Off Topic Grammer Lessons

Miracle miracle@procyon.com
Thu, 11 Sep 1997 11:38:41 -0500 (CDT) (00874017521, Pine.LNX.3.96.970911113708.2561A-100000@KamaSutra.procyon.com) 


>TILL

>You write it the way you pronounce it, and the pronunciation generally

>depends on what word follows it.  If the word after it begins with an "s"

>sound, you would write it Jesus' as in Jesus' sacrifice.  Because of the "s"

>sound that begins "sacrifice," it would probably be awkward to pronounce

>three "s" sounds in succession; hence, the apostrophe only would be your way

>of indicating this to your readers.  However, if the word after the

>possessive form of Jesus begins with a consonant sound, most people would

>probably pronounce the "s" and say "Jesus's mother," and so the apostrophe

>and the "s" should be used to indicate how you would pronounce it.

>

>RJV 9/10

>AHAH!  Caught you!  This is a great example of "fuzzy logic" (a saying my

>old High School Calculus teacher was fond of).  So, you change the rules

>because it sounds funny?  Sometimes, these rules just confuse the hell out

>of me....  No wonder I wasn't good at French.


TILL
Well, I fail to see the fuzziness in the logic.  We can equate this with
"toward" and "towards."  Do you pronounce the final letter?  If so, spell it
that way.  If not, drop the "s" from the spelling.  The rules aren't changed
because it "sounds funny."  The rule simply accommodates a tongue-twisting
combination of "s" sounds.

RJV 9/11
But the manner in which you put an apostrophe depends solely on what you
determine sounds better.  Subjectivity in these types of rules is what
throws me...  

-- R Jason Valentine                          ..ooOO miracle@procyon.com

Chemical Engineer as of March 21, 1997
Med Student, August 1997, University of South Alabama

"What Is Success"  by Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the
affection of children; To earn the approbation of honest critics and
endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the
best in others; To give of one's self; To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social
condition; To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with
exultation; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have
lived - This is to have succeeded.