally occur due to one form beginning of a sentence, or if used during being a proper noun. speech. Most often, capitonym pairs feature one word as a common noun and the other According to an article published in as a proper noun, e.g. Turkey (the country) the ToI dated April 11, 2016, “Capitonyms and turkey (the bird). Capitonyms can be are dual meaning words which change their nouns, verbs or adjectives, e.g. China (the meaning, sometimes even pronunciation, if country) and china (as in porcelain); March the first letter is capitalised. The sentence, (the month) and march (to walk); Titanic Aturkeymay march in Turkey in May or (the ship) and titanic (gigantic) etc. March, for example, would have been very Capitonyms can be categorized by difficult to understand if capital letters did separating those that have related meanings not exist.”Capitonyms generally occurs due and those who are not etymologically to one form being a proper noun- the name related and whose similarity is coincidental, of a person, a place, an establishment, etc. e.g. A set of capitonyms with related and is always written with a capital meanings is the month of August (named letter.English is notorious for capitonyms. for the Roman leader Augustus Caesar) and It is also perhaps the only language with the adjective 'august' (meaning respected strange and inexplicable features like and impressive) which is derived from the capitonyms. It poses a challenge to the same root that Augustus Caesar chose his users to differentiate the meaning of a word name. on the basis of whether it starts with a lower Joshi (2014) states: case or upper case notwithstanding its appearance at the beginning of a sentence. Capitonyms are case-sensitive Sometimes, capitonyms also result in words. However, when capitonyms ambiguities, especially from the point of appear at the beginning of a view of listening the principal reason being sentence, there is no way to the absence of a way to understand the understand which meaning is being meaning referred to. But what is more referred to except the context in challenging is the change in pronunciation which they are used.Capitonyms depending on if a word begins with a small also create confusion in the aspect letter or capital one. We analyse of listening. Because there is no way capitonyms to show how it works. to understand which meaning is being referred to except the context Capitalization Rules in which they are used. Capitonyms Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

RESEARCH ARTICLE the remaining letters in lowercase. It is need to capitalize kinship names when they governed by some rules. We list below appear before a personal name, e.g. We some of them: discovered out that Dad is there; or You don’t look happy, Mom. Another important Capitalize the first word of a rule is to capitalize nicknames as inMeet my document and the first word after a period. friends, Herb and Magic; or I just met two In other words, use sentence capitals, e.g. guys named Apple and Car. The president gave away the Padma Awards. When we talk of specific geographical regions, we need not Also, capitalize proper nouns and capitalize points of the compass, e.g. We adjectives derived from proper nouns, e.g. left Mumbai and drove south; or the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand The east coast of India is cold this Canyon, a Russian song, a Shakespearean time of season. And in exceptional cases, sonnet, a Freudian slip, an Einsteinian ‘the’ is capitalised if it is an integral part of equation etc. Of course, with the passage of a name, e.g. We visited The Hague but not time, some words originally derived from necessary to capitalize city, town, proper nouns no longer require county, etc., if it comes before the proper capitalization as in herculean, quixotic, name, e.g. the city of Mumbai. Moreover, draconian. The primary purpose of capitals the first word in a complete quotation, even is to stress on particular elements within if it appears in the middle of a sentence, is any group, e.g. a park in the middle of the capitalised as in the example: Alex said, city, or to be more specific we can “The case is far from over, and we will say Gandhi Park, which, of course, makes win.” Also, quoted material that continues a it distinct from every other park. sentence is not capitalised, e.g. Jane said that the case was “far from over” and that One more rule is to capitalize titles “we will win.” Art movements are also when such titles are used before names, as capitalised, e.g. I like Surrealism, but I in the example: The scientist will address never understood Abstract Expressionism, Congress, anddo not capitalize occupations but not the first item in a list that follows a before full names, e.g. director Satyajit colon, e.g. Buy me the following: sweets, Roy, owner Nita Ambani, coach Anil fruits, and chocolates. Similarly, use Kumble, and also capitalize a formal title as capitalisation when writing a title of a book, in: Will you return the money, e.g. The King’s English: A Guide to Professor?;or We’re sorry to inform you, Modern Usage. Captain, one sailor is missing. We also

