Portal:Montreal/Discussions/English Names/Draft policy
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This is a draft policy for the use of English place names (especially streets) in articles on Montreal.
It applies only to the city of Montreal, not to other places in Quebec.
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[edit] Background
Officially speaking, street names in Montreal, as elsewhere in Quebec, are governed by the Commission de toponymie du Québec (Commission de toponymie du Québec). According to their rules, place names are not to be translated into other languages, not even their generics (see below).
However, among Montreal anglophones, it is universal in spoken usage and commonplace in written usage to express place names in English, including some names (of varying degrees of officialness) that are different from the French specifics. According to the Use English names policy of Wikipedia, it was therefore proposed that English names should be used in articles and article titles relating to Montreal.
Several questions are raised:
- Which features have English names? What are their English names?
- Under what circumstances should we use official names, or English names?
- How should we use English names?
[edit] Understanding the official names
Each toponym in French is composed of three elements:
- a generic, indicating the type of feature (rue, ville, parc, etc.);
- an articulation, grammatically linking the generic to the specific (usually a form of the prepositions de or à - not in all names);
- a specific, which constitutes the given name of the feature.
For example, in the street name chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges, chemin is the generic, de la is an articulation, and Côte-des-Neiges is the specific.
There are three things to note:
- Most words in the specific are capitalized (except articles and short prepositions).
- All the words in the specific are joined by hyphens.
- A specific can consist of another entire place name (generic + specific). For example, île du Prince-Édouard is an island named "Prince-Édouard"; province de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard is a province named "Île-du-Prince-Édouard."
The articulation should not be confused with nobility particles, which are part of a person's name and therefore part of the specific. For example, in the name avenue de l'Église, the specific is "Église"; de l' is merely an articulation grammatically required by the form of the name. However, in rue De La Gauchetière, the de la is part of the specific, since the street is named for Daniel Migeon, Sieur de La Gauchetière. Nobility particles are not joined by hyphens: ruelle Nick-Auf der Maur.
Hyphens are not used in non-French specifics: avenue McGill College; chemin Queen Mary; côte du Beaver Hall.
The accurate official form of street names may be found on the website of the Commission de toponymie.
[edit] The policy
[edit] General notes
In all cases, it is well to provide redirects from various forms, whether English or French.
Official French forms, when used, should not be italicized it for foreign usage:
- Attractions on Amherst Street include the Écomusée du fier-monde.
- Not: Attractions on Amherst Street include the Écomusée du fier monde.
[edit] Using English forms
[edit] Streets
[edit] General guidelines
Streets are named as follows: the official specific, without hyphens but with accents, is followed by the translation of the generic.
- rue Saint-Antoine: Saint Antoine Street
- chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges: Côte des Neiges Road
- boulevard Maurice-Duplessis: Maurice Duplessis Boulevard
- avenue du Parc-La Fontaine: Parc La Fontaine Avenue
- pont de l'Île-aux-Tourtes: Île aux Tourtes Bridge
- autoroute Décarie: Décarie Autoroute
Although technically directions (such as Est and Ouest) are part of the specific, we translate these:
- rue Notre-Dame Ouest: Notre Dame Street West (or Notre Dame St. W.)
The articulation is included only in the case of a single-word specific that is a common noun:
- rue de la Savane: De la Savane Street
- avenue de l'Église: De l'Église Avenue
- rue de la Commune: De la Commune Street
It is not included when the specific is a proper noun, or when it is composed of more than one word:
- chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges: Côte des Neiges Road (not De la Côte des Neiges)
- rue de Paris: Paris Street (not De Paris)
- rue de Bordeaux: Bordeaux Street (not De Bordeaux)
Be careful not to omit nobility particles (i.e. articles and prepositions that are part of a person's family name or noble title). This can be checked at the Commission de Toponymie website. Examples:
- rue De Castelnau: De Castelnau St. (not Castelnau -- named for Édouard De Castelnau)
- boul. De Maisonneuve: De Maisonneuve Blvd. (not Maisonneuve -- named for the Sieur de Maisonneuve)
- rue De La Gauchetière: De La Gauchetière Street (not Gauchetière or La Gauchetière -- named for the Sieur de La Gauchetière)
- rue De Bullion: De Bullion Street (not Bullion -- named for the Marquise de Bullion)
Do not omit hyphens that are part of the name anyway:
- boulevard Marc-Aurèle-Fortin: Marc-Aurèle Fortin Boulevard
- autoroute Ville-Marie: Ville-Marie Autoroute
We prefer to keep names of female saints as Sainte, and we do not otherwise translate saints' or other names (except when this is the most common English usage -- see the next section):
- rue Sainte-Émilie: Sainte Émilie Street (not Saint Émilie or Saint Emily)
- rue Saint-Mathieu: Saint Mathieu Street (not Saint Matthew)
- boul. Pie-IX: Pie IX Boulevard (not Pius IX)
We do not translate toponyms in street names, even those we would otherwise translate:
- parc Marguerite-Bourgeoys: Marguerite Bourgeoys Park, but:
- rue du Parc-Marguerite-Bourgeoys: Parc Marguerite Bourgeoys Street (not Marguerite Bourgeoys Park Street).
