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For the sake of this question I'll use the word Linux as an example, but I really want to ask about the principle generally.

The word Linux started as the name of an operating system kernel written by Linus Torvalds. The name is a contraction of a previous operating and the author's name.

In language the word is commonly use as an adjective. Eg:

Linux system

or

Linux machine

There's a subtlety here that a term like "Linux system" doesn't just refer to systems from a specific vendor in the way you might expect with "Ford car". It is often used to refer to systems with specific behaviour. Though that use may be technically incorrect - this is a language question not a technical one.

This has got me wondering what the rules are around when (if ever) the capitalisation should change from "Linux" to "linux".

Similarly I'm interested in other transitions such as English people will use a phrase

hoover the carpet

to mean cleaning a carpet with any vacuum cleaner, not just one from the brand Hoover.

There's clearly a tipping point at which the original proper noun becomes lost and only the other uses remain. However I was wondering if it's permissible before that to begin to use lower case instead of upper case.

tchrist
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Philip Couling
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    I'd say that "Linux" is not an adjective but a nominal serving as modifier of "system". Not everything that modifies a noun is an adjective! – BillJ Aug 31 '21 at 13:39
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    Yes, those are "noun adjuncts" or "attributive nouns," not adjectives. As for verbing a proper noun, it depends on tradition. If used long enough, the proper noun can lose its properness – Robusto Aug 31 '21 at 13:40
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    Does this answer your question? When should types of cheese be capitalized? This addresses genericisation, when a proper name becomes very commonly used and broadened, and often decapitalised ... this sometimes provoking opposition among the owners / coiners of the original noun. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 31 '21 at 13:47
  • @EdwinAshworth I think your answer speaks to the same topic. In context I don't believe this is a duplicate question. – Philip Couling Aug 31 '21 at 13:54
  • So you're asking whether you can genericise something before it's actually become genericised? – Andrew Leach Aug 31 '21 at 14:25
  • @AndrewLeach I don't think so no. But before today I'd not heard the term genericised so forgive me if I don't understand. I see that some words have started out capitalised and slipped into lowercase over time. I'm asking if there is any logic to when this happens. Or is the only rule that "too many people write it lower case now so me might as well copy them"? – Philip Couling Aug 31 '21 at 15:48

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A proper noun retains its written capitalization no matter what syntactic function it plays in a sentence. Like any other noun, a proper noun can be used as a subject, object, adjunct, appositive, and so on and so forth. These are all noun uses:

  • Scholars have discovered a lost Euclid treatise.
  • The intricate Civil War accounts from both sides of the conflict revealed its horrors.
  • The independent invention of the calculus during the 17th century is today accredited both to Newton and to his German contemporary, Leibniz.

Occasionally adjectives arise that derive from proper nouns through derivational morphology. These derived adjectives typically retain the capitalization of the original noun when a clear connection is intended.

  • We studied the Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common factor.
  • The effects of special relativity cannot be explained by Newtonian physics.
  • We show that Caesarean births happen far more often today than they did two centuries ago.

Because capitalization is a writing effect not a grammatical one, common practice here can vary over time or by publishing house.

  • The World Health Organization recommends that caesarean section be performed only when medically necessary.
tchrist
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    I'm not sure your opening sentence is true. No-one in the UK capitalises Sellotape when they simply mean "sticky tape", especially for the verb (eg "sellotaped together") and no-one would capitalise "Hoover" for "vacuum cleaner" either. Their respective manufacturers probably die a little inside every time they see it, though. – Andrew Leach Aug 31 '21 at 15:52
  • Surely the answer is "it depends on the level of formality"? Surely, if you're writing in, say, The Guardian and absolutely must use sellotape as a metaphor you have to say "This bill is held together with the Sellotape of compromise"? Even if no one in an email or a text or yea even an internet forum would capitalize it? – Andy Bonner Aug 31 '21 at 17:31
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    Your example referring to Newton and Leibnitz used both names as proper nouns. However most mathematicians would, I think, refer to "newtonian and leibnitz" notations in calculus. I believe that the noun rather than adjectival form is used for "leibnitz notation" purely because "leibnizian" would be such a horrible word to use. – BoldBen Aug 31 '21 at 17:47
  • @AndrewLeach I was not addressing issues of using company names as generics. Nobody asking for a kleenex really cares what brand of tissue gets handed to them in time to blow their nose. – tchrist Sep 01 '21 at 03:33
  • @AndyBonner When a name of product becomes used as a generic (often called branding) there are different style recommendations for how to handle it. Generally, the rule of thumb for words like dumpster, styrofoam, hoover, and google is that they are only capitalized when referring to the actual brand. – GArthurBrown Sep 01 '21 at 04:22