Paul and Nancy,
You have reinforced the impression that there is a lot of confusion, even in the style guides people use, on some uses of the apostrophe. I don't believe this is a new thing. There has always been a fairly high degree of variability in the use of apostrophes, from the universally condemned "green-grocer's apostrophe" ("fresh apple's today), to the pretty widely recognized apostrophe in contractions. It isn't that there was at some point in history a well defined set of rules, and since then the apostrophe, like the rest of the English language, standards have collapsed. Rather, there's been a effort since the mid-19th to codify the use of this odd orthographic tic, and most people haven't bothered to master the rules, can't find a standard set, or don't really care. It's the ongoing near-chaos that is the English language.
Herb
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Paul E. Doniger
Sent: Tue 6/6/2006 4:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Possessive form
Nancy and Herb,
Style guides are one thing; handbooks are another! There seems to be a disconnect. I checked three handbooks: Holt, Little Brown, and Bedford. They all give both options with various explanations or "rules" for deciding which is best (Bedford is the most generous, saying that "Either use is acceptable.").
I have used the apostrophe without the added -s all my adult life, usually with proper nouns or abstract nouns that end with the/s/ sound. When my students ask me about what is "correct," I just try to give them examples of how to use both as models.
For the record, the MLA does not forbid the solo apostrophe. It simply avoids mentioning the -s ending issue altogether (6th Edition). The NY Times style manual says that '"almost all" nouns ending in -s require the added 's, but gives examples of nouns that don't require the extra -s ("Kansas' Governor" is the first example). I don't have the Chicago handy.
I'm still more curious about your thoughts about the loss of the apostrophe. It's a constant error issue among my high school students (all kinds of apostrophe uses, too, not just the plural vs. possessive errors) -- and so many adults, too, are confused about the apostrophe. Is it dying?
Paul
----- Original Message ----
From: "Stahlke, Herbert F.W." <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, June 6, 2006 8:51:17 AM
Subject: Re: Possessive form
Nancy,
Thanks for checking sources on the rule Paul cited. I was taught as he was, to use only the apostrophe after a singular noun ending in an /s/ (note, not an <s>, that is, the sound, not the letter). I have seen the -'s in that environment more frequently, so I'm wondering when the change took place in the handbooks. It would be interesting to look at earlier editions to see if the advice changes.
Herb
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nancy Tuten
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 11:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Possessive form
Thanks for sharing that article, Paul.
I found one point odd, though: the authors suggest that grammarians widely favor putting only the apostrophe (and not an additional "s") after singular nouns that end in "s." Although I run into people in my business writing seminars frequently who have been taught that rule, it is not espoused by Chicago, MLA, or APA. In fact, until tonight, I had been unable to find it in print anywhere. Those three very reputable style guides (and a host of others) prescribe putting the apostrophe and an additional "s" after all singular nouns, whether they end in "s" or not.
We can have fun debating the merits of such rules, but what do you tell your students to do when they ask? I usually resort to explaining the whole notion of style guides and differences among disciplines, but first- and second-year students glaze over.
Nancy
Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
Professor of English
Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
Columbia College
Columbia, South Carolina
[log in to unmask]
803-786-3706
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul E. Doniger
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 9:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Possessive form
Of course, life is probably more complicated than Wikipedia will allow. I believe that the history of the apostrophe as apossessive marker is also more complex. You might want to check out the following paper:
http://www.american.edu/tesol/wpkernodlecavella.pdf
I sheds some light, or rather thins out some fo the shadow, on this history.
More to the point, I think, is the question of what's happening to the apostrophe now. It seems to me that it's dying a slow, agonizing death! I for one will miss it (of course. Bernard Shaw ignored it, and no one seems to think the less of him because of that!).
Paul D.
----- Original Message ----
From: Max Morenberg <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, June 5, 2006 9:16:26 PM
Subject: Re: Possessive form
Peter,
I haven't read into the history of punctuation in a long time. But I think the "his" story has little or no reality. Here is the wikipedia.com explanation:
Despite the above, the English possessive did originate in a genitive case. In Old English, a common singular genitive ending was -es. The apostrophe in the modern possessive marker is in fact an indicator of the e that is "missing" from the Old English morphology. . . .
The 18th century explanation that the apostrophe might replace a genitive pronoun, as in "the king's horse" being a shortened form of "the king, his horse", is erroneous (a construction which actually occurs in German dialects and has replaced the genitive there, together with the "of" construction that also exists in English).
Ain't wikipedia great?
Max
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the "'s" was actually a contraction
for "his." I think when a person who doesn't write makes a mark on a
document, we write undert it "John Doe his mark." This is the "his" that is now
contracted into "'s." Any truth to this?
Peter Adams
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Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D"Gen=
eva" FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" SIZE=3D"2">I seem to remember reading somewhere th=
at the "'s" was actually a contraction for "his." I think when a pers=
on who doesn't write makes a mark on a document, we write undert it "John Do=
e his mark." This is the "his" that is now contracted into "'s." =
; Any truth to this?<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Peter Adams<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" FACE=3D" Geneva " FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" SIZE=3D"=
2"></FONT></HTML>
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<p>
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