Why “ß” is not used in Swiss German?
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What are some of the historical reasons why the orthographic symbol ß is not used in Swiss Standard German and “ss” is used instead?
orthography written-language germanic-languages german
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What are some of the historical reasons why the orthographic symbol ß is not used in Swiss Standard German and “ss” is used instead?
orthography written-language germanic-languages german
edited 1 hour ago
Riker
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asked 2 hours ago
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up vote
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up vote
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down vote
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What are some of the historical reasons why the orthographic symbol ß is not used in Swiss Standard German and “ss” is used instead?
orthography written-language germanic-languages german
edited 1 hour ago
Riker
1598
asked 2 hours ago
alecxe
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alecxe is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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What are some of the historical reasons why the orthographic symbol ß is not used in Swiss Standard German and “ss” is used instead?
orthography written-language germanic-languages german
orthography written-language germanic-languages german
edited 1 hour ago
Riker
1598
asked 2 hours ago
alecxe
1113
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alecxe is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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edited 1 hour ago
Riker
1598
asked 2 hours ago
alecxe
1113
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edited 1 hour ago
Riker
1598
edited 1 hour ago
Riker
1598
edited 1 hour ago
Riker
1598
1598
asked 2 hours ago
alecxe
1113
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alecxe is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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asked 2 hours ago
alecxe
1113
asked 2 hours ago
alecxe
1113
1113
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alecxe is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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The Swiss government has an explanation on p. 18. One contributing factor is typography, namely the rise of use of the Antiqua font, which was claimed to not include ß. I have no evaluation of the truthiness of that claim, for the relevant historical period, i.e. prior to 1901. It is certainly the case that its shape in Antique was not uniform.
The rules for using the letter have been complicated and much of the 1996 German spelling reform was about rules for s. As to why Switzerland was earlier and more radical in eliminating ß, this may be a cultural matter. Pairs like Flosse (fin), Floße (rafts), Busse (busses), Buße (penance) are rare and contextually not likely to lead to confusion.
One predicts that Masse (mass), Maße (dimensions) might still be distinguished with ss/ß.
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
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It is the typewriter. A Swiss typewriter needs to support three languages: German, French, and Italian. Therefore on the Swiss typewriter, there was no ß key. It also has only lowercase umlauts ä, ö, and ü. A picture of a Swiss typewriter can be seen here.
The lack of that key has led to a subsequent deprectation of the ß overall.
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
The Swiss government has an explanation on p. 18. One contributing factor is typography, namely the rise of use of the Antiqua font, which was claimed to not include ß. I have no evaluation of the truthiness of that claim, for the relevant historical period, i.e. prior to 1901. It is certainly the case that its shape in Antique was not uniform.
The rules for using the letter have been complicated and much of the 1996 German spelling reform was about rules for s. As to why Switzerland was earlier and more radical in eliminating ß, this may be a cultural matter. Pairs like Flosse (fin), Floße (rafts), Busse (busses), Buße (penance) are rare and contextually not likely to lead to confusion.
One predicts that Masse (mass), Maße (dimensions) might still be distinguished with ss/ß.
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
The Swiss government has an explanation on p. 18. One contributing factor is typography, namely the rise of use of the Antiqua font, which was claimed to not include ß. I have no evaluation of the truthiness of that claim, for the relevant historical period, i.e. prior to 1901. It is certainly the case that its shape in Antique was not uniform.
The rules for using the letter have been complicated and much of the 1996 German spelling reform was about rules for s. As to why Switzerland was earlier and more radical in eliminating ß, this may be a cultural matter. Pairs like Flosse (fin), Floße (rafts), Busse (busses), Buße (penance) are rare and contextually not likely to lead to confusion.
One predicts that Masse (mass), Maße (dimensions) might still be distinguished with ss/ß.
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
The Swiss government has an explanation on p. 18. One contributing factor is typography, namely the rise of use of the Antiqua font, which was claimed to not include ß. I have no evaluation of the truthiness of that claim, for the relevant historical period, i.e. prior to 1901. It is certainly the case that its shape in Antique was not uniform.
The rules for using the letter have been complicated and much of the 1996 German spelling reform was about rules for s. As to why Switzerland was earlier and more radical in eliminating ß, this may be a cultural matter. Pairs like Flosse (fin), Floße (rafts), Busse (busses), Buße (penance) are rare and contextually not likely to lead to confusion.
One predicts that Masse (mass), Maße (dimensions) might still be distinguished with ss/ß.
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
The Swiss government has an explanation on p. 18. One contributing factor is typography, namely the rise of use of the Antiqua font, which was claimed to not include ß. I have no evaluation of the truthiness of that claim, for the relevant historical period, i.e. prior to 1901. It is certainly the case that its shape in Antique was not uniform.
The rules for using the letter have been complicated and much of the 1996 German spelling reform was about rules for s. As to why Switzerland was earlier and more radical in eliminating ß, this may be a cultural matter. Pairs like Flosse (fin), Floße (rafts), Busse (busses), Buße (penance) are rare and contextually not likely to lead to confusion.
One predicts that Masse (mass), Maße (dimensions) might still be distinguished with ss/ß.
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
answered 1 hour ago
user6726
32.8k11959
32.8k11959
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up vote
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It is the typewriter. A Swiss typewriter needs to support three languages: German, French, and Italian. Therefore on the Swiss typewriter, there was no ß key. It also has only lowercase umlauts ä, ö, and ü. A picture of a Swiss typewriter can be seen here.
The lack of that key has led to a subsequent deprectation of the ß overall.
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
It is the typewriter. A Swiss typewriter needs to support three languages: German, French, and Italian. Therefore on the Swiss typewriter, there was no ß key. It also has only lowercase umlauts ä, ö, and ü. A picture of a Swiss typewriter can be seen here.
The lack of that key has led to a subsequent deprectation of the ß overall.
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
It is the typewriter. A Swiss typewriter needs to support three languages: German, French, and Italian. Therefore on the Swiss typewriter, there was no ß key. It also has only lowercase umlauts ä, ö, and ü. A picture of a Swiss typewriter can be seen here.
The lack of that key has led to a subsequent deprectation of the ß overall.
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
It is the typewriter. A Swiss typewriter needs to support three languages: German, French, and Italian. Therefore on the Swiss typewriter, there was no ß key. It also has only lowercase umlauts ä, ö, and ü. A picture of a Swiss typewriter can be seen here.
The lack of that key has led to a subsequent deprectation of the ß overall.
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
answered 1 hour ago
jknappen
9,86222249
9,86222249
add a comment |
add a comment |
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