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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004Elongated S
Just wondered whether the elongated "s" (like an "f") used in old English text had any rule(s) for its use in replacing ordinary "s", or was it inserted at whim? > Just wondered whether the elongated "s" (like an "f") used in old English > text had any rule(s) for its use in replacing ordinary "s", or was it > inserted at whim? Was it similar to the rule in classical Greek for the use of its two s-forms? Adrian > Just wondered whether the elongated "s" (like an "f") used in old English > text had any rule(s) for its use in replacing ordinary "s", or was it > inserted at whim? Cecil Adams deals with the matter in a Straight Dope column. There was a rule, although the "long 's'" was often used more often than the rule would call for. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_110.html One thing Adams fails to point out in that column is that the line which often appeared in the middle of the long 's' typically extended from the left to the middle bar, rather than crossing the bar entirely, as is the case with "f."  SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com > > Just wondered whether the elongated "s" (like an "f") used in old English > > text had any rule(s) for its use in replacing ordinary "s", or was it [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > left to the middle bar, rather than crossing the bar entirely, as is the > case with "f." Adams also fails to point out that when there was a pair of s's the first was long and the second short, even in the middle of a word: "witnefses". In German the double-s letter, the eszet, looks like a blurring of a long and short s into a single symbol. I believe there are/were rules for the use of the eszet, depending on whether the s "pair" is a real doubled consonant or only the accidental meeting of two s's belonging to different syllables. Was there a similar old English convention? Alan Jones > > > Just wondered whether the elongated "s" (like an "f") used in old > English [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > of the eszet, depending on whether the s "pair" is a real doubled consonant > or only the accidental meeting of two s's belonging to different syllables. You're right, but it's more complicated than that. The thing to learn was that the eszett wasn't used between two short vowels (in a non-compound). So "essbar" (edible) used the eszett but "essen" (to eat) didn't. Some people thought the recent spelling reform would scrap the eszett, but instead the rule is now that it's only used after a long vowel. So "essbar" is just double-s now too. Adrian > Was there a similar old English convention? |
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