As one of my previous posts probably indicated, I tend to reach
for The Chicago Manual of Style to resolve punctuation questions; it acknowledges
some of the variation in editorial practice on the apostrophe issue (I do,
however, point out to journalism majors in my classes that the AP style is
different, and that they’d best follow that one).
Last spring, as part of the discussion of apostrophes, I put a
copy of the relevant section from the Manual up on the overhead simply
as an example of what a detailed attempt to approach the issue could look like.
One of the students noticed the section that stated that Jesus and Moses
constituted exceptions, in that – because of established practice –
they just get the apostrophe, even though the Manual recommends
apostrophe + s for most other cases with stem-final –s. She then asked a
question that got the class actually engaged in the discussion: “Do we
just use the apostrophe for Jesus Jesus, or do we do that with other
people named Jesus too?” I told them I had absolutely no idea, and
then asked them to argue both sides of the issue. Now if only something
similarly interesting would happen with the semicolon….
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
From: Assembly for the
Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of STAHLKE,
HERBERT F
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 9:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Britney Spears' talent--or Britney Spears's talent?
As Dick’s examples of variation indicate, both forms are
found widely. I was taught, a half century ago, which is no evidence of
authority, to use only the apostrophe if the –s belonged to the
stem. However, the fact that in speech the two s so frequently reduce to
one reflects a common phonological process called haplology, by which a
sequence of two identical or similar forms reduces to one, as in
“probably” > “probly.”
Herb
First
an anecdote. Then a topic.
The
anecdote: My
wife and I often pass a used-car lot with a big sign that reads LARRYS’
(ending in an apostrophe). In our smug, professorial way, we assumed that the
owner was confused about punctuation, and we jokingly referred to the place as
Larry-ziz. As we later learned, the lot is owned by two guys named
Larry, who knew their punctuation after all. We still call it Larry-ziz,
though.
The
topic:
English usage mavens are divided about the treatment of possessive nouns ending
in s. Style sheets all agree that a word ending in plural -s takes only an
apostrophe for the possessive: the families’ homes, several
students’ homework.
They
are not in agreement, however, about the possessive form of nonplural nouns
ending in s. Do you add just an apostrophe or apostrophe + s? Is it
“Britney Spears’ monumental talent” or “Britney
Spears’s monumental talent”? Some style sheets stipulate apostrophe
+ s for short nouns (Lois’s friends) and only apostrophe for
longer ones (Socrates’ death). The division among authorities in this matter
means places a burden on faculty. So what do we teach?
On
the grounds that simple is better than complicated, I tell students to use a
sound test. If you hear the iz sound in such words, add ’s.
Otherwise, just apostrophe. So it’s Ms. Jones’s house (pronounced
Jones-iz). But what’s the possessive of Socrates? If you say
“Sock-ra-teez-iz death,” then it’s Socrates’s; if you
say “Sock-ra-teez death,” then it’s just Socrates’. By
the way, I understand there is a St. James’s Park in London (pronounced
with the iz) and a St. James’ Park in Newcastle (no iz).
Of
course apostrophe use is never simple. Consider, for example, ‘Do’s
and Don’ts.” But that’s another topic.
Dick
Veit
________________________________
Richard
Veit
Department of English
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/