Articles about streets should give the official version in boldface in the first line, as follows:
- Sherbrooke Street (officially rue Sherbrooke) is a street...
There should also be a redirect from the official form, and from the translated form with hyphens preserved (e.g. Saint-Antoine Street).
[edit] Streets with commonly used English names that differ from the official forms
A number of streets in Montreal have English specifics that differ from the official specifics. We use these when they are in common, modern-day use.
In some cases, we use these forms instead of the forms that would be generated by the translating method above (e.g. Park Avenue, not Du Parc Avenue):
- avenue des Pins: Pine Avenue
- avenue du Parc: Park Avenue
- rue de la Montagne: Mountain Street
- chemin du Bord-du-Lac: Lakeshore Road
- autoroute Métropolitaine: Metropolitan Autoroute
- autoroute des Laurentides: Laurentian Autoroute
In other cases, the official name translated as above is also in common use:
- avenue Mont-Royal: Mount Royal Avenue or Mont Royal Avenue
- boulevard Saint-Laurent: Saint Lawrence Boulevard or Saint Laurent Boulevard
- boulevard Saint-Jean: Saint John's Boulevard or Saint Jean Boulevard
- rue Sainte-Catherine: Saint Catherine Street or Sainte Catherine Street
- avenue du Docteur-Penfield: Doctor Penfield Avenue or Docteur Penfield Avenue)
When the English specific is different from the official specific, it would be helpful to put the official name in parentheses after, in purely geographical references: bounded on the west by Park Ave. (av. du Parc)....
The first line of articles about such streets should mention the English form, the translated form if applicable, and the official form, as follows:
- Park Avenue (officially avenue du Parc) is a street...
- Saint Lawrence Boulevard or Saint Laurent Boulevard (officially boulevard Saint-Laurent) is a street...
In other cases, the most common English rendering is different from the results when the name is translated as described above:
- boulevard des Sources: Sources Boulevard (not Des Sources)
- boulevard de l'Acadie: L'Acadie Boulevard (not Acadie)
- boulevard De La Vérendrye: La Vérendrye Boulevard (not De La Vérendrye)
- rue De Bleury: Bleury Street (not De Bleury Street)
[edit] Historical names
In a few cases, there are former names for streets that have passed out of standard English usage to a greater or lesser extent:
- Dorchester Boulevard (René Lévesque Boulevard)
- Saint James Street (Saint Jacques Street)
- Church Street (De l'Église Avenue)
- Craig Street (Saint Antoine Street)
These streets should be referred to by their modern form, except in appropriate historical references (e.g. Dorchester Boulevard before 1987; Saint James Street in references to its significance as a financial district).
Articles about these streets should mention the historical name fairly high up and in bold, with redirects.
[edit] Streets that are not translated
In a few cases, the French form is much more common in English than a translated form would be. In this case, we do not translate.
We use the official forms for:
- names with the generic "place": Place Saint-Henri; Place du Canada; Place d'Armes; Place Jacques-Cartier; Place du 6-Décembre-1989.
- names with unusual or no generics: Côte de la Place-d'Armes; Allée des Huissiers; Ruelle Nick-Auf Der Maur; Promenade Sir-William-Osler.
- Exceptions: côte du Beaver Hall = Beaver Hall Hill; The Boulevard.
