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Commenting on “When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe,” Luke S. raised another question:
What gripes me . . . is the misuse of the apostrophe to form the possessive without the extra ’s’: “Charles’ pen” needs correction to “Charles’s pen.”
Ah, Luke, would it were so simple as that!
Even the Chicago Manual of Style, so authoritative in so many ways, makes this observation on the use of the apostrophe to form the possessive:
Since feelings on these matters sometimes run high, users of this manual may wish to modify or add to the exceptions.
When I taught in England, the textbook I used gave the rule that ancient names ending in -s took only an apostrophe, while modern names took apostrophe s: Achilles’ heel, Jesus’ name, St. James’s Park.
This rule was no doubt derived from Fowler:
It was formerly customary, when a word ended in -s to write its possessive with an apostrophe but no additional s, e.g. Mars’ hill, Venus’ Bath, Achilles’ thews. In verse, & in poetic or reverential contexts, this custom is retained. ..But elsewhere we now add the s & the syllable, Charles’s Wain, St James’s not St James’, Jones’s children. . .
After many paragraphs setting forth the correct use of using the apostrophe to form various possessives, the CMS offers an alternative:
Those uncomfortable with the rules, exceptions, and options outlined above may prefer the system, formerly more common, of simply omitting the possessive s on all words ending in s—hence “Dylan Thomas’ poetry,” “Maria Callas’ singing,” and “that business’ main concern.” Though easy to apply, that usage disregards pronunciation and thus seems unnatural to many.
This apostrophe business is felt to be of such import that there has even been legislation on it:
In February 2007 Arkansas historian Parker Westbrook successfully petitioned State Representative Steve Harrelson to settle once and for all that the correct possessive should not be Arkansas’ but Arkansas’s. Arkansas’s Apostrophe Act came into law in March 2007. –ABC News [USA], 6 March 2007.
Before you start making jokes about the priorities of the Arkansas legislature, know that no less august a body than the Supreme Court wrestled with apostrophe usage in 2006.
Justice Thomas’ opinion was that whenever a singular noun ends in “s,” an additional “s” should never be placed after the apostrophe. The dissenting opinion was that an “s” should always be added after the apostrophe when forming a singular possessive, regardless of whether the nonpossessive form already ends in “s.”
Further reading:
Article with details on the Arkansas Apostrophe Act
Commentary on Supreme Court discussion of the apostrophe
Detailed article on apostrophe use
What University of Arkansas professors think of the Arkansas Apostrophe Act
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I was taught to go by the number of sibilants in the word, to determine if the word took an apostrophe only, or the apostrophe+s.
A sibilant on the front of the word is not counted, but otherwise, a word that has any sibilants “inside” the word, plus a sibilant on the end, uses the apostrophe only. Remember that x and z are sibilants, too. “Xerxes” is a good example. That middle x is a sibilant, so it’s Xerxes’ horse.
Texas, Kansas, Aristophanes, Moses, and Jesus are other examples with a middle sibilants, plus a sibilant on the end.
Moss, Zeus, James, and Sanchez each have one sibilant on the end—so we use the apostrophe+s. “Arkansas” (ark en saw) has only the middle sibilant—the “s” on the end is silent—so it takes the apostrophe+s.
Maeve, we follow the same guidelines given by your former textbook. S-apostrophe-S for modern names, and S-apostrophe for ancient names.
Thus: “This is Charles’s book,” but “That was Moses’ leadership.”
Now, if only we could find a clear definition of “modern” and “ancient.”
So it’s Charles’s book until medical science manages to make Charles live a couple of thousand years, and then it’s Charles’ book, if he hasn’t lost it by then?
(I like Deborah’s explanation. I’ve never heard of any rule for it, but that one seems to fit my intuition.)
My wife and I were actually taught that you don’t add an ’s to words ending with an s throughout our school years. So — according to all of our English teachers — Jesus’s or James’s would be marked as incorrect. But Jesus’ or James’ was correct.
But it’s not the first time I’ve been told that something I learned in school was wrong.
Peter,
Me too–Deborah’s explanation makes a lot of sense.
Do you think that in a couple of thousand years English will still have apostrophes?
I’m with Isaac on this one. In the UK we were taught to always use just the apostrophe.
The extra ’s’ was always incorrect in our English lessons.
I was taught at primary school that when a possessive word ends in s, no matter whether it’s plural, singular, ancient or modern, it doesn’t get a further s after the apostrophe. As I got older, I noticed a wide range of usages in written work and so the argument still intrigues me.
I now tend to write automatically without the second s and then wrestle with it when I’m reading it back.