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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Of or belonging to Descartes
A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to the savants of the group in hopes of receiving a definitive answer. The fascinating element of the paper was its several uses of the possessive form of Descartes. The paper contained at least three distinct spellings, though perhaps one was a typo:
Descartes' the most frequent occurrence
Descarte's only a single occurence
Descartes's two occurrences
Not a one really looks entirely plausible to me, although I believe I'd use the last. The second is most likely a typo, I think, but the first is the form I found the most interesting. It seems utterly impossible, even if there might be stylistic reasons to accept, say, Moses' as a possessive.
How would "Descartes'" be pronounced, do you suppose? Why not exactly like "Descartes"? The maybe-typo evidence suggests that the author was thinking something like "day-carts". Perhaps the third choice would have sounded to her ear like "day-cartzez", leaving only the first alternative. I see that other authors on the Internet use that same spelling, so I suppose there may be a reason for it, but how say you all?
rzed
Descartes' the most frequent occurrence
Descarte's only a single occurence
Descartes's two occurrences
Not a one really looks entirely plausible to me, although I believe I'd use the last. The second is most likely a typo, I think, but the first is the form I found the most interesting. It seems utterly impossible, even if there might be stylistic reasons to accept, say, Moses' as a possessive.
How would "Descartes'" be pronounced, do you suppose? Why not exactly like "Descartes"? The maybe-typo evidence suggests that the author was thinking something like "day-carts". Perhaps the third choice would have sounded to her ear like "day-cartzez", leaving only the first alternative. I see that other authors on the Internet use that same spelling, so I suppose there may be a reason for it, but how say you all?
rzed
Top answer
english: [nq:1]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to ... most interesting. [/nq] Both the first and third are acceptable in one reputable style guide or another.
- english: [nq:1]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to ...
- most interesting.
- [/nq] Both the first and third are acceptable in one reputable style guide or another.
- [nq:1]How would "Descartes'" be pronounced, do you suppose?
- Why not exactly like "Descartes"?
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36 Answers
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In our last episode,
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented rzed
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to ... most interesting. It seems utterly impossible, even if there might be stylistic reasons to accept, say, Moses' as a possessive.[/nq]
Both the first and thir
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented rzed
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to ... most interesting. It seems utterly impossible, even if there might be stylistic reasons to accept, say, Moses' as a possessive.[/nq]
Both the first and thir
00
That's easy: with the final, possessive "s".
Why not
[nq:1]exactly like "Descartes"?[/nq]
Because the "s" is not pronounced.
Why not
[nq:1]exactly like "Descartes"?[/nq]
Because the "s" is not pronounced.
00
[nq:1]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to ... Internet use that same spelling, so I suppose there may be a reason for it, but how say you all?[/nq]
is correct and is pronounced /day-carts/.
Adrian
is correct and is pronounced /day-carts/.
Adrian
00
[nq:2]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised ... be a reason for it, but how say you all?[/nq]
[nq:1] is correct and is pronounced /day-carts/.[/nq]
Your ear is giving you the right answer why not pay it heed? The possessive should indeed be pronounced day-carts; the only plausible way to achieve that is to spell it "Descartes's" as the good Lord intended.
[nq:1] is correct and is pronounced /day-carts/.[/nq]
Your ear is giving you the right answer why not pay it heed? The possessive should indeed be pronounced day-carts; the only plausible way to achieve that is to spell it "Descartes's" as the good Lord intended.
00
[nq:1]That's easy: with the final, possessive "s". Why not[/nq]
[nq:2]exactly like "Descartes"?[/nq]
[nq:1]Because the "s" is not pronounced.[/nq]
Well, that's the point. If it's not pronounced in "Descartes", how does a trailing apostrophe make it audible in "Descartes'"?
rzed
[nq:2]exactly like "Descartes"?[/nq]
[nq:1]Because the "s" is not pronounced.[/nq]
Well, that's the point. If it's not pronounced in "Descartes", how does a trailing apostrophe make it audible in "Descartes'"?
rzed
00
[nq:1]Your ear is giving you the right answer why not pay it heed? The possessive should indeed be pronounced day-carts; the only plausible wayto achieve that is to spell it "Descartes's" as the good Lord intended.[/nq]
looks stupid and is stupid. From the spelling it is clear that it is a possessive and it is clear how the word is pronounced. Therefore an additional s is redundant. wins 7
looks stupid and is stupid. From the spelling it is clear that it is a possessive and it is clear how the word is pronounced. Therefore an additional s is redundant. wins 7
00
[nq:1]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised a question in our household, one which I direct to ... one was a typo: Descartes' the most frequent occurrence Descarte's only a single occurence Descartes's two occurrences[/nq]
Since the name does not end with an S-sound, add apostrophe-S to form the possessive, and add an S-sound when you pronounce it:
Descartes'
Since the name does not end with an S-sound, add apostrophe-S to form the possessive, and add an S-sound when you pronounce it:
Descartes'
00
rzed biomed:
[nq:2]That's easy: with the final, possessive "s". Why not Because the "s" is not pronounced.[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, that's the point. If it's not pronounced in "Descartes", how does a trailing apostrophe make it audible in "Descartes'"?[/nq]
Because the name is French, but the possessive is English.
(Like someone further upthread, I prefer "Cartesian".)
[nq:2]That's easy: with the final, possessive "s". Why not Because the "s" is not pronounced.[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, that's the point. If it's not pronounced in "Descartes", how does a trailing apostrophe make it audible in "Descartes'"?[/nq]
Because the name is French, but the possessive is English.
(Like someone further upthread, I prefer "Cartesian".)
00
[nq:2]A fascinating paper my daughter brought home from school raised ... Descarte's only a single occurence Descartes's two occurrences[/nq]
(snip)
[nq:1] is correct and is pronounced /day-carts/.[/nq]
Let's suppose we're reading aloud and have got as far as the apostrophe. When we reach the point just before we take account of the apostrophe, we've effectively said , and pronounced
(snip)
[nq:1] is correct and is pronounced /day-carts/.[/nq]
Let's suppose we're reading aloud and have got as far as the apostrophe. When we reach the point just before we take account of the apostrophe, we've effectively said , and pronounced
00
[nq:1] looks stupid and is stupid. From the spelling it is clear that it is a possessive and it ... book jackets on Amazon, so it seems that the publishers and academics of the US and UK agree with me.[/nq]
How did you search for an apostrophe at Amazon?
Dubious Donna Richoux
How did you search for an apostrophe at Amazon?
Dubious Donna Richoux
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