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The ‘Moses his meekness’ would elegantly solve the continuing problems I have with Proclus’s and, worse, Iamblichus’s in English sentences! Regards, Valery From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joel Davis Sent: 05 June 2014 14:13 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Usage query on possessive construction In the 1598 Arcadia, I have come across what looks like a variant on the possessive construction "[proper name] his [possession]." It's on page 283, during the comedic flyting between Dametas and Clinias: The terrible words Clinias vsed, hoping they would giue a cooling to the heate of Dametas-is courage. Apparently grammarians have debated exactly what the apostrophe marking a possessive elides for some time (does it elide the possessive "his," or does it elide the Middle English genitive ending -es, itself a hangover form the Anglo-Saxon genitive -es ending?), as this blog post <http://wmjasco.blogspot.com/2011/08/possessive-apostrophe-his-origin.html> explains. Which construction does the -is enclitic seem to be indicating, the genitive or the "his"? And then my blogger authority cites Jon Algeo and Thomas Pyles' book, The Origins and Development of the English Language, which asserts that "the mixture of the two spellings, as in 'Job’s patience, Moses his meekness, Abraham’s faith' (OED, 1568)" persisted in the sixteenth century at least. So are there other examples of a possessive construction like Dametas-is ? Is there greater clarity on the matter than my blogger authority finds? And did I use the possessive apostrophe correctly in "Jon Algeo and Thomas Pyle's book"? Finally, by what date will the physical constraints of texting have (re-)eliminated the stupid possessive apostrophe from our language? My estimate is 2044. Cheers, Joel Joel B Davis Coordinator, MA Program in English English Department Stetson University 421 N Woodland Blvd Unit 8300 DeLand, FL 32720 386.822.7724 The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia and the Invention of English Literature <http://us.macmillan.com/thecountesseofpembrokesarcadiaandtheinventionofenglishliterature/JoelDavis> http://www.stetson.edu/artsci/english/davis.php