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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Capitonyms Affect Pronunciation their transcriptions: Job /dʒəʊb/ and job First we discuss below a good /dʒɒb/, Jubilate /dʒuːbɪlɑːteɪ/ and number of capitonyms (these words have jubilate/dʒuːbɪleɪt/, Junker /jʊŋkə/ and been italised for the purpose of junker /dʒənkə/, Lima /laɪmə/ and lima convenience) with respect to the case in /li:mə/, Liver /laɪvə/ and liver /lɪvə/ to pronunciation, which is how the change of understand how capitonyms affect the first letter of a word from lower to pronunciation. upper case affects the accent. For the sake of clarity and disambiguate, we have Or take the words Magdalen,Male, supplied the pronunciation of each word Manes,Natal,Nestle, Nice, and Polish, for within /double slashes/. Let’s take the word example, which when capitalized are Ares, for example, which when capitalized pronounced thus: /mægdəlin/, /mɑːliː/, is pronounced as /eəri:z/ as opposed to its /mɑːneɪz/, /nætəl/, /nesleɪ/, /niːs/, and counterpart beginning with lower case, ares /pəʊliʃ/respectively. Their pronunciation, which is pronounced as /a:z/. Similarly, on the other hand, changes to /mægdelən/, August is pronounced as /ɔːˈɡʌst/ and /meɪl/, /meɪnz/, /neɪtəl/, /nesl/, /naɪs/ and august as /ɔːˈɡəst/, the difference being the /pɒliʃ/ respectively when the upper case is second vowel sound, or Begin when replaced with lower case. One more set of capitalized is pronounced as /beɪgɪn/ but capitonyms with the pronunciation of the when the capitalization is removed, it is words with capital letters and small letters spelled begin and is pronounced /bɪgɪn/ such as Rainier/reɪnɪeɪ/ and rainier (note the difference with respect to the first /reɪnɪə/,Reading/redɪŋ/ andreading/riːdɪŋ/, vowel sound). Said/saɪd/ andsaid/sed/, Scone/sku:n/ and scone /skɒn/, Seat/sɪət/ andseat /si:t/,Slough Word Examples /slɒf/ andslough /slaʊ/, Tang/tɑːŋ/ andtang Look at the words Degas, /tæŋ/, andWorms/wɔːmz/ andworms Embarrass, and I’ll, for example, all /wɜːmz/ respectively to justify the beginning with the upper case are statement. Capitonyms are not limited to pronounced as /dəgɑː/, /ɛmˈbɒrəs/ and /aɪl/ words alone; they can be found in sentences respectively. But their counterparts, too as would be evident from the following beginning with lower case, degas, illustrations: embarrass, and ill are pronounced thus: /dɪgæs/, /ɪmˈbærəs/, and /il/ respectively. Sentence Examples Let’s look at some more pairs of words The stress from my job and my (beginning with capital letters and the same marriage has me feeling like Job in the words beginning with small letters) with Bible.

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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I ate a delicious scone in Scone when I employment, to rejoice, and an old car traveled to Scotland. respectively. The Polish woman had lovely nail polish. Do they eat many lima beans in Lima, Peru? Word Examples A turkeymay march in Turkey in May or Here are some more words (the March! meanings given within brackets against each capitalized word and lower case The feature can be found in poetry also as is word), Lima refers to the Capital of Peru, seen in “Job’s Job” from Richard but with the lower case (lima), it refers to a Lederer’s The Word Circus: type of bean. Liver refers to comedy duo In August, an august patriarch Liver Birds whereas liver, to an internal Was reading an ad in Reading, Mass. organ; Magdalen is an Oxford college but Long-suffering Job secured a job magdalen refers to a reformed prostitute. To polish piles of Polish brass. Similarly, Male is the Capital of the Maldives and male refers to a gender; and Manes refers to deified spirits of Rome as Capitonyms Affect Meaning opposed to manes which is plural of mane. A few more words, Natal is a region of After discussing exhaustively how South East Africa but the same word with a change of case affects pronunciation, let us lower case (natal)means something relating now examine how it has a bearing on the to birth; whereas Nestle is a company meaning as well. producing chocolate, nestle is a verb The capitalised words Ares, August, meaning to stay put; Nice is a French city Begin, Degas, Embarrass, I’ll, Job, but nice is pleasant. Jubilate, and Junker, for example, mean God of War, the eighth month of the Some more words such as Polish calendar, Israeli politician, French painter, a which refers to someone from Poland as River in Illinois, future, author of a Biblical contrasted with its lower case counterpart book, a psalm, a member of Prussian govt (polish) which is what is used to shine respectively. And the lower case words shoes; or Rainier is a prince of Monaco, but ares, august, begin, degas, embarrass, ill, rainier is the comparative degree of rainy; job, jubilate, and junker mean thus: plural and Reading refers to a borough in England of area, important, to start, to remove gas, and reading is what we do with a book. to make somebody uncomfortable, sick, Let’s look at a few more words: Said is an Egyptian port and said is the past or past

