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Subject:Capitalization and language interference From:"ralph (r.f.) calistro" <calistro -at- BNR -dot- CA> Date:Thu, 5 May 1994 14:02:00 -0400
In a recent thread of this list, Marguerite Krupp
and Jane Torpie, among others, commented on the
possible influence of German on capitalization in
English. Their comments reminded me of the
potential influence of English on capitalization in
French, specifically on titles in French.
As we know, the "major" words in the titles of works in
English are capitalized, hence, the title Webster's
New Collegiate Dictionary, or Combinatory Vocabulary
of CAD/CAM in Mechanical Engineering. The
French equivalent of the latter, for example, is
Vocabulaire combinatoire de la CFAO mecanique (sorry,
no accents on the net).
The problem is especially felt in online softkey
labels. An English softkey title such as
"Create Order" was rendered initially in French as
"Creation Commande". The propensity of French to
calque the English is sometimes subtile and is an
inevitable result of linguistic influence in a
pluri-lingual situation.
I have the distinct impression that others on this
list are also working in pluri-lingual situations,
and I would be interested in any linguistic observations.
By the way, I am happy to have recently joined
this list. I hope to meet some of the people from
this list and the CAP-l list from MTU at the STC
meeting in Minneapolis.
Ralph F. Calistro, Ph.D.
Northern Telecom
Ottawa, Canada
calistro -at- bnr -dot- ca
