From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Miles Bader Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Possessive apostrophe with singular nouns ending in "s" Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:36 +0900 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1330591688 18919 80.91.229.3 (1 Mar 2012 08:48:08 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2012 08:48:08 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Glenn Morris Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Mar 01 09:48:06 2012 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1S31gD-0006WI-RG for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:48:05 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:42158 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1S31gD-0002FA-90 for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:48:05 -0500 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:34889) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1S31g6-0002E8-Eu for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:48:04 -0500 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1S31g4-0000UK-44 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:47:58 -0500 Original-Received: from relmlor3.renesas.com ([210.160.252.173]:58506) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1S31g3-0000QV-R0; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:47:56 -0500 Original-Received: from relmlir4.idc.renesas.com ([10.200.68.154]) by relmlor3.idc.renesas.com ( SJSMS) with ESMTP id <0M0700MS171SXH10@relmlor3.idc.renesas.com>; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:40 +0900 (JST) Original-Received: from relmlac2.idc.renesas.com ([10.200.69.22]) by relmlir4.idc.renesas.com ( SJSMS) with ESMTP id <0M07000KF71SF3C0@relmlir4.idc.renesas.com>; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:40 +0900 (JST) Original-Received: by relmlac2.idc.renesas.com (Postfix, from userid 0) id 8AC64280A2; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:40 +0900 (JST) Original-Received: from relmlac2.idc.renesas.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by relmlac2.idc.renesas.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 87B65280A4; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:40 +0900 (JST) Original-Received: from relmlii1.idc.renesas.com [10.200.68.65] by relmlac2.idc.renesas.com with ESMTP id TAP17470; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:40 +0900 X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.73,508,1325430000"; d="scan'208";a="70502842" Original-Received: from unknown (HELO relay51.aps.necel.com) ([10.29.19.60]) by relmlii1.idc.renesas.com with ESMTP; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:40 +0900 Original-Received: from dhlpc061 (dhlpc061.dev.necel.com [10.114.98.89]) by relay51.aps.necel.com (8.14.4+Sun/8.14.4) with ESMTP id q218kcqD024740; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:38 +0900 (JST) Original-Received: by dhlpc061 (Postfix, from userid 31295) id E3F3952E21E; Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:46:37 +0900 (JST) System-Type: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu Blat: Foop In-reply-to: Original-Lines: 21 X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Solaris 10 (1203?) X-Received-From: 210.160.252.173 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:148851 Archived-At: Glenn Morris writes: > A critical question. What is the standard form in GNU manuals for using > the possessive apostrophe with singular nouns ending in "s"? > This is one of Emacs's most important features. > This is one of Emacs' most important features. What I've always heard (and which seems eminently practical) is that one should just follow the actual pronunciation, which is pretty easy for a native-speaker to check. Most things get an explicit "'s" (so it makes sense for that to be the default if it's unclear), but some words just sound downright weird that way, so it should be omitted for them. [Emacs sounds OK either way to me, but I'd say "Emacs's" should get the nod...] -miles -- "I distrust a research person who is always obviously busy on a task." --Robert Frosch, VP, GM Research