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The setting is that there is a celebration underway where people of different species (lets say, humans and elves) are attending. In the elves' language they call any celebration "Jashnak". So, if they are welcoming someone they would say "Welcome to the Jashnak!" but then I am not sure how subsequent references should be handled ?

For e.g. In case of a third party observer

The lanterns hovered above the marquee where the Jashnak was underway.

In case of two humans talking

The Jashnak sure is getting rowdy!

OR

Come on... Get ready quickly. We have a Jashnak to attend.

If I was to use "celebration" instead of "Jashnak", the celebration in the two examples would not be capitalised (on account that it is a common noun).

Laurel
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user96551
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1 Answers1

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It depends on whether you want the word to come across as specific, in which case you would capitalize, versus a general word, in which case you don't capitalize. To explain what I mean, consider if I referred to "the Queen," versus "the queen." The former suggests that I am referring to a specific queen, with a specific title and identity; the latter suggests that I'm just referring to the title itself in a general sense. This is the subtle, but noticeable effect that choosing whether or not to capitalize a word creates.

Therefore, if you want Jashnak to sound like an official, specific event and not just a word in a language, capitalize it. But if you want jashnak to sound like a word for "party" in a more general sense, lowercase it.

Sciborg
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