Compound and proper nouns

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wfwdtp

#25764 Wed, 17 Mar 04 12:33 AM

Are proper names of persons (e.g. Emily Post), considered to be compound nouns? Are the proper names of places or things (e.g. the Mississippi River) compound nouns?

wfwdtp

Joined on Wed, Mar 17 2004

New Member (02)

Nouns

rommie

#25783 Wed, 17 Mar 04 09:29 AM

No. Whole phrases can be proper nouns, such as "Rage Against the Machine", which is the name of a band. Just treat the whole thing as a noun.

Your second example, however, is wrong. The proper noun is "Mississippi" - one word. The phrase "the Mississippi river" requires a lowercase "r". "Mississippi river" is indeed a compound noun, composed of the proper noun "Mississippi" and the common noun "river".

Rommie

rommie

Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004

Earth orbit

Regular Member (606)

Nouns

wfwdtp

#25796 Wed, 17 Mar 04 01:44 PM

Thanks Rommie. Your response was helpful.

wfwdtp

simon_phlui

#25797 Wed, 17 Mar 04 01:58 PM

> The phrase "the Mississippi river" requires a lowercase "r"

It seems that most people write "Mississippi River" instead of
"Mississippi river". Microsoft Bookshelf also uses the uppercase "R".

Actually, what's the general rule governing the capitalisation of
common nouns in a compound noun?

simon_phlui

Joined on Wed, Dec 10 2003

Junior Member (58)

Capitalisation, Nouns

rommie

#25800 Wed, 17 Mar 04 02:24 PM

I don't know. I've mentioned before that capitalization preference seems to be more like fashion than grammar. I can see why people might regard the whole phrase as a proper noun. It similarly seems fairly common to write "the Starship Enterprise" instead of "the starship Enterprise".

If I had to guess, I'd have to say that "river" (and "starship") are NOT part of the proper noun, but that their capitalization is (like other capitalization issues) a matter of preference. I honestly don't think there are any "rules" here, but I'm happy to be corrected.

Rommie

rommie

Grammar, Nouns, Regards

Anonymous

#564343 Wed, 10 Sep 08 02:28 AM

what is a compound proper noun?

Anonymous

Nouns