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why don't you capitalise?
Topic Started: Aug 30 2010, 04:57 PM (1,318 Views)
lamna
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I generally over capitalise rather than under capitalise myself.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Holben
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Sep 3 2010, 04:21 PM
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But Cortez's?

Certainly. I don't recall anything in English grammar that even equivocally equates z with s (Spanish is a different matter). You've piqued my interest about where you've acquired this notion...
Well, of course not just the word Cortez.

The fact their are exceptions to the 's's' rule makes me doubt it too.

I will continue to use apostrophes and no additional letter until a person shows me no-one else does it. So Cortez' men for me.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

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Are you plausible?

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The fact their are exceptions to the 's's' rule makes me doubt it too.

English (as we know it today) is actually a synthesis of Germanic and Latin roots, each bringing with it a panoply of linguistic rules and traditions. There are exceptions to almost every rule. For example, why don't we say "childs" instead of "children"? Why is "deer" pluralized as "deer"?

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any precedent with words ending in z lacking the second 's' and I'm interested to know where you learned it. I'm not seeing any exceptions to rules here:

We don't say, "My adz' handle is broken." We add the 's'.
We don't say, "Forget that, Baz' leg is broken!" We add the 's'.
Or, "The (American) Football blitz' execution left a lot to be desired." That needs an 's' too.
To use your example word: "Cortez' conquest of indigenous tribes" requires an 's' as well.
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Ook
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Kamidio
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Sep 10 2010, 12:57 PM
English (as we know it today) is actually a synthesis of Germanic and Latin roots
WRONG! English is a West Germanic language. No Latin except for the words we stole. Other than those exceptions, English is an all-Germanic language. It arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

I had to wiki it, i'm afraid.

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General principles for the possessive apostrophe

If a singular noun ends with an /s/ or a /z/ sound (spelled with -s, -se, -z, -ce, for example), practice varies as to whether to add 's or the apostrophe alone. A widely accepted practice is to follow whichever spoken form is judged better: the boss's shoes, Mrs Jones' hat (or Mrs Jones's hat, if that spoken form is preferred). In many cases, both spoken and written forms differ between writers.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Are you plausible?

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WRONG!

I'm having a hard time seeing how what I said was wrong, especially to the degree you must be so confrontational about it. You seem to be implying that my recognizing Latin influences means I'm dismissing English's Germanic origins, and I am not. It's true that the majority of Latin influence is lexical in nature, not grammatical (such as irregular pluralizations), but a lot of those loanwords bring along with them the "proper" associated grammar. Take pluralization for example: we don't say "alumnuses," "hypothesises" or "cactuses", they are pluralized in the Latin fashion.

And even this is debated. After all, some people insist that it's "optopi" and are seen as snobbish for their insistence. English, as with all languages, is fluid and changing, and even many of the Germanic traditions are seen as irregular ('children' and 'mice' for example).

So yes, except for those exceptions, English is a West Germanic language. But saying that seems like saying, "English is a very regular language, except for the exceptions," or, "except for the Y chromosome, a man is a woman." Gallicisms (French borrowings) and other Latin roots make up roughly 70% of modern English vocabulary.

Quote:
 
A widely accepted practice is to follow whichever spoken form is judged better: the boss's shoes, Mrs Jones' hat (or Mrs Jones's hat, if that spoken form is preferred).

Ah, I think I see the crux of the matter, Holbenilord. In my language community, that 's' at the end of 'Cortez's' would invariably be pronounced, and thus invariably be written as well. Your own group may not pronounce that 's' so including it in written work could be seen as redundant.
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Holben
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Sep 10 2010, 04:23 PM
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A widely accepted practice is to follow whichever spoken form is judged better: the boss's shoes, Mrs Jones' hat (or Mrs Jones's hat, if that spoken form is preferred).

Ah, I think I see the crux of the matter, Holbenilord. In my language community, that 's' at the end of 'Cortez's' would invariably be pronounced, and thus invariably be written as well. Your own group may not pronounce that 's' so including it in written work could be seen as redundant.
Well... it varies for me really. I would pronounce the possessive of Cortez as if it had two ess-sounds.

But others i would only have one.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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