Am 1999-07-09 um 14:20 h hat Jonathan Coxhead geschrieben:
> OPEN E
> SQUAT ESH
> STRETCHED C
> LONG S
> R WITH FISHHOOK
...
> I don't know the stories behind these
Part of the story behind the Long S is that, in German hand-writing
(Deutsche Schreibschrift) and blackletter printing (Fraktur), both
Long S and Round S are used distinctively. In the 1st half of the
century, this distinction was occasionally made even in roman printing
(I have a faksimile of a 1916 German song book with this feature).
The Long S is used at the start of syllables, whilst the Round S is
used at the end. As the German language allows for arbitrary com-
pounds, you cannot, in every case, predict (even with a dictionary)
whether a given (roman) S is a (German) Long or Round S: you will
need either the pronounciation or the meaning of the word in question.
Notorious Example:
Wachstube (with Long S) = Wach-Stube = guard room
Wachstube (with Round S) = Wachs-Tube = wax tube
Hence I conclude that Long vs. Round S is an orthographic distinction,
in German (old-style) handwriting, blackletter printing, and (for some
time) even in roman printing. Blackletter, and German (old-style) hand-
writing were terminated in 1942, for official printed matters, and
for teaching. (I am not sure about newspapers, though it was soon re-
placed with roman printing, for the copy.) However, it is still used
for decoration, e. g. in advertizing, or in some newspaper titles. The
latest Duden "Die deutsche Rechtschreibung", ISBN 3-411-04011-4, still
contains an "S-Laute im Fraktursatz" section (p. 70..71), explaining
the usage of Long S, Round S, and Sharp S, in blackletter printing.
> would it be possible to make a case that both dotless j and dotless i
> are candidates for encoding based on similar reasoning to one or more
> of the above?
The Long S will definitely not serve as an example in case.
Best wishes,
Otto Stolz
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jul 10 2001 - 17:20:48 EDT