Klarinet Archive - Posting 000045.txt from 2000/12

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl] War of the Tony`s
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 17:36:06 -0500

At 02:23 PM 12/1/00 -0700, you wrote:
>This is really fun. I am enjoying your discussions over the use of
>apostrophies. I drank too much beer last night and this conversation
>just brightened up my day! ANNIE

Annie,

Then you'll love the response I had all cooked up! Neil already changed
his mind, so I wasn't going to post, but then you said it brightened your
day (collective groan from the list), so here goes:

The primary issue here is whether or not proper nouns are different from
any other nouns with respect to how their plurals are formed. Not one of
the grammar-related books in my office, including the MLA Handbook, several
general purpose handbooks, and two grammars, makes any distinction between
plurals and other nouns with respect to this issue.

Therefore, the same rules apply to _Tony_ as to any other English noun. To
form the plural of a noun ending in _y_ with no vowel immediately before
the _y_, drop the _y_ and add _ies_--in this case, _Tonies_.

Using the word attorney (sorry Kevin!), the plural would be attorneys, but
the rule is different because there's a vowel before the y. Similarly, the
plural of _day_ is not _daies_ but _days_. But the plural of _pony_ is
_ponies_.

An apostrophe is not merely a grammatical device to denote the possessive
case in the English language, nor merely for grammatical correctness in the
cases of contractions and ommisions.
It is true that, according to *some* handbooks, some plurals are indeed
formed with an apostrophe. The most common instances of this usage are
plurals of letters, numbers, and unusual characters: "Say goodbye to the
1990's." "You can't have two _@-----." "There are three
_s_'s in sassafras." However, both the MLA and the APA now recommend
omitting the apostrophe in forming the plural of numbers and letters. There
are different conventions of usage, in other words, but, these days, I
personally would use an apostrophe to form the plural of a noun only when
not doing so would be confusing (as in the "s's in sassafras" example
above, but NOT in the case of the "1990's" example, which should more
properly be "1990s").

Isn't the list fun? Who was it wanted only clarinet tips and info?????

Happy weekend everyone.

Sincerely,
Roger Garrett

Roger Garrett
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
Director, Symphonic Winds
Head, Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
(309) 556-3268

"A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes
another's."
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825)

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