Michael Everson scripsit: > [T]he OED notes that the prefix has been variously written: "Macdonald, > MacDonald, McDonald, M<sup>c</sup>Donald, M'Donald". I can't say I've > seen the last one in any text more recent than the 18th century, but > it is certainly indicative of the use of apostrophe as a mark of > elision.
If you look closely, it should be a U+02BD, MODIFIER LETTER REVERSED COMMA, and represents a degenerate version of the superscript "c". It was definitely in live use as recently as 1904, as in this excerpt from the Hades chapter of _Ulysses_: # -- And tell us, Hynes said, do you know that fellow in the, fellow was over # there in the... # # He looked around. # # -- Macintosh. Yes, I saw him, Mr Bloom said. Where is he now? # # -- M'Intosh, Hynes said, scribbling. I don't know who he is. Is that his name? It isn't, of course: Hynes has mistaken the word "macintosh" for a name. (The Macintosh computer, being named after an apple, should rightly be the McIntosh computer, but it ended up being named after a raincoat instead. Ich bin ein Jellydonut.) The marine biologist William Carmichael M'Intosh (1838-1931) named lots of species, and so we have Diaeretiella rapae M'Intosh, Lineus corrugatus M'Intosh, Labidoplax buski M'Intosh, etc. In addition, there is a Scottish SF writer named J.T. M'Intosh who was writing as late as the mid-1950s (the form "McIntosh" was used on his U.S. editions, though). -- John Cowan http://www.ccil.org/~cowan [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please leave your values | Check your assumptions. In fact, at the front desk. | check your assumptions at the door. --sign in Paris hotel | --Miles Vorkosigan
