Why are some book titles not capitalized?Title Case in French — Majuscules Dans Les TitresWhen not to...
Can I become debt free or should I file for bankruptcy? How do I manage my debt and finances?
What is the wife of a henpecked husband called?
Predict mars robot position
Could be quantum mechanics necessary to analyze some biology scenarios?
How can I mix up weapons for large groups of similar monsters/characters?
Meth dealer reference in Family Guy
It took me a lot of time to make this, pls like. (YouTube Comments #1)
Crystal compensation for temp and voltage
What is the purpose of easy combat scenarios that don't need resource expenditure?
Wanted: 5.25 floppy to usb adapter
Is the theory of the category of topological spaces computable?
Has the Isbell–Freyd criterion ever been used to check that a category is concretisable?
Why does the DC-9-80 have this cusp in its fuselage?
How to push a box with physics engine by another object?
ip vs ifconfig commands pros and cons
Emit zero-width bash prompt sequence from external binary
What is better: yes / no radio, or simple checkbox?
Which branches of mathematics can be done just in terms of morphisms and composition?
How should I state my MS degree in my CV when it was in practice a joint-program?
Meaning of すきっとした
What are these green text/line displays shown during the livestream of Crew Dragon's approach to dock with the ISS?
Metadata API deployments are failing in Spring '19
Finding the number of integers that are a square and a cube at the same time
Why is working on the same position for more than 15 years not a red flag?
Why are some book titles not capitalized?
Title Case in French — Majuscules Dans Les TitresWhen not to accent “a”?Why are O and E sometimes attached together, as in “les œufs”?Why “Very Bad Trip” instead of “Gueule de bois”?Are there words with three consecutive occurence of the same letter?Why is “temps” spelled with a final S?Book for learning grammar (DELF B2)Why “déjà” with grave accent on “à”, not just “déja”?La Reine des neiges - why plural?Why does Dostoevsky write “fairez” and not “ferez”?When are capital letters required on product names?
I am learning Breton (le breton) and capitalization is clearly different in French (le français) and English (l'anglais).
I wanted to buy a book so I went to https://www.pourlesnuls.fr/. There I could buy
L'Histoie de la guerre pour les nuls
Les Grandes Théories économiques pour les nuls
La Physique quantique pour les nuls
All the capitalization seemed to agree with the standard rules for French titles as I understand them:
the first noun is capitalized
any preceding adjective is capitalized
everything else follows standard French rules
so why are languages not capitalized when they are the first noun of the title?
Le français sans faute pour les nuls
L'anglais pour les nuls
Le breton pour les nuls
orthographe majuscules titres
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I am learning Breton (le breton) and capitalization is clearly different in French (le français) and English (l'anglais).
I wanted to buy a book so I went to https://www.pourlesnuls.fr/. There I could buy
L'Histoie de la guerre pour les nuls
Les Grandes Théories économiques pour les nuls
La Physique quantique pour les nuls
All the capitalization seemed to agree with the standard rules for French titles as I understand them:
the first noun is capitalized
any preceding adjective is capitalized
everything else follows standard French rules
so why are languages not capitalized when they are the first noun of the title?
Le français sans faute pour les nuls
L'anglais pour les nuls
Le breton pour les nuls
orthographe majuscules titres
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
I search the exact rule on the internet, and you're almost right. The first noun and preceding adjectives are capitalized only if the the first word is the article of the said word. In this case, "le français" is apparently an exception, because "Français" capitalized is the name of the nationality, so it is not capitalized in order to not mix up.
– Lyzvaleska
6 hours ago
Thank you, @Lyzvaleska, I was nearly right. But that still suggests that it should be Le Breton!
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
add a comment |
I am learning Breton (le breton) and capitalization is clearly different in French (le français) and English (l'anglais).
I wanted to buy a book so I went to https://www.pourlesnuls.fr/. There I could buy
L'Histoie de la guerre pour les nuls
Les Grandes Théories économiques pour les nuls
La Physique quantique pour les nuls
All the capitalization seemed to agree with the standard rules for French titles as I understand them:
the first noun is capitalized
any preceding adjective is capitalized
everything else follows standard French rules
so why are languages not capitalized when they are the first noun of the title?
Le français sans faute pour les nuls
L'anglais pour les nuls
Le breton pour les nuls
orthographe majuscules titres
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I am learning Breton (le breton) and capitalization is clearly different in French (le français) and English (l'anglais).
I wanted to buy a book so I went to https://www.pourlesnuls.fr/. There I could buy
L'Histoie de la guerre pour les nuls
Les Grandes Théories économiques pour les nuls
La Physique quantique pour les nuls
All the capitalization seemed to agree with the standard rules for French titles as I understand them:
the first noun is capitalized
any preceding adjective is capitalized
everything else follows standard French rules
so why are languages not capitalized when they are the first noun of the title?
Le français sans faute pour les nuls
L'anglais pour les nuls
Le breton pour les nuls
orthographe majuscules titres
orthographe majuscules titres
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
edited 6 hours ago
Gilles♦
42.4k882193
42.4k882193
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
asked 8 hours ago
David RobinsonDavid Robinson
1112
1112
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
David Robinson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
I search the exact rule on the internet, and you're almost right. The first noun and preceding adjectives are capitalized only if the the first word is the article of the said word. In this case, "le français" is apparently an exception, because "Français" capitalized is the name of the nationality, so it is not capitalized in order to not mix up.
– Lyzvaleska
6 hours ago
Thank you, @Lyzvaleska, I was nearly right. But that still suggests that it should be Le Breton!
