[asterisk-biz] Capitalisation in English writing from Indian subcontinent

[Alex Balashov]

Well, there's certainly been a lot of interesting feedback, though 
very little of it in any way related to the actual question I posed. 
:-)  That's OK.  Good times.

I consulted with some acquaintances from the regions in question and 
others in a position of seemingly greater expertise, because, despite 
what some of you may think (particularly those of you who had the 
perceived misfortune of being cited as examples), I actually am 
motivated by genuine curiosity.

The feedback was copious, but two consistent identifiable themes 
seemed to run through it:

1) The native languages of that region - such as Hindi, Urdu and 
Arabic - do not have a concept of "capitalisation" akin to European 
languages, nor anything similar.  So, it should not be taken for 
granted that the concept is as straightforward and intuitive as we may 
believe.  A German learning to write in English needs only to learn 
different rules of capitalisation, having already apprehended the 
concept and a broad sense of its purpose and application.

2) Those struggling with the encumbrance of #1 are easily confused by 
the distinction between capitalisation of proper nouns and 
Capitalisation for Emphasis.  Journalistic conventions (Headlines 
Where Every Word Is Capitalised) and marketing literature, known to be 
viciously hostile to the achievements of high culture, does nothing to 
help clarify the matter.

Thoughts?

-- 
Alex Balashov - Principal
Evariste Systems
Web     : http://www.evaristesys.com/
Tel     : (+1) (678) 954-0670
Direct  : (+1) (678) 954-0671