[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Russ Allbery) wrote on 22.01.02 in <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Kai Henningsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > A case that (in a slightly different context) recently came up on > > alt.usage.german (I don't remember if this particular point was made, > > but it belongs): > > > "berliner" - attribute, belonging to, coming from, etc. Berlin. > > "Berliner" - noun, a citizen of that city, or a jelly donut. > > > Two different words that only differ in capitalization. > > In German, do you ever write in all caps? If so, how does it change > things like this? Yes (though it's usually a bad idea), and you need context to disambiguate, obviously. (That's where the rule about optionally capitalizing the sharp s as SZ instead of SS fits - how else to distinguish "IN MASSEN" (great amounts) from "IN MASZEN" (in moderation)?) People do get confused sometimes. (Similarly when the capitalization at the start of a sentence changes one of those words.) If I had to design the language from scratch, that's one feature I'd try to avoid. > You're right, I should have thought of German, where capitalization is > used to indicate part of speech. MfG Kai
