Grammar question about Jimi Hendrix

[bigpern23]

How would you make his name possessive?

Like, if you were talking about his song, "Purple Haze," would you say Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze," or Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." I would probably go with the first. A copy editor at my shop argues for the latter.

My style guide has nothing in it about Hendrix other than an entry that reads, "Buncha damn hippies. Cut your hair!"

 

[Steak Snabler]

x's. "S" is the only letter that doesn't get an "apostrophe S."

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

x's. "S" is the only letter that doesn't get an "apostrophe S."

what he said

 

[beardpuller]

Damn. I was hoping we were going to try to parse:

"And with this crutch, its old age and its wisdom
It whispers, 'No, this will be the last.'

And The Wind Cries Mary."

I've always figured generally, he's asking if the sadness over his lost love will fade, and concluding that he can't imagine it will, in the terrible immediacy of his present circumstance.
But that's just a guess.
On the other thing, Hendrix's.

 

[bigpern23]

Well that sucks. It sounds so awkward. It's like saying the Red Sox's home stadium, Fenway Park. Just looks and sounds weird.

 

[beardpuller]

Ahhh, but there's a difference: Red Sox's is a triple sibilant. You wouldn't do that, because of the three s sounds. It would be Red Sox'.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Ahhh, but there's a difference: Red Sox's is a triple sibilant. You wouldn't do that, because of the three s sounds. It would be Red Sox'.

Three s sounds?

 

[beardpuller]

Yeah, Red Ssss ox ssss' ssss.


I know this because, many years ago in another lifetime, I was on the desk for a while during the Moses Malone era, and how to handle "Moses' " came up. That was the official ruling of the learned grammar jedi.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Yeah, Red Ssss ox ssss' ssss.


I know this because, many years ago in another lifetime, I was on the desk for a while during the Moses Malone era, and how to handle "Moses' " came up. That was the official ruling of the learned grammar jedi.

moses' is definitely only two s sounds, though.

 

[ADifferentOkie]

Ahhh, but there's a difference: Red Sox's is a triple sibilant. You wouldn't do that, because of the three s sounds. It would be Red Sox'.

Disagree.

 

[beardpuller]

Yeah, but Mosss e sss ' sss would be three, if you put the extra s on the end, now, wouldn't it??
You're just pissy because Van Halen sucked.

FYI, my wife bought two pricey tickets to a Lyle Lovett-John Hiatt concert for my Christmas present, not realizing I'll be out of town on the concert date. Nobody wants the damn tickets. That's a hundred bucks worth of nothing.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Yeah, but Mosss e sss ' sss would be three, if you put the extra s on the end, now, wouldn't it??
You're just pissy because Van Halen sucked.

FYI, my wife bought two pricey tickets to a Lyle Lovett-John Hiatt concert for my Christmas present, not realizing I'll be out of town on the concert date. Nobody wants the damn tickets. That's a hundred bucks worth of nothing.

Mozesss'sss

 

[beardpuller]

Very clever. But I say a z is also a sibilant.

 

[Diabeetus]

From the AP Stylebook (2007) on possessives:

SINGULAR NOUNS NOT ENDING IN S: Add 's: the church's needs, the girl's toys, the horse's food.
Some style guides say that singular nouns ending in s sounds, such as ce, x and z may take either the apostrophe alone or 's. See SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS. But otherwise, for consistency and ease in remembering a rule, always use 's if the word does not end in the letter s: Butz's policies, the fox's den, the justice's verdict, Marx's theories, the prince's life, Xerox's profits.
SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS: (examples): for appearance' sake, for conscience' sake, for goodness' sake. Otherwise use the rule.

Nothing about triple sibilants or anything like that. So I would say Hendrix's guitar or the Red Sox's success. Doesn't seem too difficult.

EDIT: Unless your specific paper's styleguide says otherwise, that is.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Very clever. But I say a z is also a sibilant.

Whatever you call it, it ain't an "s" sound.

 

[beardpuller]

Well, this is way past the depth I wanted to wade into, I really wanted somebody to come up with a better explanation of the "Wind Cries Mary" lyric, but if you google triple sibilant and grammar, you'll see that other stylebooks do make the distinction, and Strunk and White address it without calling it a triple sibilant:

"Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake. But such forms as Achilles' heel, Moses' laws, Isis' temple are commonly replaced by

the heel of Achilles

the laws of Moses

the temple of Isis"


Again, if you put another s on conscience' sake or righteousness' sake, you'd have a triple sibilant. But like most of this stuff, it doesn't really matter all that much, and I have to go vacuum the TV room now.

 

[beardpuller]

And for Simon:


Main Entry: sibilant
Function: noun
Date: 1788
: a sibilant speech sound (as English \s\, \z\, \sh\, \zh\, \ch(=tsh)\, or \j(=dzh)\)

(The careful reader might note that I got into all this **** by saying Red Sox's would be a triple sibilant. On that count, I apparently am full of it ... no mention of X being a sibilant, anywhere. So let's just forget the whole thing).

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Ahhh, but there's a difference: Red Sox's is a triple sibilant. You wouldn't do that, because of the three s sounds. It would be Red Sox'.

Socks'

 

[HC]

This thread is yet another example of why I'm a tourist on this board.

 

[Matt1735]

I don't think Jimi cares one way or the other ;D