Capital letters are used in writing to indicate different ideas and make reading easier. English has two cases: uppercase and lowercase. Uppercase letters are larger and used at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns. Lowercase letters make up the majority of letters in English. The use of capitalization helps indicate meaning and distinguish between words and ideas. The evolution of written language led to the creation of lowercase letters and the term “uppercase” for capital letters.
Capital letters refer to the size and shape of a letter used in writing, usually with a case sensitivity in a language such as English. The purpose of this differentiation is to facilitate reading in that language, since the two cases allow the indication of different ideas. In English, for example, a capital or uppercase letter is typically used at the beginning of each sentence, to indicate proper nouns and for some important words. The case for letters as a practice comes from the evolution of written language and the development of different dimensions and styles in writing.
Not all languages inherently have different cases, and those that include more than one capital letter can do so in a variety of ways. In English, however, there are two basic cases in which letters can be written: uppercase and lowercase. Uppercase letters, also called capital letters or “caps,” are larger and often sit perfectly between an upper and lower line in writing, including letters like “A, B, C, D…X, Y, Z.” In contrast to this, lowercase, or “lowercase” letters make up the majority of letters written in any sample piece of modern English, may go beyond the bottom line in writing and include the letters “a, b, c , d…x, y, z.”
The purpose of capital letters in a language like English is to make distinctions between words and ideas easier for a reader to identify. Even though punctuation is used at the end of a sentence, such as a full stop or period, using a capital or capital letter at the beginning of a sentence helps indicate separation of ideas to the reader. Proper nouns are capitalized in English, making it easier for someone to distinguish between names of places or people and common words. This use of capitalization can help indicate meaning. For example, the use of “president” is used to refer to the job in general, while “president” would designate the title of a particular individual.
As written language has evolved and developed over the centuries, so has the creation of capital letters in writing. The initial texts consisted only of capital or capital letters. As more and more people began to write using pens and ink, however, the style of writing began to change and lowercase letters were introduced to create greater contrast and flow within the text.
The transition from handwritten texts to those created with a printing press introduced the term “letterbox”. Physical letters for use on a printing press were kept in separate cases, with “lowercase” containing lowercase letters. When this term came into popular usage, people therefore established the phrase “uppercase” to mean capital letters. This is not entirely accurate, as the capital letter of a printing press could also contain punctuation and other signs, but its meaning is well established.
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