Capitalization of Wiktionary pages

This page is a documentation of the use of capitalization in page titles on Wiktionary. Particular emphasis is placed on this project, a dictionary project where definitions should not be capitalized.

Capitalization of Wiktionaries

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Note: automatic capitalization has been turned off since 2006 for all Wiktionaries.

The following Wiktionaries differentiate capitalized words with non-capitalized words in page titles:

  • af (Afrikaans)
  • als (Alemanic)
  • ar (Arabic)
  • ast (Asturian)
  • br (Breton)
  • ca (Catalan)
  • cs (Czech)
  • cy (Welsh)
  • de (German)
  • dsb (Lower Sorbian)
  • en (English)
  • eo (Esperanto)
  • es (Spanish)
  • fa (Persian)
  • fi (Finnish)
  • fo (Feroese)
  • fr (French)
 
  • ga (Irish)
  • gu (Gujarati)
  • hi (Hindi)
  • hr (Croatian)
  • hsb (Upper Sorbian)
  • hu (Hungarian)
  • hy (Armenian)
  • ia (Interlingua)
  • is (Icelandic)
  • it (Italian)
  • ja (Japanese)
  • ka (Georgian)
  • kn (Kannada)
  • ku (Kurdish)
  • mk (Macedonian)
  • ml (Malayalam)
  • mr (Marathi)
 
  • nl (Dutch)
  • no (Norwegian)
  • pl (Polish)
  • ru (Russian)
  • sa (Sanskrit)
  • scn (Sicilian)
  • sq (Albanian)
  • sv (Swedish)
  • sw (Kiswahili)
  • te (Telugu)
  • tr (Turkish)
  • ur (Urdu)
  • vec (Venetian)
  • vi (Vietnamese)
  • zh (Chinese)
  • sd (Sindhi)

Languages without capitalization

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Languages that do not have capital letters in their usual script:

  • ka (modern Georgian: Mkedruli-only)
  • he (Hebrew)
  • ar (Arabic)
  • fa (Persian)
  • ha (Hausa)
  • ps (Pashto)
  • ug (Uyghur)
  • ur (Urdu)
 
  • All Indian languages
    • as (Assamese)
    • be (Bengali)
    • gu (Gujarati)
    • hi (Hindi: Devanagari)
    • kn (Kannada)
    • ml (Malayalam)
    • mr (Marathi)
    • pa (Panjabi: Gurmukhi)
    • sa (Sanskrit: Devanagari)
    • te (Telugu)
 
  • ko (Korean)
  • bo (Tibetan)
  • km (Kmer)
  • lo (Lao)
  • th (Thai)
  • ja (Japanese)
    Remark: Kana and Kanji (CJK-letter) has no capitalization. But Roma-ji does capitalize proper nouns. So ja:日本 is not nihon but Nihon in Roma-ji.
  • zh (Chinese)
 
  • xtz (Palawa Kani)
    Note: There are no Meta Wiki projects in Palawa Kani (a constructed Australian Aboriginal language of Tasmania). However, Wiktionary entries for Palawa Kani words (including place names, e.g lutruwita = Tasmania) should not be capitalised. The language is written only in the Latin script.

Languages with capitalization

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Languages that have capital letters:

Capitalization of language names

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Languages that capitalize language names (i.e. English vs. english):

  • af (Afrikaans)
  • cy (Welsh)
  • de (German) Note that in „man spricht Deutsch“ = "one speaks German", the noun "Deutsch" is capitalized, but in „die deutsche Sprache“ = "the German language", the adjective "deutsche" is not capitalized.
    • bar (Bavarian, Austrian, Tyrolian)
    • gsw (Allemannic, Suebian, Alsatian, Swiss German)
    • ksh (Kölsch (Ripuarian))
    • lb (Luxemburgian)
    • nds (low German)
    • pfl (Palatinian)
  • en (English)
 
  • ga (Irish)
  • id (Indonesian)
  • la (Latin) Note: "lingua" is not part of the language name, but is essentially like the Wikipedia disambiguating convention: "Spanish language" = "lingua Hispanica".
  • li (Limburgish)
  • nl (Dutch)
  • sco (Scots)
  • tr (Turkish)
  • vi (Vietnamese) Same as Latin: "tiếng Việt", "tiếng Latinh"; however, an alternative style is of the form "Việt ngữ", "Anh ngữ", which does need to be capitalized.

