Hi,
Your assumption is correct. ? (sharp s, U+00DF) was originally a ligature
between the long s (U+017F) and the normal s. In gothic script (= Fraktur)
the 'round' s (U+0073) was used at the end of syllables, long s within.
Double s are frequent in German, and the collision between U+017F and
U+0073 resulted in the ligature "sharp s" . To this day, we write, e. g.,
"Er mu?"(he must) and "Sie mussen" (they must) --- according to the "old",
right now still valid spelling rules, that is.
This holds true only for lowercase letters as there has never been an
uppercase form of the long s. The Unicode-Standard is quite correct in
pointing out that the *only* correct uppercase form of sharp s is SS.
(Nowadays, it becomes more and more common in advertisements and the like
to print a sort of inflated beta which is plainly false).
With the de facto dissappearance of the gothic script from day to day use
in the thirties, the long s and with it the perception of sharp s as a l
igature has all but vanished. The great majority of Germans would not even
know it was one --- as, by the way, the umlauts which were originally only
ligatures for ae, oe and ue, respectively. Now, these are in most contexts
perceived as normal characters like A-Z.
While it is essential for the reproduction of texts which were originally
printed in gothic script and for scholarly editions of e.g. medieval works,
the long s is no longer used and would, if employed today for modern texts,
be considered a spelling error. Therefore I would opt against a
compatibility decompostion of U+00DF in U+017F and U+0073. It would
contradict current practice.
As an aside: For sorting sharp s is considered to be equivalent to "ss".
For the sorting of the umlauts a,o,u we have two contradiction norms. For
phone books and the like they are treated as a,o,u+diaeresis, in libraries
and as a rule in scholarly contexts as "ae", "oe", "ue" --- they suddenly
reveal their past as a ligature. So, in real life the umlauts possess two
compatibility decompositions. The interpretation of a+diaeresis as ae is in
many cases (searches) mandatory.
This is also an implicit comment on the sometimes rather naive
distinction between glyphs and characters --- Plato still lurking in our
heads.
Best regards,
Marc
----------
Von: Timothy Partridge
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 14. August 1997 22:21
An: Multiple Recipients of
Betreff: Re: Ligaturing (was: Yet Another I-Dotting Proposal)
