Proper adjective
In English orthography, the term proper adjective is sometimes applied to adjectives that take initial capital letters, and the term common adjective to those that do not. These terms are used informally only; they are not used by grammarians or linguists. For example, a person from Boston is Bostonian. Bostonian is a proper adjective.
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Origin of the terms
The term "proper noun" denotes a noun that, grammatically speaking, identifies a specific unique entity; for example, England is a proper noun, because it is a name for a specific country, whereas dog is not a proper noun — it is a "common noun" — because it is a term referring to any one member of a group of animals.
In English orthography, most proper nouns are capitalized, while most common nouns are not. As a result, the term "proper noun" has come to mean, in lay usage, "a noun that is capitalized", and "common noun" to mean "a noun that is not capitalized". Furthermore, English adjectives that derive from proper nouns are usually capitalized. Because of this, the terms "proper adjective" and "common adjective" have come to be used, with meanings analogous to the lay meanings of "proper noun" and "common noun". Proper adjectives are just capitalized adjectives.
Description of proper adjectives
In general, an adjective is capitalized if its meaning is "pertaining to X", where X is some specific person, place, language, or organized group.[citation needed] Most capitalized adjectives are derived from proper nouns; for example, the proper adjective American is derived from the proper noun America.
Sometimes, an adjective is capitalized because it designates an ethnic group with a shared culture, heritage, or ancestry. This usage asserts the existence of a unified group with common goals. For example, in Canadian government documents, Native and Aboriginal are capitalized.[1]
An adjective can lose its capitalization when it takes on new meanings, such as chauvinistic.[2] In addition, over time, an adjective can lose its capitalization by convention, generally when the word has overshadowed its original reference, such as gargantuan, quixotic, titanic, or roman in the term roman numerals.[2]
Proper adverbs
An adverb formed from a capitalized adjective is itself capitalized. For example:
- We have regularly received enquiries regarding the availability of Islamic finance products, in particular Islamically compatible finance to purchase both residential and commercial properties.[3]
- There are people who express themselves 'Frenchly,' while others have forms of life that are expressed 'Koreanly' or 'Icelandicly.'[4]
Other parts of speech
Verbs such as Canadianize are written with a capital letter, although not generally described as "proper verbs".
See also
- Capitalization
- Demonym
- Letter case
- List of adjectival forms of place names
- List of case-sensitive English words
- List of eponymous adjectives in English
- Noun#Proper nouns and common nouns
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Margalit, A., 1997, "The Moral Psychology of Nationalism," in McKim and McMahan (eds.), 1997, The Morality of Nationalism Oxford University Press: Oxford, as quoted by Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- The HTML Writers Guild: Trademarks and Copyrights FAQ
- Chan Law Group LLP: A Guide to Proper Trademark Use
- General Microsoft Trademark Guidelines
- Grammar Slammer
- Table of Nouns and Adjectives denoting nationality
- Trademark Grammar (blog entry)
- Google Answers on the choice between -an, -ian, -ean, and related suffixes
