Why do we capitalize?
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Clarifying: I am only talking about the rule that the first letter of any sentence should be capitalized, this is not about capitalizing names.
Why do we? all grammatical rules have a goal: Punctuation prevents misinterpretations (Help your uncle Jack off a horse), no run-on sentences makes sure the sentence is orderly and in readable chunks. Of course i'm probably forgetting a lot of them, but that's not the point.
The point is: Why should we capitalize? it serves no purpose for the benefit of the reader like the the rules do.
In older times, books were always written with intricate, fancy letters at the beginning of chapters. the reason is assumed to be just for decoration. that reason can't exactly be used to justify having to use capitalization nowadays, since we've long stepped away from such intricate letters.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, i'm saying that it shouldn't be mandatory.
Why do we? all grammatical rules have a goal: Punctuation prevents misinterpretations (Help your uncle Jack off a horse), no run-on sentences makes sure the sentence is orderly and in readable chunks. Of course i'm probably forgetting a lot of them, but that's not the point.
The point is: Why should we capitalize? it serves no purpose for the benefit of the reader like the the rules do.
In older times, books were always written with intricate, fancy letters at the beginning of chapters. the reason is assumed to be just for decoration. that reason can't exactly be used to justify having to use capitalization nowadays, since we've long stepped away from such intricate letters.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, i'm saying that it shouldn't be mandatory.
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As to why we capitalize the first word of a sentence I suppose it would be to help the reader determine when a new sentence is beginning. We do have periods to show when a sentence ends but a little dot is something you might miss, so we have multiple signs just to make sure the reader doesn't get confused.
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After a brain has become used to capitalization, it assigns significance to the words relevant to the context they are used in.
Try copying a passage with every letter capitalized. Your brain will freak out, and get the feeling it needs to make irrational stops.
Now, some languages don't even have capitalization. However, they still have marks denoting when a statement begins/ends, and begins. If you separate every word with one of those, it produces a similar effect.
Try copying a passage with every letter capitalized. Your brain will freak out, and get the feeling it needs to make irrational stops.
Now, some languages don't even have capitalization. However, they still have marks denoting when a statement begins/ends, and begins. If you separate every word with one of those, it produces a similar effect.
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Tegumi
"im always cute"
sirmidor wrote...
The point is: Why should we capitalize? it serves no purpose for the benefit of the reader like the the rules do.Oh, but it does. Read what the previous two posters have to say.
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ToyManC
Forgot my safe word
The idea behind capitalization dates back to the time when books were written by hand. This was before most forms of punctuation had been developed, so the first letter was usually highlighted at the beginning of each page or major paragraph. This letter was often very ornately written, and artistically embellished. This embellishment was seldom just for looks, however, for the majority of the population was illiterate. Usually, the highlighted letter was surrounded by some pictorial representation of what the writer was describing, so non-readers would have some form of visual clue to its meaning.
After the invention of the printing press, It was cheaper to adopt a simpler method of highlighting the beginning of a sentence, rather than hiring an artist to decorate each book. It is also an important form here on the forums, as it is impossible to indent the first sentence of a paragraph.
While you may think that capitalization is unnecessary, without having some form of proclaiming a new thought, everything that is written will begin to blend together. A reader's mind gets rapidly bored if what is written just looks like a huge block of prose, so I won't drag this on much longer.
I would prefer my books not read like someone's lazy text message, so in the long run, is it really such an onerous chore to hit shift before the first word of a sentence?
After the invention of the printing press, It was cheaper to adopt a simpler method of highlighting the beginning of a sentence, rather than hiring an artist to decorate each book. It is also an important form here on the forums, as it is impossible to indent the first sentence of a paragraph.
While you may think that capitalization is unnecessary, without having some form of proclaiming a new thought, everything that is written will begin to blend together. A reader's mind gets rapidly bored if what is written just looks like a huge block of prose, so I won't drag this on much longer.
I would prefer my books not read like someone's lazy text message, so in the long run, is it really such an onerous chore to hit shift before the first word of a sentence?
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KageMinowara wrote...
As to why we capitalize the first word of a sentence I suppose it would be to help the reader determine when a new sentence is beginning. We do have periods to show when a sentence ends but a little dot is something you might miss, so we have multiple signs just to make sure the reader doesn't get confused.That could be true, but honestly, i never miss dots when reading, but maybe that's just me.
Aud1o Blood wrote...
After a brain has become used to capitalization, it assigns significance to the words relevant to the context they are used in.Try copying a passage with every letter capitalized. Your brain will freak out, and get the feeling it needs to make irrational stops.
Now, some languages don't even have capitalization. However, they still have marks denoting when a statement begins/ends, and begins. If you separate every word with one of those, it produces a similar effect.
You mean an all caps text? Those texts still have periods and commas, so it's still obvious where the sentence ends. i copied your post and made everything in caps, but since there was still punctuation, i didn't really feel like my brain had problems reading it.
Tegumi wrote...
sirmidor wrote...
The point is: Why should we capitalize? it serves no purpose for the benefit of the reader like the the rules do.Oh, but it does. Read what the previous two posters have to say.
That's kind of childish, you know? After people state their well thought-out arguments, you just jump in and say: "yeah, what they said".
