I suspect that in pronunciation there is a good bit of variation.  The two examples you give sound fine to me, but substitute “Kansas” for “Texas” and I prefer /kaenz@[log in to unmask]  Similarly, “Axis” gives me “the /aeksIs@z/ strategy.”  I thought about “compass,” but it seems to form compounds rather than possessives, as in “compass needle,” “compass points,” “compass case,” etc.  But an interfering factor may be haplology in normal speech, dropping one of two consecutive schwa+sibilant syllables.  In some instances I hear either a voiceless schwa between the two sibilants or even a long /s/ with two pulses.



Herb



From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Chorazy

Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 11:25 AM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Possessive 's



Good morning...  has there really been any recent progress toward an agreement about the marking of genitive for singular nouns that end in s? I keep finding disagreements and variations rather than consensus, mostly because style manuals differ and make exceptions and have their own particulars.



I'm personally stuck on the pronunciation more than the spelling; "That's Tek-səs flag" in answer to the question "Which flag is that?" just sounds awkward to me, as does "Those areˈJē-zəs disciples."



 Thank you...





--

John Chorazy

English III Honors, AP Lit

Advisor, Panther Press

Pequannock Township High School

973.616.6000





Noli Timere

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