Phrases like, "Mars _his_ sword," "The Prince _his_ Players," "King
Lewis _his_ satisfaction" are abundant in Early, and in Middle, English.
But it has been proved that the _his_ in such expressions is an error that
gained its wide currency largely through the confusion of early English
orthography.
Professor Hadley has clearly shown that the Saxon termination has never
dropped out of the language, but exists in the English possessive ending
to-day.]
+Examples+.--_Boy's, boys', men's_.
+Remark+.--To avoid an unpleasant succession of hissing sounds, the _s_ in
the possessive singular is sometimes omitted; as, _conscience' sake_,
_goodness' sake_, _Achilles' sword_, _Archimedes' screw_ (the _s_ in the
words following the possessive here having its influence). In prose this
omission of the _s_ should seldom occur. The weight of usage inclines to
the use of _s_ in such names as _Miss Rounds's_, _Mrs. Hemans's_, _King
James's_, _witness's_, _prince's_. Without the _s_ there would be no
distinction, in spoken language, between _Miss Round's_ and _Miss Rounds'_,
_Mrs. Heman's_ and _Mrs. Hemans'_.
+Remark+.--Pronounce the ('_s_) as a separate syllable (= _es_) when the
sound of _s_ will not unite with the last sound of the nominative.
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