Grammar Person: A funds notion | Life – Columnists
Curtis Honeycutt
I’m astonished at how normally the entire world of grammar intersects the headlines. Due to the fact the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, I’ve seen and listened to people today baffled by both of those the spelling and the capitalization (critically, no pun supposed) of the word. Let us dive in.
The words and phrases “capital” and “capitol” have exceptional origins. In actuality, “capital” comes the Latin term “capitalis,” which implies “head,” as effectively as “capitale,” which suggests “wealth.” Right here we see why “capital” can suggest “money” as nicely as “the state seat of government.” We also get the meaning of “capital letters” from the Latin term this means “head.” This tends to make sense for the reason that capital letters stand at the “head” of a term.
When it comes to “capitol,” we get this word from the Temple of Jupiter Capitolium, if not identified as the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, situated on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. This temple was a considerable center of Roman faith and tradition and was focused in the 12 months 509 B.C.E., the similar yr the Romans overthrew the Etruscan monarchy, setting up a new republican system of authorities. It is assumed that Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., was named after the Capitoline Hill.
When should we capitalize the phrase “capitol”? When referring to the developing in D.C. where by the two bodies of our legislative branch meet up with, write “Capitol.” According to A.P. fashion, you really should also refer to the structures the place point out governments fulfill: The students toured the Oklahoma Capitol in the course of their course field journey. These are suitable nouns, so they obtain the funds letter treatment method.