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

RESEARCH ARTICLE participle form of say; Scone is a village of the capital letter. The tasty mandarin central Scotland but the same word orange also takes the lower case. beginning with a lower case (scone) is pastry; or Seat is an automobile The third month of the year, March, is not manufacturer and seat refers to something the same as a march, or organized walk. like a chair. Similarly, Slough refers to dead skin of an animal while slough, a borough; Last March, we attended a march at the Tang refers to Chinese dynasty but tang Capitol. with small letter refers to a sharp flavour; Worms is a city in South West Germany The capitalized Mercury could be the first contrasted with worms which refers to a planet in the solar system or the messenger number of wriggling creatures etc. See the god of ancient Rome, but mercury is always use of such words in sentences: the toxic liquid metal at number 80 of the Sentence Examples periodic table. A Bohemian, someone from the regions of Turkey, the Eurasian nation, has nothing in the Czech Republic historically called common with turkey, the delicious Bohemia, need not be bohemian, or socially American bird. unconventional.

It’s important not to confuse Cancer, the How To Avoid Confusion constellation and zodiac sign, with cancer, Now that we are aware of the ways in the disease of uncontrolled cell which the pronunciation and meaning multiplication. change depending on whether the first letter The Asian nation of China produces a fair of the word is lower case or upper case, it is amount of china, or porcelain dishware. necessary to also know how we can avoid the confusion arising out of capitonym. Of The Christian period of renunciation course there are no fool proof means to preceding Easter called Lent, is completely eliminate the challenge but we suggest an different from lent, the past tense of the exhaustive list of words with their meaning verb lend. and pronunciation which will help users to get some hands-on practice. The first set of The most common language in the world, words pertains to change in pronunciation Mandarin, takes its name from mandarin, when the word begins with a capital letter or scholar-official of the Imperial Chinese or a small letter: government, but only the language needs

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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Practice Set For Capitonyms Vis A Vis Nestle:/nesleɪ/(a co producing chocolate) Pronunciation nestle:/nesl/(Stay put) Nice:/niːs/(French City) Ares:/eəri:z/(God of War) nice:/naɪs/(pleasant) ares:/a:z/ (pl of unit of area) Noel: /ˈnoʊəl/ (name) August:/ɔːˈɡʌst/(eighth calendar month) noel: /noʊˈɛl/ (a Christmas carol) august:/ɔːˈɡəst / (Important) Polish: /pəʊliʃ/ (one from Poland) Begin:/beɪgɪn/(Israeli politician) polish:/pɒliʃ/ (shoe) begin:/bɪgɪn /(to start) Rainier:/reɪnɪeɪ(prince of Monaco) Celt: /kɛlt/ (who speaks Celtic language) rainier:/reɪnɪə/(more rainy) celt: /sɛlt/(a prehistoric tool) Reading:/redɪŋ (borough in England) Degas:/dəgɑː/(French painter, sculptor) reading:/riːdɪŋ/(a book) degas:/dɪgæs/(remove gas) Said:/saɪd/(Egyptian port) Embarrass:/ɛmˈbɒrəs/(river in Illinois) said:/sed/ (spoken) embarrass:/ɪmˈbærəs/ Scone:/sku:n/(village of central Scotland) I'll:/aɪl/ (future) scone:/skɒn/ (pastry) ill:/il/(sick) Seat:/sɪət/(car manufacturer) Job:/dʒəʊb/ (author of a Biblical book) seat:/si:t/(chair) job:/dʒɒb/(employment) Slough:/slɒf/(dead skin of an animal) Jubilate:/dʒuːbɪlɑːteɪ/ slough:/slaʊ/(a borough ) jubilate:/dʒuːbɪleɪt / Tang:/tɑːŋ /(Chinese dynasty) Junker:/jʊŋkə/(member of Prussian govt) tang:/tæŋ/(sharp flavour) junker:/dʒənkə/(old car) Tangier: /tænˈdʒɪər/ (in Morocco) Lima:/laɪmə/(capital of Peru) tangier: /ˈtæŋiər/ (more tangy) lima:/li:mə/(type of bean) Worms:/wɔːmz/(city in SW Germany) Liver:/laɪvə/(Comedy duo Liver Birds) worms:/wɜːmz/(pl of worm) liver:/lɪvə/(an internal organ) Magdalen:/mægdəlin/(Oxford college) Practice Set For Capitonyms Vis A Vis magdalen:/mægdelən/(pros) Meaning Male:/mɑːliː/ (capital of the Maldives) male:/meɪl/(a gender) Here are words (the meanings given within Manes:/mɑːneɪz/ (deified spirits of Rome) brackets against each capitalized word and manes:/meɪnz/(pl of mane) lower case word) in which case the Natal: /nætəl/ (region of SE Africa) meaning changes with the change in the natal:/neɪtəl/(rel to birth) case:

