[asterisk-biz] Capitalisation in English writing from Indian subcontinent
Alex Balashov
abalashov at evaristesys.com
Thu Oct 8 12:12:54 CDT 2009
In case you did not read the message, I am not "complaining" about
anything.
Jai Rangi wrote:
> I see you complaining about SPAM every now and then for people's email
> about promotions. I don't get how this email is related to Asteris-biz
> list. Why dont you go and complain about language issues on some English
> writing forums?
> BTW which world of world language you are using.
> In North American English,
> capitalisation is capitalization
> realise is realize
>
> -Jai
>
> On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 12:55 AM, Alex Balashov
> <abalashov at evaristesys.com <mailto:abalashov at evaristesys.com>> wrote:
>
> This recent discussion got me wondering again about something which has
> perplexed me for a while: the unusual (from an Anglo-American
> perspective) capitalisation patterns - chiefly of nouns - that seem to
> consistently occur in technical and commercial copy we see that is
> authored in India or Pakistan, presumably by speakers of the various
> native English adaptations and/or dialects. To a lesser but nontrivial
> extent, I've also seen this from the Middle East.
>
> I suppose, in the interest of political correctness, that I ought to
> preface this inquiry with the disclaimer that this is not intended to
> offend anyone. I realise I am quite known to make jabs from time to
> time at various people's web sites and solicitations for poor
> proofreading, bad spelling and grammar, etc. where it is obvious (to me,
> anyway) that the cause is laziness and inattention rather than something
> like a genuine struggle with a foreign language.
>
> In this case, my interest is purely academic; I wouldn't waste time
> writing this missive if it weren't. There are far more economical and
> brief ways to call someone specific out for sloppiness, and non-native
> English speakers have no kind of monopoly on sloppiness anyway.
>
> All this to say: if you happen to be a non-native English speaker from
> the aforementioned regions, don't bristle -- please take the question in
> the spirit in which it's intended.
>
> Here are some examples of what I am referring to:
>
> From www.ngtlive.com <http://www.ngtlive.com>[1]:
>
> -----
>
> "As a well known B2B expert of telecom vertical, we have delivered
> applications that are meant to address ever emerging business
> requirements. At NGT live we strive to develop and design world class
> communication solutions and applications that offer operational
> flexibility to business processes.
>
> These applications cover various core segments of Telecom verticals.
> Whether there is a need for B2B Integration, Enterprise Application
> integration or a Mobile Commerce portal, our globally acclaimed
> solutions deliver business innovation capabilities and improved customer
> services to several industry domains."
>
> -----
>
> From www.super-phone.com <http://www.super-phone.com> (front page):
>
> -----
> "Use your Favorite Instant Messenger like [icons] to make or receive
> Phone calls."
> -----
>
> From didforsale.com <http://didforsale.com>[2]:
>
> -----
> "Say Good Bye to the expensive traditional way of obtaining inbound SIP
> DIDs (VoIP virtual Phone numbers) through the local telephone
> companies."
> -----
>
>
> I've also seen this for years in correspondence from Indian technicians
> on various mailing lists, as well as intra-organisationally in various
> past jobs.
>
> I cannot identify any consistent criterion which the words capitalised
> in the middle of sentences above meet. It's certainly not nouns; many
> of the words are adjectives. It's not adjectives; many nouns are
> capitalised too. In the first example, "telecom" in "telecom vertical"
> is non-capitalised in the first paragraph, but is in the second
> ("Telecom verticals").
>
> While I assume that the unconventional and grammatically impoverished
> aspects are not under dispute, at the same time this tendency is too
> predictable, consistently visible, and anchored to writers from that
> part of the world to have the random properties of a truly chaotic
> system. The distribution is not sufficiently uniform to just chalk it
> up to ill-grammarred writing. I haven't seen this from other authors
> hailing from other parts of the world whose English writing is also
> certifiably poor, or, at the very least, deviant from curricular
> standard in the US, Canada and the British Commonwealth. I also don't
> see this from people in other former British colonial countries in, for
> example, Africa.
>
> There are other widespread signature errors from people from other
> places, but not that particular one. They are easier to explain because
> they seem - mostly - to fall into the following two categories:
>
> 1) The conscious or unconscious application of syntax, stylistic
> conventions, habits of expression and formulation, etc. from another
> language to English.
>
> 2) Written expression of the idiosyncrasies of regional English
> dialects, pidgin languages, etc.
>
> Those are all quite understandable. This capitalisation thing has got
> me stumped, though. There is obviously a deliberate intent at work
> here, even if it's being applied incompletely or incorrectly/sloppily
> even in terms of what must be its own internally consistent rules.
>
> So, can anyone help me out here? What are the "rules" governing such
> capitalisation, whether or not they are being properly observed in the
> samples I chose? Why does this characteristic seem to be particular to
> India and Pakistan, and not other former British colonial and/or
> Commonwealth nations?
>
> If I had to take a wild stab at it, I would guess that the time at which
> English-language was established in India by the British intersected
> somehow with an era in which it was fashionable to capitalise nouns
> other than proper nouns, rather in the German manner - which was the
> case during the Victorian era, I gather. I'm sure capitalisation
> practices that seem dubious from a contemporary perspective obtained
> widely in 18th century written English as well, and probably before it.
> But this doesn't explain why the same trend is not seen in other former
> British colonies that were acquired in the 19th century, nor shed any
> light on the underlying intent or "rules" -- I certainly can't infer any
> guidelines from what I see.
>
> If someone could shed some light on this, I would be intrigued.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -- Alex
>
> [1] http://www.ngtlive.com/inner-left-sidebar/b2b-solutions
>
> [2] http://www.didforsale.com/moreinfo.php
>
> --
> Alex Balashov - Principal
> Evariste Systems
> Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/
> Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670
> Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671
>
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--
Alex Balashov - Principal
Evariste Systems
Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/
Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670
Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671
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