Capitalization of foreign terms

Music Cataloging at Yale ♪ RDA

Capitalization of foreign terms based on RDA Appendix A

Note: this page was created with music cataloging in mind.

name headings | other areas of the bib record | calendar divisions, time periods | other: hyphenated prefixes, single letters, abbreviations, etc. | Miscellaneous See also Capitalization of key, opus, and numbers

Name headings
Personal name headings (See also Recording names (RDA 8.4-8.5))
  English (A10-A.30) French (A.40) German (A.41) Italian (A.43) Spanish (A.53)
Prefixes if in a language other than English, follow the usage of the person; if in doubt, capitalize it prefixes consisting of an article or contraction of an article and a preposition      
Names of corporate bodies
  English French German Italian Spanish
  Yes: capitalize the first word of each name
° the name of an international organization or alliance
  » the full name of a legislative or judicial body; administrative department, bureau, or office; armed force (or component part of an armed force) and an accepted shortened form of name for any of these;
° the name of an institution, association, conference, company, religious denomination or order, local church, etc., or of a department or division and a noun, noun phrase, adjective, or adjectival phrase derived from the name that refers to a member or members of the body
but No: an article preceding the name, even when it is part of the official name;
a generic word (e.g., society, company, conference) when used alone or with an article		 1st word, adjective preceding 1st noun, the 1st noun, all proper nouns   1st word, proper nouns, religious terms, word following an adjective denoting royal or pontifical privilege  
(A.2.1) For names with unusual capitalization, follow the capitalization of the commonly known form
Other areas of the bibliographic record
  English French German Italian Spanish
Nouns No
° Plural generic term belonging to two or more proper names
Yes: when it precedes the distinctive nouns
No: when it follows the nouns.		 capitalize nouns denoting nationality Yes    
Titles of persons Yes:
° any title or term of honour or address that immediately precedes a personal name;
° the name or abbreviation of an academic degree, honour, religious order, etc.;
° esquire, junior, senior and their abbreviations;
° religious title;
° term of honour or respect;
° epithet occurring with, or used in place of, a personal name;
° name of a people, race, tribe, or ethnic or linguistic group and an adjective derived from such a name;
° name of a language		 No: titles designation rank or office
Yes: titles of address or reference
° Saint: No: when refers to a person; Yes: otherwise		   Yes for ceremonial titles consisting of a possessive pronoun and a noun expressing an abstract quality; No: otherwise
° San (santo, etc.): No: when refers to a person; Yes: when it is abbreviated and when it is an integral part of the name of a place, a building, etc.		 Yes:
° titles of honour and address when they are abbreviated;
° Su Excelencia, Su Majestad, etc., when used alone, written out or abbreviated but No: when used with a name or another title
Proper name derivatives No: a word derived from a personal or place name when it is used with a specialized meaning No: names of and adjective derived from names of:
  » members of religious groups, etc., political, other organizations;
  &#187 religions;
  » languages;
° adjectives derived from geographic names
° common noun used as a generic word in a geographic name
Yes: nouns indicating nationality, but No: adjectives indicating nationality		 Yes: adjectives that consist of a personal name followed by an apostrophe and the ending –sche (including its inflected forms, but No: other adjectives containing a personal name
Yes:
° indeclinable adjectives derived from geographic names;
° adjectives, pronouns, and numerals used as parts of a name or title
No: proper adjectives		 No: names of and adjective derived from names of:
  » members of religious groups, etc., political, other organizations;
  &#187 religions;
  » languages;
° adjectives derived geographic and personal names;
Yes: nouns indicating nationality, but No: adjectives indicating nationality		 No
Personal pronouns No No No but Yes: Sie and Ihr and their inflected forms when used in formal address No: io but Yes: pronouns of formal address No: yo but Yes: pronouns of formal address
Geographic names Yes: name of a geographic feature, region, etc. but No: a descriptive adjective not part of an accepted name        
Political divisions Yes:
° the name of a political division (e.g., a country, state, province, city);
° a popular name of a place, or the name of a legendary place;
° a word such as empire, kingdom, state, country, and city following a proper name if it is a commonly accepted part of the name but No: when such a word when used alone to indicate a political division.		 Yes: état when it refers to the nation   Yes: stato when it refers to the nation  
Names of structures, streets, etc. Yes:
° the name of a building, monument, or other structure, and the name of a road or street
No: words such as avenue, bridge, hotel, and park when they are used alone		 No: rue and its synonyms
° église: No: when it indicates a building, but Yes: when it refers to the church as an institution		   No: via and its synonyms
° chiesa: No: when it indicates a building, but Yes: when it refers to the church as an institution		 ° iglesia: No: when it indicates a building, but Yes: when it refers to the church as an institution
Calendar divisions, time periods
  English French German Italian Spanish
days of the week
months
seasons
centuries
cultural periods
holidays		 Yes
Yes
No

Yes
Yes

 No
No
 		   No
No

Yes when proper names

 No
No
 
Other: hyphenated prefixes, single letters, abbreviations, etc.
  English French German Italian Spanish
Single letters used as words or parts of compounds (e.g., A major; A-Dur) Yes including
° the interjection O or Oh;
° a letter that refers to a letter of the alphabet.		   See Capitalization of key    
Hyphenated compounds 1st part: Yes: when guidelines require
2nd part:
Yes: when
  » it is a noun or a proper adjective;
  » it has the same force as the 1st part
No: when
  » it modifies the 1st part;
  » the 2 parts constitute a single word		        
Hyphenated prefixes No: when joined by a hyphen to a capitalized word, unless other guidelines require its capitalization        
Miscellaneous
  English French German Italian Spanish
      No:
° cardinal numbers under one million;
° adverbs;
° verbal phrases;
° adjectives modifying nouns that are implied if the noun has been expressed elsewhere in the same sentence;
° fractions when they directly precede a noun or a cardinal number