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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Ares (God of War) ares Lima (the capital of Peru) lima(a type of (plural of area) bean) August (the eighth month) august Liver (comedy duo Liver Birds) liver (something important) (an internal organ) Begin (an Israeli politician) begin (to Magdalen (an Oxford college) start) magdalen (a reformed prostitute) Bohemian (from Bohemia) bohemian Male (capital of the Maldives) male (socially unconventional) (a gender) Cancer (the zodiac sign) Mandarin (language ofChina)mandarin cancer (a disease) (orange) China (Asian country) china Manes (deified spirits of Rome) manes (porcelain dishware) (plural of mane) Cuban (from Cuba) cuban March (the third month) (relating to cubes) march(organized walk) Degas (a French painter) degas May (the fifth month) may (modal (to remove gas) verb) Divine (relating to God) divine Mercury (a planet) mercury (the (to discover by intuition) toxic liquid metal) Embarrass (a river in Illinois)embarrass (to Mosaic (relating to Moses) mosaic (a make sb uncomfortable) kind of decoration) Gallic (an ancient terr of Gaul) gallic Natal (a region of SE Africa) natal (relating to galls) (relating to birth) Hamlet (a play by Shakespeare) Nestle (a company) nestle (to stay hamlet (a small town) put) I’ll (future) ill Nice (a French city) nice (sick) (pleasant) Ionic (relating to Ionia) ionic Piedmont (a region of NW Italy)piedmont (relating to ions) (a slope) Job (author of a Biblical book) job Polish (one from Poland) polish (employment) (used to shine shoes) Jubilate (a psalm) Rainier (prince of Monaco) rainier (more jubilate (to rejoice) rainy) Junker (of Prussian govt) junker Reading (a borough in England)reading (of (an old car) a book) Lent (period preceding Easter) lent Regency (in 1811–20 in Britain)regency (a (the past tense of the verb lend) govt by a regent)

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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Roman (of Rome) roman pronunciation but also meaning. One more (the ordinary type of printing) issue pertains to the mode: if it is written, Rosemary (a name for female) the user can at least see the word and make rosemary (a bush) out whether it is capitalized or not; and if Said (an Egyptian port) said capitalized, whether as a proper noun or (spoken) because of its being at the beginning of a Scone (a vill of cent Scotland) scone sentence. But if it is spoken, it becomes (pastry) really challenging for the hearer to make Scot (a native of Scotland) scot (tax) out the difference. We have suggested sets Seat (a car manufacturer) seat (chair) of words with their meanings and Self (a popular Am magazine) self pronunciation too for practice which will (character) help users to know as many instances of Slough (dead skin of an animal) slough (a capitonyms- covering both pronunciation borough) and meaning- as possible so that they can Tang (Chinese dynasty) tang be aware of the problem and tackle it (a sharp flavor) accordingly. It is not enough to only be Traveller (of Irish origin) aware of the words or sets of words, we traveller (a person who is traveling) should also be using them in our day-to-day Turkey (the Eurasian nation) context. Another important tip is to always turkey(anAmerican bird) keep our eyes and ears open so that Warren (a name) whenever a new word crops up, we should warren (holes where wild rabbits look for all aspects of it, e.g. the spelling, live) the pronunciation, the meaning, the usage Worms (a city in SW Germany) worms etc. (plural of worm)

Conclusion Capitonyms are usually coincidental Reference and the two words in the pair are Jacob, Kamlesh. (2006). Therupa New completely unrelated. However, sometimes English Manual. New Delhi: the difference between the two words in the Rupa& Co. pair is not very noticeable. (Joshi: 2014) So, Joshi, Manik. (2014). Dictionary Of they are confusing especially when the English Capitonyms. Pothi.Com words are proper nouns or are used at the Rosenblum, M. & Maxwell Nurnberg. beginning of sentences. It poses problems (2005). All About Words: An Adult for users of English relating not only to

SP Publications International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES) An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-6, 2021 www.ijoes.in ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)

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Approach To Vocabulary Building. Heteronym, Polyseme, And Goyal Book Depot. Capitonym, Oh My! Rebeca Schiller.Com. 6 Jan 2012. “Capitonyms.”Wikipedia. 28 Sept 2016. Web. 29 Sept 2016. Capitalization: Special Cases Https://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/ (Yourdictionary.Com) Capitonym. Words Pronounced Differently When Capitalized - Vocabulary Capitonyms: When Capital Letters Make List: Vocabulary.Com All The Difference - Education Http://Jeff60.Tripod.Com/Words3. Today News (Indiatoday.In) Html Schiller, Rebeca. “Homonym, Homophone, Heterograph,