references:grammar-monster.com
The History of the Possessive Apostrophe
The main function of an apostrophe is to replace a missing letter (e.g., "can't," "doesn't"). This is related to the possessive apostrophe.
In old English, possession was shown by adding es to the possessor regardless of whether the possessor was singular or plural. For example:
- horsees lunch (for one horse)
- horseses lunch (for several horses)
- womanes lunch (for one woman)
- womenes lunch (for several women)
- Moseses lunch (for Moses)
Over time, the "e" was replaced by an apostrophe to reflect how these words were spoken. If the new ending did not sound right (typically because of an -s's ending, then the second s was removed.
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