Brucie:

Do you believe the possessive form using an apostrophe (man's proclivity for cruelty, Kerry's superior qualifications) is actually a contraction of "(x) has" ???

It have never heard such a theory -- I have always believed it was a separate and independent development, not a contraction. It seems to go in an entirely different direction, grammatically than a contraction would.

As an indication of the genitive or possessive form, 's means "belonging to ___". Which is not a contraction. The notion that it is somehow a contraction for "___ has" is a new curve to me.

IS this a fancy of yours? Or is there some etymological evidence behind it? I yam all ears.


A