Zettelkasten with a big Z?

Sascha

Hi Zettlers,

are we writing Zettelkasten with the big Z or with the small?

Small z seems to be more consistent with English grammar.

Live long and prosper
Sascha

andang76

I use Zettelkasten when I refer to the method/concept itself or something that has a well defined identity ("the Zettelkasten", "Luhman Zettelkasten"). If the term is used in a generic way, I tend to use more zettelkasten. But I admit that I'm not always consistent, preferring almost always the Z.

my zettelkasten tend to be Zettelkasten, it has a specific identity.

wjenkins81

It's fine to respect the way a word is in its original language. I think doing so is actually a form of showing respect for the other language. If we dig into English grammar, there is a capitalization rule for proper nouns, which I think applies to Zettelkasten anyway.

For what it's worth, I've been an English teacher and examiner of TOEFL and TOEIC English for a few years in the past.

Andy

I didn't vote because I am not consistent about capitalization in the forum. There are good reasons for either choice, and I agree with everything said above. In a published work, you should know what your capitalization rule is and stick to it.

ZettelDistraction

I'm with @wjenkins81 on this: capitalize the 'Z' in Zettelkasten, which is a loan word from German. There is the question of number. In English, I've seen and used Zettelkasten as a zero noun without an appended letter 's', like 'fish' as opposed to 'cats'. @andang76 makes some good points, though for a book about the Zettelkasten method, I'd treat it as a loan word and spell it verbatim. We could ask the OED lexicographers for their 'Zettelkasten' file, hidden within their Zettelkasten.  

Sascha

Very interesting. I thought to switch to a small z because I thought the big z would stick out like a sore thumb.

I'll reconsider my choice.

ctietze

Some things do sticking out, but like beautiful flowers 🌻

Z

Will

It's not the name of a street.
It's not the name of a person.
It's not the name of a book.
It's not the name of a movie.
It's not the name of a song.
It's not the name of a place.
It's not the name of a company.
It's not the name of a brand.
It's not the name of a product.
It's not the name of a lake.
It's not the name of a mountain.
Here is a woodworking analogy. I want to flex with the tool, and it is more of a generic saw than something specific like a Dozuki or Kugihiki Saw, which have fixed uses.
Once the zettelkasten is formalized into a "Zettelkasten", it becomes precious and rigid.
I wouldn't capitalize Will's Notes, Will's Thinking Canvas, Will's Writing Partner, My Filesystem of Learning Notes, My External Brain, My Super Duper Note Scheme, so why would I capitalize Zettelkasten?
Let's deformalize and demystify a zettelkasten to make it more accessible and less intimidating.
I never capitalize zettelkasten, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.

GeoEng51

I can't believe how much discussion this question has produced. My reasoning and practice goes with @andang76.

I think Zettlekasten is consistent with capitalization rules in English for proper nouns: "A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (Africa; Jupiter; Sarah; Toyota) as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (continent, planet, person, corporation)..." (Wikipedia, "Proper noun"). So one can distinguish between Zettlekasten, the well defined method and the zettlekastens of all our readers.