5 ms·

It's actually a ligature for "sz" - at least it used to be. You probably won't find many german words that have an actual "sz" in them.

detaro 9y ago
But there are some – e.g. Auszeit. And at the same time, we use ß in locations where it'd otherwise be ss. While it started as a ligature, its current usage doesn't fit that.
- cbmueller 9y ago
  Absolutely true, it's not really its own letter nor is it really a ligature. It's an unique feature of the german language, which is hopefully here to stay...
- NoodleIncident 9y ago
  That doesn't mean it's not a ligature. If English still had a "th" ligature, the word "outhouse" wouldn't use it.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - malz 9y ago
    Interesting claim ... a similar compound word with a present-day ligature is "halfling." TextEdit renders that with an "fl" ligature, but should it not?
  - kuschku 9y ago
    Is w then still a ligature of vv, and should vve remove it?
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    th in English wouldn't be a ligature, it would be a letter (thorn or eth).
robert-boehnke 9y ago
It's more apparent if you look at the long s (ſ) which has since fallen out of favour. If you squint and your font permitting, ſz should look more like ß.
- yorwba 9y ago
  Or, even more similar, ſƷ. (Which is long s (ſ) + capital ezh (Ʒ))
rb2k_ 9y ago
There are tons according to http://www.wordmine.info/Search.aspx?slang=de&stype=words-with&sword=SZ http://www.wordmine.info/Search.aspx?slang=de&stype=words-wi... FRAKTIONSZWANG FREIHANDELSZONE KONFISZIEREN [...] A lot of them are combined, but still quite a few 'regular' ones
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- cbmueller 9y ago
  Here is the full list of non compounded words containing an "sz". Abszeß - Adoleszenz - Disziplin - Eszett - Faszie - Faszination - Fluoreszenz - Koaleszenz - Konfiszierung - lasziv - Lumineszenz - Obszönität - omniszient - Oszillation - phosphoresziere - Plebiszit - Proszenium - Rekognoszierung - Rekonvaleszent - Szene - viszeral Most of these actually are of latin origin. My favorite is obviously "Abszeß" - probably the only word in the german language that will show a non compounded co-existence of "sz" and "ß".
  - filmor 9y ago
    It did, 20 years ago ;) Nowadays it's written Abszess as the e is short.
  - pluma 9y ago
    FWIW, in all of them the "sz" spans a syllable boundary (yes, even "Szene" although I despise the syllabic "S" with a vengeance because it's so awkward).
Vivtek 9y ago
Yes, historically it's a ligature.

detaro 9y ago

But there are some – e.g. Auszeit. And at the same time, we use ß in locations where it'd otherwise be ss. While it started as a ligature, its current usage doesn't fit that.

cbmueller 9y ago
Absolutely true, it's not really its own letter nor is it really a ligature. It's an unique feature of the german language, which is hopefully here to stay...
NoodleIncident 9y ago
That doesn't mean it's not a ligature. If English still had a "th" ligature, the word "outhouse" wouldn't use it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- malz 9y ago
  Interesting claim ... a similar compound word with a present-day ligature is "halfling." TextEdit renders that with an "fl" ligature, but should it not?
- kuschku 9y ago
  Is w then still a ligature of vv, and should vve remove it?
- Symbiote 9y ago
  th in English wouldn't be a ligature, it would be a letter (thorn or eth).

robert-boehnke 9y ago

It's more apparent if you look at the long s (ſ) which has since fallen out of favour. If you squint and your font permitting, ſz should look more like ß.

yorwba 9y ago
Or, even more similar, ſƷ. (Which is long s (ſ) + capital ezh (Ʒ))

rb2k_ 9y ago

There are tons according to http://www.wordmine.info/Search.aspx?slang=de&stype=words-with&sword=SZ http://www.wordmine.info/Search.aspx?slang=de&stype=words-wi... FRAKTIONSZWANG FREIHANDELSZONE KONFISZIEREN [...] A lot of them are combined, but still quite a few 'regular' ones

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
cbmueller 9y ago
Here is the full list of non compounded words containing an "sz". Abszeß - Adoleszenz - Disziplin - Eszett - Faszie - Faszination - Fluoreszenz - Koaleszenz - Konfiszierung - lasziv - Lumineszenz - Obszönität - omniszient - Oszillation - phosphoresziere - Plebiszit - Proszenium - Rekognoszierung - Rekonvaleszent - Szene - viszeral Most of these actually are of latin origin. My favorite is obviously "Abszeß" - probably the only word in the german language that will show a non compounded co-existence of "sz" and "ß".
- filmor 9y ago
  It did, 20 years ago ;) Nowadays it's written Abszess as the e is short.
- pluma 9y ago
  FWIW, in all of them the "sz" spans a syllable boundary (yes, even "Szene" although I despise the syllabic "S" with a vengeance because it's so awkward).

Vivtek 9y ago

Yes, historically it's a ligature.