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What is the pronunciation of the possessive words that already end in s?
What’s the pronunciation of “ s’ ”?

Mr Torres will be returning to the Amazon rainforest in January next year to investigate further as this masterful spider is yet to be recognised as a new species.

Mr Torres' discovery will be registered, verified and his findings published if this spider proves to be biologically different from the known species of Cyclosa.

[source][1]: Report (1.1 MB) ; (1) 1:00, (2) 1:10

This is the case against tchrist’s answer. Because the BBC’s presenter clearly differentiates the two pronunciations, Mr Torres and Mr Torres’. So I need to wait a new answer. Is the BBC’s pronunciation right or not?

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1 Answers1

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I think the BBC pronunciation was correct, while the transcript should probably have been Torres's.

The Singular nouns ending with an “s” or “z” sound section on the Wikipedia suggests that the omission of the possessive s from the spelling is conformant to the pronunciation, not the other way.

The possessive of "Torres" exists in both forms "Torres'", as well as "Torres's" in usage.

cf. The Telegraph :

Fernando Torres's form down to stomach bug, not lack of desire, insists Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez …
Benítez accepted that Torres’s £50 million price tag had raised expectations for him at Chelsea …

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