Thank you! I didn't take the time to google anything this morning.
However, from that article:
>Some people thought that the ’s at the end of a word indicating possession was simply a stand-in for “his,” and so “the king’s book” would be the shortened version of “the king his book.” This theory is no longer popular. Instead, it seems likely that the genitive apostrophe is an illustration of our language’s older, highly inflectional state.
So... Maybe. But I don't think it's "mainly" my professor's!
Which makes me sad, because he was a man of good cheer, and erudition, who so enjoyed having his ideas challenged by interesting new ones. I would have enjoyed going down this particular linguistic / orthographic rabbit hole with him. He passed away last year, and this conversation reminded me how much I miss him.
He had a good innings, though! 1930 - 2022. What a wonderful, interesting life.
However, from that article:
>Some people thought that the ’s at the end of a word indicating possession was simply a stand-in for “his,” and so “the king’s book” would be the shortened version of “the king his book.” This theory is no longer popular. Instead, it seems likely that the genitive apostrophe is an illustration of our language’s older, highly inflectional state.
So... Maybe. But I don't think it's "mainly" my professor's!
Which makes me sad, because he was a man of good cheer, and erudition, who so enjoyed having his ideas challenged by interesting new ones. I would have enjoyed going down this particular linguistic / orthographic rabbit hole with him. He passed away last year, and this conversation reminded me how much I miss him.
He had a good innings, though! 1930 - 2022. What a wonderful, interesting life.