In this episode, we're looking at the fascinating history and evolution of the apostrophe in the English language.

We'll explore how its role has changed from indicating missing letters to showing possession and why its usage has been inconsistent throughout history.

From Shakespeare to Benjamin Franklin, even some of the greatest writers struggled with this tiny punctuation mark.

We'll also tackle the ongoing debate around the apostrophe's use in contractions and the confusing "it's" versus "its" dilemma. Join us as we unravel the mysteries and controversies surrounding the apostrophe!

Evolution of the Apostrophe

● The use of the apostrophe has been in flux since its earliest appearances. There has never been a time of complete consensus about its function, and its role is still changing today. One example of this is how the use of the apostrophe in names like "Harrods" and "Barclays", and in dates like "1930s", has shifted.

● The apostrophe likely first appeared in the 16th century, either in an Italian edition of Petrarch (1509) or at the hand of French printer Geoffroy Tory (1529). Initially, it was used as a mark of elision, indicating that a letter (usually a vowel) was omitted from a word, often for reasons of pronunciation. For example, "walk'd" instead of "walked". However, its usage wasn't consistent, with writers sometimes inserting apostrophes into words without any clear purpose.

● The use of the apostrophe to indicate possession, such as in "the apostrophe's role", is a later development that further complicated its function. One theory suggested this possessive s replaced “his”, making “the king’s book” a shortened form of “the king his book”, but this idea is largely dismissed today.

● A more likely explanation is that the possessive apostrophe is rooted in Old English's inflectional system. In Old English, adding "-es" to singular masculine and neuter nouns indicated possession (e.g., "cyning" (king) became "cyninges" in the possessive form). The apostrophe in this context represents the elided "e" from this older form.

● Despite this historical explanation, the use of the apostrophe for possession remained inconsistent for centuries. Even prominent figures like Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin used (or omitted) apostrophes in ways that would be considered incorrect today. For example, only 4% of words that would typically require a possessive apostrophe in modern English were punctuated as such in Shakespeare's First Folio (1623).

● This inconsistent use demonstrates that there was no widespread agreement on the apostrophe's application for possession, a situation that persisted into more recent times. Even grammarians' pronouncements on apostrophe use have evolved considerably over the centuries, as seen in 17th and 18th-century grammar guides. Today, though most English speakers understand the basic rules of apostrophe use, its nuances continue to be debated and refined.

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