Quote:
Originally Posted by Karellen
As for the apostrophe, it can also be used to signify missing letters. Don't is do not, 'cause is because, etc. It makes sense to me that an apostrophe is replacing the missing i in it's
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Even in possessives, the apostrophe indicates a missing letter.
In Old English, the possessive was indicated by a suffix, often 'es'.
In Middle English almost all possessives were indicated by 'es',
In Early Modern English, when the use of an apostrophe for missing letters was introduced (e.g. cannot -> can't), it was used to indicate a missing 'e' in the possessive suffix, since by this time the 'e' wasn't pronounced for most words. (e.g. lambes tail -> lamb's tail)
The possessive pronoun 'its' is no more missing a letter than 'his' or 'hers', and should not have an apostrophe.