What are "Capitonyms"? --CAPITONYMS ---- Capital- capital letter; -Onym: Name] - Capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) based on whether or not it is capitalized. - Capitonym singular] - Capitonyms plural] - Capitonyms may be nouns, pronouns, verbs, or adjectives. - Characteristics of Capitonyms: Same spelling except for capitalization; Different meaning when capitalized; Same or different pronunciation - Examples: Polish and polish - Polish: connected with Poland adjective], polish: to make a surface smooth and glossy verb] - Piedmonts and piedmonts - Piedmont: a region of North West Italy (noun); piedmont: a slope leading from the foot of mountains to a region of flat land (noun) - Traveler and traveler - Traveler: traveling people of Irish origin noun]; traveler: a person who is traveling noun] - Roman and roman - Roman: connected with the Rome; roman: the ordinary type of printing adjective] - Rosemary and rosemary - Rosemary: a common first name for females in English speaking countries noun]; rosemary: a bush with small narrow leaves that smell sweet and are used in cooking as a herb noun] - Regency and regency - Regency: in the style of the period 1811-20 in Britain adjective]; regency: government by a regent (a person who rules a country in place of the king or queen) noun] - Scot and scot - Scot: a native of Scotland noun]; scot: a charge, tax, or payment noun] - Self and self - Self: a popular American magazine noun]; self: character or personality noun] - Warren and warren - Warren: a common name in English speaking countries noun]; warren: a system of holes and underground tunnels where wild rabbits live noun] ****** Capitonyms are case-sensitive words. However, when capitonyms appear at the beginning of a sentence, there is no way to understand which meaning is being referred to except the context in which they are used. Capitonyms also create confusion in the aspect of listening. Because there is no way to understand which meaning is being referred to except the context in which they are used. Capitonyms generally occurs due to one form being a proper noun. Proper noun is a word that is the name of a person, a place, an establishment, etc. and is written with a capital letter. Thus, capitonyms may include: A name of a person (Jack/jack); A name of a place, city, country, etc. (Japan/japan); A name of a language (Ewe/ewe); A name of a company (Fiat/fiat); A name of a publication (Time/time); A name of a river/lake/hill/mountain, etc.- DETAILED LIST OF PAIRS OF CAPITONYMS