ß

The ß ? Eszett (IPA {{IPA|/?s?ts?t/}}) in German or scharfes S (sharp S) if spelled out ? is a letter used only in the German alphabet. It alternates with ss under certain conditions, and it is replaced by ss when there is no ß available. ß is nearly unique among the letter of Latin alphabet in that it has no upper case form since it never occurs initially (one of the few other examples is kra, used in Greenlandic).

Origin

There are two different origins of the ligature ß:

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• Ligature ?s: a ligature of long s (?, looks like an f without the bar) and (normal) round s.
• Ligature ?z: a ligature of ? and z.

The ligature of long ? and round s was used in antiqua typefaces, for instance in English or French. It fell into disuse when the long ? was abandoned in the 18th century.

Related Topics:
Antiqua - English - French - 18th century

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In German blackletter typefaces, the ligature of long ? and z was used since the Middle Ages. In the High German consonant shift, Germanic became or . At first, both were spelled zz, but soon, they were differentiated as ?z and tz. Originally, that s-sound was different from the old Germanic s-sound spelled ss, but this difference was lost in the Middle Ages. Therefore, the spellings ?z and ss became confused. The modern distinction between the two spellings emerged after many centuries. Until the German spelling reform of 1901, the use varied from region to region.

Related Topics:
German - Blackletter typefaces - High German consonant shift - German spelling reform

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The usual typeface for German was blackletter. In the late 18th and early 19th century, when more and more German texts were printed in antiqua, the typesetter looked for an antiqua counterpart of the blackletter ?z ligature because they wanted to preserve the common distinction between ?z and ss. The preservation of this difference in antiqua typefaces became obligatory with the German spelling reform of 1996.

Related Topics:
Blackletter - Antiqua - German spelling reform of 1996

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There have been four different typographical solutions for the form of the antiqua ß:

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• letter combination ?s (not as a ligature, but as a single type),
• ligature of ? and s,
• ligature of ? and a kind of blackletter z (blackletter z looks similar to a "3"; this solution is closest to the original blackletter ligature),
• a ligature ? and a kind of 3 so that the ligature resembles a Greek ? (a compromise of the second and the third solution).

Currently, most antiqua ß are shaped according to the second or the fourth solution. The third solution is seldom found, and the first has fallen into disuse.

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The typographer Jan Tschichold claimed that the German blackletter ß originated as a ligature of ? and s. His view is widespread, even though historical linguists say that there's no argument to support it. Tschichold's claim is based on a picture drawn by himself that illustrates how blackletter ? and s melt together, and on a reference to the ?s-ligature in antiqua. A historical specimen of the former has never been found, and the latter is unrelated to the origin of the German blackletter ?z ligature.

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