I notice that in the Unicode standard the captial form of sharp s (U+00DF)
is given as SS, but there is no compatibility decomposition for the
character.
At first sight is looks like a ligature of long s and s. (In some fonts the
vertical line has a short horizontal line on the left in a similar style
to a long s.) Was the character a ligature originally? And would it be
useful
to add a compatibility decomposition to the Unicode standard?
Tim
-- Tim Partridge. Any opinions expressed are mine only and not those of my employerbegin 600 WINMAIL.DAT M>)\^(AT.`0:0" `$```````!``$``0>0!@`(````Y 0```````#H``$(@ <` M& ```$E032Y-:6-R;W-O9G0@36%I;"Y.;W1E`#$(`0V ! `"`````@`"``$$ MD 8`' $```$````,`````P``, ,````+``\.``````(!_P\!````10`````` M``"!*Q^DOJ,0&9UN`-T!#U0"`````'5N:6-O9&5 =6YI8V]D92YO<F<`4TU4 M4 !U;FEC;V1E0'5N:6-O9&4N;W)G`````!X``C !````!0```%--5% ````` M'@`#, $````4````=6YI8V]D94!U;FEC;V1E+F]R9P`#`!4,`0````,`_@\& M````'@`!, $````6````)W5N:6-O9&5 =6YI8V]D92YO<F<G`````@$+, $` M```9````4TU44#I53DE#3T1%0%5.24-/1$4N3U)'``````,``#D`````"P! M.@$````"`?8/`0````0````````#6#,!!( !`#4```!!5SH@3&EG871U<FEN M9R H=V%S.B!9970@06YO=&AE<B!)+41O='1I;F<@4')O<&]S86PI`" 2`06 M`P`.````S0<(``\`$ `Z`!L`!0!5`0$@@ ,`#@```,T'" `/``H`!@`@``4` M( $!"8 !`"$````W030Y-C=%-3-#,35$,3$Q.$0X,S P.#!#-C R,T0R1@#X M!@$#D 8`8 H``!0````+`",``0````,`)@``````"P`I```````#`"X````` M``,`-@``````0 `Y`)!P'["+J;P!'@!P``$````U````05<Z($QI9V%T=7)I M;F<@*'=A<SH@665T($%N;W1H97(@22U$;W1T:6YG(%!R;W!O<V%L*0`````" M`7$``0```!8````!O*F+L /E9TE\%3P1T8V#`(#&`CTO```>`!X,`0````4` M``!33510`````!X`'PP!````(@```&UA<F,N:W5E<W1E<D!Z9'8N=6YI+71U M96)I;F=E;BYD90````,`!A"@V)0``P`'$'@)```>``@0`0```&4```!(22Q9 M3U5205-354U05$E/3DE30T]24D5#5#\H4TA!4E!3+%4K,#!$1BE705-/4DE' M24Y!3$Q904Q)1T%455)%0D545T5%3E1(14Q/3D=3*%4K,#$W1BE!3D142$5. M3U)-04Q3``````(!"1 !````I0@``*$(``!P#P``3%I&=09?/I+_``H!#P(5 M`J0#Y 7K`H,`4!,#5 (`8V@*P'-E=.XR!@`&PP*#,@/&!Q,"@T8S`\4"`'!R M<1(B<RAT96T"@S0/>FAEHFP#($1L9P*#-1,-+GT*@ C/"=D[&3\R-1XU`H * M@0VQ"V!N9S&\,#,`4 L*$O(,`6,`0+ @2&DL"H4*A5D(8:0@8000=6T%,&D" M(!H@! `@!:$90&-T+H$#,"=D9B H<Q'!`' @<RP@52LP0#!$1BD@=Q^ ()D% ML&EG"X '0&QY'W D(&PBP&%T"'!E(,IB$@!W">$@=!:0(V"=`B!G(: A,"'A M,3<B,74`<&0D<VX%L # `R!S)2#020.@9V\D@&EC`R&@!00H/2!&<F&N:R.Q M(D D@B<#8'4ET*(G)04P-S,B1'41\%\EX".@)',)\"7@;R$@<_9Y%K !H&P' MD"' ),4#\/4G,6X@T$0(8"OA)0$*P/,CX -097$*4 (P(" #H/Y'!) #@2' M)<88L2-P`)"?( $D!B5$);,II" @&4!]'Z!L%4 EX"Z1)(,CAB+)(54B("#0 M5&\D<2 Q^&1A>2' )# B4 40%4 E(<!E(-!G+B' (D7-!<!M#' A`2(H))$V M@/,5,"6D(E,(D#9P(/ 1H'<$$ GP-" H)($C,#<T+6LYD!]P8P6A9 N )/!T M9S1R,X$&\&0B(< BL6B_!4 F0 ?