Re: Proposal for German capital letter "ß"

On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 11:19:36 +0100, Hans Meiser <brille1_at_hotmail.com> wrote:

> After all, the "ß" is just a ligature of "ss" (or, to be precise: a ligature of "sz", originating from old German fonts - see hyperlink below), so I suggest the rendered outcome of the capital "ß" to be just the same: A ligature of two capital "S".

It’s not that simple. Briefly:

• The ß has completed its transition from a ligature to a standalone letter at least hundred years ago. For example, in fraktur typesetting (or more precisely, typesetting with a long s), one spelt “ſzeniſch” and “laſziv” – not “ßeniſch” and “laßiv”.

• History is not necessarily a good argument at how things should be done, otherwise we would have to be VVRITINC LIKE THIS.

• As already mentioned, from readability’s point of view, a properly designed capital ß is less obstrusive than SS.

For more details, see the links in my first reply, in particular http://j.mp/versaleszett.
Received on Thu Dec 10 2015 - 05:48:45 CST