[edit] Using official forms anyway
When dealing with official forms that we do not translate, contrary to French usage we should capitalize the first letter of the generic: Île aux Tourtes; Place d'Armes.
[edit] Lists
The official forms could be preferred in long lists of streets or complex geographical references if this is clearer.
[edit] Disambiguation
We might also consider using the official form if we are writing an article about a street whose English name is the same as other streets with articles. For example, there are several articles on streets named Park Avenue. If an article were to be written on the street in Montreal, it might be most graceful to put it at Avenue du Parc, with a redirect from Park Avenue (Montreal). Park Avenue, Montreal has already been written, so this is moot
[edit] Other features
[edit] Features that we translate
[edit] Parks
We translate the names of parks, nature parks, and squares according to the rules for streets:
- parc Lafontaine: La Fontaine Park.
- parc Jean-Drapeau: Jean Drapeau Park.
- parc-nature de l'Île-de-la-Visitation: Île de la Visitation Nature Park.
- square Cabot: Cabot Square.
- square Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier: Sir George-Étienne Cartier Square.
Exceptions:
- parc du Mont-Royal: Mont Royal Park
- square Victoria: Square Victoria
Note: The official names for the streets surrounding squares are no longer of the form square X but rue du Square-X, e.g. rue du Square-Victoria. The translation "Square Victoria Street" should therefore be used for the street, rather than "Square Victoria" or "Victoria Square". The names for the squares themselves, i.e. the open spaces, are unaffected.
[edit] Unofficial names for neighbourhoods
We use English unofficial names for neighbourhoods and regions where these are the most common, such as the Old Port, the Gay Village, Chinatown, the McGill Ghetto, the West Island, Little Burgundy, and so forth. Use redirects from French-language names if they exist.
In other cases, French-language names are more common in English, such as the Quartier Latin or Quartier international de Montréal.
[edit] Federal installations
We use the official English forms for the names of federal installations. These include:
- federal buildings
- federal electoral districts
- the Trans-Canada Autoroute
- national historic sites
- Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
[edit] Note
In all cases, redirects from official names should be provided to articles with English-language names.
[edit] Features we do not translate
We use the official versions for the following features:
[edit] Islands
Islands in the vicinity of Montreal are most commonly called by French names: Île Bizard, Île aux Tourtes, Île de la Visitation.
Exceptions:
- Island of Montreal
- either Saint Helen's Island or Île Sainte-Hélène is permissible
- either Nuns' Island or Île des Sœurs is permissible
[edit] Metro and commuter train stations
The names of metro and commuter train stations must be preserved unaltered. Note that metro station names are treated as specifics and are therefore hyphenated: Côte-des-Neiges, Université-de-Montréal, Édouard-Montpetit.
[edit] Names of boroughs
We preserve borough names unaltered: Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce; Le Sud-Ouest.
An exception is when the borough name is composed of the name of one former municipality whose name is commonly translated:
- Mont-Royal: Mount Royal
- Montréal-Nord: Montreal North
- Saint-Léonard: Saint Leonard
Although in general references we use the English names Montreal East and Montreal West, we do not translate the borough names Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles—Montréal-Est or Côte-Saint-Luc—Hampstead—Montréal-Ouest, to avoid hybridization. (At any rate, these names will shortly cease to trouble us.)
[edit] French-language institutions
We preserve unaltered the names of French-language:
- educational institutions: Université de Montréal; Cégep du Bois-de-Boulogne.
- hospitals: Hôpital Sacré-Coeur; Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.
- religious institutions: Église Marie-Reine-des-Coeurs; Église Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours.
- Exceptions: basilicas: Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, Saint Joseph's Oratory.
We do, of course, use the English names of English-language or officially bilingual institutions such as McGill University, Christ Church Cathedral, Dawson College, the Montreal General Hospital, and so forth.
We also do not translate other buildings that do not have an official English name, e.g. Place des Arts, Place Ville-Marie, Écomusée du fier monde, Les Ailes de la Mode, etc.
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- naturally, if there is an official English translation, use that, e.g. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
[edit] Provincial government installations
In general, we preserve unaltered the names of provincial government installations, such as:
- provincial government buildings
- Quebec electoral districts.
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