Of atonement and apostrophes (Was: Harry as godfather)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 179210

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:

> Carol responds:
> 
> Actually, no. The editor/English teacher in me has to step in here and
> set the record straight. With the exception of a few ancient names
> (e.g., Jesus, Xerxes, Hippocrates), names ending in "s" form the
> possessive exactly the same way that all other singular nouns in
> English do, by adding "apostrophe s." So it's "James's," "Remus's,"
> "Sirius's," "Severus's." (We can get around the awkwardness by using
> last names except in the case of James because "Potter" could be
> Harry, and even for him, we can say "James Potter's.")
> 
> As for Jones, the singular possessive is "Jones's; the plural is
> "Joneses"; and the plural possessive is "Joneses'."

Geoff:
I imagine that's standard US practice. UK English does not add an extra
's' if the root word ends in 's'.

So I expect to see ' Sirius' hand' or 'Remus' book' but 'Lupin's hat' and 
also with a fmaily name such as 'the Bones' house',although you may 
pronounce it in speech as 'Remuses',' Jameses' and so on.

With reference to the name of Jesus, there is a somewhat archaic usage 
which persists in Christian lyrics of using 'Jesu's'.