首字母為什么要大寫

我們?yōu)槭裁匆懻撌鬃帜复髮憜栴}?

Experts say overcapitalization can be traced to the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was common to uppercase many significant words.

專家表示，對首字母大寫的過度使用可以追溯到17世紀和18世紀，當時把重要詞匯的首字母大寫是很普遍的做法。

In line with the times, the founding fathers used this style in the United States Constitution, said Kory Stamper, a lexicographer and the author of “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.”

詞典學家、《逐字逐句——字典的秘密生活》(Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries)一書的作者科利·斯坦帕(Kory Stamper)說，國父們是依照那個時代的風氣，在美國憲法中使用這一體例的。

Over the past several years, Ms. Stamper said, she has noticed that some people with conservative viewpoints have increasingly used frequent capitalization. “There is definitely a heavy tie to wanting to mimic the founding fathers, and they seem to have latched on to capitalization as the way to do it,” she said.

在過去幾年里，斯坦帕說，她注意到越來越多的保守人士開始頻繁使用首字母大寫。“這肯定跟想要模仿開國先賢有很大關系，他們似乎已經(jīng)把首字母大寫作為實現(xiàn)這一點的方式，”她說。

When should I use capitalization?

什么時候應該使用首字母大寫?

Most people know that you should capitalize the first word in a sentence, the pronoun “I” and proper nouns.

大多數(shù)人都知道，應該把句子中的第一個單詞，代詞“I”(我)和專有名詞的首字母大寫。

There are other times when capitalization is needed, but, even at this basic level, things can start to get tricky.

還有一些時候也需要首字母大寫，但是，即使在基本層面，情況也會變得很復雜。

“The confusion tends to be around what’s considered a proper noun and what’s not,” Ms. Stamper said. “Is ‘earth’ a proper noun? When do you capitalize titles and honorifics like ‘president’ or ‘prime minister’?”

“混淆往往圍繞著什么應當被視為專有名詞，什么不是專有名詞，”斯坦帕說。“‘地球’是專有名詞嗎?在什么情況下，‘總統(tǒng)’或‘總理’這樣的頭銜和尊稱應該首字母大寫?”

What is a proper noun?

什么是專有名詞?

Dictionary.com defines a proper noun as the name of a specific person (Beyoncé), place (Paris), company or institution (The New York Times) or thing (Golden Gate Bridge).

Dictionary.com網(wǎng)站將專有名詞定義為特定的人(如Beyoncé[碧昂絲])、地點(如Paris[巴黎])、公司或機構(gòu)(The New York Times[紐約時報])或物(Golden Gate Bridge[金門大橋])的名稱。

Ms. Stamper said it is a common mistake to universally apply capitalization to words such as “earth” and “moon.”

斯坦帕說，將首字母大寫擴及“地球”和“月亮”等詞語是常見的錯誤。

Personal titles should be lowercase, except before someone’s name, she said. The prime minister of Canada vs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

她說，個人的頭銜應該是小寫，用在人名之前的頭銜應該大寫，參見這兩種用法：The prime minister of Canada(加拿大總理)，或Prime Minister Justin Trudeau(賈斯汀·特魯多總理)。

O.K., but really: Is it kosher to capitalize for emphasis?

好吧，但是說真的：用首字母大寫來表示強調(diào)合規(guī)嗎?

It depends, said Bryan A. Garner, a grammarian who is the author of “Garner’s Modern English Usage.”

這要看情況，《加爾納現(xiàn)代英語用法》(Garner’s Modern English Usage)一書作者布萊恩·加爾納(Bryan A. Garner)說。

Some acclaimed writers, such as David Foster Wallace, have used capitalization for emphasis in a way that many consider literary, he said. But, he said, the rules are there for a reason — and you have to know them in order to break them.

他說，一些著名作家，比如大衛(wèi)·福斯特·華萊士(David Foster Wallace)，曾經(jīng)使用大寫字母進行強調(diào)，許多人都覺得這種手法是文學性的。但是，他說，規(guī)則的存在是有原因的——你必須了解規(guī)則，才能打破規(guī)則。

“If you want to come across as a literate writer, you should adhere to those standards,” he said. “But if you don’t care about how you look to others, then you just capitalize according to your own feelings.”

“如果你想成為一個有文化修養(yǎng)的寫作者，就應該遵守這些標準，”他說。“但是，如果你不關心別人怎么看你，那么你就可以根據(jù)自己的感受來使用首字母大寫。”

So if not capitalization, then what?

那么如果不用首字母大寫，該用什么來表示強調(diào)呢?

Use italics, Mr. Garner said. If you are tweeting or texting, he said, you can use asterisks on either side of the word for *emphasis*.

加爾納說，應該使用斜體。他還說，如果是發(fā)推文或者發(fā)短信，可以在單詞的任意一側(cè)使用星號來表示*強調(diào)*。

Should I capitalize every word in a sentence?

我應該把句子里的每個單詞都首字母大寫嗎?

Only if You Want to Be Annoying.

只有當你想惹人煩的時候。

Or if You Write Headlines for a Certain Newspaper.

或者，當你為某份報紙撰寫新聞標題的時候。

And in that case, Mr. Garner said, some words should still remain lowercase, including: articles (a, an, the); conjunctions (and, or, but) and prepositions with fewer than four letters (of, by, to, for).

在后一種情況下，加爾納說，有些詞仍應保持小寫，包括：冠詞(a、an、the);連詞(and、or、but)和少于四個字母的介詞(of、by、to、for)。

Should I capitalize the ‘g’ in God?

“God”(上帝、神)應該首字母大寫嗎?

Don’t get Twitter started on this one.

這事放到Twitter上又是一場惡戰(zhàn)。

Personal religious views aside, experts say it depends on which kind of god you are referring to.

除了個人宗教觀點因素，專家說，這取決于你指的是哪種神。

“It used to be when I was a kid that yes, anytime you use the word ‘God’ you capitalized it,” Ms. Stamper said. “Now it tends to be only if you are referring to the Abrahamic God.”

“我小時候，任何時候，只要使用‘God’這個詞，就必須首字母大寫，”斯坦帕說。“現(xiàn)在，只有當你指的是亞伯拉罕諸教的神時才應該首字母大寫。”

Am I a grammar expert now?

那么我現(xiàn)在算是語法專家了嗎?

If you made it this far, you get an A for effort.

如果你能看到這里，你的努力可以得A了。

But Mr. Trump’s tweet had grammar geeks abuzz about more than just capitalization. “Everybody is picking up on the dangling modifier and the incorrect ‘pour,’” Ms. Stamper said.

但是，特朗普的推文讓癡迷語法的人們議論紛紛的不僅僅是大寫問題。“大家都在對那個懸垂修飾語和那個錯誤的‘pour’指指點點，”斯坦帕說。

“But,” she acknowledged, “we are all next-level nerds.”

“但是，”她承認，“我們都是屬于另一個級別的書呆子。”