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Since English is a Germanic language, it seems more likely to me that the possessive ‘s’ is a carryover from the German genitive case. Pure speculation, but per
by pge 3y ago
Since English is a Germanic language, it seems more likely to me that the possessive ‘s’ is a carryover from the German genitive case. Pure speculation, but perhaps the apostrophe was added as case endings disappeared from English (except for the rare exceptions like who/whom)
- usrusr 3y agoNote that it's also spilling over into German, frequently called "Deppenapostroph" by people with a similar, but less polite view as those behind the article. So Germans absolutely do assume that it is the same thing, to the point where many seem to feel that it would be more correct to write it like the English do.