From: Johannes Rössel (joey@muhkuhsaft.de)
Date: Tue Jul 01 2008 - 01:58:30 CDT
Michael Everson wrote:
> At 20:02 -0700 2008-06-30, Mark Davis wrote:
>> It is *not* a matter of stability; it is a matter of correctness. The
>> correct outcome is "SS".
>>
>> Mark
> That's a matter of opinion, of course.
> Since German orthographic reform has made <Maße> ['ma:s@] 'measures'
> distinct in spelling from <Masse> ['mas@] 'mass'
This must date back to at least the 1901 reform. The 1996 reform didn't
change that, it was already that way.
> it is easily arguable that abolishing this distinction in all caps as
> <MASSE> for both is an error, and that <MAßE> (with capital ß) is in
> fact "correct". That's a linguistic distinction, properly maintained
> in orthography with the new character.
You can, however, use SZ as capital variant of ß to clarify the original
spelling. Interestingly enough, back in 1929 this was actually a rule,
ot an option: »So heißt es noch in der 10. Aufl. des Dudens 1929: "Für ß
wird in großer Schrift SZ angewandt"; später galt /SZ/ nur noch als
Möglichkeit neben /SS/, um Verwechslungen in Fällen wie /MASZE - MASSE/
zu vermeiden.« [de.wikipedia].
I've never seen it used, though. I've seen a (non-capital) ß used in
words in all caps more often.
Regards,
Johannes
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