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? <br>
BTW which world of world language you are using. <br>In North American English, <br>capitalisation is capitalization <br>realise is realize<br><br>-Jai<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 12:55 AM, Alex Balashov <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:abalashov@evaristesys.com">abalashov@evaristesys.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">This recent discussion got me wondering again about something which has<br>
perplexed me for a while: the unusual (from an Anglo-American<br>
perspective) capitalisation patterns - chiefly of nouns - that seem to<br>
consistently occur in technical and commercial copy we see that is<br>
authored in India or Pakistan, presumably by speakers of the various<br>
native English adaptations and/or dialects. To a lesser but nontrivial<br>
extent, I've also seen this from the Middle East.<br>
<br>
I suppose, in the interest of political correctness, that I ought to<br>
preface this inquiry with the disclaimer that this is not intended to<br>
offend anyone. I realise I am quite known to make jabs from time to<br>
time at various people's web sites and solicitations for poor<br>
proofreading, bad spelling and grammar, etc. where it is obvious (to me,<br>
anyway) that the cause is laziness and inattention rather than something<br>
like a genuine struggle with a foreign language.<br>
<br>
In this case, my interest is purely academic; I wouldn't waste time<br>
writing this missive if it weren't. There are far more economical and<br>
brief ways to call someone specific out for sloppiness, and non-native<br>
English speakers have no kind of monopoly on sloppiness anyway.<br>
<br>
All this to say: if you happen to be a non-native English speaker from<br>
the aforementioned regions, don't bristle -- please take the question in<br>
the spirit in which it's intended.<br>
<br>
Here are some examples of what I am referring to:<br>
<br>
From <a href="http://www.ngtlive.com" target="_blank">www.ngtlive.com</a>[1]:<br>
<br>
-----<br>
<br>
"As a well known B2B expert of telecom vertical, we have delivered<br>
applications that are meant to address ever emerging business<br>
requirements. At NGT live we strive to develop and design world class<br>
communication solutions and applications that offer operational<br>
flexibility to business processes.<br>
<br>
These applications cover various core segments of Telecom verticals.<br>
Whether there is a need for B2B Integration, Enterprise Application<br>
integration or a Mobile Commerce portal, our globally acclaimed<br>
solutions deliver business innovation capabilities and improved customer<br>
services to several industry domains."<br>
<br>
-----<br>
<br>
From <a href="http://www.super-phone.com" target="_blank">www.super-phone.com</a> (front page):<br>
<br>
-----<br>
"Use your Favorite Instant Messenger like [icons] to make or receive<br>
Phone calls."<br>
-----<br>
<br>
From <a href="http://didforsale.com" target="_blank">didforsale.com</a>[2]:<br>
<br>
-----<br>
"Say Good Bye to the expensive traditional way of obtaining inbound SIP<br>
DIDs (VoIP virtual Phone numbers) through the local telephone companies."<br>
-----<br>
<br>
<br>
I've also seen this for years in correspondence from Indian technicians<br>
on various mailing lists, as well as intra-organisationally in various<br>
past jobs.<br>
<br>
I cannot identify any consistent criterion which the words capitalised<br>
in the middle of sentences above meet. It's certainly not nouns; many<br>
of the words are adjectives. It's not adjectives; many nouns are<br>
capitalised too. In the first example, "telecom" in "telecom vertical"<br>
is non-capitalised in the first paragraph, but is in the second<br>
("Telecom verticals").<br>
<br>
While I assume that the unconventional and grammatically impoverished<br>
aspects are not under dispute, at the same time this tendency is too<br>
predictable, consistently visible, and anchored to writers from that<br>
part of the world to have the random properties of a truly chaotic<br>
system. The distribution is not sufficiently uniform to just chalk it<br>
up to ill-grammarred writing. I haven't seen this from other authors<br>
hailing from other parts of the world whose English writing is also<br>
certifiably poor, or, at the very least, deviant from curricular<br>
standard in the US, Canada and the British Commonwealth. I also don't<br>
see this from people in other former British colonial countries in, for<br>
example, Africa.<br>
<br>
There are other widespread signature errors from people from other<br>
places, but not that particular one. They are easier to explain because<br>
they seem - mostly - to fall into the following two categories:<br>
<br>
1) The conscious or unconscious application of syntax, stylistic<br>
conventions, habits of expression and formulation, etc. from another<br>
language to English.<br>
<br>
2) Written expression of the idiosyncrasies of regional English<br>
dialects, pidgin languages, etc.<br>
<br>
Those are all quite understandable. This capitalisation thing has got<br>
me stumped, though. There is obviously a deliberate intent at work<br>
here, even if it's being applied incompletely or incorrectly/sloppily<br>
even in terms of what must be its own internally consistent rules.<br>
<br>
So, can anyone help me out here? What are the "rules" governing such<br>
capitalisation, whether or not they are being properly observed in the<br>
samples I chose? Why does this characteristic seem to be particular to<br>
India and Pakistan, and not other former British colonial and/or<br>
Commonwealth nations?<br>
<br>
If I had to take a wild stab at it, I would guess that the time at which<br>
English-language was established in India by the British intersected<br>
somehow with an era in which it was fashionable to capitalise nouns<br>
other than proper nouns, rather in the German manner - which was the<br>
case during the Victorian era, I gather. I'm sure capitalisation<br>
practices that seem dubious from a contemporary perspective obtained<br>
widely in 18th century written English as well, and probably before it.<br>
But this doesn't explain why the same trend is not seen in other former<br>
British colonies that were acquired in the 19th century, nor shed any<br>
light on the underlying intent or "rules" -- I certainly can't infer any<br>
guidelines from what I see.<br>
<br>
If someone could shed some light on this, I would be intrigued.<br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
<br>
-- Alex<br>
<br>
[1] <a href="http://www.ngtlive.com/inner-left-sidebar/b2b-solutions" target="_blank">http://www.ngtlive.com/inner-left-sidebar/b2b-solutions</a><br>
<br>
[2] <a href="http://www.didforsale.com/moreinfo.php" target="_blank">http://www.didforsale.com/moreinfo.php</a><br>
<br>
--<br>
Alex Balashov - Principal<br>
Evariste Systems<br>
Web : <a href="http://www.evaristesys.com/" target="_blank">http://www.evaristesys.com/</a><br>
Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670<br>
Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671<br>
<br>
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