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
add a comment |
2
I search the exact rule on the internet, and you're almost right. The first noun and preceding adjectives are capitalized only if the the first word is the article of the said word. In this case, "le français" is apparently an exception, because "Français" capitalized is the name of the nationality, so it is not capitalized in order to not mix up.
– Lyzvaleska
6 hours ago
Thank you, @Lyzvaleska, I was nearly right. But that still suggests that it should be Le Breton!
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
2
2
I search the exact rule on the internet, and you're almost right. The first noun and preceding adjectives are capitalized only if the the first word is the article of the said word. In this case, "le français" is apparently an exception, because "Français" capitalized is the name of the nationality, so it is not capitalized in order to not mix up.
– Lyzvaleska
6 hours ago
I search the exact rule on the internet, and you're almost right. The first noun and preceding adjectives are capitalized only if the the first word is the article of the said word. In this case, "le français" is apparently an exception, because "Français" capitalized is the name of the nationality, so it is not capitalized in order to not mix up.
– Lyzvaleska
6 hours ago
Thank you, @Lyzvaleska, I was nearly right. But that still suggests that it should be Le Breton!
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
Thank you, @Lyzvaleska, I was nearly right. But that still suggests that it should be Le Breton!
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
The capitalization of the first noun is not mandatory. It is capitalized when using the traditional conventions but publishers can choose to use simplified ones where only the first word is required to be capitalized (here Le).
Note that this non capitalization can be found elsewhere, for example in this book:
Sometimes the rules are broken and fully lowercase titles are used:
One reason the lowercase variant might has been selected in the Pour les nuls collection is that it removes a possible ambiguity, le Français sans faute pour les nuls can be understood by a careless reader as The Frenchman without misconduct for dummies.
Same with The Englishman for dummies
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "299"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
David Robinson is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2ffrench.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f34080%2fwhy-are-some-book-titles-not-capitalized%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
The capitalization of the first noun is not mandatory. It is capitalized when using the traditional conventions but publishers can choose to use simplified ones where only the first word is required to be capitalized (here Le).
Note that this non capitalization can be found elsewhere, for example in this book:
Sometimes the rules are broken and fully lowercase titles are used:
One reason the lowercase variant might has been selected in the Pour les nuls collection is that it removes a possible ambiguity, le Français sans faute pour les nuls can be understood by a careless reader as The Frenchman without misconduct for dummies.
Same with The Englishman for dummies
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
add a comment |
The capitalization of the first noun is not mandatory. It is capitalized when using the traditional conventions but publishers can choose to use simplified ones where only the first word is required to be capitalized (here Le).
Note that this non capitalization can be found elsewhere, for example in this book:
Sometimes the rules are broken and fully lowercase titles are used:
One reason the lowercase variant might has been selected in the Pour les nuls collection is that it removes a possible ambiguity, le Français sans faute pour les nuls can be understood by a careless reader as The Frenchman without misconduct for dummies.
Same with The Englishman for dummies
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
add a comment |
The capitalization of the first noun is not mandatory. It is capitalized when using the traditional conventions but publishers can choose to use simplified ones where only the first word is required to be capitalized (here Le).
Note that this non capitalization can be found elsewhere, for example in this book:
Sometimes the rules are broken and fully lowercase titles are used:
One reason the lowercase variant might has been selected in the Pour les nuls collection is that it removes a possible ambiguity, le Français sans faute pour les nuls can be understood by a careless reader as The Frenchman without misconduct for dummies.
Same with The Englishman for dummies
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
The capitalization of the first noun is not mandatory. It is capitalized when using the traditional conventions but publishers can choose to use simplified ones where only the first word is required to be capitalized (here Le).
Note that this non capitalization can be found elsewhere, for example in this book:
Sometimes the rules are broken and fully lowercase titles are used:
One reason the lowercase variant might has been selected in the Pour les nuls collection is that it removes a possible ambiguity, le Français sans faute pour les nuls can be understood by a careless reader as The Frenchman without misconduct for dummies.
Same with The Englishman for dummies
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
edited 5 hours ago
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
answered 6 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
64.3k244102
64.3k244102
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
add a comment |
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
Your second point seems really sensible and plausible. But as for the first point: even if there are two conventions, it is strange that one publisher uses different conventions for different books. Incidentally, style guides usually say there is one rule for English titles, one for French titles, and no special rules for other languages, which is, you say, the new rule for French. This is not quite true, as minority languages in French-speaking countries (e.g. Breton) usually use French rules and minority languages in English-speaking countries (e.g. Welsh, Gaelic) usually use English rules.
– David Robinson
6 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
As you wrote, it is a convention, not a rule. Not following a convention is not the same as breaking a rule. All the books use lowercase for language names so they decided to be consistent. I don't get what you mean with minority languages. The book title is in French, not Brezhoneg, and regional languages are free to use the conventions and rules they like.
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
My point, @jlliagre, was simply that style guides are usually wrong because they leave out minority languages when they say that French and English are the only languages that have special rules for titles.
– David Robinson
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
Ah, Okay. I misunderstood that part then. There are likely capitalization conventions in all languages, or at least those using alphabets with a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Latin had not that issue ;-)
– jlliagre
5 hours ago
add a comment |
David Robinson is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
David Robinson is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
David Robinson is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
David Robinson is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to French Language Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2ffrench.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f34080%2fwhy-are-some-book-titles-not-capitalized%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
I search the exact rule on the internet, and you're almost right. The first noun and preceding adjectives are capitalized only if the the first word is the article of the said word. In this case, "le français" is apparently an exception, because "Français" capitalized is the name of the nationality, so it is not capitalized in order to not mix up.
– Lyzvaleska
6 hours ago
Thank you, @Lyzvaleska, I was nearly right. But that still suggests that it should be Le Breton!
– David Robinson
6 hours ago