Don't get me wrong, it's not that you agree with them, that's perfectly fine, it's that you're saying it in an unmistakenly smug tone.
ToyManC wrote...
After the invention of the printing press, It was cheaper to adopt a simpler method of highlighting the beginning of a sentence, rather than hiring an artist to decorate each book. It is also an important form here on the forums, as it is impossible to indent the first sentence of a paragraph.
While you may think that capitalization is unnecessary, without having some form of proclaiming a new thought, everything that is written will begin to blend together. A reader's mind gets rapidly bored if what is written just looks like a huge block of prose, so I won't drag this on much longer.
I would prefer my books not read like someone's lazy text message, so in the long run, is it really such an onerous chore to hit shift before the first word of a sentence?
Can you prove this? I've always felt that the reader gets interested or bored with what the book tells of, not the medium itself.
It's not about the effort, it's about the principle. the argument you're presenting is unrelated, since this is about why you would do it, not about what has to be done to do it.
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sirmidor wrote...
i never miss dots when reading, but maybe that's just me...
...
i didn't really feel like my brain had problems reading it.
Fortunately for you, but what about the people who might miss it.
There are many learning disabilities; poor eyesight, short attention span, dyslexia, etc. what about them?
the capitalization helps in identifying where the sentence starts.
you're saying it in an unmistakenly smug tone.
That's Tegumi for you, and I think she's even mild at this occasion, you still haven't seen her being sarcastic.
ToyManC wrote...
A reader's mind gets rapidly bored if what is written just looks like a huge block of prose
precisely this ^. the capital letters at least breaks the monotonous trend. for you it may be easy, but to others it can become such a tasking job.
Can you prove this? I've always felt that the reader gets interested or bored with what the book tells of, not the medium itself.
It's not about the effort, it's about the principle. the argument you're presenting is unrelated, since this is about why you would do it, not about what has to be done to do it.
It's not about the effort, it's about the principle. the argument you're presenting is unrelated, since this is about why you would do it, not about what has to be done to do it.
You're being kind of selfish here and also a bit contradicting.
It's about what you feel, not about what other's think and feel.
A person's attention is both affected with what the content of the book and its medium, to me and to most I know at least.
I don't know about the general public but as far as I know the capitalization of every first word of a sentence is part of proper grammar.
you may think this maybe unrelated to your argument, but proper grammar and sentence forming is A FORM OF RESPECT. Lower-casing a person's name can insult or offend someone at times.
It's not only about the names, it's kind of trashing the english language itself. I also asked that question to all my english teachers and that is what they said. Respect for the language, is that too much to ask?(don't even start them with messaging jargons like 'm bc', 'c u l8tr', lol. they gave me a nasty look, one even started screaming at me)
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thanielle wrote...
Can you prove this? I've always felt that the reader gets interested or bored with what the book tells of, not the medium itself.
It's not about the effort, it's about the principle. the argument you're presenting is unrelated, since this is about why you would do it, not about what has to be done to do it.
It's not about the effort, it's about the principle. the argument you're presenting is unrelated, since this is about why you would do it, not about what has to be done to do it.
You're being kind of selfish here and also a bit contradicting.
It's about what you feel, not about what other's think and feel.
A person's attention is both affected with what the content of the book and its medium, to me and to most I know at least.
I don't know about the general public but as far as I know the capitalization of every first word of a sentence is part of proper grammar.
you may think this maybe unrelated to your argument, but proper grammar and sentence forming is A FORM OF RESPECT. Lower-casing a person's name can insult or offend someone at times.
It's not only about the names, it's kind of trashing the english language itself. I also asked that question to all my english teachers and that is what they said. Respect for the language, is that too much to ask?(don't even start them with messaging jargons like 'm bc', 'c u l8tr', lol. they gave me a nasty look, one even started screaming at me)
This is exactly the problem: Capitalizing has become so ingrained that people won't step away from it.
If, for generations, children were taught to capitalize every odd letter, it would become part of the language and people would be protective of this ridiculous rule.
"Respect for the language"? Why? Nothing is perfect, except math, so improving should always be an option
what i'm trying to say is: don't just accept something as perfect, just because it's there.
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Capitalizing the first letter of a sentence is to show where the sentence starts. That's the reason, and that's why we should have it.
Also, capitalizing proper nouns, names, etc is for empathizing. eg. The city vs. The City.
Also, capitalizing proper nouns, names, etc is for empathizing. eg. The city vs. The City.
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devsonfire
3,000,000th Poster
Chlor wrote...
Capitalizing the first letter of a sentence is to show where the sentence starts. That's the reason, and that's why we should have it.Also, capitalizing proper nouns, names, etc is for empathizing. eg. The city vs. The City.
I am not sure if you meant Empathizing or Emphasizing.
On topic:In my opinion, asking why we should capitalize our first letter in a sentence is just like asking why 1 comes before 2.
I am pretty sure it is part of the proper English grammar (and maybe for other languages as well) to have them capitalized. It is indeed good to ask why, it never came across my mind actually.
I don't know why, but I think someone who came up with the idea did a tremendous job, because I can't imagine myself reading a novel that is monotone with no proper punctuation.
