The fun in learning a new language lies in discovering its characteristics, exceptions and how it has influenced other languages. English and German belong to the same language family, namely the Indo-European languages, and use the same alphabet. The letter ß, unique to the German alphabet, deserves a closer look.
“Sharp S” – ß in German
The consonant ß (pronounced ess-zett) is a special letter of the German alphabet. It is often confused with the Greek letter beta or even a lowercase “b” (German travellers with a ß in their passport will know!). It literally means “s-z” and indicates a “sharp s” sound, giving the letter its colloquial name in German: “scharfes s”.
Spelling Rules of ß Versus ss
As a rule of thumb, ß used to be placed at the end of a word and ss in the middle. However, after the latest German spelling reform in 1996, ß is now only used after long vowels or diphthongs (e.g., Maß – measurement or weiß – white), whereas ss is used at a word ending and in all other instances (e.g., Fuss – foot, fassen - catch).
Therefore, when reading German texts that are not recent (i.e., written before 1996), one needs to keep in mind that a different rule regarding the use of ß and ss was in place. Also, there is no capital form of the letter.
Historical Development of the German Esszett
The history of ess-zett is interesting because it literally developed as a ligature of s and z, and the first ß was found in German texts of the late middle ages (around 1500). At that time, the lowercase s was written like something similar to an f, just with a longer stem and without the stroke, rather than the rounded s we use today.
The lowercase z was written with an extra curve below, similar to the descender (i.e., the lowest portion of a letter that extends below the baseline) in “g.” So, add this old-fashioned z at the top right of the old-fashioned s (see picture) and voilà, there is today’s ß.
Modern Usage of ß and ss
Language is not a fixed system but rather a flexible work-in-progress and therefore changes with the demands of time. Today, special letters are not very practical in global working environments – for example, URLs and email addresses with special characters would not work. Therefore, ß in names and other words is transcribed as “ss.”
Switzerland and Liechtenstein, countries with German as an official language, already abolished ß since 1934. Though one can do without, this is not to say that ß is redundant. The following short list shows that ß versus ss can make a big difference in meaning:
- Maße – Masse (measurements – mass)
- Buße – Busse ( penance – buses)
- Floße – Flosse (rafts – fin)
So, even though the days of ß might be numbered in the long-run, it can’t be written it off just yet. Here is a tip when writing German words with ß in a word processing system: Instead of inserting the symbol through the menu, memorize its shortcut key, 00df + Alt + x. Though it initially might take longer, once internalized, it will really speed up typing those German words!
Find out about other shortcut keys when typing German umlauts, their usage and history and how to pronounce German consonants like the different s-sounds.
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