How to pronounce Corps' with the apostrophe
I came across the phrase "Apple Corps’ London office". I know I should pronounce corps the same as "core", but how should I do it with the s'?
The whole sentence is:
But Jackson was stunned by what he saw that first week, watching it from morning till night at Apple Corps’ London office and being brought a daily Big Mac.
Extracted from The Guardian article: I just can’t believe it exists.
Solution 1:
The English word "corps" (meaning a body of troops or other organization) is pronounced like "core" with a silent P and S. That's the joke - the company, which produced the Beatles albums, was called "Apple Corps" which sounds like "apple core". (It's not to be confused with Apple Corp, that makes Macintosh computers.)
The possessive of words ending in S is formed by adding an apostrophe at the end of the word. Usually in these cases the possessive is pronounced exactly the same as the main word (i.e. the "Jones" in "Mr. Jones' wife goes out." is pronounced exactly the same as in "Mr. Jones goes out.")
However with the special and unusual case of a silent S it is usual to pronounce the S in the possessive. This is because we are used to having an S on the possessive.
So
"Apple Corps has an office in London" - pronounced "core"
"Apple Corps' London office" - pronounced "cores"
(It's also arguable that "corps's" is an allowed written possessive, pronounced the same.)
See Chicago Manual of Style.
Solution 2:
OED
corps, n.1
Pronunciation: Brit./kɔː/, U.S. /kɔr/
Etymology: As short for corps d'armée.
Military. a. A division of an army, forming a tactical unit; a body of troops regularly organized; a body of men who are assigned to a special service.
general. a. A body or company of persons associated in a common organization, or acting under a common direction.
Apple Corps' Office = /ˈapl kɔːz ˈɒfɪs/