An apostrophe is also used with the plurals of words that would be
misread or hard to read without one. A list of "do's and don'ts" comes
to mind. The "do" in the plural needs an apostrophe but the "don't"
doesn't.
Exceptions to simple rules make some people uncomfortable, but effective
communication is paramount. We'd be worse off with "dos and don'ts,"
"mind your ps and qs," "As on tests are good grades," and so on.
________________________
Richard Veit
Department of English, UNCW
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cynthia Baird
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Possessive form
Bruce,
In mentioning the loss of the apostrophe in plural letters and numbers
you bring up another interesting and frustrating aspect of teaching the
proper use of the apostrophe to students. Why was the apostrophe ever
used in plural numbers and letters, anyway? I can understand the use if
a person or some object belonged to a decade, for example the 1920s, and
the apostrophe denoted possession, but why the apostrophe to mark
plural? Students are used to seeing the apostrophe as a sign that
something has been omitted (as in contractions) or as a sign of
possession, but the use of the apostrophe for plurals doesn't seem to
follow the "rules" for the apostrophe. I just find the apostrophe to be
one ambiguous and frustrating mark!
Fascinating discussion and very relevant to the classroom!
Bruce Despain <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
For what it's worth the 1889 work by Gordon A. Southworth & F.
B. Goddard, Elements of Composition and Grammar
gives some interesting exceptions to the rule:
NOTE 1. In words ending with a sound that resembles that
of s, the apostrophe with s forms an additional syllable. Thus: -
James's; Miss Finch's [pron. James-ez, Finch-ez].
NOTE 2. The only exception to the rule occurs in such
expressions as conscience' sake, goodness' sake, righteousness' sake,
Jesus' sake, where the apostrophe alone is added to avoid the long
hissing sound.
I think it is also interesting that the apostrophe has been
lost, especially in Britain, in writing the plural of letters and
numbers.
Bruce
>>> "Nancy Tuten" <[log in to unmask]> 06/05/06 10:10 PM >>>
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
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the
list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
--part1_467.2d7a96c.31b5fbe7_boundary
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<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>
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the
list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
<p>
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
--part1_467.2d7a96c.31b5fbe7_boundary--
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
"Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
"Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this
LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave
the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the
intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and
privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the
intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email
and destroy all copies of the original message.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
"Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com To join or leave this LISTSERV list,
please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave
the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