Languages that do not capitalize language names:

  • ast (Asturian)
  • be (Belarusian)
  • bg (Bulgarian)
  • bs (Bosnian)
  • br (Breton)
  • ca (Catalan)
  • cs (Czech)
  • da (Danish)
  • dsb (Lower Sorbian)
  • eo (Esperanto)
Some users capitalize language names that are standalone nouns, such as eo:Sanskrito vs. eo:angla lingvo; some other users capitalize only eo:Esperanto, on the basis that it is derived from a en:anthroponym / en:pseudonym.
 
  • es (Spanish)
  • eu (Basque)
  • et (Estonian)
  • fi (Finnish)
  • fr (French)
  • hr (Croatian)
  • hsb (Upper Sorbian)
  • hu (Hungarian)
  • hy (Armenian)
  • ia (Interlingua)
  • is (Icelandic)
  • it (Italian)
  • lt (Lithuanian)
  • lv (Latvian)
  • mk (Macedonian)
  • nap (Neapolitan)
  • no (Norwegian)
    • nb (Norwegian Bokmål)
    • nn (Norwegian Nynorsk)
 
  • oc (Occitan)
  • pl (Polish)
  • pt (Portuguese)
  • ro (Romanian)
  • ru (Russian)
  • sh (Serbo-Croatian)
  • sr (Serbian)
  • sv (Swedish)
  • tg (Tajiki)
  • uk (Ukrainian)
  • uz (Uzbek)
  • vec (Venetian)
  • wa (Walloon)

Capitalization of names of peoples

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Languages that always capitalize names of peoples, either as nouns or as adjectives (e.g. the Germans = the German people):

  • br (Breton)
  • cy (Welsh)
  • dsb (Lower Sorbian)
  • nl (Dutch)
 
  • en (English)
  • ga (Irish)
  • hsb (Upper Sorbian)
  • id (Indonesian)
 
  • la (Latin)
  • sco (Scots)
  • vi (Vietnamese) — "dân Anh", "người Anh"

Languages that capitalize names of peoples only as nouns but not as adjectives (e.g. the Germans = the german people); these languages often make distinction between the capitalized noun for nationality and the adjective for culture (origin, language spoken):

  • bar (Bavarian, Austrian, Tyrolian)
  • bs (Bosnian) — as in Englezi [the English], but not in engleski narod [the english people]
  • cs (Czech) — as in Angličané [the English], but not in anglický lid [the english people]
  • de (German) — as in die Engländer [the English], but not in das englische Volk [the english people]
  • fr (French) — as in les Allemands [the Germans], but not in le peuple allemand [the german people]
 
  • gsw (Allemannic, Suebian, Alsatian, Swiss German)
  • hr (Croatian), as in Švicarci [the Swiss], but not in švicarski narod [the swiss people]
  • li (Limburgish)
  • ksh (Kölsch (Ripuarian))
  • lb (Luxemburgian)
  • mk (Macedonian) — as in Англичани [the English], but not in англиски народ [the english people]
 
  • nds (low German)
  • pl (Polish) — Anglik [Englishman], but naród angielski [the English nation]
  • pfl (Palatinian)
  • sh (Serbo-Croatian) — as in Englezi [the English], but not in engleski narod [the english people]
  • sk (Slovak) — as in Angličania [the English], but not in anglický ľud [the english people]
  • sr (Serbian) — as in Englezi [the English'], but not in engleski narod [the english people]

Languages that do not capitalize names of peoples:

  • ast (Asturian)
  • bg (Bulgarian)
  • ca (Catalan) - examples: els armenis, el poble armeni
  • da (Danish)
  • eo (Esperanto)
  • es (Spanish)
  • eu (Basque)
  • fi (Finnish)
  • hu (Hungarian)
 
  • hy (Armenian)
  • ia (Interlingua)
  • it (Italian)
  • lt (Lithuanian)
  • lv (Latvian)
  • nap (Neapolitan)
  • no (Norwegian)
    • nb (Norwegian Bokmål)
    • nn (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  • os (Ossetian)
 
  • pt (Portuguese)
  • ro (Romanian)
  • ru (Russian)
  • sv (Swedish)
  • uk (Ukrainian)
  • uz (Uzbek)
  • vec (Venetian)

To be classified:

  • ms (Malay)
 
  • mdf (Moksha)
  • oc (Occitan)
 
  • tt (Tatar)
  • vls (West Flemish)

Capitalization of month names

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Languages that capitalize month names (i.e. March vs. march):

  • af (Afrikaans)
  • br (Breton)
  • cy (Welsh) The word mis (the month of) before a month name is not normally capitalized except in titles, but it is not an error if it is capitalized.
  • el (Modern Greek)
  • en (English)
 
