Linguistics: Capitonym

Posted September 15, 2016 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Linguistics, Self-Editing, Writing

Revised as of 8 March 2021


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A capitonym is a type of linguistic word play in which the same word changes its meaning (and sometimes its pronunciation) when it is capitalized and becomes a proper noun.

If you break capitonym apart:

Capit- means capital

-onym means word, name

Capitonyms are a subset under homographs (or when the capitonym is pronounced differently, it’s an heteronym), both of which are a subset under homonym (see Table 1 below).

Click here for a quick look at the differences between them -nyms, -graphs, -phones, and -semys.

Table 1. Quick Re-cap of Linguistic Word Play
Spelling Sounds Meaning Example
Homonym
same same different bark (tree)

bark (dog)
Homograph
same same
OR
different		 different present (gift)

present (introduce)
Heteronym **
same different different row (argument)

row (of seats)
Paronym **
different different derivative childish from child

preface from prefatio

affect vs effect

Capitonym
same, except

1. Proper Noun
2. common noun

 same
or
different		 different

1. March (third month of the year)

2. march (high stepping)

Monosemy *
ONE word same only ONE meaning aunt
Polysemy *
same same
or
different		 shares a common root mouth (hole in your face)

mouth (cave opening)

Homophone
same
or
different		 same different rose (flower)

rose (past tense of rise)

fair

fare
Heterograph
different same different copy right (copy correctly)

copyright (patent)

copywrite (write copy)

* Monosemy is the opposite of polysemy.

** Paronym is the opposite of heteronym.

Linguistics is…

Job’s Job
“In August, an august patriarch
Was reading an ad in Reading, Mass.
Long-suffering Job secured a job
To polish piles of Polish brass.”

– Richard Lederer, The Word Circus

Linguistics is…

…the systematic study of the nature, structure, and variation of language (of which grammar is a part), which describes how people use language. For the writer, how words are used (or spelled!) determines a character’s social and educational level and the time period for the story.

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Capitonym
Part of Speech: Linguistics, Semantics, Word Play, Figure of Speech
Definition: Words that share the same spelling, but have different meanings depending upon if they’re uppercase or lowercase.
Examples:
Polish citizen of Poland polish rub something to make it smooth and shiny
John man’s name john slang for bathroom
Candy woman’s name candy sweet treat
Nice city in France nice pleasant, agreeable
Ares Greek god of war ares metric unit of area
August month august impressive
Mother form of address mother look after kindly
Chevron an oil company chevron a line or pattern in the shape of a “V”
Crown government of a country, represented by a king or queen crown a circlet for the head made of precious metals and gems
Brown a common last name brown a color

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Satisfy your curiosity about other Linguistics posts by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Capitonyms

“Capitonyms.” Wikipedia. 28 Sept 2016. Web. 29 Sept 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitonym>.

Joshi, Manik. Dictionary of English Capitonyms: Vocabulary Building, <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22788224-dictionary-of-english-capitonyms>, is available in paperback or eBook and is a fascinating listing of all sorts of capitonyms. Joshi reminds the reader that deciding upon which side a capitonym falls will depend upon context. Even reading the description on Goodreads gives a pretty good idea…and gets me curious to read it!

Schiller, Rebeca. “Homonym, Homophone, Heterograph, Heteronym, Polyseme, and Capitonym, Oh My! Rebeca Schiller.com. 6 Jan 2012. Web. 29 Sept 2016. <http://www.rebecaschiller.com/linguistics/homonym-homophone-heterograph-heteronym-polyseme-and-capitonym-oh-my/>.

Pinterest Photo Credits:

Flag Map of China & Taiwan is DrRandomFactor‘s own work and under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons; the covered vegetable dish is my own bit of china.

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