English spellings/Catalogs/Apostrophe

The metadata subpage is missing. You can start it via filling in this form or by following the instructions that come up after clicking on the [show] link to the right.

Do you see this on PREVIEW? then SAVE! before following a link. To find out more about the use of metadata for the management of Citizendium pages, see CZ:Metadata. You may see this box for one of two reasons. Either: A - New page has been created, or subpages template was added to an existing page B - Cluster move is in progress Click either the A or B link for further instructions. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] A - For a New Cluster use the following directions Subpages format requires a metadata page. Using the following instructions will complete the process of creating this article's subpages. Click the blue "metadata template" link below to create the page. On the edit page that appears paste in the article's title across from "pagename =". You might also fill out the checklist part of the form. Ignore the rest. For background, see Using the Subpages template Don't worry--you'll get the hang of it right away. Remember to hit Save! the "metadata template". However, you can create articles without subpages. Just delete the {{subpages}} template from the top of this page and this prompt will disappear. :) Don't feel obligated to use subpages, it's more important that you write sentences, which you can always do without writing fancy code. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] B - For a Cluster Move use the following directions The metadata template should be moved to the new name as the first step. Please revert this move and start by using the Move Cluster link at the top left of the talk page. The name prior to this move can be found at the following link. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template]

---

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
Use in English
Alphabetical word list
Retroalphabetical list
Common misspellings

---

The apostrophe is shaped (in fonts where there are different shapes) like a 9, not a 6, including when it is in initial position (as in the examples below): this contrasts with the use of inverted commas, where the opening one is shaped like a 6 (or there can be two: 66) and the closing one like a 9 (or 99): "sixty-sixes and ninety-nines".

Initial

Some words that begin with an apostrophe, where it signifies a letter or letters unpronounced in quoted speech, are:

'ālf half *āf, cf. Álf Alfred

'át hat = át preposition

’em them = um hmmm *əm

'ër her = ërr error

'êre here = êar hearing, cf. ére before

'ërs her = ërrs error *ërz

'ím him

'ís him = ís are *íz

'ŏrse horse

'òuse house

’tís and ’tẁas: poetic and/or archaic use of initial apostrophe, replacing omitted initial í of ít ís and ít ẁas

Final and medial

Final apostrophes follow an s to form the genitive plural of nouns (Mánx cáts' tâils); otherwise, like initial and medial apostrophes, they signify a missing (because unpronounced in quoted speech) letter or letters, as in gôin' for gôing (n sound replacing ng sound). Where it replaces a t or d, this final apostrophe may be pronounced as a glottal stop ("glo'al stop"); otherwise final apostrophes are silent.

Some words with final apostrophes, in retroalphabetical order, are:

síngin'

còmin'

*dûín' doin'

gôin'

hávin'

cf. pêople's: përsons'

cáts'

---