@%3 #$ ,@=@= LFDEX'-P%J$Z,G(R0&\L M`B2 *K$$`"X>7#\!5.TTHF@Z\00@=#U (^ "()\C(0(0!< 8T"0P<F,?@/\D MH1(`%4 1X!]Q)'(CT1' \00@;F5V!) C\211`Y'<=7 \P$$40)%M*U(DB#LT M022150,`!: -L"U3_P&0)= +$2 B+C U@2!6+H+\<&\+@!_@).$(8"K"*K7Z M*D!"*D=70Z\AH"%D("*D4U,@T"A..\!A-.'_(;$LP"/Q!: '@@1@(]$EPM]- MTTUQ!& @$4-19$+A'^"_$? '@ (P+:$EU2-P:R/@[SIQ%,!(,2-!<QCA*U(+ M@*\<$3)B) $C4'<G06@@(F\+4T!B!T 1\"D@T#X^5_\LP21S#;!4(2"P-' Z M( 00[F%*<0K `'!C0"%$I"<<_P-2--(Z8EEB*F$REB<Q3Y%_/70DIR7"++)- M$B2"0\)E_Q_42UDB<2-90H(C`2/P2+'_/% #`"%0"8!%9 G!*K$`P/IJ(J%T M(S K82[$+)$(8-\[`"8Q!4!"T0.@:SNR32'O(F-"P#F$(;%B68$DD2)@_S4! M)((?L M@2+ LD5,S0/&_0"$BN$!#(W8$($"2836A?F].! I0.S$'D#S (+!I M_T+@(R @T$R!6T-!02W"+I'/!& 5,"!1`C!E>% 171/_:G$JD4*A)E01LE:! M0;)0P_A!+5I4GARO';55D2= _RUQ32$@,0>0.($?X":!0)+O)((90!3 !'!U M:E%=E&R$_V:/(P-10S)T)QPEPD"2!/#_/Y$*P",A"8 LP!_Q(H$A('\UT#8` M-G!Y04+0)H%BD'+^:UL\(#$F0"2S0O$J9%PBWV*B30%YX1_ &-!Y*H$Z</]9 M8D"2!&5L@V3A+Z(`@02![RJ"/*@$D -@<B#1"U478E\=M46!&4! D2/@26*% M;_]W\B.0"X!L(2-037%P$!_@_F(#$&&B!8(?P&P1784AY/\N@C#O)L%CX6*C M;%(H,#H@_4>Q8PAP&4 N813 5H$G4+LUT3X^05 B'W& @3HH$/]X<ACA.C)+ MB8!).G& $2XA_VIP!T N4CIQ,Z T$"#0C2(?)(*-9BMA9;L@\&4T+/TX,3:3 M(B=@-3$1P$+@)'"_8I")>1_R)D(FL8TB<#^0^V11!N!O>Q!0/3CR+<(_\ -A M$6U482QO+'4K?SH@:1 R$00`30$#H"-P8O\H, B!4"1><SU"+H)XJ&Q7_2)Q M(FD0.R$ZX)UC"E T(/<YDCCC'Z!D#;! 4AE 0N#_)H$D@5K@2 `?@%&!7HH@ MT+Y3F1 N@F$!`R C<&:7D_]E]X9Q$? $$914A6^&<7EDOT5D=K(A@!E `9!= M=F&92/]>8UHQ2^%KX0!PG&%!,241_Q'P"L 1L >0(D #@33@.G#^<FJP/CX_ M0Z?B5% T< .1_P=P"U G4$TA3K(N4B !D23_!X ?X >"*#!"(B8P"W"4(>]6 MT4A1=$0D!F<C()8@4"3[;BDYDE!2<31P._0*0'L`_SHR+I$?0A:03+ ^%W!? M<6?Y/J@@0@>0!4 90".0"R#O(;!O?0&1N11-J;$>7+2[$2-P,3DX`M%I+3'^ M-@P!#-"\4PM9O%"TT -@_Q5 1[$YD;YUM+>]*PPPO?;^5@(@C0"]#[X4N2,' M82<A_2,P4 K /_ \@'R0OQ_ +7<NP#B!#;!TP4_"6RTP;I="P!'@`9!G(< Q M-"#0&$%U9S=!R4 Y.3? (#(R.C(QQ#_ +79!P3_"3$TR004@+7%2_P60!2 ( MD% "*V#*K\ MMW"_F$$-T,S/PEO/,(T`3".$[3HR*")AC0!9$@#,D2<AN4+Q M22TM, ) .C)0`V";AG$'0"FZ?[N#,S:\]_^"E;WV@^!B\8L!/:4D9$7%_SOA M1F4O@U<0<P9+.RF3(B'_M+4@,2+08T(B<4PP9.%(LW]"0GP$I!^E*'-';B>J MQD'_6/%:X&PA`) [<B Q&-"6HM]0PR-9*V%;J2:Q*";AKE+_0(%0`B2!M+5/ M<T$@HB)D4<]?4TMQ4=+K86EZ`B'J=M^MY2OP`8!/$^5Q;0,0"L%_%3 KH,0F M.G$C4444(D!7[T'T;ACFNR*W/\R1?45-%/TJ4F8R0.Z9GP"%'^*,.G7]V^X_ M/C\'81Y<.:&TM0=A_\.8R7&H\81@"X!Y@VR0IH'_.'$JD2/1[>#L@R,B)=%B M\K<D@&P05Z-M>2%^%'*Z#U_8/[6;O?:TM1NQ``/P`````P`0$ `````#`!$0 M`````$ `!S"@'6XD4JF\`4 `"#"@'6XD4JF\`1X`/0`!````!0```$%7.B ` -`````P`--/TW``#[?:F\ ` end
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jul 10 2001 - 17:20:36 EDT