Re: possesives in -s

On Wed, 9 Aug 2000, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Muke Tever wrote:
> > I was taught (in school, I suppose) that -s names always take full 's
> > (Mills's) except for "Jesus".
>
> Actually, I think Moses is the same.  I believe it's the two s's, a form
> like Jesus's or Moses's would just have too many s's in a row
The way I do it (which is also the rule laid down by Strunk & White):

Nouns ending in a pluralizing "s" take an apostrophe to mark the possessive:
goats', horses', Americans'.

Classical or Biblical names ending in "s" also take an apostrophe:
Moses', Jesus', Achilles'.

All other nouns take "'s": man's, horse's, John's, Charles's, men's, women's.

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
C'est la` pourtant que se livre le sens du dire, de ce que, s'y conjuguant
le nyania qui bruit des sexes en compagnie, il supplee a ce qu'entre eux,
de rapport nyait pas.               -- Jacques Lacan, "L'Etourdit"