  • de (German)
    • bar (Bavarian, Austrian, Tyrolian)
    • gsw (Allemannic, Suebian, Alsatian, Swiss German)
    • ksh (Kölsch (Ripuarian))
    • lb (Luxemburgian)
    • nds (low German)
    • pfl (Palatinian)
 
  • hz (Herero)
  • id (Indonesian)
  • la (Latin)
  • ms (Malay)
  • sco (Scots)
  • ve (Venda)
  • xh (Xhosa)
  • zu (Zulu)

Languages that do not capitalize month names:

  • ast (Asturian) Month names are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • az (Azerbaijani)
  • bs (Bosnian) Month names are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • bg (Bulgarian)
  • hr (Croatian) Month names are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • ca (Catalan)
  • cs (Czech)
  • da (Danish)
  • dsb (Lower Sorbian)
  • eo (Esperanto)
  • es (Spanish)
  • et (Estonian)
  • eu (Basque)
  • fi (Finnish)
  • fr (French)
  • hr (Croatian)
 
  • hsb (Upper Sorbian)
  • hu (Hungarian)
  • hy (Armenian)
  • ia (Interlingua)
  • is (Icelandic)
  • it (Italian)
  • li (Limburgish)
  • lv (Latvian)
  • lt (Lithuanian)
  • mk (Macedonian) Month names are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • nap (Neapolitan)
  • no (Norwegian)
    • nb (Norwegian Bokmål)
    • nn (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  • nl (Dutch)
  • oc (Occitan)
  • pl (Polish)
 
  • pt (Brazilian and Standard Portuguese) Months should not be capitalized in either.
  • ro (Romanian)
  • ru (Russian)
  • os (Ossetian)
  • sh (Serbo-Croatian) Month names are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • sr (Serbian) Month names are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • sk (Slovak)
  • sl (Slovenian)
  • sv (Swedish)
  • tr (Turkish)
  • uk (Ukrainian)
  • uz (Uzbek)
  • vec (Venetian)
  • vi (Vietnamese) Typically lowercase these days, but may be capitalized.
  • wa (Walloon)

Capitalization of day names

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Languages that capitalize day names (i.e. Monday vs. monday):

  • af (Afrikaans)
  • br (Breton)
  • cy (Welsh) Dydd (day) is capitalized when part of a day name, e.g. "Dydd Mawrth" = "Tuesday".
  • en (English)
 
  • de (German) Capitalized in der Montag = "the monday", a noun, but not in montags = "(every) monday / on (a) monday", an adverb.
    • bar (Bavarian, Austrian, Tyrolian)
    • gsw (Allemannic, Suebian, Alsatian, Swiss German)
    • ksh (Kölsch (Ripuarian))
    • lb (Luxemburgian)
    • nds (low German)
    • pfl (Palatinian)
 
  • el (Modern Greek)
  • hz (Herero)
  • id (Indonesian)
  • la (Latin) Like languages [see above], "dies" is not capitalized: dies Martii. an alternative name for Sunday, Dominica, should be capitalized.
  • sco (Scots)
  • ve (Venda)
  • xh (Xhosa)
  • zu (Zulu)

Languages that do not capitalize day names:

  • ast (Asturian) Days of the week are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • bg (Bulgarian) Days of the week are never capitalized, unless considered as (honorary) surnames or titles of something (including historical events, e.g. the April Uprising = Априлско въстание).
  • bs (Bosnian) Days of the week are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • hr (Croatian) Days of the week are never capitalized.
  • ca (Catalan)
  • cs (Czech)
  • da (Danish)
  • dsb (Lower Sorbian)
  • eo (Esperanto)
  • es (Spanish)
  • eu (Basque)
  • fi (Finnish)
  • fr (French)
  • hsb (Upper Sorbian)
 
  • hu (Hungarian)
  • hy (Armenian)
  • ia (Interlingua)
  • it (Italian)
  • li (Limburgish)
  • lt (Lithuanian)
  • lv (Latvian)
  • mk (Macedonian)
  • nl (Dutch)
  • nap (Neapolitan)
  • no (Norwegian)
    • nb (Norwegian Bokmål)
    • nn (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  • oc (Occitan)
  • os (Ossetian)
 
  • pl (Polish)
  • pt (Portuguese)
  • ro (Romanian)
  • ru (Russian)
  • sk (Slovak)
  • sh (Serbo-Croatian) Days of the week are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • sr (Serbian) Days of the week are not capitalized, unless considered as titles of something.
  • sv (Swedish)
  • uk (Ukrainian)
  • uz (Uzbek)
  • vec (Venetian)
  • vi (Vietnamese) Usually lowercase these days, but may be capitalized.
  • wa (Walloon)