Timeline for Why is it “Paris’s cafés” but “Massachusetts’ capital”?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2013 at 12:27 | comment | added | TrevorD | @JanusBahsJacquet Thanks. altho' couldn't remember how French does possessive (which is why I wrote "the French form of the possessive (whatever that may be!)", but I suspected it was "X de Y". But, yes, my point was that it's irrelevant to forming the English possessive. | |
| Aug 10, 2013 at 2:07 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @TrevorD, since French doesn’t have a possessive case/clitic, but rather circumlocutes it, it would end up being “the cafes of Paris”. I agree, though, that the French pronunciation is irrelevant to how the genitive is marked in English orthography. The s is always pronounced in English, except in the phrase gay Paris. And if you are talking about Paris, Texas, then the s is always pronounced. | |
| Aug 9, 2013 at 23:16 | comment | added | TrevorD | I'm not sure that the French pronunciation of Paris would be applicable unless you're also going to follow the French form of the possessive (whatever that may be!). | |
| Aug 9, 2013 at 22:55 | history | answered | DougM | CC BY-SA 3.0 |