English nouns have two cases: the common case and the genitive case. However, not all English nouns possess the category of case; there are certain nouns, mainly nouns denoting inanimate objects, which cannot be used in the genitive case.
The common case is unmarked, it has no inflexion (zero inflexion) and its meaning is very general.
The genitive case is marked by the apostrophe s (‘s).
§ 180. In writing there are two forms of the genitive: for most nouns it is ‘s (mother’s) and for nouns ending in -s and regular plural nouns only the apostrophe (mothers’).
In speech there are four ways of pronunciation of the genitive case.
1. [z] after vowels and voiced consonants: Negro’s, dog’s;
2. [s] after voiceless consonants: student’s;
3. [Iz] after sibilants: prince’s, judge’s;
4. zero endings: girls’, boys’.
The zero form is used:
a) with regular plural nouns – students’, drivers’, doctors’;
b) with Greek nouns in -s of more than one syllable:
Socrates’ ['sokrati:z] wife,
Xerxes’ ['zǝ ksi: z] army,
Euripides’ |juǝ'rɪpɪdi:z] plays.
In many other names ending in the voiced sibilant [z] the normal spelling of the genitive case is with the apostrophe only (though sometimes 's occurs too): Burns’ (Burns’s) poems, Dickens’ (Dickens’s) novels.
Names ending in sibilants other than [z] have the regular [ɪz] in the genitive:
Marx’s [sɪz] ideas,
Tess’s [sɪz] misfortunes.
Irregular plural nouns forming their plural by vowel change also have the regular [z] in the genitive:
Children’s games,women’s faces.
Compound nouns have ’s joined to the final component:
the editor-in-chief’s office,
my mother-in-law’s garden,
a passer-by’s comment.
§ 181. A specific feature of the English genitive case is the so-called group genitive when ‘s can be joined:
1) to a group of two coordinated nouns if such a group refers to a single idea (when two persons possess or are related to something they have in common):
Mum and Dad’s room.
John and Mary’s car.
2) to a more extensive phrase which may even contain a clause:
the Duke of Norfolk’s sister,
the secretary of state’s private room,
the man I saw yesterday’s son.
3) to a noun (pronoun) + a pronoun group:
someone else’s benefit.
4) to a group ending in a numeral:
in an hour or two’s time.
§ 182. The main meaning of the genitive case is that of possession, hence the traditional term ‘the possessive case’. This general sense undergoes a number of modifications under the influence of the lexical meaning of both the noun in the genitive case and the noun it modifies.
The main modifications of this meaning are:
1. The idea of belonging: John’s coat, Mary’s car.
2. Different kinds of relations, such as:
a) relation of the whole to its parts: John’s leg, the cat’s tail;
b) personal or social relations: John’s wife, John’s friend.
Besides the genitive case retains some of its old meanings:
subjective relations:
Chekhov’s observation = Chekhov observed;
the doctor’s arrival =- the doctor arrived;
authorship:
Byron’s poem, Shakespeare’s tragedy;
objective relations:
Caesar’s murder = Caesar was murdered;
Jule’s arrest = Jule was arrested;
measure:
an hour’s trip, a mile’s distance.
In some cases the form ’s completely loses the meaning of possession and comes to denote a quality, as in man’s blood, woman’s work (serving in works canteen or a transport cafe, is generally regarded as woman’s work), his sly idiot’s smile - идиотская улыбка, you’ve got angel’s eyes -ангельские глазки, this is a women’s college - женский колледж.
