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Arguments against: ß is a ligature, one of ss. ffl is a ligature, but that doesn't mean FFL should have one too. Just get rid of it. Switzerland did and they're
by quink 9y ago
Arguments against:
ß is a ligature, one of ss.
ffl is a ligature, but that doesn't mean FFL should have one too.
Just get rid of it. Switzerland did and they're managing just fine.
Capitalisation in Unicode for German locales is just a headache, and this really doesn't help.
How would one enter it on a keyboard?
Argument for:
ss is pretty much the same shape as SS, and Dutch has ij and IJ.
It's just an optional ruling, anyone can do whatever they want and as with the new orthography, they did. Prescriptive linguistics is useless anyway, especially over the past two decades in German-speaking regions.
- tomjakubowski 9y agoSpelling reform got rid of quite a lot of the use of ß in (German) Standard German, didn't it? As a German learner, I actually quite like the eszett, as the ß is a very obvious hint that the preceding vowel (if "monophthongic") is long. > Capitalisation in Unicode for German locales is just a headache, and this really doesn't help. Huh, if anything doesn't this make it easier? Replacing one code point (ß) with two (SS) when capitalizing seems like a bigger headache.
- raverbashing 9y agoActually it's a ligature of SZ (as even it name says, eszet)
- kuschku 9y agoAnd it has a separate, and distinct sound from s or sz, and has a separate meaning for the pronunciation of the surrounding letters than ss. For example, Maße and Masse are only possible to differentiate due to ß.
- legulere 9y agoIt started out as a ligature of ſ and ʒ, forms of s and z that don't exist anymore today in German. And it became a letter like æ did. Also this happened at a time where z was pronounced differently from how it is pronounced today.
- quink 9y ago> It started out as a ligature of ſ and ʒ I know that, but again prescriptive linguistics vs. descriptive and descriptive definitely says ss.
- legulere 9y agoSs is horrible because double consonants signify short preceding vocals in German. Yet ß is preceded by long vocals. If you want to replace it, then just with s.
- vacri 9y agoI can't speak for other languages, but in English æ isn't really a letter in the modern tongue. It's just used when someone wants to be 'fancy'. You'll see athenaeum far more than you see athenæum, for example.
- kuschku 9y agoHe might be referring to danish, where æ is a standard letter used all over the language.