ß

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ß U+00DF, ß
LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S
Þ
Latin-1 Supplement à
See also: , β, , B, Ss, ss, SS, and Appendix:Variations of "S"

Translingual

Alternative forms

Etymology

Abbreviation of Latin sēmis (half)

Symbol

ß

  1. (pharmacy) Apothecary symbol for half.
    • 1624, Philip Barrough [i.e., Philip Barrow], “Of Making Bolus”, in The Method of Physick, Contaning the Cavses, Signes, and Cvres of Inward Diseases in Mans Body, from the Head to the Foote. Whereunto is Added, The Forme and Rule of Making Remedies and Medicines, which Our Physitions Commonly Vse at this Day, with the Proportion, Quantity, and Names of Each Medicine, 6th edition, book VII (in English), London: Imprinted by Richard Field, dwelling in great Woodstreete, →OCLC, page 397:
      Bolvs in Engliſh is called a morſell. It is a medicine laxatiue, in forme and faſhion it is meanely whole, and it is ſwallowed by little gobbets. [] Medulla Caſſiæ fiſtulæ [n]ewly drawne, . j. or ʒ. x. the graines, that is, the kernels, of Barberies, . ß and with Sugar roſet [sugar compounded with rose petals], make a bole.

English

Symbol

ß

  1. Occasionally used in loanwords from German.
    You're full of scheiße!
  2. (obsolete, rare) A ligature representing <ss> in italic text.

See also

Further reading

  • “During what period of history did English use "ß", the "sharp s" ligature?”, in Stack Exchange, 2 January 2013, archived from the original on 2021-05-07

Central Franconian

Etymology

  • /s/ is from West Germanic post-vocalic *t and *ss.

Pronunciation

  • /s/

Letter

ß

  1. A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

  • Doubling of ß yields ss, see S.
  • In the Dutch-based spelling, /s/ is always represented by s.

German

Origins of ß.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /s/
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ɛsˈtsɛt/ (Eszett, usual)
  • (letter name): IPA(key): /ˈʃarfəs ˈɛs/ (scharfes S, less desirable because it also refers to the sound /s/ regardless of its spelling)

Letter

ß (lower case, upper case )

  1. Eszett (sz) or scharfes S, a German letter based on a ligature of ſ (long s) and z.

Usage notes

In alphabetic ordering, ß is equivalent to the string ss. For example, one would order: Maske, Maß, Masse, Maße, Massen, Maßen, Mast. The letter also alternates with ss in inflections and derivatives, e.g. lassen → past tense ließ, though such cases are now fairly rare.

The current rules for the choice between ß and ss were introduced in 1996. They follow the simple principle that ss is used after short vowels and ß otherwise (i.e. after long vowels and diphthongs). Hence Masse /ˈmasə/ is distinguished from Maße /ˈmaːsə/. The earlier rules were more complicated and less phonetic. They prescribed that ß was additionally used in the syllable coda regardless of vowel length. Thus küssen, but er küßt, and Faß, but Fässer (modern spelling küsst, Fass). The older spelling has become rare, but is still used by some older language users.

In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the letter ß is not used at all. So Straße is spelt Strasse, and the above distinction between Maße and Masse is lost in favour of the latter. This use is also often seen in Luxembourg and occasionally in South Tyrol, but ß is standard in both of these areas. Moreover one encounters the same spelling in German books printed in antiqua script until the early 20th century, because an antiqua ß did not yet exist. A rarer alternative was to replace ß with sz.

It is standard to replace ß with SS in all caps: STRASSE. However, in 2017 a new uppercase was introduced, so it is now also correct to spell STRAẞE. The use of a lowercase ß (STRAßE) is sometimes seen, but is proscribed. In capitalizing a few words which would become ambiguous if ß were changed to SS, SZ may be used instead, hence MASZE (Maße) may be kept distinct from MASSE (Masse), BUSZE (Buße) from BUSSE (Busse).

Synonyms

Further reading

Lower Sorbian

Letter

ß

  1. (obsolete) A letter formerly used to represent the sound /s/, now replaced by s.

See also

Swedish

The name RIEßLER with ß on a Finnish and Swedish bilingual ID card issued in Finland.

Symbol

ß

  1. (obsolete, rare) A ligature representing <ss>.

Usage notes

  • Became increasingly scarce by the late 18th century, but could still be found in certain blackletter newspapers up until the late 19th century.
  • Also know as dubbel-s (double S) and tyskt s (German S).

See also