Capitalizing Titles in French

I know of 3 different 'rules'. There is no fixed standard. Just be consistent in the style you choose.

(1) Standard capitalization

Here, capitalization depends on the position and importance of the words
in the title.

A. The first word is always capitalized.

B. If the first word is an article or other determiner,

the first noun and any adjectives that precede it are capitalized.

Trois Contes
Le Petit Robert
Le Nouveau Petit Robert
Le Bon Usage
Le Progrès de la civilisation au XXe siècle

C. If the title consists of two words or phrases of equal value, they are considered "co-titles" and each one is capitalized according to the above rules.

Guerre et Paix
Julie ou La Nouvelle Héloïse

(2) Important noun capitalization

In this system, the first word and any "important" nouns are capitalized.

Trois Contes
Un Coeur simple
Le petit Robert
Le nouveau petit Robert
Le bon Usage
Le Progrès de la Civilisation au XXe siècle


(3) Sentence capitalization

The use of 'sentence case', that is, just the first letter of the first word, is pretty common. If you follow that style, your sentence would appear thus:

Le monde comme volunté et comme représentation

These are other title examples following that style which I have just found on the web or in magazines and books :-

Le monde des mineraux

Le monde des insectes

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

Great summary... merci bien, Contrex.

Are any of those "rules" more common in academic French (as opposed to general-readership newspapers and such)?

Oh God! Now you're asking! The first system, which I have called "Standard capitalization", is often found in academic or "prestigious" works. It is used in Le Petit Robert, Quid, and throughout the Dictionnaire de citations françaises. On the spines of the several dozen French novels I own , there is a fairly even distribution between capitalization systems (2) and (3).

I personally use, more or less, the system as laid down by the Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l'Imprimerie nationale (see below). If anyone objected, I would cite that work as my authority.

Le bon Usage, ("le Grevisse") does not mention system (1) at all, and states that system (2) is more common than (3) and uses it in its own bibliography.

A number of websites use system (3). The MLA (Modern Language Association) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers includes a section which states:

"... titles in French, German, Italian, Spanish, or Latin are more conventionally rendered in sentence caps (capitalize just the first word, all proper nouns [according to the convention of the language], and the first word after a colon)."

The MLA Crib Sheet by (allegedly) "Dr. Abel Scribe PhD" summarizes MLA advice on this and various other aspects of style and also says:

"When in doubt, and when a good guide to grammar and usage is no help, follow whatever practice appeals to you but be consistent throughout your text!"

http://www.docstyles.com/mlacrib.htm

I don't know what you think of Wikipedia. The French Wikipédia has a page of headed "Conventions typographiques" at

http://tinyurl.com/yajjxv

"Par tradition, les conventions typographiques de Wikipédia se basent pour la plupart sur les recommandations du Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l'Imprimerie nationale (ISBN 2-74-330482-0) ... "

Titres d'œuvres en français

Règle générale. Seul le premier mot d'un titre d'œuvre prend une capitale initiale (exception faite des noms propres, bien sûr) :

There then follows a list of different cases: (These are just the headings. Follow the link I just gave to see all the examples of each.)

* Si le titre forme une phrase, alors seul l'article initial prend une capitale

* Si le titre commence par un adjectif antéposé, alors le substantif prend aussi la majuscule

* Si le titre commence par un article défini (le, la, les) et qu'il ne constitue pas une phrase verbale, alors :
----- Le premier substantif prend une capitale
----- Si le titre contient une énumération, chaque substantif énuméré prend une majuscule
----- La règle du premier substantif s'applique aussi lorsqu'un (ou des) adjectif(s) et/ou adverbe(s) est (sont) antéposé(s)

* En cas de titre double, les principes précédents s'appliquent à chaque partie

* Quand l'auteur a choisi une typographie peu orthodoxe, il est préférable de la respecter : on écrit eXistenZ et non Existenz.

Some sources cite « normes ISO » for system (3), but I have not been able to find any official online documentation of this.

I think that, whichever style you choose, you will have sufficient ammunition to counter any criticism. I think it should be clear that there isn't really a "right" way of capitalizing titles. (Although there are plenty of wrong ways.) Prudent strategies, if you are writing for a publication, might be to (a) study examples of accepted work by others and (b) ask for their style guide. If you are submitting a thesis or academic paper, there may be library examples of the work of others for you to study, and, of course, the guidance of tutors is what you pay your fees for...

Having worked for years for native French-speaking academics, the rule which i had always learned was simple: The first word of any title is capitalized, and if that is not a substantive, the first substantive is capitalized--but no other words in the title are capitalized. I also learned that works in French, intended for publication in French in an English-speaking country usually followed English rules of capitalization.

I hope that excluded proper nouns!



I have a whole bunch of UK published Open University French texts whose titles follow French capitalisation rules. I have seen plenty of others, so I don't think that can be a universal practice.

The French typography guide I quoted above seems quite clear that one should follow the custom and practice of the country in whose language the text is written.

I've a couple of German books - seen and bought - which were published in English speaking countries (e.g. the UK and the USA): they use the German rules as of the printed year.

And I agree with contrex re French textes (though my Open University textes in French are [mostly] by the history department :wink: ).

This may be partly because the capitalization rules of Anglo-academia are more like French than the capitalization rules of American-academia. This has been my experience in the academic humanities, anyway... I've found that British conventions tend to conform to "rule 3" of your outline above. In American-academia, pretty much everything gets capitalized except articles, prepositions, etc. (except when they are the first word). But even then, it is not uncommon to see articles and prepositions capitalized as well:

The World as Will and Representation
The World As Will And Representation

Do you suppose that is because the Channel is narrower than the Atlantic? I think it is good manners, and less confusing to students, to follow the conventions(if they can be identified) of the language & culture in question.