's 的詞源

後綴，用於大多數現代英語名詞的屬格或所有格單數形式； 它的使用逐漸從古英語 -es 擴展而來，這是大多數陽性和中性名詞的最常見的屬格變化（例如 dæg “日”，屬格 dæges “日的”）。在 sibilant 後保留“-es”發音。

古英語還有 -e， -re， -an 的屬格，以及“mutation-genitives”（boc “書”，複數 bec），而 -es 形式從未用於複數（-a， -ra， -na 佔優勢），從而避免了像 kings' 這樣的詞的動詞歧義。

In Middle English, both the possessive singular and the common plural forms were regularly spelled es, and when the e was dropped in pronunciation and from the written word, the habit grew up of writing an apostrophe in place of the lost e in the possessive singular to distinguish it from the plural. Later the apostrophe, which had come to be looked upon as the sign of the possessive, was carried over into the plural, but was written after the s to differentiate that form from the possessive singular. By a process of popular interpretation, the 's was supposed to be a contraction for his, and in some cases the his was actually "restored." [Samuel C. Earle, et al, "Sentences and their Elements," New York: Macmillan, 1911]

在中古英語中，所有格單數和普通複數形式都經常拼寫爲 es，當 e 在發音和書寫中被省略時，習慣上在所有格單數中寫一個撇號以區別於複數。後來，撇號被視爲所有格的標誌，並被引入到複數中，但是在 s 之後寫以區分該形式與所有格單數。通過一種流行解釋的過程， 's 被認爲是 his 的縮寫，並且在某些情況下， his 實際上被“恢復”。[塞繆爾·C·厄爾等，“句子及其元素”，紐約：麥克米蘭，1911年]

作爲一種後綴形式的一些副詞，它代表古英語陽性和中性名詞以及一些形容詞的屬格單數結尾。